June, ’20] 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES 
323 
recurrence of fiery, itching dermatitis. About that time a collaborator complained 
that he would have to get treatment for a terrible itch with which he said the cooties 
in the trenches in France were tame in comparison. 
The mites multiplied rapidly, killing some of the larvae and many of the pupae of 
the following generation of beetles and the weevils that did emerge were immediately 
attacked by great numbers of mites and were killed within a few hours. Vigorous, 
uninfested females of B. quadrimaculatus when placed in this jar were, in some 
instances, dead within two hours and none were able to survive twenty-four hours. 
B. obtectus Say, however, fared better when put into the same jar. They were able 
to rid themselves of the mites by using their mouth-parts as a comb through which 
they drew their legs and antennae, which were thus cleaned of mites, and these in turn 
were used for brushing their bodies. The mites were killed but not eaten. Of thir¬ 
teen B. obtectus, five survived more than twenty-four hours. 
It was while examining the dead weevils inside the beans that the writer became well 
covered with those minute disseminators of intolerable fiery pustules. One hundred 
eighteen pustules were scattered about on his person at one time and it was then that 
his sympathies were with the weevils. The mites completely prevented the emergence 
of another generation of weevils. According to Dr. Ewing, the mites are probably 
Pediculoides ventricosus Newp. A. O. Larson, 
Scientific Assistant, Alhambra, California. 
Hawaiian Sugar Cane Borer in Costa Rica —A Correction. In my note on some in¬ 
sect pests of Costa Rica, published in this Journal (vol. 12, No. 3, p. 269) I committed a 
grave error in reporting Rhabdocnemis obscura from Zent, C. R. It should have been 
the Banana Root Borer, Cosmopolites sordidus Germ. The error was due in confus¬ 
ing C. sordidus with Metamasius hemipterus. I am indebted to Dr. E. A. Schwarz 
for the correct identification. The Banana Root Borer is also quite abundant in 
Panama and the Canal Zone, together with Metamasius sericeus Oliv. 
James Zetek. 
Zeitschrift fur angewandte Entomologie. Information received through Dr. L. O. 
Howard discloses the necessity of securing a large number of American subscribers if 
the Zeitschrift is to continue. There are now relatively few complete sets, volumes 
i-vi with “Beihefte,” available. The price of the complete series is $16.00. It may 
be secured through Prof. K. Escherich, Forschungsinstitut fur angewandte Zoologie, 
Munchen, Germany. 
Tree Hoppers and Alfalfa. Young orchards in Michigan have recently been 
suffering severely from the attacks of one of the tree hoppers, presumably Ceresa 
bubalis, the injury being perpetrated in the autumn when the eggs are laid on young 
apple trees of the first or second year. Observations made within the past few weeks 
have shown that, at least in the majority of cases if not in all of them, this injury has 
occurred in young orchards set out in alfalfa, one orchard in the southern part of the 
state was set half in alfalfa and the other half in plowed ground with the result that 
the latter half was entirely free, while the part of the orchard in the alfalfa was very 
badly infested,—the eggs being so thickly distributed in the young twigs that many 
of the trees will be deformed. Following this observation Mr. R. M. Hain, extension 
specialist in this department, visited the region in question and reports that in every 
case where severe injury from tree-hopper attacks have occurred, that young trees have 
been set out in alfalfa, while young trees in the same region not set in alfalfa ground 
appear to have escaped with slight if any injury. This would seem at first to be rather 
more than mere coincidence. 
R. H. Pettit, 
Entomologist of Experiment Station, Michigan Agricultural College. 
