Current Notes Conducted by the Associate Editor

246 JOL:R="AL OF ECONO:\llC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9

Mr. G. G. Schweiss, assistant in entomology at Nevada University, resigned August 1, 1915.

Mr. L. V. France has been appointed instructor in beekeeping at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. W. S. Regan is instructor in entomology in the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass.

Dr. M. C. Tanquary has been appointed instructor and assistant in entomology Downloaded from at the Kansas College and Station.

Mr. E. B. Blakeslee, Bureau of Entomology, has returned to \Vashington from his field station, Winchester, Va.

Mr. B. R. Leach, Bureau of Entomology, returned to \Vashinp;ton from his headquarters at \Vinchester, Va. http://jee.oxfordjournals.org/

Mr. D. L. Van Dine, Bureau of Entomology, visited Washington near the end of November and remained several weeks.

Mr. F. L. McDonough, Bureau of Entomology, completed the determination of the boll weevil dispersion in Florida during November.

Mr. L. M. Gates, field expert in entomology at the University of Nebraska, has resigned to engage in farming. by guest on June 6, 2016 Mr. A. H. Jennings, Bureau of Entomology, was absent on furlough for the month of December on account of ill health. Mr. 13.P. Young, a graduate student, has been appointed instructor in entomology at the University of Kansas. His work will be along morphological lines. Mr. P. W. Claassen, Assistant State Entomologist at the University of Kansas during the past two years, is now Research Assistant at Cornell University. Dr. Henry Fox, Bureau of Entomology, who was stationed temporarily during the summer at Tappahannock, Va., has returned to his field station at Charlottes- ville, Va. Mr. C. C. Hamilton, Bureau of Entomology, temporarily engaged at Rocky Ford, Colo., has reentered the University of Illinois, Urbana, Il1. Mr. C. P. Clausen has been appointed assistant superintendent of the State Insectary at Sacramento, Ca1., vice H. L. Viereck, resigned, and has entered upon his duties. Dr. T. J. Headlee, New Brunswick, N. J., has been appointed entomologist of the Society of American Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists for the coming year by President MacRorie. Mr. V. L. Wildermuth, Bureau of Entomology, who visited Washington in the fall while engaged in the preparation of manuscript, has returned to his field station at Tempe, Ariz. February, '16] CURRENT NOTES 247

The cranberry insect laboratory of the Bureau of Entomology, formerly at Pem- berton, N. J., in charge of Mr. H. B. Scammell, has been transferred to Brown's Mills, N. J. J. D. Smith and J. U. Gilmore, Bureau of Entomology, who arrived in 'Washington on November 4, were compelled to return to their homes on November 27 on account -ofillness. Mr. R. N. Wilson, Bureau of Entomology, who spent a part of November in the office at Washington preparing manuscript, has returned to his field station at Gaines- ville, Fla. At the Annual Meeting, December 10, Mr. George H. Hollister was elected president of the Connecticut Horticultural Society at Hartford. Mr. Hollister is now superintendent of I\:eney Park in Hartford.

Mr. J. Turner Brakeley, a student of mosquitoes, co-worker and friend of the Downloaded from late Dr. John B. Smith, died recently at his home, Lahaway Plantations, N. J., aged sixty-eight years. Mr. Irving R. Crawford, Bureau of Entomology, temporarily attached to the range caterpillar investigations at Maxwell, N. M., has resigned from the service

in order to engage in other work. http://jee.oxfordjournals.org/ :\11'.R. A. Cushman, Bureau of Entomology, of the North East, Pa., laboratory, has returned to Washington and will be engaged during the winter in monographic work on parasitic Hymenoptera. 1\1r.A. I. Fabis, Bureau of Entomology, connected with the laboratory at Monti- cello, Fla., engaged in pecan insect investigations, has returned to 'Washington for the purpose of conference and library work. According to Experiment Station Record, Mr. D. T. Fullaway resigned June 30,

1915, as entomologist of the Hawaii station to become field entomologist of the by guest on June 6, 2016 territorial board of agriculture and forestry. • The connections of temporary appointees in the Bureau of Entomology, Messrs. C. H. Alden, W. B. Cartwright, and H. L. Dozier, have been severed on account of expiration of the periods for which they were employed.

