REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1903 173 



tractive shelters for a number of other borers, some of which 

 may penetrate the wood to a considerable depth and damage it 

 very materially for other than firewood purposes. While prompt 

 cutting of burned timber is advised wherever practical, the evi- 

 dence at hand is not sufficient to indicate any very urgent neces- 

 sity of its being removed prior to the winter following the attack. 

 The insects now in the burned trees (if the latter are alloAved 

 to remain) will probably appear another spring and be numerous 

 enough to cause considerable damage at least to weaker ti^es 

 in the vicinity of the burned areas, and their multiplication in 

 such places may eventually lead to a considerable extension of 

 the damage. This is particularly liable to be the case with ever- 

 green trees, and in the vicinity of Albany we have observed 

 several localities where bark borer attack appeared to start with 

 one or more infested trees, and the affected area was gradually 

 increased till a considerable number of i)ines were destroyed. 



It is not only advisable to cut the burned trees so far as pos- 

 sible during the winter, but they should also be removed from 

 the land or at least gotten into water, so that the insects now 

 under the dead bark will be unable to emerge and continue the 

 attack. The same end may be attained in the case of bark borers, 

 and they are the ones most likely to injure standing trees, by 

 peeling the bark from the logs. This will hardly be practised in 

 this county, even if it were profitable — something requiring 

 demonstration. 



VOLUNTARY ENTOMOLOGIC SERVICE OF NEW YORK 



STATE 



The work of the last four years has been continued and a num- 

 ber of valuable observations added to our previous reports. The 

 season of 1902 was unfavorable for the development of certain 

 forms of insect life, and the same has been true to even a more 

 marked extent in 1903. The latter, however, will probably go 

 down in history as a season when plant lice or aphids were abnor- 

 mally abundant and injurious to a great many plants throughout 

 the entire State. 30 voluntary observers were appointed during 



