49 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [June, 



ness to entomologists there should be published some adequate 

 account of this last investigation. But the editing of the mass 

 of notes at hand is a task I am, at present, unable to under- 

 take. The best I can do is to offer this briefest abstract of the 

 life history of the hew pest together with a description of it, re- 

 vised by Dr. S. W. Williston. In making this abstract Miss 

 Mill's notes have been also referred to, and the drawings were 

 made by her. VERNON L. KELLOGG. 



In the fall of 1896 certain of the Montery Pines (Pin us ra il- 

 ia ta Don.) on the campus at Stanford were noticed to have 

 their needles shortened and swollen at the base. The injury 

 appeared to be such as might have come about through a sudden 

 retarding of the growth of the needles. In the Autumn of 1 897 

 the injury to the pines was widespread and very noticeable. 

 Examination of the stunted and swollen needles revealed 

 Cecidomid larvae lying at the bases of these needles, and the 

 injury was definitely traced to them. The first adults were 

 obtained in the laboratory Jan. 12, 1898, from affected branches 

 brought to the laboratory a month before. The adults were 

 found to be an undescribed species of Diplosis related to the 

 already known half dozen species of Diplosis known to attack 

 the pine trees of Europe and America. 



The eggs (fig. i, e) are smooth and elliptical, and light 

 yellow in color changing to orange-yellow as the embryo de- 

 velopes within. The female moves about over a terminal bud 

 attempting at intervals to thrust her long flexible ovipositor in 

 between the scales. When successful she deposits from 2 to 

 24 eggs in mass. The ovipositor is sometimes bent like a bow 

 by the efforts of the insect to force apart the scales of the buds. 

 Not infrequently females would be found caught and held by 

 the pressure of the scales on the ovipositor. The egg stage 

 is about two weeks. The female dies soon after oviposition. 



The larvae (fig. i, 1) immediately after issuing from the 

 eggs make their way into the basal part of the bud and remain 

 in there. The body is broadly elliptical and reddish yellow in 

 color and when full grown is from i mm. to 1.5 mm. long. 

 The breastbone (fig. i, b, b), well chitinized in the older 



