Eighth Report of the State Entomologist* l(>9 



The following inquiry of this insect from a gentleman of Bangs 

 county, Prince Edward Island, Dominion of Canada, and giving an 

 account of its ravages in the Province, and my reply to the same, is 

 from the Country Gentleman, of November 13, 1890 (page 905). 



Eds. C. G. — The juniper or larch (Larix Americana), which 

 abounds in this vicinity, and, in fact all over the Province, is being 

 devastated of its leaves, and presents a withered, decayed appearance 

 through the action of the saw-fly, Nematus JErichsonii. The first 

 indication of this pest was noticed in the summer of 1889, but this 

 summer the injury has been so much aggravated that in the months of 

 July and September it was rare to see a green leaf on a tree. Now. 

 however, they are free from the attacks of the pest, as the larvae, when 

 matured, fall to the ground, leaving the tree to make a little growth by 

 the aid of the autumn rains. Whether this pest is going to exterminate 

 the larch completely in this Province remains to be seen. It has, how- 

 ever, done great injury to the larch in Nova Scotia. I am informed 

 that the fly was first noticed near Boston, Mass., in 1880. I am also 

 told that there is no remedy to allay the ravages of the fly. Does 

 the sage associate of this paper know of any means ? I would like to 

 hear from Dr. Lintner on the subject. — J. A. M., Kings Co., P. E. I. 



The communication above gives an interesting account, from an 

 entomological standpoint, . of the first notice and rapid spread and 

 serious ravages of this introduced European insect in Prince Edward 

 Island. Its operations there appear to be similar to those which seem 

 everywhere to follow its spread. 



That there is no remedy, so far as known, to allay the ravages of the 

 insect is unquestionably too true. When the larva? make their attack 

 upon an isolated tree in cultivated ground, the}' may be destroyed 

 by an arsenical spraying, but, as I have elsewhere written, when large 

 areas of the larch are infested, as tamarack swamps, it is useless to 

 attempt to compete with the enemy. Its destruction through any 

 applications that could be made would be altogether too costly to war- 

 rant the outlay required. The best that could be done in such cases 

 would be to fell the trees as soon as it is noticed that they are dead or 

 doomed, and before decay has impaired their value, and use them for 

 some of the many purposes for which the timber is available. A some- 

 what extended and illustrated account of this larch saw-fly appears in 

 my Fifth Report on the Insects of N'ew York. 



Feniseca Tarquinius (Fabr.). 

 The Little Orange Butterfly. 

 This, usually rare butterfly, was frequently seen in Keene Valley 

 during the months of July and August, of 1891. Attention was ordi- 

 narily drawn to it by its short, rapid flights in the roadways, flitting 

 at a height of about ten feet from the ground, often in pairs chasing 

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