UROCERIDiE. 227 



authors is placed in the next family, is retained by Norton in the 

 present group. The larva is, in Europe, injiu-ious to rye and 

 wheat, boring in the stems of the plant. Cephus abbreviatus Say 

 is our more typical form, though rarely met with. C trimaculatus 

 Say is found in New York early in June, according to Dr. Fitch. 



Urocerid^ Leach. The family of " Horntails" are so-called 

 from the long prominent horn on the abdomen of the males, 

 while the ovipositor or "saw," resembling that of the true saw- 

 flies, is attached to the middle of the abdomen, and extends far 

 beyond its tip. They are of large size, with a long cylindrical 

 body and a large head, square next the thorax, but much 

 rounded in front. The antennae are long and filiform. The 

 larvae are "cylindrical fleshy grubs, of a whitish color, with a 

 small rounded horny head, and a pointed horny tail. They have 

 six very small legs under the fore-part of the body, and are pro- 

 vided with strong and powerful jaws, wherewith they bore long 

 holes in the trunks of the trees they inhabit. Like other borers 

 these grubs are wood-eaters, and often do great damage to pines 

 and firs, wherein they are most commonly found." Harris 

 farther states that, when about to transform, the larvae make 

 thin cocoons of silk in then* burrows, interwoven with little 

 chips made by the larva. "After the chrysalis skin is cast off", 

 the winged insect breaks through its cocoon, creeps to the 

 mouth of its burrow, and gnaws through the covering of bark 

 over it, so as to come out of the tree into the open air." 



Xiphklria is so-called from the sword-like ovipositor, which 

 is much shorter than in the succeeding genera. The body is a 

 little flattened, somewhat turned up behind, and the tip of the 

 abdomen ends in an obtuse point, while the antennae are short, 

 curved and tapering at the end. Xipliidria albicornis Harris is 

 black with yellowish legs and white antennae, with the two 

 lowest joints black. It is nearly three-fourths of an inch long. 



The t^-pical genus of the family is Urocerus, which has a large 

 body, with a large ovipositor and long, sixteen to twentj'-four- 

 jointed antennae, while the body of the male ends in a stout 

 acute horn. U. albicornis Fabricius has white antennae, and the 

 female is of a deep blue-black color, while the male is black. 

 It is found on pine trees in July. It is an inch in length. 



