66 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 



The State Entomologist reports that the season of 1906 has been 

 marked by relatively few extensive depredations by insects pests. 

 This is particularly true of the forms affecting garden, vegetable 

 and other common farm crops. A remarkable large South Ameri- 

 can moth (Thysania zenobia Cramer) was taken in Albany 

 the last of September. This magnificient moth has a wing spread 

 of about 5 inches and its occurrence in this city is undoubtedly 

 due to its having been brought north with a boat load of bananas 

 or other tropical fruit. This capture is an example of the way in 

 which insects are distributed through commercial agencies, though 

 m the present instance it happens to be a species which can not 

 sustain itself in this latitude. 



Fruit tree insects. The San Jose scale is still regarded as a 

 serious pest of the horticulturist though the experience of recent 

 years has demonstrated beyond question the practicability of keep- 

 ing this insect in check by thorough and timely applications of a 

 lime-sulfur wash. Our experiments conducted during a series of 

 years show this insecticide to be fully as satisfactory as any other 

 material which has been employed, despite the fact that* a number of 

 new preparations have been put on the market in recent years. 

 These latter, though they possess certain very desirable qualities, 

 have not been tested sufficiently so that they can be recommended 

 without qualification. 



We find the grape root worm still abundant in the Chautauqua 

 region and the present indications are that some vineyards may be 

 seriously injured by its depredations within a year or two. This 

 insect, as experience has shown, is more or less local in its opera- 

 tions and general predictions regarding its work are in most cases 

 rather hazardous. 



Shade tree problem. This phase of practical entomology has 

 made considerable demands upon our time in the' last few years. 

 This has been due in large part to extensive defoliations of street 

 and park trees in many cities and villages of the State by the white 

 marked tussock moth, a species which rarely occurs in destructive 

 numbers outside of municipalities and villages, and one easily con- 

 trolled by intelligent efifort. The elm leaf beetle has been particu- 

 larly destructive in the Hudson valley and has become established in 

 cities and villages in other portions of the State. The work of these 



