Evening star., 1925-01-30
BUGS THREATEN
MANS EXISTENCE
DR.. Howard Declares Food
Supply of World Is Greatly
Endangered.

war the extent of which defes the
, INA gination yet which might ulti-
mately result in the complete ex-
termination of the human race, in
the opinion OF DR.. L. o. Howard. chief
of the Bureau of Entomology of the
Department of Agriculture
The fighting is already under way
ana mankind apparently has won the
nrst phase, but the enemy seems to
have the upper hand in the second
phase. which is just beginning to get
under way
The battle is between man and in
sect; between intelligence and a
natural ability to live under almost
any conditions
At the present time, when the
problem OF overpopulation is begin
nlng TO worry the food producers OF
the world, the problem of insect
pests Is becoming greatly intensified
" lth every bit of food possible re
CURED, the insect damage is mount
lhs TO huge totals and man faces one
or the most serious problems since
his advent upon the earth. according
to DR.. Howard
Man Is Interloper.
Man. from the insect point OF view
Is an interloper upon the globe. The
insects inhabited the world millions
or years before man made his an
pearahce In those millions of wears
nature endowed insects with the
aplIlty to live under almost any cir
cumStances. 1t is almost an i'm
poSslblllty to create conditions under
Mnich they can not survive. Their
.iie Is divided into so many stages
that no matter how extensive the at
tacks upon them may be. somewhere
in the ground o. above the erouDd =
new crop awaits the cessa ton of the
nght to spring into being.
inc advancing civilizatio on the
other hand, has made the life of man
tender thing. With greater con-
Vehlences coming with the advancing
centuries these conveniences have
grown INTO necessities. Man is not
equipped to fight off the hardshins
that in his early existence were easiI,.
combated.
Inc hrst great phase of the battle
between man and the insect was that
ihNolvlng the insect that directly at
lacked man and planted within his
VEINS the germs of disease
Insects Fairly Well Downed.
These insects in comma "a tiveIv re
cent years have been fairly Ueu
downed. The fly, carrying typhoid
ana tuberculosis. is now fought TO a
standStiil by an awakened world yell
-oW FEVER and malaria, mountain fever
and other scourges distributed nv
mosquitoes and other flying insects
nave been nearly eliminated The in
sects are still in the world, but man
has found how to curb them. Thev
are, to borrow war phrase in a CON
ultion of internment. But in spite of
the fact that they are held down. thev
are present, ready at the slichtes.
opportunity to break away and renew
their destructive work
me disease germ, powerful ally of
the insects In their great battle. also
mas fallen largely before the science
OF man. Inoculatfons and preven-
tive work of other kinds have reduced
epidemics to a minimum. There are
out rev diseases for which man has
not found an almost certain cure.
Attacks Food supply,
Fooled in direct attack upon man.
the insect world is now developinp
strong campaign against his food
supply In this the bugs are making
great headway. There are at least
five which so far have defed man and
nave swept on to enormous destruc-
ton.
The great battle is being fought
in the United States and in Canada
the food storehouses of the world. II
Is here that the insects are playjDg
havoc and strange as it may seem
none of the insects which are making
the most trouble is native TO this
country. Each has come in from some
foreign country and It's advent caused
no concern until after a few years
when 1t had spread out of control and
scientists became aware of the ex-
tent of its potential destruction.
at the present time is the Japanese
green beetle. Its damage so far is
comparatively slight, but 1t is the
latest to make its appearance and it's
possibilities for future destruction
are so great that entomologfsts are
casting about almost in desparation
for some effective means of extermi-
mating it. 1t was brought over to
this country in a shipment of iris
root from Japan. No one thought of
any danger, for in Japan there is no
scourging of agriculture by this
beetle. For a few years nothing was
heard of the beetle until one day a
nursery man living in New jersey.
discovering few, sent them in for
examination. Almost by leaps and
bounds the beetle has increased since
that time, until now, with it's dangers
realized, the best thought of the Ma
ton has been concentrated upon its
destruction and so far unsuccessfuIy.
Repelled by Poisons.
All known poisons that can safely
be used have acted as repellent
and the beetle has simply gone else
where for its food. 1t is not par
ticular when it comes to selecting,
for it will feed on some $50 kinds of
vegetation, varying from weeds and
grass to OAK trees. One new poison
magnesium arsenate, has been de-
veloped just recently and some hope
is felt that this may be effective
However, man, with his intelli-
gence, the one effective weapon ks
possesses, has come to the conclu-
sion that in the Orient the home of
the beetle. Nature must have pro-
vided some means of checking the
beetle. Her system of checks and
balances usually provides for just
such conditions as this. A number
of entomologists have gone to Japan,
Manchuria and Korea in an effort to
find what it Is that keeps this beetle
down. They believe that there are
parasites that prey upon the beetle.
They will search out these parasites,
and, if they find them, will bring them
back and call upon them to help in
the fight.
Another of the most serious pests is
~. JN hnf