In the work on the potato-tuber moth, which has been carried OIl for some time by the Bureau of Entomology, thirteen parasites and one hyperparasite have been studied by Mr. John E. Graf.

Mr. Dwight lseley, Bureau of Entomology, has returned to Washington from the North East, Pa., laboratory, where special attention was given during the summer to field experiments in the control of the grape-berry moth.

Mr. H. H. Kimball, Bureau of Entomology, returned to Agricultural College, Miss., from New Orleans on the 15th of November. He will make a local malaria mosquito survey of the vicinity of the College during the winter.

Mr. E. H. Siegler, Bureau of Entomology, who is engaged in investigations of the codling moth in Grand Junction, Colo., has arrived in \Vashington and will be engaged during the winter in the preparation of notes, manuscripts, etc.

Mr. Samuel D. Gray has been appointed professor of entomology at the Porto Rico College, vice R. I. Smith, whose resignation to take up quarantine work for the Federal Horticultural Board was announced a few months ago. 248 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9'

According to Science, a biological expedition to the island of Santo Domingo will be made next fall by Professor J. G. Needham, and Messrs. J. T. Needham, Ludlow Griscom and K. P. Schmidt of the entomological department of Cornell University.

The Annual Massachusetts convention of beekeepers will be held at Amherst, Mass., March 14 to 16, inclusive. This convention will conclude the winter school of beekeeping at the Agricultural College.

Professor Geo. A. Dean, of the Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kan., will offer the courses of instruction in entomology in the second term of the Summer Session, at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan.

Mr. Geo. H. Vansell resigned his position on the staff of the State Entomologist of the University of Kansas, on December 1, to accept the position of assistant professor of entomology at the UniversiGY of Kentucky. Downloaded from

Mr. Fred "\V.Poos, Jr., a graduate student of the University of Kansas, takes the place on the staff of the State Entomologist made vacant by the resignation of Mr. Vansell.

According to Science, Assistant Professor A. L. Lovett has been made acting head http://jee.oxfordjournals.org/ of the entomological department of the Oregon Agricultural College, vice H. F. Wilson, who resigned recently to accept a professorship in entomology at the Uni- versity of Wisconsin.

Entomological News announces the death of Dr: Frederick W. Russell, formerly of Winchendon, Mass., on November 20, 1915, at the age of 71. Dr. Russell was particularly interested in the Lepidoptera and for years collected moths at light at his home in Winchendon.

According to Science, Mr. Herbert T. Osborn, a graduate of Ohio State University by guest on June 6, 2016 in 1909, and son of Professor Herbert Osborn, has been sent by the Sugar Planters' Association of Honolulu to Formosa to secure parasites to use in Hawaii to control the cane beetle.

:Mr. E. W. Geyer, Bureau of Entomology, who spent the summer at Roswell, N. M., in orchard spraying and dusting work, has returned to Washington for conference and for the completion of the report on the life history of the codling moth in New Mexico.

Mr. E. R. Van Leeuwen, who has been assisting Mr. Siegler in codling moth investigations at Grand Junction, Colo., has been transferred to the Bureau of Entomology field station at Benton Harbor, Mich. Mr. Van Leeuwen will shortly leave the service to resume his college studies.

Mr. Henry L. Viereck, who recently resigned from the California State Insectary. for a few weeks in November was at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City; he is now connected with the Bureau of Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

According to Entomological News, M. Charles Kerremans, a student of the Bupres- tidal in Europe, died October 10 at the age of 68. Mr. Kerremuns was engaged in the preparation of a monograph of this family of beetles, which had not been completed at the time of his death. . February, '16] CURRENT NOTES 249

Entomological News records the death, on November 16, 1915, of Professor Raphael Meldola of London, England, aged 66. Professor Meldola was the author of many entomological papers and a member of several scientific societies. In 1895 and 1896 he was president of the Entomological Society of London.

