76 



It was my intention to report upon the insects most commonly visit- 

 ing 1 the muskmelon flowers, but as Mr. Fiske, the assistant entomologist 

 of the experiment station, is here, he doubtless will give a brief report 

 in the discussion. 



In the discussion of this paper the question was asked by Mr. Smith 

 whether the insects remained in the flowers over night. Mr. Rane, in 

 reply, stated that some of the minute ones did. Mr. Smith reported 

 that in case of cucurbits certain insects, especially a species of bee, 

 remained over night in the bloom, and that this fact led him to ask for 

 additional confirmation of this habit. 



Mr. Fiske suggested that the male Bombus might have this habit, 

 and Mr. Smith said that this might be true, but that he referred also 

 to a smaller bee, Xenoglossa pruinosa. 



Mr. Weed read the following paper: 



NOTES ON TENT CATERPILLARS. 



By Clarence M. Weed, Durham, N. H. 



For the last five or six years the central portion of New England has 

 suffered from the ravages of the American tent caterpillar to an extraor- 

 dinary degree. Over large areas the unsightly nests were to be seen 

 along every roadside and in nearly every orchard. In many localities 

 the outbreak apparently reached its maximum in 1897, during which 

 season large numbers of parasites of many species were at work upon 

 the larvae. Egg parasites were also present; these, with certain dis- 

 eases and various vertebrate enemies, did much in checking the pests 

 last year. 



During the present season in the region under the writer's observa- 

 tion there ax>pears to have been a decided checking of the attack due 

 to various natural causes. Just after the larvae had hatched last April 

 a heavy and long-continued rainfall caused the death of enormous num- 

 bers. An examination of the apple and wild-cherry trees after the 

 storm showed that in most cases the only larvae present were those hud- 

 dled together on the lower side of the egg mass, where they were pro- 

 tected from the washing effect of the rain. These survivors developed 

 in sufficient numbers to be decidedly in evidence in May, but they had 

 to succumb to a very great extent during the last weeks of their growth 

 to a bacterial disease that killed them in vast numbers. The effective- 

 ness of this disease was doubtless increased by the wet weather pre- 

 vailing at that time. Early in June nearly every nest was full of dead 

 and dying caterpillars, many of those ou the outside of the web grad- 

 ually shriveling up until only the dried skins remained. A series of 

 observations made upon a large number of nests just before the time 

 for pupation showed that more than 90 per cent had been killed by this 

 disease. As a result there were few of the caterpillars crawling about 



