114 Insects 07i Yiicca Bloo7ns. [zoe 



her eg'gs in the ovary of the flower and the larvae bore in the green 

 seed-pod. The moth has been observed to convey the pollen from 

 the anthers to the pistil by a special act, as though impelled by rea- 

 son or instinct, that the fruit might not fail to be fertilized and thus 

 afford food for her larvae. Whether, however, no other insects are 

 able to fertilize these flowers is a mooted question. The Pronuba 

 works in the evening only, and thus necessitates the employment of 

 a dark lantern, a stepladder, and a great portion of the night spent 

 on plains or mesas, in order to intelligently investigate its opera- 

 tions. As I have not been so situated that I could spend the proper 

 time in the evenings on this work at the proper season, my observa- 

 tions have been made wholly m the day time. Therefore I have 

 not observed the Pronuba moth at all, but have made, however, a 

 few notes on the larvae found in the pods as well as on other insects 

 found in the flowers. 



In the first place I should say that what is here recorded was ob- 

 served in the vicinity of Las Cruces, New Mexico; and that our 

 native Yuccas belong, as far as can be at present determined, to two 

 species. We have Yucca angzistifolia; while the other is a broad- 

 leafed species at first supposed to be Yiicca baccata, but which may 

 prove to be Y. ^nacrocarpa, in case the latter is a valid species. Mr. 

 W. H. Evans, now of the Agricultural Department in Washington, 

 gave me the above information and is now engaged looking up the 

 matter. 



COLEOPTERA. 



Carpophibis niger Say, a small beetle belonging to the family 

 Nitidulidie, very plentifully infests the (flower) stalk buds of Y. via- 

 crocarpa (?) before the stalk has appeared, about the last of March 

 or first of April. They eat holes in the outer covering and inside 

 portions of the large flower stalk, which at first has the appearance 

 of a bud in the center of the plant. They are also found later in 

 the flowers. 



Epicaida cinctipennis Chev. (?) Adult blister beetles, "very much 

 resembling this Mexican species, were found in the blooms of Y. 

 macroca7pa (1) by Prof. Wooton, of the New Mexico Agricultural 

 College, May 15, 1892. Several specimens were collected. 



A ryhncophorous (?) larva was found, May 15, 1891, in the tip 

 end of a pod of Y. macrocarpa (?) which had been picked May 10. 

 It is a small white larva, apparently coleopterous, nearly 5 mm. 