According to Science, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria has been removed from member- ship in the Entomological Society of France, which he has held since 1882, and in the Petrograd Entomological Society. The latter has elected in his place M. Lameere -ofBrussels, who is now working in the Paris Museum of Natural History.

Mr. Curtis P. Clausen, Assistant Superintendent of the State Insectary at Sacra- mento, Cal., sailed for the Orient on January 8, for the purpose of colleding parasites and predators for use against scale insects injurious in California. His field will be

Japan and Formosa, and possibly China later. Downloaded from

Mr. J. W. Bailey, Bureau of Entomology, who has had experience with Mr. M. M. High in onion insect investigations at Brownsville, Tex., and who has been a collaborator during the year at St,arkvillc, Miss., entered Cornell University at the beginning of the college year, to complete his course in entomology. http://jee.oxfordjournals.org/ The Michigan Agricultural College announces a short course or "beekeepers' week," March 13 to 18. Both men and women are welcome. There are no fees and no age limits. Mr. F. Eric Millen is instrnctor in beekeeping and also State Inspector -ofApiaries.

Mr. George B. Merrill, recently connected wi~h the Gipsy Moth Laboratory at Melrose Highlands, Mass., has accepted the position of Deputy Port and Railway InspE'ctor with the State Plant Board of Florida. Mr. Merrill will be stationed at. Tampa. by guest on June 6, 2016 Mr. A. C. Mason, until recently connected with the Nursery Inspection work in Florida, has been appointed as Assistant to Dr. E. W. Berger, entomologist of the Florida Plant Board, and will be located at the Plant Board laboratory at Gaines- ville.

G. E. Bensel, collaborator, Bureau of Entomology, has been appointed Supervising Agriculturist of all of the Southern California Sugar Companies for the purpose of improving the present cultural method of the sugar beet crop, and to supervise the combating of various enemies affecting this crop, especially nematodes. His headquarters are Los Angeles, Cal.

Mr. Donald J. Caffrey of the Bureau of Entomology, stationed at Maxwell, N. M., visited Washington in December and January and spent his vacation at his home in Massachusetts. On his return he visited the entomological department of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Ncw Haven, Conn., where he was formerly an assistant.

Professor Gordon M. Bentley, formerly State Entomologist and Pathologist of Tennessee, has been reinstated. It was announced in the last number of this JOUR- NAL that Governor Rye had refused to reappoint Professor Bentley. It seems that instead he appointed a nurseryman, Mr. Bing of Smithville, and the office was removed to Smithville. Mr. Bing has now resigned and Professor Bentley has been reappointed to his former position. 250 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9'

Professor James G. Needham of Cornell University visited the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan., in November, and delivered an address before the entomological club on "The Ecology of Certain Aquatic Larvm," and also spoke before all students of biology on "The Common Ground of Poet and Naturalist." A smoker was given in the evening in honor of Professor Needham and to enable the Univer- sity men to meet him.

According to the Experiment Station Record, contracts have been awarded for the new biology building at the University of Nebraska, which will house the depart- ments of botany and zoology and will bear the name of Bessey Hall. The structure will consist of a three-story and basement main building, 235 x 75 feet, with a short wing at each end and attached greenhouses and vivaria, and will cost approximately $200,000.

Mr. George H. Corbett of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, who was in the United Downloaded from States last year as a Carnegie student, has offered his services to his country for entomological and hospital work at the front. While in this country Mr. Corbett visited many official entomologists and experiment stations in the United States and Canada and he wishes to express publicly ih the JOURNALOF Ecol'\OMIC ENTO- MOLOGY his gratitude to all entomologists who gave him so much valuable assistance while here. http://jee.oxfordjournals.org/

The Florida Entomological Society has recently been organized at Gainesville, Fla .. with fifteen charter members. The first officers elected were: Prof. J. R. Watson, Ent.omologist of the Florida Expenment Station, president; Mr. Wilmon Newell, Plant Commissioner of the Florida Plant Board, vice-president; and Mr. R. N. Wilson, U. R. Bureau of Entomology, secretary-treasurer. A paper was read on the Velvet Bean Caterpillar (Anttcars',:n (/emmatilis), by Professor Watson, and another on the Fungous Diseases of Scales and White Flies on Citrus, by Dr. E. W.

