224 



PSYCHE. 



jOclolier — Deccniher 1SS4. 



Parasites of the lakva of Lachno- 

 STERNA FLSCA. Ill an item quoted in 

 Psyche, v. 4, p. 211, iVoin Science record^ 

 Mr. Otto Lugger is reported as saying that 

 ''Tiphia la^'S its eggs in the larva oi Lachno- 

 sterna fiifca," and the larva "when nearly 

 mature eats the white grub." Further, that 

 the eggs of Rkipifhortis, a secondary para- 

 site, "become fastened to the Tiphia." These 

 statements are not strictly accurate. The 

 conjecture in my 6th Missouri report,' p. 123- 

 126, that the Tiphia larva preys externally 

 on that of Lachiiosteriia, I have since veri- 

 fied, and of course it begins feeding as soon as 

 hatched ; while it would be quite exceptional 

 for Rhipiphoyus to lay its eggs on Tiphia. 

 The probability, as stated in the report cited, 

 is that the eggs are deposited on flowers fre- 

 quented by Tiphia, to which the triungulin 

 fastens and by which it is carried into the 

 ground. It would be interesting to know 

 whether Mr. Lugger speaks from observation 

 or conjecture. — C. V. Riley, at meeting of 

 Kntomological societv of \Va:>hington. b Nov. 

 18S4. 



Food-plants of Pulvinaria in.numera- 

 BiLis. On p. 338 of J. D. Putnam's "Bio- 

 logical and other notes on coccidac" [Psyche, 

 Rec, no. 1989], it is stated that Mr. Putnam 

 has observed Pulvinaria inniimerubilis in 

 great abundance on Acer dasycarpum, A. 

 saccharinum, Negnndo aceroidcs and Tilia 

 etiropaea, on each of which it thrives well, 

 best on the Negiindo, but least on A. saccha- 

 rinum. Mr. Putnam knew personally of the 

 occurrence of this species also on Robinia 

 pseudacacia, Vifis lahnisca and Rhm glabra. 

 in the vicinity of infested maples. In one 

 instance he found a single undersized speci- 

 men, with its "nest," on Vitis riparia, more 

 than 800 metres from the nearest infested 

 Acer. He adds Ro$a and Fagiis to the list 

 of food-plants, on the authority of S. S. 

 Rathvon, who found it once on each of these 



I Psyche, Rec, no. 39. 



plants, and mentions with doubtful credence 

 the opinions of Emily A. Smith and C. V. 

 Riley that they had also found it on Salix. 

 Madura, .^uercus, Ulmiis, Platanus, Ribes, 

 Euonymus and Ccliis. It undoubtedly occurs 

 in very great abundance on Madura hedges 

 in Washington, D. C, as I have observed. 

 On the 30th of June this year (1SS4) I 

 received from F. R. Ralhbun, of Auburn. N. 

 Y. . three twigs of C'lmus, gathered on the 

 2Sth. in Auburn, bearing re-pectively i, 1 and 

 3 specimens of mature Pulvinaria innumera- 

 bilis, with fully developed nests, from which 

 the larvae have since hatched in great num- 

 bers. These all came from one tree. In 

 sending specimens previously, Mr. Rathbun 

 wrote that "the maples [Acer'\ especially 

 have the silky pussys or cocoons to a large 

 extent, and tliey are invariably found on the 

 under sides of the twigs. Sometimes they 

 are arranged thickly, in rows, and again 

 singly." Mr. Putnam says "there is enough 

 evidence to show that this insect is capable 

 of thriving on quite a variety of food-plants, 

 and in the cases where it has been directly in- 

 troduced from the maple there is no question 

 of its identity." The specimens referred 

 to in this communication will be deposi- 

 ted in the Museum of comparative zoology 

 at Cambridge, Mass., where they are more 

 certain of good care and of being accessible 

 to students than in any other collection of 

 national extent in the country. — B: Pick- 

 man Mann al meeting of Cambridge ento- 

 mological dub, 10 Oct. 1SS4. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



CAMBRIDGE KNTOMOLOGR AL CI.LB. 

 ( Continued from p. /So.) 

 14 Mar. 1SS4. — The looth meeting of the 

 club was held at 61 Sacramento St., Cam- 

 bridge, 14 Mar. 1SS4. the president. Mr. S : 

 H. Scudder, in the chair. 



The secretary announced the withdrawal 

 from the club of .Mr. Henry Savage, of lioston , 

 Mass. 



