JOURNAL 



JOrfD iSoph ^InJ^omoIogiral jSlorirlg. 



Vol. XXX. June, 1922. No. 2 



BIOLOGY OF THE GOLDENROD GALL-MAKER 



GNORIMOSCHEMA GALLiESOLIDAGINIS 



RILEY.i 



By R. W. Leiby, Ph.D., 



Raleigh, N. C. 



Introduction. 

 While engaged during the past seven years in tracing the polyembry- 

 onic development of a hymenopterous parasite Copidosoma gelechice 

 How., the writer has of necessity followed through several of these 

 years the life-history of its host Gnorimoschema gallcesolidaginis Riley, 

 the maker of an elliptical gall on the stems of goldenrod. This study 

 has revealed several striking points in the biology of an insect whose 

 gall has long been familiar to many naturalists. Certain seasonal 

 data have also been secured in the widely separated States of Vermont, 

 New York, and North Carolina, which indicate quite an interesting 

 variation in the time of appearance and length of the different stages 

 in the regions mentioned. 



History and Distribution. 



The maker of the elliptical gall of the goldenrod is the larva of a 



moth belonging to the family Gelechiidae. It was described by C. 



V. Riley ^ in 1869 from specimens bred in Missouri and named Gele- 



chia gallcesolidaginis, and at this time Riley also published some notes 



1 Contribution from the entomological laboratories of Cornell University 

 and Experiment Station of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. 



2 Riley, C. v., Mo. Rept. State Entomologist Nox. Insects, i. 1869, p. i73- 



81 



