in the Pacific
States some day, unless prevented.

You can see these beetles anywhere in and around Poughkeepsie. From
Poughkeepsie I have watched them spread in the past few years to
Pleasant Valley and eastward. This morning as I parked my vehicle by
this building I picked these specimens from the smartweed, ~Polygonum
persicaria~. (Passing of specimens.) These insects also feed on the
flowers and foliage of purple loosestrife, ~Lythrum salicifolia~, so
plentiful and showy in our swampy fields. The most conspicuous damage is
done to the foliage of wild grape vines. You will observe this when you
visit Mr. Stephen Bernath's nut plantation. You will note the
conspicuous defoliation of the vines on the fence rows. Willow is
another host heavily attacked. I believe you have the beetles at your
plantation at Wassaic, Mr. Smith?

MR. GILBERT SMITH: Plenty of them.

DR. ADAMS: You will also observe the damage at Mr. Smith's place. You
will see that it is strictly a matter of skeletonization of the leaves.

A MEMBER: They eat the fruit, too.

DR. MacDANIELS: You have damage on fruit.

A MEMBER: They eat berries.

DR. ADAMS: Yes, but on nut plants the damage above ground is confined to
leaf skeletonization. It varies widely, depending on the kind of nut
plant. Before visiting Mr. Bernath's planting, I sought out the
botanical names of the commoner nut plants in Dr. MacDaniels' Cornell
Extension Bulletin No. 701, on "Nut Growing." Of the ~Juglans~ species,
the black walnut, ~J. nigra~, is sometimes heavily attacked. There are
large black walnut trees near one of our peach orchards. I have seen
hordes of beetles gather in these trees in July and August,
skeletonizing the leaves until the defoliation reached 40% or more. Late
in August the beetles seemed to leave the walnut foliage and descend
upon the ripening peaches. The heart nut, ~J. sieboldiana~ var.
~cordiformis~, was moderately fed upon at Mr. Bernath's nursery. The
butternut, ~J. cinerea~, is only lightly attacked, as a rule.

The hickories and pecans are not attacked to any appreciable extent, but
at least some of the chestnuts are very attractive to this pest. I have
seen shoots of ~Castanea dentata~ with their foliage reduced to lace. Some
of the small Chinese chestnuts, ~C. mollissima~, at Mr. Bernath's place,
were about one-fourth defoliated in mid-August.

The hazels seem to be attractive to these beetles. When the Japanese
beetle spreads to Prof. Slate