7 



side. Early in August the moths began to appear, when they were identified as speci- 

 mens of Cramhus vulgivagellus, the new enemy proving to be an inconspicuous and 

 hitherto unobtrusive little Crambus. It is quite probable that several accounts of inju- 

 ries to pasture lands in the New England States during the last three or four years by 

 some unknown depredators are to be credited to this species. 



At a late meeting of our Entomological Society, held in London, one of our mem- 

 bers, Mr. J. M. Denton, referred to the injuries which were at that time being inflicted 

 on some pasture lands within a few miles of London by the larva of the common May 

 Bug ( Lachnosterna fusca and exhibited specimens of their work. He had found whole 

 fields of pasture land with the roots of the grass so eaten that the turf could be readily 

 lifted with the hand by the yard, and underneath were thousands of these grubs feeding 

 on the remaining fragments of roots. In one instance, near the village of Delaware, a 

 field had been so completely destroyed that the farmer had set fire to the withered grass 

 with the hope of scorching the enemy to death. As these larvae readily burrow in the 

 ground when disturbed, he was advised to adopt a different method and turn his hogs 

 into the field to root amongst the grass and devour the larv?e, which they greedily con- 

 sume in immense numbers. Such wholesale destruction by this insect is not common, 

 but when it does occur it is very alarming. 



In the tenth annual report of the State Entomologist of Illinois, just received, men- 

 tion is made of a new insect injurious to corn. This is a small beetle closely allied to 

 the common striped Cucumber Beetle, and known to Entomologists under the name of 

 Diahrotica longicornis. In Illinois the damage caused by the larva of this insect has 

 been considerable. They are small white worms about half an inch long and very slender, 

 which attack the fibrous roots of the corn, and so destroy them that the plants may be 

 pulled up very easily with the hand. After a time the plants begin to wither and the 

 grain fails to mature. In some instances it is believed that the injury inflicted by this 

 tiny creature would result in the loss of fully one-third of the crop. The perfect beetle 

 is about one-fifth of an inch long, with a width scarcely equal to half its length, and of 

 a pale, dull greenish yellow colour without spots or stripes. 



The general alarm which prevailed several years ago in reference to the Colorado 

 Potato Beetle seems now to have to a great extent subsided, and notwithstanding that 

 the insect has been very abundant in some sections, it has not been so generally injurious, 

 and where it has appeared in abundance prompt remedial measures have been success- 

 fully employed. It has been claimed, and, I suppose, correctly so, that this pest origi- 

 nally came from the canons in the Rocky Mountains, in the State of Colorado, where it 

 is said to have fed on some wild species of Solanum growing there. It was my privilege 

 during the latter part of August of this year to spend a week in this district, and while 

 there I travelled fully one hundred miles through those canons. Several species of wild 

 Solanum grow in abundance almost everywhere, in the adjoining plains as well as in the 

 canons, and every opportunity was embraced of examining them, but in no instance could 

 I detect any evidence of the presence of the Colorado Potato Beetle in any of its stages. 

 Besides, I saw several potato patches, and these also seemed quite free from any insect 

 trouble. This seemed to me not a little singular in view of the extremely prolific nature 

 of the insect. Can it be that it has migrated so completely as to leave over large areas 

 no representatives behind 1 or have its natural enemies so increased as to almost annihilate 

 the pest] Our farmers here would, I am sure, gladly hail the advent of either of these 

 agencies should it free them from this troublesome insect. 



The question of the use of the most suitable and economical poisons for the destruc- 

 tion of injurious insects still attracts much attention, and Paris Green continues to head 

 the list as the most generally useful, notwithstanding the efforts which have been made 

 by interested parties to replace it by London Purple. London Purple is an arsenical 

 mixture, a waste product, which accumulates during the manufacture of aniline dyes. 

 Before its introduction as an insect destroyer it had no commercial value : on the con- 

 trary, the dye makers were at considerable expense, and trouble in getting rid of it as it 

 accumulated. Arsenic, which is the active ingredient in this compound, is present in 

 very variable proportions, which is just what one might expect in a waste product. 

 Sometimes it forms less than twenty per cent, of the mixture, while other samples will 



