178 
ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1905 OF THE 
ZOOLOGIST. 
Introduction. 
The past year has not been marked by any great outbreaks 
of insect attack, though some pests, like the diamond-back 
moth, have done considerable harm in certain districts. The 
blight insects (Aphidse) which were so generally destructive in 
1904, have, for the most part been conspicuous by their 
absence, and the only member of that group concerning which 
several complaints have been received is the larch bug, which 
is treated at some length in the following Report. 
Flea-beetles were perhaps more than usually abundant, 
both on turnips and on other cruciferous plants, and it was 
noticeable that there were often greater numbers of some of 
the allied species than of the so-called turnip-fly, Phyllotreta 
nemorum. Mr. James Fletcher, the Government Entomologist 
of Canada, writes to me to say that Bordeaux mixture has been 
very successfully used in Canada against flea-beetles. This 
wash has generally been considered more valuable as a 
fungicide than as an insecticide, but after the Canadian 
experience it might be well to give it a trial in this country 
as a remedy for turnip-fly. 
Big Bud Disease. 
Continued observation of the Black-currant Gall-mite has 
for the most part confirmed the conclusions arrived at four 
years ago, when the life-history of this mite was described and 
illustrated in my Annual Report for the year 1901. 1 One 
important point in its life-history still remains obscure, for 
though investigators have not been able to find living mites 
in the soil, or on or near the roots of the plants, experience 
shows that one or other of these hiding places must be open 
to them. Otherwise, cutting the plants entirely down would 
infallibly cure the disease, whereas its effect is extremely 
uncertain, the result in some cases being satisfactory, whereas 
in others the mites recur. But, though direct evidence on the 
1 Journal R.A.S.E., Yol. 62, 1901, pp. 258 and 261. See also Vol. 65, 1904 
pp. 65 and 66. 