Berger, Entomologist of the Florida Plant Board. by guest on June 6, 2016

In the District of Columbia, Dr. F. H. Chittenden of the Bureau of Entomology has found t.hat the abutilon moth (Cosmophila erosa) has not appeared on abutilons at all; a few have been found on hollyhocks; and four individuals were taken from morning-glory. Two of these looked perfectly healthy when received, were full- grown, and had the characteristic markings on the back. All four died owing to the attack of the minute egg-parasite (Litomastix (Copidosoma) truncatellum. This latter species has been very abundant during the year and has perhaps been more instrumental in keeping down the numbers of the cabbage looper (Autographa brassiere Riley) than any other single cause.

1\11'. D. J. Caffrey, Bureau of Entomology, reports the recovery of the parasitic fly, Com.psilura eoneinnata, from specimens of the range caterpillar taken at a point where a colony of the fly was liberated during the summer of 1914. This apparently indicates that the parasite has become established. Mr. Caffrey also reports the range caterpillar as injuring seriously corn and other cultivated crops in the vicinity of Maxwell, N. M., during the past summer. The insect has hereto- fore confined its attentions almost exclusively to the blue gramma grass of the cattle ranges. In cooperation with the Office of Home Economics of the States Relations Service, a series of experiments are being conducted by the Bureau of Entomology with a. colony of bees placed in a respiration calorimeter. The object of these experiments is to determine the exact quantity of heat given off by the bee colony under different February, '16] CURRENT NOTES 251 conditions in regard to the temperature, humidity, and the carbon dioxid and oxygen content of the surrounding air. The water vapor and the carbon dioxid given off by the bees under these different conditions are also determined. Mr. 'V. A. Parks of Washington, D. C., has been appointed as student assistant and assigned to this work.

Mr. ~eale F. Howard, Bureau of Entomology, who has been working on root maggots and other insects at Green Bay, 'Vis., has entered Ohio University, Cohlm- bus, Ohio, for a postgraduate course, under the direction of Professor Herbert Osborn. Mr. Howard reports that tarred felt pads, first invented by Goff, have been used by some of the gardeners in the vicinity of Green Bay since the early 90's and with perfect success. When made of the right material and properly placed the percentage of efficiency is practically 100. It is not applicable to cabbage in seed beds, but if it could be adapted to the control of the onion maggot, a near relative, it would be an ideal method. Downloaded from Science states that the equipment of the department of entomology at the Lniver- sity of Illinois, and of the natural history survey of that state, receives a notable addition in the new vivarium building in Champaign, which will contain a large insectary for student use, with three laboratory rooms in connection, an apparatus,

furnished conjointly by the university and the State Laboratory of N at mal History, http://jee.oxfordjournals.org/ for temperature and humidity control in the study of insect life-histories, and a set of experimental aquaria fitted up for exact studies on the ecology of fresh-water animals. The insectary and entomological laboratories will be under the charge of Dr. R. D. Glasgow, and the state laboratory equipment under that of Dr. V. E. Shelford, of the laboratory staff.

