KOSY Illsr.V AM) DKor-WdltNf. 



tlii3 communication, you will receive one of the leaves, showing in what way and to 

 what extent they were affected.* 



Your insect is the Rosy llispa, or llhpa rosccv, of Webkr, otherwise called Jlispa 



quadrata by Faduicuis, and llhpa 7nar;/i)utla \>y Say. The accompanying rude and 



. very magnified sketch will give an idea of the form of this pretty 



\\ / y* leaf-beetle, and the line at the side of it indicates its natural size, 

 (\I/ which rarely exceeds one-fifth of an inch in length. Its body is 



^ light red above, ornamented with short blood-red lines, and is 



Ss^ mostly blackish beneath. The antenna} arc black, and the legs 

 I i/ I ■' ^ « 'A are reddish-yellow. The thorax is rough with small indentations, 

 1^ ^"" l"i"ctures, as they are called ; the wing-covers are notched 

 -1 VV around the outer edges, have raised ribs upon them, and deep 

 ''^ punctures in the intervals. The Rosy Ilispa may be found abund- 

 antly in May and June on the leaves of the Shad-bush, or Amelanchier Canadensis, 

 and on other shrubs of the same family, the leaves of which it devours. The variety 

 which inhabits the Oak differs in being of a reddish-yellow color, ornamented with 

 blackish-red lines. This difference may be occasioned by its food, or by other causes 

 of an accidental nature. 



The female Ilispa deposits her eggs, for the most part, singly, on the upper surface 

 of the leaves. These eggs are glued fast to the leaves, and are covered with a rough, 

 blackish crust. The grubs, hatched from the eggs, immediately penetrate into the 

 pulpy substance of the leaf, which they devour, leaving the cuticle, or skin of the 

 leaf, both above and beneath, untouched. The part of the leaf thus, as it were, under- 

 mined, becomes dry and brown, and through the semi-transparent cuticle, when held 

 between the eye and the light, the grub may be seen in its burrow. The grub comes 

 to its growth toward the end of July, and then measures from one-fifth to one-quarter 

 of an inch in length. It is somewhat flattened, and tapers toward the hinder extremity. 

 Its color is yellowish-white, except the head, the first segment, and the tail, which 

 are blackish. It has six legs, a pair beneath the first, second, and third segments ; 

 and on each of the remaining segments, both above and beneath, except the last, there 

 is a transverse horny spot, which is rough, like a rasp. The sides of these segments, 

 also, are prominent, and are surmounted each with a little brownish tubercle, or wart. 

 Early in August the grub is transformed to a chrysalis within its retreat. The chrysalis, 

 which is whitish at first, finally becomes brown. Like the grub, the sides of its body 

 are prominent, and there are transverse rasps on the back and belly. In about one 

 week afterward the insect casts oft" its pupa skin, and comes out a fully formed beetle, 

 which has only to force a passage through the thin cuticle of the leaf in order to 

 escape into the open air. The insect, probably, passes the winter in the beetle form 

 in some place of concealment. Such is briefly a history of the transformations of 

 this little Ilispa. 



The caterpillars, which, together with their cocoons, you sent to me, with the infor- 

 mation that they were very destructive to the Arbor Vitie, Cedar, and other resinous 



* Quite similar to the manner in ■which the Basswood leaves are eaten. — Ed. 



