12 



such it undoubtedly is. From all the thistle-heads mentioned, I only obtained one pair 

 of the flies, the larvae of which were destroying the seed of this troublesome weed (they 

 apparently belong to the Trypetaceae), all the rest produced the little black parasites. 

 Later in the season, by examining a large number of plants, I secured a few specimens of 

 the larvae which appear to be healthy, and these are all wrapped tightly in their coverings 

 of thistle down. There were sometimes as many as three larvae in one head of seed, but 

 as a rule only one. Through the kindness of my friend, Mr. Harrington, the small 

 parasite has been sent to Mr. W. H. Ashmead for identification.* 



During the past year several notable collections of insects have been made in un- 

 worked districts of Canada, amongst these T would make special mention of those by Prof. 

 Macoun and Rev. G. W. Taylor, in Vancouver Island ; Mr. J. M. Macoun, in Hudson 

 Bay 5 Dr. G. M. Dawson, near the Alaskan boundary ; Mr. J. D. Evans, at Sudbury, 

 Ontario ; Messrs. J. B. Tyrrell and Dowling, in Manitoba ; and Mr. N. H. Cowdry, at 

 Regina and near Fort McLeod. 



Several publications worthy of a much longer notice than I have now time to give 

 them, have appeared during the past season. First must be mentioned the resumption of 

 publication of Mr. W. H. Edwards's " Butterflies of North America." From the Divi- 

 sion of Entomology at Washington, several reports and bulletins have been issued. 

 Prof. Cook, of Michigan, and Prof. Forbes, of Illinois, have both issued timely publi- 

 cations of great utility, particularly bearing upon the use of arsenical poisons as the best 

 remedies for the codling worm and plum curculio. Prof. F. M. Webster, of Puiduo 

 University, has done good work amongst the insects injurious to wheat crops, and has 

 brought his practical common sense to bear upon some of the troubled questions with 

 good results. From the American Entomological Society, has come Mr. Cresson's much 

 wanted Classification of the Hymenoptera, a work which will be found of the greatest 

 use to students. 



Prof. Grote's " Hawk Moths of North America," which, although complete in itself, 

 is a part of a series of essays on North America Lepidoptera, will be found a useful work 

 for collectors. It is to be hoped that this talented author will soon issue a further part 

 of his work. Mr. Scudder's great work on the Butterflies of New England, is announced 

 for next spring. From the well known excellence of this author's work, it is needless to 

 say that it is anxiously looked for by Lepidopterists. 



1 must now pass on to a brief sketch of the most noticeable injuries by insects dur- 

 ing the past season. The crops in Canada, notwithstanding the -excessive drought, have 

 not suffered from any very severe attack of insects. The wheat midge continues to levy 

 heavy tribute from the farmers' wheat wherever this cereal is cultivated, but only amongst 

 the best farmers in the Province of Nova Scotia has it become sufficiently abundant to 

 induce them to burn the screenings. Throughout Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

 the tent caterpillars (Clisiocampa) have been most injuriously abundant. I received, 

 during the month of June, most doleful accounts of their ravages ; whole groves were 

 stripped bare, and few trees seemed to come amiss to them. Along our streets here, hardly 

 a tree could be found without its nest of caterpillars. The advocates for the English 

 sparrow received a rude shock in observing their neglect of this large supply of, what 

 they supposed would be, such acceptable food. I must, however, in all fairness to these 

 little usurpers, record that on the 26th May last, I did actually see a little cock sparrow 

 worry to death and afterwards devour with apparent pride and great gusto, a full grown 

 larva of Clisiocampa Americana, which was endeavouring in a great hurry to cross a path 

 unobserved. 



The wheat crop of the Dominion for the past season has been enormous and of very 

 tine quality. This is chiefly owing to the vast quantities of this staple grain produced in 

 Manitoba and the North-West Territories. Throughout Ontario, however, the excessive 

 drought has prevented the maturing of the seed to a large extent. Complaints of the 

 operations of the wheat midge and Hessian fly have been reported from some localities, 

 and the former of these has made itself too apparent in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 

 The wire worm has done its share of destruction, but on the whole the injury to wheat 



* It has since been named Solenotus Fletcheri by Mr. Ashmead, and is the first representative of the 

 genus as yet discovered in America. 



