190 



LEAF-MINING INSECTS 



among the smallest members of the family, but they are of 

 the typical compact form and usually of shining metallic 

 coloration. Antennae and legs fold so compactly in grooves 

 that the ventral surface of the contracted beetle is almost 

 as smooth as the dorsal. There is a single brood annually. 

 Hibernation occurs in either pupal or adult stages. 



Fig. 58. Brachys ovata. (Drawings by Miss Ruth St. John.) A, larva; 

 B, pupa; C, adult. 



Brachys 



The habits of most of the members of this large American 

 genus are still unknown, but among them are four that are 

 known to be leaf-miners. One of these, B. ovata, we have 

 studied with some care. It is rather common at Ithaca, 

 New York, in the leaves of red oak; less common in chest- 

 nut oak. It makes a rather large brown mine on one of 

 the broader interspaces of the leaf, sometimes crossing the 

 midribs. The mine is rather opaque, owing to the thickness 

 of the leaf cuticle, but in the thinner, cleaner border portion 



