Bulletin 434 June, 1940 LONNECTICUT STATEENTOMOLOGIST THIRTY -NINTH REPORT 1939 R. B. FRIEND, PH.D. State Entomologist Bulletin 434 June, 1940 CONNECTTCUTSTATE ENTOMOLOGIST THIRTY-NIP JTH R EPORT 19-.1.39 R. B. FRIEND, PH.1 State Entomologist CONTENTS ~NSECT~ECORDFOR~~~~............................................... CONFERENCEOF CONNECTICUTENTOMOLOGISTS ........................... TNSPECTION OFNURSERIES.1939 ........................................ Number and Size of Nurseries ...................................... Connectic~~tNursery Firms Certified in 1939 ......................... Other Kincls of Certificates Issued ................................... Inspection of Imported Nursery Stock ............................... Results of Inspection .......................................... INSPECTIONOFAPIA~IES,1939 .......................................... Statistics of Inspection ............................................ I'inancialStatement ............................................... Registration of 13ces ............................................... REPORTON CONTROLOF THE GYPSYMOTH . 1938-1939 ..................... hTewEquipment.................................................. ControlOperations ................................................ Work Performed by State Men ................................. \\'ark Performed by C.C.C. R4en ................................ \\:PA Work Performed ......................................... Scouting for Brown-Tail Moth ...................................... Financialstatement ............................................... Statistics of Infestations ........................................... '~HEJAPANESEBEETLE,1939 ........................................... Quarantine Activities .............................................. Scouting ......................................................... Inspection and Certification ........................................ Control Activities ................................................. MOSQUITOCONTROL WORK IN CONNECTICUT,1939 ........................ RODENTCONTROL..................................................... Mouse Control .................................................... Pine Mouse Control ............................................... \l'oodchuck Control ................................................ Survey of Mammal Damage in Nurseries ............................ Mor~seInjury .................................................... Deer Injurq- ...................................................... REPORTON PARASITE\\'ORK FOR 1939 ................................... Oriental Fruit Moth Parasites ...................................... Japanese Beetle Parasites .......................................... TESTSOFAPPLESPRAYS................................................. 260 CONTINUEDEXPERIMENTS ON CONTROLOF THE APPLEMAGGOT ............... 264 CONTIRUEDSTUDY OF STICKE~SFOR STANDARDSPRAY MIXTURES ............. 269 BIOLOGYAND CONTROLOF THE POTATOFLEA BEETLE ....................... SeasonalLifeHistory ................................................ Life History Studies ................................................. Control ............................................................ Summary .......................................................... FURTHEROBSERVATIONS OF THE EFFECTOF SALTN'ATER SPRAY ON FOLIAGE... NOTESON THE SMALLEREUROPEAN ELM BARK BEETLE. Sco!yiu.9 mullislrialrcs MARSHADI................................... :........................ Lifecycle .......................................................... Habits ............................................................. DevelopmentalStages ............................................... FlightandWindDispersion .......................................... Parasites and Predators .............................................. Survival of Larvae at Low Temperatures .............................. Artificial Control .................................................... Summary .......................................................... MISCELLANEOUSINSECT NOTES . .... .... ........................... The Crazy Ant in Connecticut .......................................... Dermestid Larvae in Composition Board ............................... The House Cricket, Gryllus domesticus Linn ............................ Notes on Asiatic Garden Beetle Damage in a Field of Sweet Corn ......... Results of Trapping Rose Chafers ..................................... TheEuropeanEarwig ................................................ Bark Beetle Damage to Plantation Pine ............................... Clover Mite in Dwelling ............................................ Calomyclerus selarius Roelofs in Connecticut ............................ WILTQN EVERETT BRITTON September 18, 1868--February 15, 1939 Statc Entomologist, .Irlly 1, 1901-February 13, 1939 WTLTON EVERETT BRITTON DOCTOR Wilton Everett Britton, State Entomologist of Connecticut and Entomologist of the Agricultural Experiment Statiou at New Haven, died February 15, 1939, in his seventy-first year. He had been a member of the staff of the Agricultural Experiment Station since 1894. ancl State . Entomologist since the ofice was established in 1901. During his long and useful career he exemplified that devotion to his profession and to the welfare of his State that characterizes a public servant of the highest calibre. f Dr. Britton descended from a line of New England ancestors going back to James Britton who, at the age of 27, arrived in America on the Increase April 15, 1635. Probably he came from London, and he lived for a time in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The succeeding generations of the family, dwelling in eastern Massachusetts, southern Maine, ancl southern New Hampshire, were presumably typical of that class which formed the backbone of the population, a race of farmers, sailors, mechan- ics, small merchants, and, when wars were afoot, soldiers. Dr. Britton's father, Benjamin Howard Britton, was born at North Easton, Massachu- setts, in 1833 and died at Gilsum, New Hampshire, in 1899. In 1861 he married Emily Eliza Wright, whose great grandfather had come from Hartford, Connecticut, and died at Iceene, New Hampshire, in 1812. Dr. Britton was born at Marlboro, Massachusetts, September 18, 1868. His family moved to a farm in Gilsum, New Hampshire. There, ,. in a distinctly rural environment, the impress of which lasted throughout, his life, Dr. Britton spent his early years. He attended the local schools and worked on the farm, raising the crops, caring for livestock, lumbering, making maple sugar, etc. Life was a bit rigorous, but conducive to integ- I rity, industry, frugality, and independence of thought and action. He enjoyed it. Later Ire attended the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Hanover (now the University of New Hampshire at Durham), from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1893. If later performance is any criterion, he must have been a good student. The year following graduation was spent at Cornell University studying under L. H. Bailey. Apparently at that time Dr. Britton's main interests lay in the field of horticulture. In 1894 the opportunity came to obtain a position as horticulturist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station at New Haven. Both student and professor evidently believed this position offered great promise professionally, for Dr. Britton once told the writer that Bailey advised him to take the job even if he received no salary. The advice was followed, although salary there was-fifty dollars a month. This inclination to disregard remuneration when offered an opportunity to work in his field , was quite characteristic. While at the Agricultural Experiment Station he continued graduate study in the Department of Botany at Yale Univer- sity and received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from that institution in 1903. Connect icut Experimenb Slat ion Bulletin 43.4 During his tenure as horticulturist, Dr. Britton collaborated with the Station chemist, Dr. E. H. Jenkins, in fertilizer investigations, worked with "forcing-house" crops, conducted experiments in grafting nut trees, and began his entomological career. The reports of the Experiment Station during this period indicate that his work was carefully done and of such high quality that the confidence of his superiors became,firmly established. Dr. Britton's interest in entomology dates back to his boyhood days. The economic aspect of the science was early impressed on him by long hours spent in the hot summer sun knocking Colorado potato beetles off the plants into a can. While at college he made a collection of insects and built a fine cabinet with eighteen glass-topped drawers to house it. This was the foundation of the present collection at the Experiment Station, and the cabinet is still in use. At this time he also wrote an article entitled "The Horn Fly", which was published in the New Hampshire College Monthly in 1893. While working in horticulture, his attention was drawn to insect pests of cultivated plants and he considered them well worth investigating. In the report of the Experiment Station for the year 1894#, a short article entitled "Notes on Some Leaf Miners" (pp. 143-14.6) bears his signature. This describes the life cycle and habits of Odonlocera dorsalis Loew (Cerodonthafernoralis Meigen), the habits of which had been ullknown up to that time, on corn, and Phytomyza aquilegiae Hardy, not previously known to have occurred in this country, on columbine. At