150 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '08 



Pitcher-Plant Insects. III. 



BY FRANK MORTON JONES, Wilmington, Delaware. 



(Plate's VII-IX.) 



Papaipema appassionata Harvey. 



Of the insects observed at Summerville, South Carolina, 

 making' Sarracenia their food-plant, next in abundance to the 

 Exyras was a root-borer which proved to be Papaipema ap- 

 pasionata Harvey. The burning over of the meadows makes 

 the work of this insect in the roots of Sarracenia flava much 

 more apparent than in those places where the tangled clumps 

 of leaves of the preceding season conceal the ground. On 

 these comparatively bare portions of the Sarracenia meadows, 

 and especially in the less swampy places, it becomes apparent 

 early in April that a very large proportion of the roots of 

 Sarracenia flava contain this larva, which bores, first perpen- 

 dicularly through the buds, then horizontally, following the 

 course of the root-stock and keeping open the passage to the 

 surface for the disposal of the frass, which is built up into a 

 closed turret-like tube, capping the entrance to the burrow. 



So numerous are these burrows that whole clumps of flava 

 with their interlaced root-stocks fail for a time to put up either 

 buds or leaves, and many which start to grow are under- 

 mined and killed by the operations of the borer. The much 

 larger frass-tubes formed in the preceding year by full grown 

 larvae are also noticeable among the roots, showing that these 

 structures are compact and tough enough to last through a 

 winter's exposure to the weather. Their purpose is probably 

 to prevent the burrows from being flooded during rains and 

 temporary inundations. At first only a fraction of an inch 

 in height, these turrets are extended with the growth of the 

 larvae to a height of two inches or more, and are often built 

 against and partly supported by one of the larger fleshy leaf- 

 stems, through which the burrow extends into the root-stock. 

 The upper figures on Plate VIII, show the condition of 

 the turrets, the extent of feeding, and the position of the lar- 

 vae in the root-stocks on April first. Throughout the sum- 



