April, '10] COLLIXGE : COLLEMBOLA INJURIOUS 205 



found, but in all cases the Collembola had ineeased largely in 

 numbers. ' ' 



At the time it did not occur to me to inquire "where did the fungi 

 come from?" But since then this same soil has in part been u.sed 

 to pot bulbs in and the remainder was thrown onto the garden. In 

 the pots and in the garden where this soil was placed there is now 

 arising' an abundant crop of different fungi. 



As none of the fungi have previously been noticed in the garden 

 and do not now occur, excepting in this restricted patch and in the 

 pots, I think I am justified in concluding that the spores were 

 originally introduced by the Collembola. 



Doctor Buller® in his recent work states: "The gills of expanded 

 fruit bodies are frequently visited, not only by Fungus Gnats, but 

 also by Springtails (Collembola) . . . Some fruit bodies of Pohj- 

 porus squamosus, which were growing on a log and had not yet become 

 fully expanded, w^ere infested with small black Collembola. There 

 were as many as fifty to the square inch, and each one occupied a 

 liymenial tube which was just wide enough to hold it. The Spring- 

 tails (genus AcJiorutes), infesting Stropliaria semiglobata, and some 

 other species of Agaricine^e, were found to contain spores in the mid- 

 gut," and it is well known to students of this interesting order that 

 large numbers are found in such habitats. Hence these minute 

 insects, quite apart from their own depredations, may prove a source 

 hy which various plant diseases may be introduced by spores which 

 they carry upon their bodies. This I have proved to be actually so 

 hy washing various species in water and then examining the liquid, 

 after the removal of the insects, in such case spores of fungi were 

 particularly numerous. 



SOME NOTES UPON THE LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS 

 OF THE SORGHUM MIDGE 



{Contarinia [Diplosis] sorghicola Coq.) 



By W. Harper Deax, Age)it and Expert, Cereal and Forage Insect Investiga- 

 tioyi><, U. S. Bureau Entomology 



Contarinia sorghicola Coq. occurs practically throughout the 

 sorghum producing sections of the United States east of the 100th 

 meridian. West of this line it is not known to occur at this writing. 

 This species infests the seed of the many varieties of Sweet Sorghum, 



» Researches on Fungi, London, 1909, p. 20. 



