﻿REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  STATE 
  ENTOMOLOGIST 
  343 
  

  

  which 
  insect 
  life 
  is 
  presented 
  to 
  us 
  — 
  the 
  egg, 
  the 
  larva, 
  the 
  pupa, 
  and 
  the 
  

   imago, 
  must 
  receive 
  its 
  share 
  of 
  attention. 
  The 
  varied 
  habits 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  

   observed 
  and 
  noted, 
  under 
  the 
  complications 
  frequently 
  existing 
  of 
  

   change 
  under 
  changed 
  conditions 
  of 
  food-plant, 
  climate 
  or 
  locality. 
  

  

  The 
  extent 
  of 
  the 
  study 
  will 
  further 
  appear 
  from 
  a 
  consideration 
  of 
  

   the 
  omniprescence 
  of 
  insects. 
  As 
  I 
  have 
  elsewhere 
  written, 
  " 
  they 
  abound 
  

   in 
  our 
  homes, 
  our 
  gardens, 
  orchards, 
  fields, 
  vineyards 
  and 
  forests. 
  In 
  

   the 
  vegetable 
  kingdom, 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  seed, 
  the 
  root, 
  the 
  stalk 
  or 
  

   trunk, 
  the 
  pith, 
  the 
  bark, 
  the 
  twig, 
  the 
  bud, 
  the 
  leaf, 
  the 
  blossom, 
  and 
  

   the 
  fruit 
  — 
  within 
  or 
  upon 
  every 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  vegetable 
  organism. 
  They 
  

   are 
  parasitic 
  i|on 
  our 
  persons 
  and 
  upon 
  or 
  within 
  all 
  of 
  our 
  domestic 
  

   animals. 
  They 
  attack 
  and 
  destroy 
  fishes 
  and 
  birds. 
  They 
  have 
  their 
  

   natural 
  home 
  in 
  many 
  articles 
  of 
  food. 
  By 
  their 
  digusting 
  presence 
  and 
  

   annoyance 
  they 
  may 
  render 
  our 
  homes 
  untenable. 
  They 
  burrow 
  within 
  

   our 
  household 
  and 
  agricultural 
  implements. 
  They 
  destroy 
  our 
  furniture 
  

   and 
  our 
  clothing. 
  They 
  occasionally 
  take 
  possession 
  of 
  our 
  books. 
  No 
  

   asylum 
  is 
  so 
  secure 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  not 
  intrude; 
  no 
  condition 
  in 
  life 
  is 
  ex- 
  

   empt 
  from 
  their 
  presence 
  and 
  attack." 
  

  

  VI. 
  The 
  Study 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  given 
  its 
  proper 
  Share 
  of 
  Attention. 
  

  

  If 
  you 
  have 
  followed 
  me 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  attempted, 
  in 
  the 
  brief 
  time 
  that 
  I 
  

   dare 
  claim 
  on 
  this 
  occasion, 
  to 
  show 
  you 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  Study 
  of 
  Ento- 
  

   mology 
  as 
  a 
  mental 
  discipline 
  — 
  the 
  facility 
  with 
  which 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  pursued 
  — 
  

   the 
  interest 
  attaching 
  to 
  it 
  — 
  its 
  great 
  practical 
  importance 
  — 
  and 
  the 
  

   broad 
  range 
  that 
  it 
  embraces, 
  you 
  will, 
  I 
  thmk, 
  agree 
  with 
  me, 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  

   far 
  from 
  receiving 
  the 
  attention 
  that 
  it 
  deserves 
  and 
  may 
  justly 
  claim. 
  

   Notwithstanding 
  the 
  enormous 
  losses 
  annually 
  sustained 
  from 
  insect 
  dep- 
  

   redations, 
  how 
  very 
  few 
  comparatively 
  there 
  are 
  among 
  us 
  who 
  can 
  

   properly 
  apply 
  the 
  familiar 
  names 
  of 
  "bug," 
  "beetle," 
  or 
  "butterfly." 
  

   There 
  are 
  those 
  whose 
  crops 
  are 
  annually 
  depleted, 
  needlessly, 
  to 
  the 
  

   amount 
  of 
  hundreds 
  of 
  dollars, 
  who 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  that 
  the 
  caterpillar 
  is 
  

   but 
  an 
  immature 
  stage 
  of 
  the 
  winged 
  moth 
  or 
  butterfly. 
  This 
  day, 
  I 
  find 
  

   in 
  a 
  pretentious 
  journal 
  a 
  notice 
  of 
  a 
  destructive 
  insect 
  to 
  this 
  effect 
  : 
  

   " 
  The 
  insect 
  appears 
  first 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  moth. 
  In 
  a 
  few 
  days, 
  it 
  

   sheds 
  its 
  wings 
  and 
  becomes 
  a 
  caterpillar, 
  and 
  a 
  week 
  thereafter 
  it 
  lays 
  

   its 
  eggs, 
  each 
  caterpillar 
  producing 
  two 
  hundred." 
  

  

  In 
  how 
  many 
  of 
  our 
  public 
  schools 
  and 
  academies 
  is 
  Entomology 
  given 
  

   place 
  ? 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  of 
  one. 
  In 
  nearly 
  all 
  of 
  our 
  higher 
  institutions 
  

   and 
  private 
  schools, 
  Botany 
  is 
  taught, 
  and 
  yet 
  the 
  former 
  is 
  certainly 
  of 
  

   far 
  greater 
  importance 
  in 
  the 
  broad 
  range 
  of 
  its 
  economic 
  applications. 
  

   The 
  State 
  Normal 
  CoHege 
  at 
  Albany 
  and 
  the 
  Oswego 
  Normal 
  School, 
  

   have 
  given 
  excellent 
  entomological 
  instruction. 
  Cornell 
  University 
  sus- 
  

  

  