Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-09-06
Immigrant Bugs
~ Frederic J. iias.sin

! tiofs for admitting insect immigrants 20
| this country are steadily beng tigbfened
/ IN an effort TO reduce the activities Of IN
sect pests.
/ The Dakotas are beset by qrasshoppers
this year The fall army worm aud the
| cotton weeyil are troublesome m the
4 South The Gypsy moth IS terrorizinR a
! f2-mile area IN New Jersey. The European
! corn borcr Is holding IFS own against cx-
| termination in New England. And these
are only five Of the 5000 Or more bugs
listed in the Bureau of Entomology >
] rogue gallery Of undesirable insects m
the United States. About 1000 of these
are actively destructive to the extent d
one billion dollars a year.
/ Our insect troubles would be far less If
| new and lnwelcome bugs were not 20
often introduced 10 our farms and or
chards. Only the other day few satin
4 moths were discovered On trees in New
/ Ir gland by government bugolOgists. II
/ these relatives Of the Gypsy moth have
! not already got q firm start, unknown -
/ the farmers of the region, and i prompt
/ action IS taken, they may be ezterminated
| before they have become pest.
/ In their native country these insects
/ would be preyed upon by their natural
/ enemies, but IN q foreign habitat there is
I UlAtit ttD HtABN Att ~ tAtftA fftWFsa-t--
| seauently, they multiply 30 swiftly that
| an insect scarcely considered a pest in 80
/ own country often becomes a vertable
/ scourgc
The disaster which these destructive
insects bring, seems all the more unfortu-
nate because with Garrett might usually
have been prevented
! I'p to a few years ago, destructive
worm could slip into q United states port
without having his history or habits
questioned Thus the European corn
borer came TO Massachusetts, Il is believ-
ed. IN shipments Of infested broom corn
from italy or Austria. For several years
before the war the borers must have been
stealing into this country But not until
1917 were they discovered, and since
then all the efforts Of farmers and en-
tomologists have been necessary merely ~
keep the pests from spreading.
A JAPANESE PEsr.
The Japanese beetle, not serious pest
in Japan slipped into the I nited States 10
the soil around iris plants The beetle has
strong wings, which carry IS long distances
and then. too, 1T is apt 20 light on clothing
or vehicles where it may travel many
miles. In such ways as these the FIRST foF
specimens in this country spread over
New Jersey until quarantine had 20 -
ordered forbiddirg the shipment of corn
from the infested districts without m
spection By government agents ln spite
Of the quarantine and intensive warfare
against them, the beetles iiOunshed, 1
that this spring the quarantine had tote
revised to include all kinds Of farm gar
den and orchard products How immigrant
bugs Increase may be imagined from the
"A NHl
danger was first. suspected, only q dozen
Japanese beetles could be found by seicn-
lists Now. boys in New Jersey hunt
beetles. and some collect as many ~
10000 IN day. picking them by hand
The Gvpsy moth, another undesirable
resident. was openly brought from France
in 1869 bv a weli-meanIng scientist who
was studying insects. lie later lamented
that a few Of bis specimens had disappear
ed Twenty wears after, however, their
descendants turned up in large tribes ~
New England, where they have been
prospering and branching out Iato new
areas ever sILce.
NEW RESTRICTIONS.
Only since 1912 have we had restric-
tions against bringing insects into the
United states Now there are over %
quarantine regulations affecting foreign
countries. Some OF these prohibit JIM
portation 81 certain products likely 70 be
infested. while Others require Inspection Of
stated imports.
For instance, last wear a regulation
was put INTO effect requiring that foreign
shipper must obtain a permit before be
can send nursery stock 10 this country.
The stock-whether seeds, shrubs, fulIt
pits. or anv other klnd-must be IN
spected by officials n the country from
which they come or BY port inspection
officials OF the Department of Agriculture
over here. If a shipment Is found u be IN
tested with destructive insects, it :
either returned To the sender OK burned.
Another regulation, effective SINCE this
spring, prohibits Importation ot broom
corn without a permit and inspection, and
still another makes II impossible 10 bring
certain fruits across the Mexican border.
Every day. people unaequainted with che
insect immigration rules, try 70 bring
alligator pears, mangoes, gllavsis, or piums
across the border, only to have them con-
fscated because Of the danger OF intro
ducing the Mexican fruit fly.
The Mexican border offers one Of the
easiest WAYS for an insect 70 immigrate
INTO the United States The cotton boil
weeyil crossed the Rio Grande into Texas.
presumably bv flying. That was II 1892
Now the boil weevil has spread to he
Atlantic coast, down into Florida, and
practically is far north as the cotton belt
extends. The boil weevil Is known 20 have
As enemies, but In this country natural
destruction docs not begin to keep pace
with the advance Of the weevd.
MANY people coufound the boil wecvl
with the pink boil worm OF cotton. an
other immigrant from Mexico The pink
bou worm Travelled first from India 20
Egypt. From there it spread to MeSSco IN
some Egyptian cotton, and now 1t Is one
of the worst pests Of the Texas and
Louisiana cotton fields The worm Was
discovered in this country three years ago,
hut the two States affected have been
auarautined only month. The new order
rules that cotton cannot be moved out Of
the States without inspection.
INTERSTATE BARRIERS.
There are a number of other State
ouarantines similar TO this. which ara
ordered with the purpose Of preventing
the spread Of insect plaques. There is now
an interstate quarantine IN force in New
England to keep the European corn borer
from spreading, and particularly from
Al 4.