HYMENOPTEROUS PARASITES OF THE WEEVIL. 



53 



BRACONIDiE. SIGALPHIN^. 



Sigali>lms cxirculioms Fitch. Previous to llio summer of lOOS tlie 

 first record of rearing this species (see fig. 11) from the boll weevil was 

 considered doubtful, but beginning in August it was reared repeatedly 

 in material from Kuston and Monroe, La., and Natchez, ^liss. Its 

 other hosts are Conotraclielus ajfinis Boheman in hickory nuts; Cono- 

 trachelus elegans Boheman in petioles of hickory at Dallas, Tex., and 

 in galls of Phijlloxera devastatrix on pecan (Ilicoria -pecan) at Dallas 

 and Victoria, Tex. ; Conotraclielus juglandis Le Conte in walnuts {Jug- 

 lans nigra); Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst in fruit of plum, peach, 

 etc.; Tyloderma foveolatum Say in stems of Onagm hiennis at Wash- 

 ington, D. C. ; Tnclioharis texana Le Conte in stems of Solanum rostra- 

 turn; TricJioharis trinotata 

 Say in stems of })otato {Sol- 

 anum tuberosum ) ; and Zygo- 

 haris xanthoxyli Pierce in 

 seed of Xanthoxylum clava- 

 Tierculis. 



TJrosigdlplius antJionomi 

 CrsLvdord has never been 

 reared since the original 

 records which were made 

 at Brownsville, Tex. 



Urosigalphus schwarzi 

 Craw^ford. This Guatemalan boll weevil parasite has never been 

 reared in the L^nited States. 



Urosigalphus n. sp. At Arlington, Tex., in 1909, a single specimen 

 was reared from an isolated cocoon. 



Fig. 11. 



-Sigalphus curcuUonis: a, Male; 6, female; c, an- 

 tenna. All enlarged, (.\fter Riley.) 



BR.\CONIN^. 



Microlracon mellitor Say.^ This parasite (see fig. 12) still holds 

 the lead as the most important boll-weevil parasite. Its other 

 host relations are only partially discovered. The following hosts 

 have been ascertained: Desmoris scapalis Le Conte in heads 

 of SiderantJius ruhiginosus; Smicraulax tuberculatus Pierce in 

 stems of Phoradendron flavescens; Anthonomus alhopilosus Dietz in 

 seed of Croton spp.; Anthonomus eugenii Cano in fruit of pepper 



1 Bracon mellilor Say is recorded by Girault (1907) as a parasite of the lesser peach borer {Synanthedon pic- 

 lipes Grote and Robinson) and of the peach borer (Sanninoidea ezitiosa Say). The gregarious habit of these 

 parasites appears to prove that the determination was incorrect. Mr. F. E. Brooks, of West Virginia, has fur- 

 nished the record of this species from SanninoidM ezitiosa and also from Craponius inxqualis Say at French 

 Creek, W. Va. The determinations were made in the Bureau of Entomology. Dr. F. II. Chittenden states 

 that he reared this species from the strawberry leaf-roUor, Ancylis complana Froelich (/ra^^ari'as Walsh and 

 Riley), at Cabin John, Md., July 9, 1899. It is probable that all parasites of Lepidoptera determined as 

 Bracon mellitor belong to some other species. The lepklopterous and coleopterous parasites are not dis- 

 tinguishable by structural characters, but are so different In habits that it is considered advisable to 

 call the iepidopterous parasite Microbracon dorsator Say and the coleopterous parasite Af. mellitor Say. 



