INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 



573 



and also blackish on the two parts of tiic suln-cntral ridge Thoracic feet 

 and anal plate shaded with dusky black ; a mediovcntral series of black 

 patch(-s. 



Last stage. Head shinint,^ dark vinous, eye black; minutely pilose; 

 width I.I mm. Body shinint,r, sordid i^^reenish, rather dark, shaded' more <jr 

 le.ss with vinous, especially subventrally ; se,(,nnents obscurely annulate, 

 minutely pilose ; dorsal vessel a dark band ; the subventral ridjres show as 

 blackish elevations. Thoracic feet partly, anal plate and i)ron<'-s lanrely 

 black. 



Th(; female is about jj inch in lcnL,ah, very robust, black, marked with 



yellowish rust-retl. 



Bibliography 



1895 Dyar, H. G. Am. Ent. Soc. Trans. 22 ; 304 



1896 Marlatt, C. L. U. S. Dep't Agric. Div. Ent. Tech. St-r. 3, 82 



Alder flea beetle 



Maltha himargiiiata .Say 



Deep Prussian blue, rounded Ilea beet'is about ' '3 inc li long or dark brown, black- 

 headed, black-tubercled larvae occur in large numbers on alder. 



This species is .sometimes exceedingly abundant in the Adirondacks, 

 and were it not for the fact that alder is comparatively valueless, its dcjire- 

 dations would result in considerable loss, as it is more or less abundant 

 from )ear to )ear. The- ravages by this bet^tle have been recorded by Dr 

 Harris and l)r Packard in Maine and Xew 1 l.nnpshire, antl I)r Lugger 

 states that this species is sometimes exceedingly numerous and destructive 

 to willows growing on the shores of Minnesota lakes. 



Description. The pupa and larva have been described by I)r Packard 

 as follows : 



Larva. The body is somewhat flattened ; head scarcely two thirds 

 as wide as the body in the middle, black, becoming brown in front near the 

 jaws. Body livid brown above ; the tubercles black ; paler beneath, with 

 three pairs of black jointed thoracic legs ; no abdominal legs, but an anal 

 prop leg. The abdominal segments each with a transverse, oval-rounded, 

 ventral, rough space forming a series of creeping tubercles; and in front of 

 each segment is a transverse, oval, crescentic, chitinous area bearing two 

 piliferous tubercles ; the back of each segment divided into two ridges, 

 each bearing a row of six sharp tubercles, bearing short hairs ; a single 



