PSYCHE. 



THE INSECTS OF BE TULA IN NORTH AMERICA. 



BY ANNA KATHERINA DIMMOCK, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



My attention was first drawn to the 

 number of insects which feed upon 

 plants of the genus Betula when I set 

 out to malve a collection illustrating the 

 different stages of insects found on Be- 

 tula alba. I had exhibited stages of 

 39 determined species, and intended to 

 pulilisii a simple list of these, but so 

 man\' additions to the list were found 

 later in scattered publications that fur- 

 ther notes were added. Finally, after 

 the publication of Dr. G : Dimmock's 

 '•Notes on ptcrophoridac of Nortli 

 America,"' I determined to put the 

 notes in the form adopted in that article, 

 and to include the American insects of 

 the entire genus Betula. The notes 

 have steadih' increased in liulk, until 

 they now include 107 determined spe- 

 cies. This number would be still fiu- 

 ther augmented by the determination of 

 several species which I have reared 

 from Betula alba. Kaltenbach^ gives 

 370 European birch-feeding insects, and 

 where the same species of insects are 

 found in America I have added them to 



' Psyche, Sept. -Oct. 1SS2, v. 3, p. 402-404. 

 ^ Kalteiibach, J. H. Die pflanzent'einde aus der classe 

 der insecten. Stuttgart, 1S74. 



this list. Packard^ enumerates only 19 

 species of American insects from Betu- 

 la. The numerous bibliographical ref- 

 erences here included, which were 

 selected from those accumulated in the 

 progress of my work, refer generall}' to 

 easily accessible works and are not in- 

 appropriate in a bibliographical jour- 

 nal like Psyche. Most of the citations 

 have been verified,— a few are quoted. 

 For many of them and for the free use of 

 notes I am indebted to my hu.sband. 

 Dr. G : Dimmock. We have for sev- 

 eral years reared and studied insects 

 together, and some of the larvae men- 

 tioned in this article will be described 

 by him later. My thanks are due fur- 

 ther to Prof. C : H : Fernald, Dr. S : W. 

 Williston, and Messrs. S: Henshaw 

 antl R. Thaxter, for identifying insects 

 belonging respectively to the microlep- 

 idoptera, diptera, coleoptera, and ma- 

 crolepidoptera. 



Quite extended lists of food-plants 

 have been compiled in the case ot cer- 

 tain lepidoptera, because these insects 

 are often reared for pleasure, and be- 

 cause an accurate knowledge of food- 

 plants is desirable, even for polyphag- 



■■' Bull. 7, U. S. entom. comm., Washin^on, iSSt. 



