ea A ae MON Ce ah hs Ph Rea SO eee eR meee toe eee 
Pit OKGrmiID REVIEW. 
Vor. VIII. SEPTEMBER, 1900. No. 93. 
DIES ORCHIDIANE. 
Ir is interesting to find such a graphic illustration of the Cattleya Fly in 
your last number (p. 241). I have met with some growers who have never 
been troubled with it, and could scarcely imagine what it was like, and one 
I remember who thought the beast could easily be settled with a few puffs 
of tobacco smoke. To these gentlemen Dr. Hoisholt rendered a very useful 
service when he placed one of the insects under the eye of his photographic 
lens, and fixed his camera at the other end. May they never make its 
acquaintance in a more active form. Judging by several communications 
which appeared in the Review a few years ago, and the facts now detailed 
by Dr. Hoisholt, it is a very dangerous pest to deal with, and especially if 
it becomes well established in a collection before its presence is noticed, as 
in more than.one case that I have met with. It is fortunate that the 
infected growths usually become conspicuous by their abnormal development 
before the insect is mature, or it would be very difficult to deal with, on 
account of its minuteness. Dr. Hoisholt watched carefully for the fly at 
different times of the day, but was never able to see it about the plants, 
though of course he may not have looked just at the right time, and 
apparently he did not give it much opportunity for mischief after its pre- 
sence was known. 
The remarks of the importer to the effect that a low temperature and a 
great deal of moisture will destroy the larve inside the growths, however, is 
a new idea to me, and I should think that the remedy must be almost as bad 
as the disease, so far as the effects on the plants are concerned. It would be 
interesting to hear more of the observation that “‘ when the infected new 
growths are entirely covered up with chopped moss, the larve or pupz 
within have died, probably from suffocation.” The process might be less 
ae 
