-3- 
Ove wintering larvae of the oriental fruit moth began pupating early 
in February and by the end of the month over 11 per cent of the overwinter- 
ing larvae had pupated in Georgia and adults were starting to emerge. 
In the Gulf district of Alabama and Mississippi the vegetable weevil 
has attracted probably more attention than rmy other truck-crop insect. 
This comparatively newly introduced pest- is continuing to snread northward. 
The mild, dry winter along the South Atlantic seaboard from I'orth Caro- 
lina to Georgia, and around the Gulf to Mississippi, resulted in what ap- 
pears to be an unprecedented outbreak of the false chinch bug. Tae insect 
severely injured many garden crops, particularly mustard, turnip, carrot, 
cabbage, and lettuce. 
The open winter also made it -oossible for the imported cabbage worm 
and the diamond-back moth to continue work throughout the wiafter, resulting 
in very serious damage in many of the winter- truck- growing sections from 
Virginia southward to Georgia and around the Gulf to Texas. Over much of 
this region cabbage was also infested by the cabbage looper, the cabbage 
webworm, and the cabbage aphid. 
Tnc harlequin bug was more or less active all winter in Virginia, and 
newly laid eggs were observe: 1 , in the field in the Norfolk district during 
the last week in January and the firs': week in February . Probably owing to 
this mild winter, the insect is reported as unusually abundant in the South- 
eastern and Gulf States. 
Canker worms began emerging during the first week in January in eastern 
Kansas. There was a very heavy emergence of the fall canker worm during the 
second week in February, and a similarly heavy emergence of the spring 
canker worm during the fourth week of February. 
In that part of the lower peninsula of Michigan where walkingsticks de- 
foliated large areas in 1930, the eggs did not hatch during 1931, and at the 
present time are so numerous that in so^e places a.s high as 50 eggs to the 
square foot are found beneath the trees. 
The boxelder bug has been very troublesome in the northern part of its 
range from Maryland to Iowa. The ei rly warm weather has aggravated the 
nuisance of the entry of houses by these insects. 
Buffalo gnats appeared in the Mississippi Delta about the middle of 
January, which is probably the earli ?st record of the appearance of this 
insect in that district. The; not, so far, been unusually abundant. 
