INTRODUTCION. 
Co His Excellency, John M. Palmer, 
Governor of the State of Illinois: 
Sm—Having been called by your appointment to fill the va- 
ancy in the office of State Entomologist, caused by the sudden 
ad accidental death of Benjamin D. Walsh, whose untimely loss 
lientific and economic entomology equally deplore, I herewith 
resent my first annual report, in compliance with the require- 
lent of the law by which this office was established, and in fur- 
aerance of the objects which my lamented predecessor had so 
inch at heart. 
My attention has been so much diverted, for several years past, 
rorn the study of insects, by the pressure of professional and 
ther duties, that I have not been able, in most instances, to make 
hose continuous observations which are essential to the complete 
lucidation of the history of species. The present publication, 
herefore, will be in the main, what its title implies, a report of 
ny observations in practical entomology for the season just past. 
The history of many of our noxious insects, and especially the 
nost notorious of them, has been pretty thoroughly traced, not 
mly by the entomologists expressly employed by several of the 
States for this purpose, but also by many other active gleaners in 
;his field. Still, any one who enters upon the study of this ex¬ 
pensive subject, soon finds work enough upon his hands. It can- 
lot be said that the history ot any insect is perfectly and abso- 
utely known, and it is a notorious fact that some of the insects 
svhich have been longest known and studied, such as the Plum 
Ourculio and the Apple Worm, are the very ones which are caus 
