584 FIFTH KEPOET OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



margin to the tip. Near the basal third of the wiug ou the dorsal edge of the whitish 

 stripe is an elongate blackish brown spot, and from the middle of the wiug towards 

 the tip it is edged on its costal side by a blackish brown line, which contains some- 

 times a spot of the same hue. The apical portion of the stripe is more freely dusted 

 with fuscous than the other portions. Cilia fuscous. Hind wings fuscous, cilia 

 paler. 



Autenme dark fuscous, without white annulations except near the tip. Head fus- 

 cous above, face white. Labial palpi dark fuscous ; second joint with a white ring 

 at the extreme tip, sometimes white at the base, with a broad fuscous ring near the 

 tip ; terminal joint fuscous, with a more or less distinct whitish central ring, and the 

 extreme tip whitish. (Clemens' Tineina.) 



61. Batrachedra praangusta (Haworth. ) 

 G2. Batrachedra siholata Zeller. 



Chambers remarks that " the specific distinctness of these three 

 species seems to me uot sufl&cieutly established. B. salicipomella was 

 bred from galls made by other insects on willows. The mode of feed- 

 ing of the others is not satisfactorily determined." 



63. The American cimbex. 



Cimbex americana Leach. 



Order Hymenoptera; family Tenthredinid^. 



The following account of this insect is copied from Professor Riley's 

 report as U. S. Entomologist for 1884 : 



During the latter part of May last. Admiral Ammeu, who is noted in Washington 

 for his devotion to horticulture and arboriculture, brought us specimens of this large 

 saw-fly, with an account of its injuries to his imported willows, not as usual by the 

 larva, but by the gnawing of the perfect fly, the plantation being described as look- 

 ing as if a fire had run over it, or as if it had suffered by a severe frost. As this habit 

 was new, so far as we have any records, and as nothing was known of the mode of 

 oviposition in the species, we had the matter investigated. The tips of many of the 

 plants were found to be dark brown and dead; the dried-up portion extended 2 to 

 4 inches from the tip. Upon investigation it was plain that the cause of the trouble 

 was a very fine but deep transverse incision just below the dead portion of the willow, 

 the incision often extending more than half way around the twig, or there being a 

 number of smaller incisions, one above the other. (Fig. 194, b.) All these incisions 

 were so narrow that they could hardly be supposed to have been made for feeding 

 purposes ; but in many instances a number of larger marks, usually of an oblong 

 shape, were visible, and looked as though they had been made for food. 



According to Admiral Ammen this injury had beeu done by the saw-flies in the 

 latter part of May ; but on the 5th of June the flies had for the most part disap- 

 peared, and Mr. Schwarz, who made examination after our departure for Europe, 

 found at that date but a single female, sitting on a branch of about 5""" in diameter, 

 and just in the act of cutting one of the incisures referred to above. The insect 

 worked its mandibles in a very slow and deliberate manner, and made but little 

 headway in cutting during the three or four minutes he watched its workings. 

 Upon examination the twig was found to contain three such incisures, each reaching 

 more than half way around. 



The eggs and mode of oviposition. —Whether or not the cutting of the tips is madefor 

 feeding purposes, it is evident that it has nothing to do with oviposition, as no trace 



