THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 341 



This insect is a pest of considerable importance in Europe and has 

 been the subject of an extensive study by J. Chaine of Bordeaux, 

 France.* 



Chaine has found that the miner attacks several species of Box- 

 wood in France, chiefly, however, Buxus sempervirens. Buxus hal- 

 carica, Buxus varicgata, and the varieties argcntca and aurea are very 

 lightly attacked, while Buxus latifolia appeared to be immune. 



With regard to the seriousness of the pest, Chaine has the following 

 to say: 



"At Bordeaux, at the present time, the Boxwood leaf -miner 

 is very w^ide-spread ; it constitutes a veritable epidemic. I have 

 found Boxwood attacked everywhere, in the private gardens as 

 well as in the public parks, in the country as well as in the city. 

 But to give a more correct idea of the destruction by this insect, 

 and to show the importance of the invasion, I will give some 

 observations made in the town of Bordeaux : 



"In the garden of I'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, all the Boxwoods 

 without exception are attacked. Of 25 plants I have found 25 

 diseased, and of these 25, 6 are almost dead. Last spring when 

 I made these observations they possessed only a few leaves at the 

 extremities of the branches, these being denuded of all the rest 

 of their foliage. In the square of the church of Saint Michel 1 

 have counted 8 out of 12. In the public gardens almost all the 

 Boxwoods are attacked, very few esi-aping the infestation. 



"It is not only in Bordeaux that the Boxwood leaf-miner com- 

 mits its ravages, but the regions are numerous where it l)reeas. 

 There are places where its work is most disastrous. I have 

 received a letter from a property owner in the vicinity of Saint 

 Jean-d'Angely, in which he complains bitterly of the damage 

 which thi.s Dipteron has occasioned to his Boxwood. He states 

 that all his shrubs are reduced to skeletons and that he is on 

 the point of tearing them up, if nothing is found to check the 

 march of what he terms 'the scourge'." 



Boxwood attacked by this pest has a characteristic appearance. 

 After the. adults have issued, which in the cases under the writer's 

 observation occurred early in April, the leaves which have been 

 attacked become discolored, some entirely, others with only a large 

 circular brown spot, frequently with the empty pupa case of the fly 

 still attached. . These leaves dry very rapidly and in a few days fall 

 from the tree. The new growth appears at the tips of the twigs and 

 in this new growth the adult fly deposits her eggs for the succeeding 

 generation. 



THE ADULT. 



The adult fly is a very pretty little insect, about ^ to | of an inch 

 long, and is of a beautiful reddish orange color, with black eyes. The 

 legs and antenna are very long and slender. The abdomen is long 

 and nearly cylindrical. 



The adult insect appears to be very short lived. The specimens 

 under observation in confinement lived only two days. Chaine states 



*La Cecidomyie du Buis (Monarthrovalpus buxi Lab.) ; J. Chaine, Annales des 

 Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie, Vol. XVII, 1913, pp. 269-359. 



