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Mamestra picta Harr. — A remarkable abundance of larvae in timothy 

 hay was brought to my notice on July 13. Mr. W. 0. Browning, of 

 Alexandria Bay, stated that he had been putting in hay from a 20-acre 

 lot, and the next morning found the surface of the mow literally alive 

 with caterpillars — identified from examples sent as those of this species. 

 Large numbers must have been present in the field, as they had prob- 

 ably been gathered up with the hay accidently. In response to an 

 inquiry, Mr. Browning informed me that the caterpillars had not been 

 observed except on this field. Last year they had entirely destroyed 

 his crop of oats, and this season they were much more numerous than 

 before. 



Xylina latieinerea or X. cinerea. — One of the most interesting and 

 remarkable outbreaks of the year occurred at Schenectady, N". Y., when 

 hundreds of silver maples were defoliated by the caterpillars belonging 

 to one of the species named above. My attention was called to the 

 insect by a young man bringing me about half a pint of larvse with a 

 story oi their destructiveness. On visiting the city it was found that 

 the reports were true. The soft maples were practically stripped. 

 Numerous larvse were seen on the trunks, in some cases 50 to 100 on a 

 single tree. Many were seen along the walks and in the roadways 

 bordered by the maples. Even were one deprived of sight, the olfac- 

 tory organs could easily detect their presence from the peculiar odor 

 emanating from the hosts of caterpillars. There were no indications 

 of the insects' work in Albany, although only 17 miles distant, but 

 along the Mohawk River, as far west as Herkimer, on the Eaquette 

 River in St. Lawrence County, and in Schoharie County, many soft 

 maples were defoliated, indicating the work of the same insect, pos- 

 sibly, although the species could not be determined because no examples 

 were submitted. The ravages in some of these localities may have 

 been caused by the forest tent caterpillar, Clisiocampa disstria Hiibn. 



I have found no record of serious injury to maples by this species, 

 although Dr. H. G. Dyar, in a recent letter identifying the insect, 

 informs me that it is somewhat injurious to soft maples at Bellport, 

 Long Island, but that they were less common than usual the present 

 season. This insect, or a closely allied species, has been known for a 

 number of years as injurious to apples and pears, and in 1890 and 1897 

 it caused considerable damage in this State to these fruits, but this 

 appears to be the first record of serious injury to soft maples by a 

 species of Xylina. 



An elm leaf-miner. — This insect has been unusually destructive in 

 Albany and Troy the present season. For the past three years the 

 Camperdown elms in Washington Park, Albany, have suffered rather 

 severely from this species. The present season the insect not only 

 seriously injured the Camperdown elms, but extended its ravages to 

 the English, Scotch, and American species. From half to two-thirds 

 of the leaves on certain English elms in Troy were nearly destroyed by 



