LOCUST LEAF-MINERS 365 



gray, and of the same color beneath, while the legs are of a very pale straw-yellow. 

 It ditt'ers from most of the species of the genus in having the apex of the fore-wiuga 

 less ronnded than usual, and in this and other respects it is allied to the Europeaa 

 D. laterella. 



10. The locust leaf-miner. 



Gracillaria rohiniella (Fitch). 



Order Lepidoptera; family Tineid^. 



Mining the leaf in July, making a blotch on the upper surface of the leaf, with » 

 number of lateral galleries running out from it, on each side, a flattened pale green 

 worm which passes the chrysalis state in the leaf, the latter falling to the ground, and 

 the following June giving out a minute moth. 



This is a common leaf-miner of the locust in the New England as 

 well as the Middle States. Out of the seventeen leaflets which form, 

 the locust leaf, usually two or three and often more make the blotches. 

 The mines are not tenanted, Clemens states, at the time the leaf i» 

 mined by Lithocolletis rohiniella (Clem., Proc. Phil. Acad., 1860). 



The larva makes a pale yellowish mine, usually on the midrib, with 

 lateral branches running out from it. It pupates in a small nidus on 

 some object on the ground. 



The late Mr. Chambers wrote me that it is common in New Orleans- 

 in February. 



The moth, — Fore-wings tine brown, somewhat golden, shaded with dark brown. 

 Along the costa are three oblique silvery streaks ; on the inner margin are three sil- 

 very dorsal spots, placed opposite the spaces between the costal streaks. Near tlie 

 tip of the wing is a transverse narrow curved silvery line, passing from the costa to- 

 the inner angle. (Clemens.) 



11. The locust skipper. 



Eudamus tityrus Fabricias. 



Drawing the leaves together in July, a large pale-green caterpillar about 2 inches 

 long, with a red neck and large red head, with a large yellow spot on each side of 

 the mouth, feeding by night, sometimes pupating between the leaves, and transform- 

 ing into a stout-bodied, brown butterfly with a skipping, rapid, strong, low flight, 

 and antennae flattened and bent over at the end. (Harris.) 



These voracious worms sometimes strip the leaves of the common 

 locust and especially the viscid locust {Robinia viscosa), which is culti- 

 vated in New England as an ornamental tree. According to Harris, 

 the females lay their eggs singly during June or early in July on the 

 leaver, the caterpillars hatch in July, and when quite small conceal 

 themselves under a fold of the edge of a leaf, which is bent over their 

 bodies and secured by means of silken threads. When they become 

 larger they attach two or more leaves together, so as to form a kind of 

 cocoon or leafy case to shelter them from the weather, and to screen 

 them from the prying eyes of birds. One end of the leafy case is left 

 open, and from this the insect comes forth to feed. They transform to 



