INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS OP CALIFORNIA. 341 



THE PARSNIP LEAF-MINER 



Aeidia fratria (Loew) 

 (Trypeta fratria Loew) 



Description.— The flies are very small, being no more than T : \r inch 

 long with a wing expanse of T ^ inch. The general color is pale yellow. 

 The abdomen is pale green, the eyes red, the wings clouded with yellow 

 and the ovipositor black and yellow. The maggots are yellowish-white, 

 often appearing greenish. When fully matured they are f inch long 

 and one fifth as wide. The puparia are regularly oval with lower side 

 slightly flattened. They are first pale green, becoming straw-colored 

 with age, distinctly eleven segmented, £ inch long and half as wide. 



Life History. — The life history is imperfectly known. In all prob- 

 ability the eggs are laid upon the leaves, near the edges, and upon 

 hatching the larva? enter the tissues just under the upper epidermis. 

 Numerous mines are made before the maggots are fully matured. 

 Pupation takes place within the mines, the adults issuing in about 

 two weeks. 



Nature of Work. — The work consists in the making of numerous 

 irregular mines just under the epidermis of the leaves by the larvae. 

 These mines may be so thick as to completely cover the leaves and are 

 usually made only near the bottom of the plants or in shady places 

 elsewhere. Old seed-bearing plants are apparently preferred. 



Distribution. — The parsnip leaf-miner occurs in this State,' 240 but 

 the distribution is not well known. 



Food Plants. — The leaves of the cultivated parsnips are ordinarily 

 infested. According to Professor J. M. Aldrich, it was reared from the 

 leaves of giant wild parsnip, Heraclewm lantanum, in eastern Wash- 

 ington by C. V. Piper. 



Control. — A repellent such as carbolic acid emulsion, applied to 

 prevent egg-laying in the spring, may prove of practical value. Poison 

 sprays have also been recommended to kill the larva 1 as they enter the 

 leaf. Trap crops of seed-plants are very useful and should be burned 

 when they become thoroughly infested. 



THE CURRANT OR GOOSEBERRY FRUIT-FLY 1T 



Epochra canadensis (Loew) 

 (Trypeta canadensis Loew) 



i Figs. 340, 341 ) 



Description. — The flies are about as large as house flies, orange 

 yellow in color, with the two wings beautifully clouded with yellowish 

 markings. The eyes are green. The adults are very active and restless. 

 The eggs are oblong, shiny white, with a short pedicle at one end and 

 slightly over 1-25 inch in length. The maggots are white with black 



24 "Woodworth. Cal. Insects, p. 135, 1913. 



Bui. 82 pt. II. Bur. Bnt. U. S. Dept. Agric, pp. 11-12, 1909. 

 Z47 Saunders, W., Ins. Pests, Farm, Garden. Orchard, p. 352, 1883. 



Gillette, C. P., Bui. No. 19, Colo. Agrcl. Exp. Sta., p. 18, 1892. 



Harvey, F. L., Ann. Rept. State Coll. Me., pt. 2, p. ill. 1895; Bui. No, 35, Me. 

 Agrcl. E\p. Sta.. 1897; 13th Ann. Kept. Me. Agrcl. Exp. Sta., p. 25. 1897. 



Piper, C. V., and Doane, R. W., Bui. No. 36. Wash. Asjrcl. Kxp. Sta., 1898. 



Johannsen, O. A., Bui. No. 177. Me. Agrcl. Exp. Sta., p. 36, 1910. 



Paine, J. H., Psyche, XIX, No. 5, pp. 139-144, 1912. 



