49 
region, which is on the borders of the Departments of the North and 
the Aisne. and found that the insects occupied a plateau which had 
recently been cleared of trees. The larvae inarched in great hordes, 
very much as the army worm ( Leucania unipuneta) does in the United 
States, or the antler moth (Charems graminis) in northern Europe. Dr. 
Marchal ascribes the exceptional multiplication of the species to the 
unusually warm and dry season of 1893. The invasion was fought by 
means of ditches dug in front of the advancing army of caterpillars, 
large quantities of which were thus captured and carried off in sacks 
by the peasants, who made compost of them with, liquid manure. 
Among the numerous insecticides tried sulphate of ammonia diluted 
with liquid manure and sprinkled upon the infested spots was the only 
one which gave satisfactory results. 
TAXONOMIC VALUE OF THE SCALES OF LEPIDOPTERA. 
In the Kansas University Quarterly for July. 1894, Mr. V. L. Kellogg 
publishes an important paper under the above title in which he gives 
the results of investigations announced by Prof. J. H. Corastock. in his 
paper on Evolution and Taxonomy." which was reviewed in No. 3 of 
the present volume, of Insect Life. Mr. Kellogg has given us a very 
careful resume of previous researches in regard to the structure and 
office of the scales of Lepidoptera, and concludes that the most gener- 
alized scale is the small hair without specialized insertion, while the 
most specialized scale is the broadened toothed form with a pedicel and 
a cup-shaped insertion on the surface of the wing. He applies the prin- 
ciple laid down byComstock in his consideration of venation and shape 
of wing, and finds that his results coincide practically with the taxo- 
nomic conclusions reached by Prof. Comstock. The suborder Jugatae 
is confirmed by his researches, since he finds upon the wings of Microp- 
teryx and Hepialus. in addition to numerous specialized scales, a cov- 
ering of very fine hairs differing radically from the scales in size, 
arrangement, and mode of attachment to the membrane, and agreeing 
essentially with the fixed hairs of the Triehoptera. These hairs are 
absent in the insects of the suborder Frenata-. The high specialization 
of the true scales in the Jugat* he considers does not indicate a high 
rank for these "insects, but is merely corroborative of the presumption 
that they are the existing tips of branches whose lower members have 
disappeared. He believes that the stem form of Lepidoptera possessed 
wing-clothing much like that now exhibited by the Triehoptera and 
that the Jngatae branched off* before the covering of fine hairs had been 
lost, although the tendency to specialization had become already mani- 
fest. He discusses further the color of the scales and their peculiar 
differentiations, including specializations into androconia, applying his 
conclusions taxonomically in connection with Prof. Comstock's discov- 
eries. The details of his examinations of the insects of several families 
follow. A somewhat confusing statement is made upon page 77. where 
