1911] Felt — A New Species of Lasioptera 85 



Larva. Length 1.75 mm., rather stout, whitish or yellowish-orange; breast- 

 bone slender, expanded distally, narrowly bidentate; posterior extremity broadly 

 rounded. 



Type C. a2113. New York State Museum. 



The female of the above described Lasioptera is extremely 

 interesting because of the terminal acicula being practically identi- 

 cal with the much better known needle-like appendage on the tip of 

 the abdomen of Asphondylia and certain close allies. A study 

 of this organ, to which we have applied the name acicula, shows 

 that this structure in the two genera is homologous and, further- 

 more, that it occurs in a more or less developed condition among 

 many of our gall midges, particularly those having a long ovipositor 

 or with the acicula chitinized and modified to form a piercing 

 organ. The acicula is essentially a chitinized rod arising from 

 an arched, furcate base and tapering to an acute point. It may 

 be apical as in Asphondylia, Schizomyia, Monarthropalpus, 

 Sackenomyia and Trotteria, or subapical, less chitinized and 

 frequently nearly concealed by other tissues. This latter ob- 

 tains in many species of Lasioptera, Rhabdophaga, Dasyneura, 

 Contarinia and numerous other genera. The acicula usually occurs 

 at the base of the apical segment of the ovipositor and is occa- 

 sionally forced out by the manipulation necessary in making a 

 balsam preparation. In Baldratia and Stefaniella it appears 

 to be composed of a pair of rather widely separated rods 

 terminating in irregular, acute, subapical processes, while the 

 minor lobe in these two genera is strongly chitinized, acute apically 

 and may possibly serve as a piercing organ. This compound 

 structure of the acicula may also be seen in Asteromyia and other 

 related genera, though the two long rods composing its shaft 

 are much more nearly approximate. The process of fusion is 

 complete in the very effective acicula of Asphondylia. The 

 development of this organ is somewhat less in Schizomyia, while 

 in Trotteria it is a blade-like rather than an aciculate structure. 

 Monarthropalpus and Sackenomyia both have the acicula modified 

 to form a rather stout, curved, not particularly acute organ. 



The recognition of the homology above outlined necessitates 

 a careful examination of the apparently peculiar dorsal pouch of 

 Asphondylia. A study of the structures on the distal segment 

 of the ovipositor in Schizomyia, Monarthropalpus and Sackeno- 



