Excerpt from Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Association of Economic Entomologists, 1899 Every now and then, however, 'we are brought face to face with a disturbed balance Of a more general nature, the most striking examples of which are in the new insect enemies which come from time to time, and which in new situations and under strange Surrounding conditions multiply excessively and assume an economic importance which for the moment obscures all older like troubles. So universally true is it that the newcomer will prove more destructive than the old familiar pests, that this is looked upon as a fixed principle, like the law Of gravity. A good illustration Of this is seen in the recent very valuable book by Mr. E. E. Green on the insects Of Ceylon. Referring to the insects occurring on that island, he takes the position that excessive damage by an insect is a proof of its foreign origin. He says' that all the troublesome insects of Ceylon are introduced Species, and that not a single undoubtedly native Species has attracted any notice as a pest. Out Of twenty-six Species Of Chionaspis, for example, occurring on the island, three only are injurious, and these are introduced species. In this country our experiences have been more varied, and we probably would not go to the same extreme, but the history of insect introductions and migrations here and elsewhere certainly indicates the truth of the general principle. A good deal of the effort in applied entomology in recent years has been directed at evils Of this sort, namely, to prevent the introduction of in sect enemies from foreign lands, and to quickly exterminate or con trol them where they have gained a foothold. In connection with this field Of work it seems to me that the proper appreciation of certain underlying principles affecting the behavior Of such introduced enemies will Show that we are exhibiting much more anxiety and alarm than the occasion warrants, and that we are making vain attempts to accomplish the impossible and prevent the inevitable. This belief has been impressed upon the writer by the history of the new injurious insects coming into prominence from time to time, and the patent failure Of our efforts at extermination or quarantine. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.