124 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 24, NO. 5, MAY, 1922 



NOTES ON AGRILUS LATER ALIS SAY (COLEOP.). 



Bv W. S. FISHER, U. S. Bureau of Entomology. 



This apparently rare species was described by Thomas Say 

 from Missouri, from material collected on the expedition to the 

 Rocky Mountains under Major Long, and has been reported 

 from a number of widely separated localities from Maine to New 

 Mexico, but its host plant remained unknown, at least it has 

 not been reported in the literature. 



On March 12, 1918, Mr. A. B. Champlain, of Lyme, Con- 

 necticut, submitted some limbs of Bayberry (Myrica carolinensis 

 Mill) infested with Agrilus larvae to the writer for identification. 

 As this was a new host plant for the genus, the material was 

 caged, and on June 2, the first adult emerged, which proved 

 to be Agrilus lateralis Say. 



During the summer of 1918 the writer was located at Lyme, 

 Connecticut, and had a chance of making observations on the 

 habits of this species during the season. On May 29 a large 

 patch of Bayberry was carefully examined and this species was 

 found in the larva, pupa and adult stages. Some of the adults 

 had nearly burrowed through the bark, but no emergence holes 

 could be found after a careful search. The first adult was 

 found on the Bayberry foliage on June 3, and the last one on 

 July 8, and were most abundant about the middle of June. 

 The adults are very active* and when disturbed, would alight 

 on the upper surface of the foliage without making any attempt 

 at hiding on the underside of the leaves, as is the habits of some 

 species of this genus. They seem to prefer the foliage on the 

 low plants growing along the outside of the patches, and usually 

 select the sunny places that are protected from the wind. The 

 adults feed around the margins of the leaves, causing them to 

 become somewhat ragged in appearance. 



The eggs are rather variable in outline, usually oval and some- 

 what flattened. The surface is feebly corrugated, especially 

 towards the margins, and each egg is partially covered with 

 fine excrement. When first laid, the egg is whitish, but in a few 

 days it changes to a grayish color, similar to that of the bark, 

 resembling some of the soft scales, and is rather difficult to dis- 

 tinguish on the bark. The eggs are glued tightly to the bark, 

 and are usually deposited singly near the ground on healthy 

 plants. In captivity the adults would not oviposit on anything 

 except freshly cut limbs, and this was also found to be the case 

 out-doors, as no eggs were found on dead stalks. The larva 

 on hatching from eggs laid in captivity were unable to bore into 

 the wood, on account of the wood drying out very rapidly and 

 becoming extremely hard. All of the eggs laid on the plants 

 out-doors had hatched by July 31, and the larvae had bored 

 into the wood. 



