140 Psyche [October 



bia, and states that Epochra canadensis Loew is quite certainly a 

 native American species, distributed throughout the northern 

 part of the United States and in Canada, extending from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific slope. 



The following notes were taken from observations of the Yellow 

 Currant Fly made in the vicinity of Stanford University. The 

 data here recorded refer to the fly only in the San Francisco Bay 

 region, its habits elsewhere being unknown to the writer from 

 personal observation. 



LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. 



The Egg; Its Deposition. 



The egg (Plate 11, fig. 2) of the Currant Fly is oblong, shining 

 opalescent white, with a short pedicle at one end. This pedicel- 

 late end is finely sculptured in a hexagonal pattern for about one 

 third the length of the egg, giving it a pitted appearance, as shown 

 in the photograph. The egg, measuring slightly over one milli- 

 meter, is plainly visible, as a rule, lying directly under the epi- 

 dermis of the stung fruit with the pedicellate end near the puncture 

 (Plate 1 1 , fig. 3) . The adult flies were first observed in Palo Alto 

 on April thirteenth; they probably issued several days earlier. 

 Specimens were sent to the laboratory' from San Jose which had 

 issued on April eighth. The habits of the adult female are very 

 interesting, a constant fluttering of the wings and continual run- 

 ning around in circles on the berries being quite characteristic. 

 As a rule in egg-laying, the fly may prefer a berry that has not 

 been stung before, but among the fruit under observation most of 

 the berries had been stung twice and usually oftener. One case was 

 noted where three eggs lay within a quarter of an inch of each 

 other. When ready to oviposit, the insect comes to rest on the 

 fruit with legs well braced, turns the last three segments with the 

 ovipositor under the body at an angle of about forty-five degrees 

 and makes a puncture in the epidermis (Plate 10). 



The time consumed in depositing an egg varies greatly, the 

 maximum period noted being fifteen minutes and the minimum a 

 minute and a half; the usual time consumed is about three minutes. 

 After puncturing the epidermis a long cavity is formed directly 



