THE LOCUST HISPA. 



Odontota dorsalis Thnnb. 



Order Coleoptera; Family Chrysomelidae. 



This insect is a native of North America, and is known to occur in 

 the New England, Middle and Western States. Although attacking the 

 leaves only, it is nearly as destructive to the trees as the locust borer, for 

 this tree, unlike the elm and several others, does not put forth a second 

 crop of leaves in any given season, if the first be destroyed by insects or 

 other agencies. In many portions of Ohio the injury done by this pest 

 is very great. It is especially noticeable along the Ohio River from 

 Jronton to Gallipolis, and was particularly severe near the latter place 

 during the seasons of 1904 and 1905. During the latter part of July and 

 August and early September, locust groves appeared as if scorched by 

 fire, practically all of the leaves being mined and skeletonized. Infested 

 thickets located upon the hillsides could be distinguished, several miles 

 distant, by the brown and seared appearance of the foliage. 



The adult beetles may be found on the leaves of the black locust 

 from early May until October, but are most abundant during the latter 

 part of July and August, at which time the first brood has matured. The 

 beetles are usually seen apparently motionless upon the surface of the 

 leaves, but closer examination will show that they are busy feeding. At 

 first, oblong holes are eaten, but later in the season the leaves are simply 

 skeletonized from the upper side. While eating, the beetle rests upon 

 its forelegs, the body extended at an angle of about sixty degrees from 

 the surface of the leaf. At night, during rainy weather and during 

 oviposition, they are to be found on the under sides of the leaves. 



But brief mention was made of this insect in Packard's Fifth Report 

 of the U. S. Entomological Commission. Apparently it was not consid- 

 ered of any great economic importance, but since that time it has 

 attracted considerable attention, having been the subject of a special 

 treatise by Mr. F. H. Chittenden, in which he records serious damage to 

 locust trees near Washington, D. C. The first serious injury was 

 reported from Frankfort, Ky., in 1868, where the beetle was said to 

 have completely eaten the leaves off of the black locusts, in some instances 

 killing the trees. (Bulletin 38,, n. s., U. S. Div. Ent.) It has also been 

 prominently mentioned among the destructive locust pests of Kentucky 

 and West Virginia. 



In 1896 it was reported by Prof. Webster as defoliating the locust 

 trees in Brown, Clermont and Hamilton counties, Ohio, and he states 

 that "the same conditions were true of the adjacent portion of Ken= 



tucky." 



The adult beetle is somewhat flat in form ; tawny-yellow above, with 

 a black strip down the middle of the back, usually occupying about onp- 



