CACTUS-FEEDING INSECTS AND MITES 115 



of A. bethelL The adult midges reared from this material were deter- 

 mined by Dr. E. P. Felt as A. opuntiae. The question arises whether 

 A. betheli and A. opuntiae represent one species; if this should prove to 

 be the case, the former name has priority. 



Asphondylia opuntiae Felt 



This cecidomyid has a very wide distribution, from Colorado in the 

 north to southern Mexico, and from Texas to California. The most 

 northerly records of its occurrence have been made at Boulder, 

 Colorado, and at Zion National Park, southern Utah; it was not found 

 in Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. In Mexico it occurs as far south as 

 Tehuacan and Oaxaca in the southern highlands. It is not uncommon 

 on the Pacific coast between Los Angeles and San Diego, while in 

 Texas its range extends to the Gulf coast. 



The experience of the Board's officers would indicate that the species 

 is most abundant and most generally distributed over the Edwards 

 Plateau in the central-western portion of Texas and in the region 

 lying between Austin, Brownwood, San Angelo, and Rocksprings, 

 where it was observed in quantity in 1925, 1928, 1929, and 1931. The 

 following extracts from reports will serve to illustrate its prevalence 

 in that region: 



May, 1938: fully 80 percent of Opuntia fruit attacked along the Pedemales 

 River; quite common at Eden, San Angelo, and Water Valley. 



October, 1938: particularly abundant in the San Saba valley near Hext; 

 in some areas almost 100 percent infestation of fruit. 



July, 1929: for miles around Ballinger, Coleman, Brownwood, and 

 Lampasas, the rather scattered growth of Opuntia lindheimeri Engel bore a 

 heavy crop of fruit; all plants showed not less than 90 percent and many 

 plants 100 percent of the fruit attacked by Asphondylia Loew. 



August, 1931: fully 90 percent of the fruit attacked in the San Angelo- 

 Sonora sector. 



Around Uvalde the insect is not uncommon in local areas, usually 

 in more or less wooded country, rarely in the exposed fields of 0. 

 lindheimeri; it becomes prevalent in the foothills section west of Del Rio. 

 The distribution extends northward to Fort Worth and Dallas. East 

 and southeast from Uvalde the midge has been located fairly generally 

 as far as the Navidad River and Beeville. However, it appears to be 

 extremely rare along the Gulf coast. Considerable exploratory work 

 has not revealed its occurrence in the Galveston and Brownsville 

 districts; in fact the only positive records from extreme coastal areas in 

 Texas were made at Rockport, at Sinton, and near Lolita. The species 

 is not common in the drier parts of southwestern Texas, although it has 



