June, 1917] DiCKERSON : LepTOBYRSA RHODODENDRI. Ill 



tends upward between the two sides of the upper piece. Thus there 

 is formed by the upper piece and the lower side pieces and their 

 connecting parts an oviduct which extends from the base for two 

 thirds the length of the ovipositor beyond which point the membranes 

 connecting the side pieces are divided. 



Viewed from the side (Plate VIII, fig. 5) it is observed that the 

 ovipositor gradually tapers from the base to the apex. The upper 

 part is smooth save toward the apical end where it becomes some- 

 what serrate with an acute apex. The two lower side pieces are 

 strongly transversely ridged from base to apex. The possession of an 

 ovipositor by the female is related of course with the habit of this 

 species of ovipositing in the leaf tissue. 



As noted in Heidemann's description of the adult " the entire 

 lateral margins of the pronotum, crest of hood, carina, and most 

 of the nervures are beset with long very fine hairs." In this respect 

 this species is quite different from some of the commoner species of 

 the Tingididse which I have examined. In these latter the hairs on 

 the nervures, etc., are variable but spine-like and very few in num- 

 ber. In this species they are comparatively fine and long approxima- 

 ting in length the width of the medium-sized areoles and on the 

 upper surface are more or less erect (Plate VIII, fig. 7). They also 

 occur in somewhat smaller numbers on the undersurface of the 

 elytra where they are distinctly inclined. 



Another interesting structure noted in cleared and mounted speci- 

 mens is a mass of small papillce-like structures. There are two such 

 masses, one on each side, within the first abdominal segment. 



This species infests the rhododendron and mountain laurel 

 (Kalniia latifolia). Heidemann records it from both of these plants 

 and I have found it infesting them in New Jersey. In the nurseries 

 it occurs mostly on the rhododendron, especially Rhododendron 

 maximum, and while some varieties seem to be freer from infesta- 

 tion than others this exemption may be more apparent than real. 

 Van den Broek and P. J. Schenk (c. c.) state: "This species has 

 been found in 120 varieties of rhododendron, azaleas, and Kalmia 

 latifolia." 



While Heidemann gives the distribution from Massachusetts to 

 Florida and westward into Ohio, the insect will undoubtedly be found 

 even outside this area where rhododendrons have been planted, owing 



