168 The American Naturalist. [February, 
ENTOMOLOGY.! 
Insects in Iowa.—Bulletin No. 11 (issued November, 1890) of 
the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station contains four articles by 
r. C. P. Gillette, of considerable entomological interest. The first 
discusses the injuries .and life-history of the Potato Stalk Weevil 
( Zrichobaris trinotata Say), which has been unusually destructive in 
Iowa the past season. Mr. Gillette thinks that “half a million of 
dollars would fall far short of making good the loss that it has occa- 
sioned the state this year. In gardens where potatoes have grown year 
after year I have seldom found less than seventy-five per cent. of the 
stalks infested, and from this to ninety-three per cent. In field patches 
at a distance from where potatoes were grown last year I have found 
as few as twenty per cent. of the stalks infested, but in no case have I 
found the injuries less abundant than this.” The next article discusses 
the Apple Curculio (Anthonomus jiddrigibins Say), and contains the 
first extended description of the method of oviposition of this insect. 
The two remaining articles discuss the currant-stem boring habits of 
Hyperplatys aspersus Say, commonly known as the Cottonwood Borer, 
and kerosene emulsion as a sheep dip and destroyer of parasites upon 
domestic animals. The experiments reported under this last heading 
are of great practical value. The author concludes with this paragraph : 
“I must say that after repeated experiments with kerosene emulsion, 
along with other substances commonly recommended for the destruction 
of vermin upon domestic animals, I feel certain that it is far ahead ot 
anything I have tried when cheapness, effectiveness, ease of application, 
and freedom from possible bad effects are taken into account.”’ 
Indiana Insect Notes.—Bulletin No. 33 of the Purdue Univer- 
sity Agricultural Experiment Station contains ten pages of entomo- 
_ logical notes by Mr. F. M. Webster. The sub-titles are as follows: 
Experiments with the Plum Curculio; Notes on Strawberry Insects 
(Zyloderma fragrarie, Haltica ignita, and the Field Cricket); Some 
Hitherto Unrecorded Enemies of Raspberries and Blackberries (So/enop- 
- sts fugax, Limonus auripilis, Carpophilus brachypterus, Tulus impressus, 
and Cosmopepla carnifex). Most of these notes are republished from 
Tnsect Life. The Plum Curculio experiments were made chiefly to de- ` 
termine to what extent the insect develops in native varieties of plums, 
_ and they showed that the insects do breed freely in them. The eco- 
1 Edited by Dr. C. M. Weed, Columbus, Ohio. 
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