820 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



M. Marlatt in China and sent in quantity to Washington. All died en 

 route but one couple, and these produced some 5,000 in one summer, and, 

 being distributed, have survived and spread abundantly. A Cotton pest 

 was similarly checked by an ant introduced from Guatemala. — C. T. D. 



Insects attacking* the Stems of Growing Wheat, Rye, 

 Barley, and Oats. By F. M. Webster (U.S.A. Dep. Agr. Div. Ent., 

 Bull. No. 42). — The insects mentioned in this bulletin are seven small 

 Hymenoptera, belonging to the family Chalcidte and the genus Isosoma, 

 and three Dipterous flies. The members of the family Chalcida are 

 nearly all parasitic, and for many years it was thought that the grubs of 

 the Isosomas were parasitic on some other insect which was attacking the 

 stems of corn and grasses, but it has been lately proved that they are 

 the culprits. Feeding as they do inside the stems, they cause them to 

 become distorted, and in consequence the " straw was inclined to fall 

 before the grain had fully ripened ... in some cases resulting in nearly a 

 total loss of the crop." One of the two-winged flies (Mcromyza americana) 

 lays its eggs on the stems of Wheat and some grasses, so that the grubs 

 when they are hatched can make their way into the upper joint, where 

 they feed on the juices which go to nourish the young ears, which in con- 

 sequence suffer. These grubs are known by the name of the " Greater 

 Wheat stem Maggot." The other two-winged flies belong to the genus 

 Oscinis, and are 0. carbo?iaria, whose maggots are known by the name of 

 the " Lesser Wheat-stem Maggot," and 0. soror, the " American Frit-fly." 

 The larvae of both these flies injure the stems much in the same way as 

 the "Greater Wheat-stem Maggot." The insects reported on in this 

 bulletin are fully described and figured, and their life-histories, as far as 

 they are known, given. — G. 8. S. 



Insects injurious to Fruits in Michigan. By K. H. Pettit 



(U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Michigan, Bull. 24; 2/04, 70 figs.).— This bulletin 

 contains short and interesting notes concerning the pests of fruit trees 

 and shrubs, with excellent figures of each. Appropriate remedies are 

 quoted for each. Directions for preparing Paris green, arsenical poisons, 

 the lime-sulphur-salt wash, kerosene emulsion, and other useful insecti- 

 cides are given. — F. J. C. 



Insects, Short Notes on Seeds, Fruits, and Woods inhabited 



by. By P. Bargagli (Bull. B. Soc. Tosc. Ort. 5, p. 136, May 1904). 



Cereals: Andropogon Sorghum Brot. is excavated by one of the 

 Tineas, which completely hollows out the seeds in the larval condition : 

 it is closely allied in life-habits to Sitotroga cerealella 01. 



I'ci/clablcs : Some forms of Abyssinian French Bean with small white 

 red-spotted seeds are attacked by a small beetle — Mylabris (Bruchus) 

 ornata Bohm.— living as larva and nymph, usually one in each seed. But 

 this species also infested seeds of Vetches with which poultry were fed on 

 board one of the P. k 0. steamships at Venice. 



Fruit-trees : The Tinea infests the seeds of the drupe-fruit of Spondias 

 birrea Hich., the pulp of which is used for fermenting drinks in Sene- 

 ga m hi a. 



