IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 109 



This insect is decidedly an injurious species. Trees upon the college 

 campus that were worst attacked by this fly the past summer, have had not 

 more than one-half their normal amount of foliage. 



On the 18th of April, last, the writer noticed the flies abundant among the 

 branches of the trees, and the process of egg-laying was carefully watched 

 with a hand lens. The females were so intent upon their duties for the 

 propagation of the species that they were not easily disturbed. They do not 

 pierce the bud scales, but work their long, slender ovipositors far down 

 between the scales, and there deposit a large nest of eggs, sometimes forty 

 or more in a place. By separating the scales these clusters of eggs can be 

 plainly seen with the naked eye. The irritation set up by these eggs and the 

 maggots that hatch from them, aided, perhaps, by a poisonous secretion 

 from the mother insect, causes the abnormal development of the part. The 

 galls and the twigs supporting them all die a few weeks later, when the 

 maggots drop to the ground. These dead galls turn black, and remain upon 

 the trees, giving them an unsightly appearance. 



EGG-LAYING OF THE APPLE CURCUL[0-(Anthonomus quadrigib- 



BUS SAY). 



BY C. P. GILLETTE. 



I am not aware that anyone has published actual observations on the 

 method of oviposition by this insect. On the 13th of June, 1889, I was for- 

 tunate enough to see a female perform the entire operation which was £s 

 follows: First a cavity was eaten in the apple as deep as the beak 

 was long, the bottom being much enlarged and sub-triangular in outline. 

 The walls of the cavity converged to the opening which was only large 

 enough to admit the slender beak. When first noticed the beetle had but 

 just begun her work and it was thirty minutes before she had the egg cavity 

 completed. The beetle, almost immediately after withdi-awing her beak 

 turned about and applied the tip of her abdomen to the small opening. 

 After remaining in this position for about five minutes she walked away 

 without turning about to inspect the work she had so neatly done. I at 

 once plucked the apple and examined closely the identical spot where the 

 beetle had been at work and was surprised to find that there was no punc- 

 ture to be seen, but a minute brown speck insteail which would not arouse 

 a suspicion of what had been done. The beetle had smoothly plugged the 

 little opening wiHi what appeared to be a bit of pomace, probably excrement, 

 and she had done the job so nicely that no one would suspect that the little 

 speck marked the place of oviposition unless he had seen such marks before 

 and had learned what they signify. With a sharp knife a section was made 

 through the egg-chamber, with the egg at the bottom. 



