256 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. [Vol.36 



More light on Myiophasia, J. M. Aldeich {Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., 18 (1916), 

 No. 2, pp. 98-100, fig. 1). 



Note on Myiophasia aenea, C. H. T. Townsend {Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., 18 

 (1916), No. 2, pp. 100, 101). 



Observations on the habits and parasites of common flies, G. S. Gbaham- 

 Smith {Parasitology, 8 {1916), No. 4, pp. 440-5^9, pis. 10, figs. 2^).— In con- 

 tinuing investigations of flies (E. S. R., 30, p. 756) tlie autlior has studied their 

 wintering habits, seasonal distribution and abundance of species, natural 

 enemies, etc. He concludes that among tlie common species of flies the very 

 gi'eat majority of individuals pass the winter as pupae, or more rarely as larvae 

 which pupate early in the spring ; that a very small and unimportant minority 

 of both sexes emerging from pupae late in the autumn or even in the winter 

 possibly survive as adults until spring; that the wintering habits of Musca 

 domestica are still obscure ; and that the " critical " point for Calliphora ery- 

 throcephala, Fannia manicata, and F. scalaris seems to be about 48 to 50° F., 

 and for Ophyra leucostoma about 63°. 



A list of 55 references to the literature is included. 



The changes of the blowfly larva's photosensitivity with age, B. M. Patten 

 {Jotir. Expt. Zool., 20 {1916), No. /,, pp. 585-^98, figs. i2).— This is a report of 

 experiments carried on with blowfly {Calliphora crythroccphala) larvae, in which 

 tests were made each day from hatching until pupation in order to determine 

 what, if any, changes take place in the sign or the degree of their reaction to 

 light. The decrease in sensitivity was found to occur coincidently with the 

 beginning of the migratory period. 



The spike-horned leaf-miner, an enemy of grains and grasses, P. LtTGiNBiLL 

 and T. D. Ukbahns {U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 432 {1916), pp. IS, pis. 2, fig. i).— This 

 is a report of studies of Cerodoaita dorsalis, a dipteran known since 1861 as a 

 corn leaf miner, but which has lately been observed to work as readily in barley, 

 millet, wheat, oats, and various grasses. It has a wide range of distribution 

 within the United States, occurring from Indiana and Ohio in the North to 

 southern Florida in the South, and from Massachusetts in the East to Washing- 

 ton, California, and New Mexico in the West, and has been collected from Porto 

 Rico and Mexico. 



The injury to plants is caused (1) by the adults puncturing the leaves on 

 which to feed and oviposit, and (2) by the larvae which mine in the leaves and 

 sometimes in the stems of young, tender plants having only a limited area of 

 leaf surface. Mines started in the leaves of such young plants are often con- 

 tinued down into the heart after reaching the base of the leaf to a point near 

 or slightly below the surface of the ground. Up to the present time this species 

 Las never been recorded as a serious pest of agricultural crops. The most 

 severely infested field observed was one of barley at Yuma, Ariz., in April, 1915, 

 in which about 5 per cent of the plants were infested. 



The eggs are deposited either on the upper or lower sides of the leaves, one in 

 each puncture. The largest number of eggs recorded as having been deposited 

 by a single individual was 188 and the longest period of oviposition, 83 days. 

 Observations made at Tempe, Ariz., Columbia, S. C, and Glendale and Pasa- 

 dena, Cal., have shown the period of incubation to vary from 3 to 12 days during 

 the spring and summer months. The length of the larval stage ranges from 

 9 to 24 days during different seasons and in different localities. They pupate in 

 the mines, usually in the leaf sheath. The length of the pupal stage varies 

 from 9 to 12 days during the midsummer and from 11 to 16 days during spring 

 and late fall in the latitude of Columbia, S. O. ; from 14 to 18 days at Tempe, 

 Ariz., during March and April ; and from 12 to 24 days at Pasadena, Cal., at 

 different seasons of the year. The adults appear to be most active when the 



