October, '08] JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 311 



The natural food plants of this saw fly seem to be Rumex and 

 Polygonum, and the usual place of pupation is in the stalks of those 

 plants. According to J. G. Jack, however, the larvae will even bore 

 into some substance such as partially decayed wood to pupate. If 

 such is the case, apples fallen to the ground, or even apples stored in 

 any place in the vicinity of dock or Polygonum infested with this 

 larva, would offer an excellent situation for its hibernation. No 

 doubt the insect could easily be controlled, if it should happen to 

 become noxious, by getting rid of the natural food plants. 



NOTES ON MAPLE MITES 



Bj' P. .J. P.VRROTT 



Our native Eriophyida; have received very little attention among 

 entomologists, so that comparatively little is known of the species that 

 exist in the United States. The studies that have been made on this 

 group of mites have largely been confined to a few species attacking 

 fruit and shade trees, and much of the literature dealing with them 

 consists of mere records of the various species and their respective 

 host plants. In the recent catalog of Acarina of the United States, 

 by Nathan Banks, tWenty-seven species were listed which were divided 

 among the genera Eriophyes, Phyllocoptes, Epitrimerus and Ceci- 

 dohia. Dr. Alfred Nalepa in his excellent treatise on European Erio- 

 phyidge (Das Tierreich, Lief 4, Eriophyida^) has enumerated 226 

 species, distributed among nine genera. With the great diversity 

 of our flora there is evidently a large field for study on this family 

 of mites in this country. 



The probable variety and numbers of these interesting creatures has 

 recently been indicated to us in our investigations on the species 

 thriving on maples. In the studies on the mites existing on the foliage 

 of the Silver Maple, Acer saccharinum L., Sugar Maple, Acer sac- 

 charum ]\Iarsh, Red IMaple, Acer ruhrum L., Box Elder, Acer negundo 

 L., and the Norway Maple, Acer platanoides L., fifteen species have 

 been recognized. Among these there were two old world species, 

 Phyllocoptes gymnaspis Nal. and the remarkable Oxypleurites serra- 

 ius Nal. collected from the Norway ]\Iaple, which are recorded for the 

 first time in this country. This is nearly twice the number of mites 

 recorded on maples abroad and the list of our native species will un- 

 doubtedly be further increased as studies are made on other varieties 

 of maples. 



The interest of our entomologists in the maple mites is largely con- 



