A NEW TOBACCO PEST. 
BY 
Henky Tryon. 
(Read on 4th August, 1892). 
When in 1889 attention was drawn by me to those diseases 
—due to the attacks of insects — which affect our potatoes, the 
existence of a formidable pest in our midst — the caterpillar of a 
small moth named Lita solanella — was for the first time brought 
under notice. In my “ Report on Insect and Fungus Pests ” 
(pages 175 to 181) this insect, as it appears in the different 
phases of its existence, is fully described, and its habits as well 
as the nature and extent of its ravages are dwelt upon. It is 
there stated that this potato grub was reported as occurring in 
Tasmania as eax’ly as 1865, though still prior to this it had 
manifested its presence in New Zealand. Soon after 1870 it 
was noticed in one locality in New South Wales as doing 
considerable damage to potatoes grown there, and by 1881— or 
earlier still — it had' displayed its destructive propensities in 
South Australia. In the meanwhile, however, it had found its 
way to Algeria, in 1874, proving very injurious to the potatoes 
in that remote locality. In 1889 an extensive literary research 
had failed to reveal any mention of the existence of this pest 
either in America or on the continent of Europe. However, 
with regard to the former region Albert Koebele, of the Entomo- 
logical Branch of the United States Agricultural Department, 
during a recent visit informed me that by aid of the description 
of the pest in the above report he had been able to identify it 
with a potato enemy which he had recently detected as occurring 
in California amongst shipments of this esculent. When it first 
appeared in this colony cannot, perhaps, now be ascertained. 
Concerning the extent of the ravages which it occasions it may 
be mentioned that Boisduval, in writing of its occurrence in 
Algiers, remarks that during a single season three-fourths of the 
potato crop was destroyed by this pest, and Otto Tepper, when 
in 1881 alluding to his Adelaide experiences, states that as far 
