﻿162 Journal New York Ext. Soc. [Voi. hi. 



species, and that, D riifotestacea Motsch., as doubtful as to the genus. 

 Curiously enough, D. 14-notata has been described from Madagascar, 

 which, if the genus proves correct, will go to substantiate the statement 

 of Dr. A. R. Wallace, that the fauna of this island is more closely al- 

 lied to that of South America than to South Africa, to which it lies 

 almost contiguous. 



With respect to the food of the species of Diabrotica, I have no data 

 except as to species of our fauna. The name means one that gnaws 

 through, and we usually consider them leaf eaters, and, while this is 

 true to some extent, yet they are really pollen eaters and prefer the 

 bloom to the foliage. We know how destructive 12-punctata and vittata 

 are to the young Cucurbs, but as soon as the blossoms appear they 

 largely forsake the leaves and frequent only the flowers, the former I 

 have observed in the woods in October, feeding on the belated bloom 

 of Asier sagittijolius, after the Cucurbs had been killed by frost ; the 

 adults are probably no more leaf eaters, in general, than they are fruit 

 eaters.. I have myself found vittata, 12-piinctata and longicornis feed- 

 ing upon ripe apples, melons, squashes and pumpkins, and, too, have 

 observed them all feeding upon the silk and pollen of corn. All three of 

 them are found on the Golden Rod {Solidago), Wild Sunflower {Ilelian- 

 thus), and I always captured atripeiinis wax.fossata on the bloom of the 

 Compass Plant {Silphiiim), and the fondness of longicornis for the blos- 

 soms of thistle has long been observed as a marked characteristic, and we 

 know that they forsake the cornfields as soon as the supply of pollen 

 fails and the silk turns to brown. Mr. Charles Robertson, in his ad- 

 mirable series of papers in the Botanical Gazette on "Flowers and In- 

 sects," gives the following as frequented by 12-piinctata: Nelumbo lu- 

 tca, Impatiens fiilva, Ceanothiis americanus, Amorpha canescens, CEno- 

 thera fniiticosa. Forbes, 1 8th Report State Entomologist of Illinois, 

 gives also the blossoms of roses, dahlias and cosmos ; while I have ob- 

 served it to swarm on the flowers of Seiiecio or Groundsel, in Louisiana, 

 in early spring. It also attacks the foliage of the following plants : Horse 

 nettle, cabbage, cauliflower and beans, while of trees they are known to 

 eat the leaves of plum, cherry, apricots and also the raspberry. I have 

 found both this vittata and longicornis feeding upon the unripe kernels 

 of corn, while j2-punctata was found similarly engaged on unripe 

 wheat. Besides thistle blossoms, longicornis has been recorded by Prof. 

 Forbes as feeding on the pollen of smartweed, ragweed, clover and 

 Helianthus. Of the food plants of soror, I know nothing from per- 

 sonal observation, but Coquillett reports both this and trivittata as 



