68 



In May there were strong indications of serious trouble from cut- 

 worms, but later a large black worm, the larva of Calosoma calidum, 

 appeared in such numbers as to attract the attention of farmers all 

 over the State. From the reports received, and the number of speci- 

 mens sent me by farmers in widely separated localities, I infer that 

 there was a general increase in numbers of this dusky friend of the 

 farmer, and that it was largely due to their presence that we escaped 

 an invasion of cutworms. 



Over the southern portion of Brown, Clermont, and Hamilton coun- 

 ties the black locust (Robinia pseudacacia) was more or less defoliated 

 by the locust leaf-miner (Odontota dorsalis) and the same was true of 

 the adjacent portion of Kentucky. The trouble appeared to begin some 

 15 miles back from the Ohio River, in Ohio at least, and increased in 

 severity toward the south. July 10, I found nothing but adults, but 

 these were so abundant that I could easily beat half a gill into an 

 inverted umbrella from a single branch. 



Saperda Candida, which I have never found anywhere except rarely, 

 was sent me this year accused of gnawing into young apples, the fruit 

 inclosed with the specimen giving ample evidence of its fondness for 

 this sort of fare; besides, it was captured in the very act of attacking 

 apples in the orchard. 



Disonycha triangularis caused considerable injury to the foliage of 

 beets and maugel-wurzels by riddling the leaves with holes. 



Mr. R. H. Warder, superintendent of city parks for Cincinnati, 

 reported injury to geraniums by white ants (Tcrmes flavipes), bringing 

 me specimens of the living plants with the insects burrowing in the 

 stems. 



Valgus canaliculatus worked serious injury in April in southern Ohio 

 by eating out the fruit buds of pear and other fruits, and in case of 

 young apple trees it destroyed the leaf buds. 



A minute capsid, Halticus bractatus (kindly determined for me by 

 Prof. H. Osborn), was detected in injuring the leaves of red clover by 

 sucking the juices from the upper surface of the leaves, causing these 

 leaves to turn to a whitish color. The young also feed in the same way, 

 but the discoloring of the leaves appears to protect them, as the affected 

 leaves harmonize more nearly in color with that of the young. The 

 adult female simulates to a marked degree a small saltatorial beetle, 

 Cluetocnema parcepunctataQY., which also feeds upon clover, while the 

 male capsid has the normal form. My assistant, Mr. C. W. Mally, found 

 the Halticus on cucumber near Cleveland, and informs me that it also 

 occurs in Iowa. As this species so closely resemble beetles that affect 

 our crops, and as farmers to whom I have pointed out the capsid have, 

 without a single exception, called them flea-beetles, though the two feed 

 in an entirely different manner, it would seem quite possible that some 

 of the reported failures to kill the beetles with poisons might be due to 

 mistaking one of these insects for the other. 



