The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-11-18

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were collected, and liberated during
April and May, with results as import
ant and beneficial.
There is little-of fame and less Of
fortune in the vocation of the bug
hunter; but the man who follows this
strange calling may deserve more at
the hands of his countrymen than
many of those who achieved renown
in war or statecraft. The business
of the bug hunter is to search for
parasite and predaceous foes of in
furious insects, such as the Hessian
+ fly, the cotton boil weevil, the gypsy
moth, the cooling moth, the San Jose
scale, and the thousand other pests
that are estimated to destroy at least
10 per cent of the annual products of
the soil.
The Bureau of Entomology of the
National Department of agriculture
q has numerous bug hunters in the field
/ searching fer beneficial insects One
Iof these, Prof. Albert Keobele, intro
duced from Australia the species of
ladybird (Vedalia cardinalis) that sub
dued the cottony cushion scale, which
once threatened the ruin of orange
growing. Another, Walter 7. Swingle,
introduced from Italy the fig wasp
(Blas ophaga grossorum) that made it
possible for California horticulturists
to produce dried figs on a scale of
commercial Importance, in competi-
tion with the product of the Levant.
Others of the Bureau of Entomology's
travelling agents have justified their
existence by achievements as notable,
so that bug hunting has been amply
indicated in that it has made pos
sible or has saved from ruin indus
tries in which the nation is vitality in
terested.
OF professional bug hunters, few
have had wider experience or greater
success than George Compere, official
mission of the State of California,
and for the chronological Bureau of
West Australia. 1t happens that, with
very few exceptions, West Australia
! and California are afflicted with the
same insect pests, so that Mr. Com
! pere is able to serve the British pro-
vince and the American State to the
Ieminent satisfaction of both In the
pursuit of insect enemies of orchard
and garden pests he has ransacked the
IuttermOst corners of the earth, plung-
ing into jungle, morass, tropical forest
or arid desert with entire Indifference
ito danger or discomfort and hoping
only to find some useful bug Now
some people may be inclined to smile
at the suggestion that there may be
real danger in a bug hunt. Compere
has faced danger of many kinds but Il
single instance will suffice. Once in
British India he found himself in Il
plague-stricken district, and five of
his guides were stricken in succession
with the malady and died That eX-
perience would surely be enough to
deprive anyone of his nerve; but he
stuck to his job hunting bugs until he
found just what had taken him to that
particular region. Then, when he
reached the frontier he was delayed
for weeks in quarantine; and local Of
ficials insisted in fUlmigating all his
= baggage and belongings OF course
this killed every one of his precious
insects, gathered at imminent peril OF
l "a horrible death. That left him no re
course but to return the next season
and perform the same labor ovel
again.
One of the worst of Australian pests
is known as the fruit fly Long anC
patient search resulted in the findin.
of its natural enemy in the interior q
Brazil Compere gathered a larg,
number of the parasites, and care
= fully arranged for feeding them on tn,
long voyage to London. Before leay
ing London, he made similar arrange
ments for feeding them until Por
Said was reached. There it was neces
sary to place them in cold storage 70
- a time; and some one permitted tn
temperature to get too low, with tn
result that every parasite died. 1t wa
y then too late in the season to get
% new supply in Brazil that year, so h
+. had to wait until the next season.
The essential features of the insec
- hunters outfit consist of large shee
of white cotton cloth, a stout stick al
insect case and a microscope He az
- proaches a tree or shrub of variet