286 



JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



[Vol. 8 



water, is about as effective as an emulsion containing 5 per cent kero- 

 sene. This method works well when the trees are not too large and 

 the branches are trimmed up so that the canvases can be operated 

 without obstruction, but in orchards in which the trees are large, and 

 the lower limbs are so low that their tips r^st on the ground, it is very 

 difficult to spray thoroughly and to manipulate the canvases expedi- 

 tiously. The canvases used were made of heavy unbleached muslin. 

 Strips were nailed across the ends of each to facilitate the handling of 

 them. One by taking hold of one of these strips can drag the canvas 

 from one tree to another, and in this way tw^o men or boys can move 

 the canvases from one tree to another about as quickly as they can 

 walk the distance. 



This method of combating the apple flea-weevil has the advantage 

 of giving immediate results, and of giving the orchardist the satis- 

 faction of seeing the beetles lying dead on the canvas at his feet as 

 soon as spraying has been completed. It has the disadvantage, how- 

 ever, of requiring an extra application for which the apple grower has 

 little time to spare, and hence will probably not be employed exten- 

 sively except as a last resort to reduce the number of beetles of the 

 new generation in June when earlier treatment has failed to suppress 

 them. 



Fortunately, it is only occasionally that this insect becomes trouble- 

 some, and when it does, the apple grower will doubtless be able to 

 control it by making such alterations in his usual program and methods 

 of spraying with arsenicals as to adapt them to its peculiarities. 



AN OUTBREAK OF THE ALFALFA LOOPER 



{Autographa gamrna calif ornica Speyer) 



By J. R. Parker, Assistant Entomologist, Montana Experiment Station, Bozeman, 



Montana 



The most striking entomological feature of the season of 1914 in 

 Montana was an outbreak of the alfalfa looper {Autographa gamma 

 calif ornica Speyer). This insect has been known to occur in Montana 

 for a number of years, but until the present season it has never been 

 abundant enough to be considered a pest of even the slightest impor- 

 tance. The sudden appearance of millions of looper larvae in the al- 

 falfa fields was so unexpected and unusual that farmers were throw^n 

 into a panic and requests for advice poured into the station from all 

 sections of the state. Many alfalfa growers were especially alarmed be- 

 cause they believed the looper to be the dreaded alfalfa weevil. 



