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VOL. V. LONDON, ONT., JUNE, 1873. No. 6 



ON SOME OF OUR COMMON INSECTS. 

 6. THE RASPBERR Y SA W-FL Y—Selandria rubi, Harris. 



BY W. SAUNDERS, LONDON, ONTARIO. 



Although this insect is quite generally distributed and very destructive 

 to the foliage of the raspberry, it has, strange to say, been but little 

 noticed by Entomologists in their publications. There is a short reference 

 to it in " Harris' Entomological Correspondence, "'" in a letter from Darling to 

 Harris, written in 1846, where a very correct account is given of the 

 manner in which the egg is deposited. There is also a much briefer 

 notice in " Packard's Guide," and these are all the references we have been 

 able to find. 



The perfect insect, which is a four-winged fly, appears on the wing 

 about the middle of May. We noticed them this year first on the 10th, 

 last season they were not observed until the 21st, and they may be found 

 from this time until early in June. The wings, which are transparent, 

 with a shining surface and metallic hue, measure when expanded about 

 half an inch across ; the veins are black with a streak of black along the 

 front margin, extending more than half way towards the tip. The anterior 

 part of the body is black, the abdomen dark reddish. In common with 

 some other species of Sclandria, these flies have a habit of falling to the 

 ground when disturbed, especially in the cool of the morning, and 

 remaining in this position long enough to enable one to catch them ; with 

 the increasing heat of the day they are, however, much more active, and 

 take wing readily when approached. 



The egg, as it appears when squeezed from the body of the female, is 

 about one-thirtieth of an inch long, and a little over one-hundredth of an 

 inch wide at its widest portion. In form it approaches a long oval, rather 



