500 



JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



[Vol. 8 



Before adjourning, the Secretary called attention to the fact that 

 the meeting had been favored with the presence of three past presi- 

 dents of the Association and that this had added much to the occasion, 

 also that it was an especial pleasure that Prof. Lawrence Bruner, who 

 had recently been honored by his state as its most distinguished citi- 

 zen, was present on this occasion. 



There being no further business the session adjourned at 5 p. m. 

 R. A. CooLEY, A. F. Burgess, 



Vice-President. Secretary. 



GRYLLOTALPA GRYLLOTALPA LINN., THE EUROPEAN 

 MOLE CRICKET IN NEW JERSEY 



By Harry B. Weiss, Neiv Brunswick, N. J. 



During the early part of July, 1915, my attention was called to an 

 underground insect which was cutting off the roots of various plants 

 in a nursery at Rutherford, N. J. Upon making a search, a mole 

 cricket considerably larger than our common but by no means abun- 

 dant Gryllotalpa horealis Burm., was found to be responsible for the 

 injury. Mr. J. A. G. Rehn, to whom a specimen was submitted, pro- 

 nounced it Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Linn., the European mole cricket. 

 The infestation which is undoubtedly of several years' duration, ex- 

 tends over several acres planted to herbaceous and ornamental stock, 

 a considerable portion of which is used for show purposes only. The 

 soil is rather light and porous and contains a variety of shrubs, shade 

 trees, evergreens, etc., such as one would naturally find in a nursery. 

 No preference was shown by the cricket for any particular plant, its 

 zig-zag burrows being found in different parts of the area irrespective 

 of the kinds of plants growing there. 



The insects were numerous enough for the nursery to detail several 

 men to hunt them out and destroy as many as possible every few days 

 and to sink empty flower pots in the ground, covering them with boards, 

 for trapping purposes. 



Malcolm Burr in his '^Synopsis of the Orthoptera of Western 

 Europe" records this species as occurring through Europe, and from 

 Sweden to Spain, rare and local in England, abundant in France, often 

 doing damage to gardens, common in Belgium. At Rutherford, where 

 the insect was discovered, large amounts of imported stock are re- 

 ceived every year. There were consigned to this locality during 1914, 

 more than five thousand parcels of imported stock and during the 

 spring of 1915, over two thousand parcels were received. The major- 

 ity of this stock comes from Belgium and Holland and only a small 



