121 



reports of their appearance have come from Northern Illinois. 

 Entomological observers report the diseases in Minnesota, Iowa, 

 and Ohio. 



Lugger, Otto. — Fungi which Kill Insects. (Univ. of Minn., 

 Coll. of Agriculture, Bull. No. 4, p. 37. Abstracts in Farm- 

 ers' Eeview, Nov. 14, 1888, p. 721; in Prairie Farmer, 

 Dec. 1, 1888. p. 778, and in Indiana Farmer, Nov. 17, 1888, 

 p. 7.) 



Chinch bugs have done immense damage in Minnesota to the 

 various cereals during the last three years, chiefly in the more 

 southern counties. Owing to the dry warm summers of '85, '86, 

 and '87 they have increased steadily, extending westward and 

 northward. In the spring of 1888, many bugs were killed 

 in their winter quarters by cold and wet weather, but 

 large numbers wintered on the slopes of the hills and formed 

 centers of distribution. The weather being generally favorable, 

 the first brood of bugs became quite numerous and destructive 

 on the Experiment Station farm, and the second threatened dis- 

 aster. Oats, rye, wheat, and some of our grass, were utterly de- 

 stroyed. To protect the corn all the infested fields were sur- 

 rounded by a six-inch board fence fitting snugly to the ground, 

 the upper edge being painted from time to time with tar, which 

 prevented the insects from crossing. The famishing armies were 

 trapped in holes drilled in the ground close to tiie fence. As 

 one hole was filled it was closed and another opened. These 

 holes, being quite deep, were wet, and the chinch bugs wathin 

 soon became the victims of a fungus disease which spread rap- 

 idly to the fields and destroyed thousands, all showing the char- 

 acteristic wdiite mycelial threads and spores of the disease. The 

 fungus seems a true species of Entomophthora. The disease was soon 

 checked by warm dry weather, but by artificially producing favorable 

 conditions it was protracted for a time on a limited scale. Specimens 

 of the diseased bugs were placed in tight-fitting tin boxes and 

 mailed to eighteen places in Southern Minnesota and the contents 

 thrown into infested fields, apparently with good results, but it is 

 not certain that the disease may not have occurred spontaneously. 

 However this may be, the disease has done its w^ork, and it is 

 not likely that the chinch bug will soon be a menace to our farm- 

 ers. 



Marten, John.— Early History of the Chinch Bug in Illinois. 

 (Prairie Farmer, Dec. 15, 1888, v. 60, p. 818.) 



First published notice of chinch bug in Illinois in Prairie Farm- 

 er of 1845, which says it was in Tazewell, "Will, and other 

 counties in 1840. W. T. Shelby, Esq., of Olney, has lately in- 

 formed our State Entomologist that it was in Edwards county in 

 1828. 



