BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY AND PLANT QUARANTINE 45 
Substantial increase in gypsy moth infestation found 
During the winter of 1951-52, some 500,000 acres were scouted for 
the gypsy moth in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. A total of 954 infesta- 
tions comprising more than 39 million egg clusters were found as a 
result of this work. A substantial increase in gypsy moth numbers 
was noted throughout the generally infested parts of New England. 
Extensive areas of partial to complete defoliation had been located 
at the end of the fiscal year at various points in New England. Final 
defoliation figures for the 1952 season may reach a total of 300,000 
acres. 
Further simplifications in certification procedures 
During the 1952 spraying season nine nurseries sprayed their entire 
premises with DDT to render their stock eligible for certification to 
destinations outside the infested areas. These premises totalled 660 
acres of nursery plots and border areas. 
A revision of the list of products exempt from the certification re- 
quirements added a number of forest, stone, and quarry products which 
are not considered likely to spread gypsy moth infestation under 
present methods of movement. These lessened restrictions reduced 
from 600 to 315 the number of producers and operators who ship under 
certification agreements. 
INSECT IDENTIFICATION 
Field studies were made in fruit-growing areas of the West Coast 
by the Bureau's taxonomic specialist on mites. This work resulted 
in the issuance of a very useful mimeographed report, "A Guide to 
the Predatory Mites of the West Coast." The studies also supplied 
information for completing a much needed "Guide to the Spider Mites 
of Deciduous Fruit Trees." This work also helped field entomologists 
to understand what may be expected from the various kinds of mites 
occurring in the western fruit orchards enabling them to more closely 
synchronize control operations. 
Two months' study by a Bureau taxonomist in Alaska developed 
information showing that mosquito abundance in any one area in 
Alaska may be predicted from a study of weather data from that area 
for the previous nine months. 
The largest and probably the most important single taxonomic 
Bureau publication of the year is the Synoptic Catalog of the Hy- 
menoptera of America North of Mexico. This is a work of 1,400 
pages that clarified the status of approximately 15,000 different kinds 
of wasps, bees, ants, sawflies, gallflies, and parasites of other insects. 
Its preparation involved intermittent work during several years and 
the cooperation of 17 non-Bureau specialists who contributed the 
technical material for the particular segments that represented their 
respective fields of specialization. 
A manuscript of approximately 1.600 pages on a "Kevision of the 
American Moths of the Subfamily Phycitinae" is now in final form 
for publication. A detailed study of the Meyrick Types of Micro- 
lepidoptera is also being conducted in cooperation with the British 
Museum of Natural History. A six-volume work on this subject will 
be published by the British Museum. 
