ELM LEAF BEETLE IN NEW YORK STATE I 



by Dr Howard as Charlotte N. O., and Prof. Webster records 

 having found it north of Salem Mass. It has made its way as 

 far west as Kentucky, at least. Its progress up the Hudson is 

 interesting to follow, indicating as it does, its distribution along 

 the lines of travel. In 1879^ it was abundant and destructive 

 at Newburg, 12 years later it was reported to this offlce from 

 Poughkeepsie, in 1890 from Hudson, in 1891 from New Balti- 

 more and in 1892 it had reached Albany and Troy. 



It was found at Mechanicville in 1896 by Dr Howard and that 

 same year larvae in considerable numbers were discovered by 

 the writer at Averill park in the town of Sandlake about 7 miles 

 southeast of Troy, the beetles evidently having been transported 

 thither by the numerous electric cars running to that place. 

 The writer also located the pest in 1900 at Hoosick Falls, Rens- 

 selaer CO. where it had inflicted considerable injury the preced- 

 ing year, and he found that it had established itself pretty gen- 

 erally in the towns of Stillwater, Schuylerville, Salem and prob- 

 ably Greenwich. Its presence at Salem and its being found at 

 Saratoga in numbers in 1902 indicate a possibility of still farther 

 progress north, though there were reasons for hoping that it 

 would not be very injurious north of Mechanicville, except 

 possibly in an unusual season. 



The occurrence of this insect at Oswego, Hastings and 

 Rochester, brought to my notice through Dr Howard, is a much 

 more serious matter. Prof. C. S. Sheldon of the Oswego normal 

 school states that he has examples of it taken at Oswego in 

 1896, and Prof. M. H. Beckwith of Elmira reports that he has 

 known it to occur for several years in considerable numbers in 

 his locality. It is also extending its range through the Mohawk 

 valley, having recently been found in considerable numbers at 

 Schenectady. 



These last records are of very great importance since they 

 show that the insect has already established itself in several 

 widely separated localities in the western portion of the state 

 and we have no good reason for thinking that it will not, in the 

 course of a few years, be as injurious in that section as it has 

 already proved in the Hudson valley. 



1 Unfortunately most of these dates indicate only the time when the ravages of the Insect were 

 serious enough to attract the attention of someone, and so only approximately the year of its 

 arrival. 



