March, '09! ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 117 



grains, I found active larvae and, since then, hundreds of para- 

 sites and many adult Contarinia have emerged. The tempera- 

 ture was sufficient to form ice and to kill the leaves of the 

 corn. 



An affected head has a very characteristic appearance and is 

 noted at once. The grains do not fill out and the head is much 

 smaller and slenderer than a normal one, and becomes darker 

 colored as though affected with a fungus disease. No doubt 

 this appearance has led to the belief that the trouble was caused 

 by a fungus. 



The cast pupae skins may be seen in abundance clinging to 

 the tips of the blasted grains. In an examination of many af- 

 fected seeds I was able to locate the larvae and pupae. The 

 larva lie inside the glumes and inside the delicate palet, in di- 

 rect contact with the ovary at its base. It is quite evident that 

 the larva sucks the nourishment from the ovary and prevents 

 it from maturing. Although the ovary grows a little and in- 

 creases in size somewhat, it finally turns dark in color and 

 shrivels. In our future investigations, we hope to determine 

 the length of the larval and pupal period and the number of 

 generations. The pupa occupies same position as larva. 



The female is a trifle over two millimeters long with a slender 

 ovipositor (Fig. I, o) when fully extended as long as the body. 

 It is slender, tapering, sharp pointed, and seems to be hard and 

 chitinous. The abdomen of the female is orange red while the 

 head and palpi are yellow. 



The antennae of the female are composed of fourteen seg- 

 ments, each segment, except first, second and last constricted 

 into a short petiole at the distal extremity and clothed with long 

 scattered hairs and with very short hairs arranged more or less 

 in rows. The peculiar structures, known as circumfili, run 

 longitudinally along the meson of each segment but branch at 

 both ends and encircle the segment near its proximal and distal 

 ends, (Fig. ib). The antennae of the male are very character- 

 istic. The segments, fourteen in number, are greatly constrict- 

 ed in the middle and at the distal ends. The thickened portion 

 of each segment bears a whorl of characteristic circumfili (Fig. 

 la). These are really long looped filaments, each loop being 



