Vol. XXVli] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 279 



Notes and. News. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS FROM ALL QUARTERS 

 OF THE GLOBE. 



Parallelodiplosis cattleyae Moll., in New Jersey (Dip.). 



After searching various greenhouses during the past several years 

 for this insect, I was at last definitely rewarded by finding it in orchid 

 houses at Secaucus and Madison, New Jersey. The larval stages are 

 passed as yellowish-white maggots in swellings near the tips of the 

 roots of Cattleya and other species of orchids. This of course checks 

 growth and disfigures the roots, sometimes causing them to die back 

 and become black. One orchid grower informed me that a shipment 

 of orchids received from Guatemala was so badly infested that practi- 

 cally all of the roots had to be trimmed off. This pest, known com- 

 monly as the Cattleya midge, is often confused by greenhouse men 

 with the "Cattleya fly," Isosoma orchidearum West. (Hymen.), many 

 of them assuming that the latter species is responsible for the root 

 galls. The Cattleya midge is not by any means widely distributed in 

 New Jersey greenhouses, but can undoubtedly be found in more than 

 the two localities mentioned above, if persistently sought for. 

 HAKRY B. WEISS, New Brunswick, N. J. 



Observations on Ants in South Carolina (Hym.). 



On March 18, the writer noticed ants attending Toxoptcra grami- 

 ntint. The ants had nests at or near the base of oat plants on which 

 the "green bugs" were feeding. The writer's attention was attracted 

 by the unusual number of ants and nests in the field. The ants were 

 identified as Iridomyrmex pruinosns var. analis. 



Mr. J. A. Berly, of this Division, found a number of long, slender 

 black ants in attendance upon the same species of plant-lice. The ants 

 were Dorymyrmex pyramicus, or the common black lion ant. 



The writer found Prcnolcpis imparts attending the black elder aphis, 

 Aphis sambucifolia, on elder. Mr. G. M. Anderson, of this Division, 

 found the same species of ants in attendance upon the cottony cushion 

 scale, Icerya purchasi. 



Two species of ants, Crematogaster lineolata and Prenolepis im- 

 parts, were found attending the scale on pine, identified by Mr. E. R. 

 Sasscer, U. S. Bureau of Entomology, as Toumeyclla pini. Cremato- 

 gaster lineolata was also found attending Aphis brassicae on an uni- 

 dentified plant of the mustard family. 



Prenolepis imparis were observed swarming on March 19. One pe- 

 culiar thing that was very noticeable was that spider webs had caught 

 a large number of the winged forms; as many as six or eight were 

 found in the same web. 



A remarkably large nest of the small black ant, Dolichnderus tasch- 

 enbergi, var. atterina. were found near a path at Clemson College. 

 The nest was built under and around a large clump of broom straw, a 



