458 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Feeding- habits of the boll weevil on plants other than cotton, B. R. Coad 

 {U. S. Dept. Agr., Jour. Agr. Research, 2 {1914), No. 3, pp. 235-245) .—This 

 paper, which is based upon studies carried ou at Victoria, Tex., during the 

 summer of 1913, deals in large part with feeding experiments with Hibiscus 

 syriacus, but also reports briefly upon feeding experiments with Bphwralcea, 

 Undheimeri, Callirrhoe involucrata, and C. pedata. 



The longevity of the weevils fed on the blooms of H. syriacus was found to 

 be much greater than that of those fed on either cotton bolls or leaves and 

 compared well with the longevity on cotton squares. The bloom (stamens and 

 corolla) appears to be much preferred to all other parts. Hibiscus buds do not 

 appear to prolong the life of the weevils. 



" It is quite evident that it is possible for Anthonomus grandis and A. grandis 

 thurheriw to breed in the buds of //. syriacus. And not only is this possible, 

 but all indications point toward the conclusion that this breeding would be no 

 rarity. . . . These data prove beyond doubt that the boll weevils fed from the 

 time of emergence only on the buds and bloom of Hibiscus can develop suffi- 

 ciently sexually to produce a number of normal fertile eggs and to deposit them 

 normally. 



" No boll weevils have been found breeding in plants other than cotton and 

 Thurberia under field conditions, and only one case of feeding under such con- 

 ditions has been observed. This was in the case of a single boll weevil found 

 feeding on H. syriacus at Victoria, Tex., on June 16." 



The food of ants, G. Arnold (Proc. Rhodesia Sci. Assoc, 12 {1913), pt. 1, 

 pp. 11-24)- — The chief sources of ant food are animal food, such as other 

 insects and the carcasses of dead animals, and occasionally the excreta of other 

 animals; the sap and sweet liquids of plants derived from the nectaries of 

 the flowers, from woimds or from fruits, or from the sap in an altered form, as 

 the honeydew, or from similar excretions of other insects which live on the 

 juices of plants; the seeds of plants, bulbs, and the tender roots and cotyledons 

 of seedlings or specialized plant structures, such as Muellerian bodies; and the 

 hyphfe of fungi. 



The introduction of parasites of May beetles into Porto Rico, D. L. Van 

 Dine {Ept. Bd. Comrs. Agr. P. R., 2 {1912-13), pp. 36-48).— This report relates 

 to work with parasites of the larvae of May beetles, carried on from January 1, 

 1912, to January 1, 1913, under the author's direction by C. B. Hood and G. N. 

 Wolcott, particularly relating to work with species of Tiphia and Elis in 

 Illinois. A brief statement of the work from January 1 to July 1, 1913, is 

 appended. 



Notes on the biology of Diplazon lastatorius, E. O. G. Kelly {Jour. 

 Econ. Ent., 7 {1914), ^o. S, pp. 294-297).— The author has found that the 

 adult female ichneumonid {D. la'tatorius) oviposits in the eggs of the syrphid 

 Baceha clai^ata, following which the syrphid larva develops to maturity, feed- 

 ing on Apliis medicogiuis and pupates, from which stage the adult ichneumonids 

 emerge, having required about 35 dnys for their development. 



" Thus there are now four families of Hymenoptera in which certain forms 

 have this method of parasitism; D. kctatorius representing the Ichneumonidre ; 

 Polygnotus hiemalis and P. minutus representing the Proctotrypidse ; Chelonus 

 texanus representing the Braconidse; and Tetrastichus asparagi, Ageniaspis 

 fuscicollis, and Litomastix {Copidosoma) truncatellus representing the Chal- 

 cididse." 



Concerning some Aphelininse, L. O. Howard {Proc. Ent. 8oc. Wash., 16 

 {1914), No. 2. pp. 79-S5, fig. 1). — Among the species here described as new are 

 Mesidia giUcttri. reared from Brachycolus tritici. presumably at Fort Collins, 

 Colo. ; Paruphelinus toviaspidis n. sp., reared from the eggs of Tomaspis varia 