The following note was printed in Science: "At the two hundred and ninety-first regular meeting of. the Entomological Society of \Yashington the constitution was amended so as to permit the election of an honorary president, such office to be ten- dered only to active members who have bccn especially prominent in the affairs of by guest on June 6, 2016 the society and to convey with it expressions of gratitude, respect and honor. After creating this office, the society elected unanimously Mr. E. A. Schwarz as first honorary plesident. Mr. Schwarz was one of the charter members of the society, has held the office of president for two terms, vice-president for a number of terms, and secretary for a number of terms and has taken an active interes(· in the affairs of the society. He has attended every meeting of the society when he has been in \\, ashington, has contributed greatly to its financial support and has entertained the society more than any ot.her member. He is an internationally recognized authority on Coleoptera and has contributed materially to the advancement of his favorite group and also to the geneml scientle of entomology."

The following note occurs in the November News Leiter of the Bureau of Entomol- ogy: In a memorandum to this office dated November 6, 1915, Dr. W. D. Hunter, in charge Southern Field Crop Insect Investigations, sta~ed: "The recent hurri- cane injured practically every building in New Orleans, La., more or less, and hun- dreds were completely demolished. Many of the exposed beams were mined by insects and in many cases at least this weakening of the timbers was an important contributory cause of the loss." The insects usually responsible for this type of injury are termites and "powder post" beetles. Damage to timbers of buildings by termites is occasionally serious even in the northern states. "Powder post" beetles also often seriously injure the beams of buildings. But this is the firs~ instance of the interrelation of storms and insects in the destruction of buildings 252 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9 that has come to our notice, although similar interrelation between insects and storms in the destruction of telephone and telegraph poles has been commonly noted. We will be glad to receive specimens of the insects or insect-damaged wood from buildings in the region of the storm above referred to.

Mr. S. A. Rohwer of the Bureau of Entomology has just completed a summary of the first year's growth of the nursery connected with the Eastern Field Station. This nursery now consists of twenty-three species of deciduous trees which are repre- sented by one hundred and thirty specimens. There were one hundred and thirty- nine planted, which makes a loss of nine. Of these one hundred and thirty trees, eleven are at present used in experiments to determine the life-history of insects injurious to forest trees. Some very useful experiments are being carried on with trees of Robinia pseudacacia to determine the life-history of Eetydolopha insiitciana. These experiments are under the direction of Mr. Heinrich. The coniferous nursery is composed of three species of Abies, two species of Larix, three species of Pieea, Downloaded from fifteen species of Pinus and one species of Pseudotwga, a total of twenty-four species. There were twenty-one hundred and ninety-nine coniferous trees planted. Of these, fourteen hundred and sixty-six are living, which means a loss of 331 per cent. Thirty of the coniferous trees are now used in experiments. Most of these experiments are for various species of Evetria and Diprion. Some of the coniferous trees which have done especially well are Pinus ponderosa, resinosa, sylvestris and divaricata. http://jee.oxfordjournals.org/ The two species of Larix show marked difference in their adaptibility to eastern conditions. In the plot of Larix oecidentalis there are only ten trees living, ninety- two having been killed by the summer. In the plot of Larix leptolepsis (Japanese larch) there are sixty-five living trees and some of these have made phenomenal growth.

At a meeting in New York City, November 17, there was formed the Interstate Anti-Mosquito Committee, consisting of two members each from New York City,

Nassau and Westchester counties, and the adjoining states of Connecticut and New by guest on June 6, 2016 Jersey. This committee held a meeting at the offices of the Department of Health, New York City, January 12, 1916, and mapped out a program for work. Its mem- bership is as follows: . New York City: Dr. Haven Emerson, Health Commissioner, Mr. Samuel Eck- man, Forest Hills, N. Y. Westchester County: Dr. A. Hoyt, New Rochelle, N. Y., Mr. Collin Armstrong, Scarsdale, N. Y. Nassau County: Dr. Frank Overton, Patchogue, L. 1., Mr. W. J. Matheson, Huntington, L. 1. New Jersey: Dr. Thomas J. Headlee, State Entomologist, New Brunswick, N. J., Dr. Ralph H. Hunt, East Orange, N. J. Connecticut: Dr. W. E. Britton, State Entomologist, New Haven, Conn., Dr. Valery Havard, U. S. A. (Retired), Fairfield, Conn.

Mailed March 4, 1916