184 SECOND REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



A Strange blunder was made by Mr. Walsh in regarding the species 

 as identical with the pine-leaf scale insect {Chioaaspis pinifolicB). He 

 wrote as follows to a correspondent : "The insects infesting the white 

 pine do not belong to the Aphis family (plant-lice), but to the Coccus 

 family (bark-lice). The elongate white scale on the leaf was described 

 by Fitch as Aspidiotus piuifoIicB j the downy patches on the bark as 

 Coccus jjinicorticis. But I believe that they are the same species, the 

 former containing the eggs, like the scale of the common bark-louse of 

 the apple-tree, and the latter being the young larvae with downy matter 

 exuding from them." 



In 1S69, Dr. Shimer published the results of his study upon this insect) 

 called by him the "white-pine louse," made by him during the preced- 

 ing year. From specimens of Coccus pinicorticis Fitch, inclosed in a 

 feeding cage on June 3, the following day he obtained Chermes piHi/oHce 

 of Fitch (the winged form), thus clearly establishing their identity. 



Four years later, forgetting the above article of Dr. Shimer, and fol- 

 lowing the lead of Dr. Fitch, I committed the error of referring to this 

 species as Coccus pinicorticis, in a notice of it contributed to the 

 Country Gentleman (see citation). 



Other Species of Chermes. 



The species of this genus are not numerous. From this, in part, but 

 mainly for the reason, it may be supposed, that their oviporous repro- 

 duction limits their increase and consequent destructiveness much below 

 that of others of the family which multiply with such fearful rapidity 

 through the simple process of gemmation — they have failed to receive 

 the study bestowed upon their near relatives, the Apliidince and the 

 Pemj)liigincB. 



Two other pine-feeding species of Chermes occur in Europe, which 

 have not yet been detected in this country, viz., Chermes ]ji7ii Koch, 

 and Chermes corticalis Kaltenbach. 



Another species has been discovered by Dr. Fitch, in Washington 

 county. New York, extracting the juices from the leaves of the larch, 

 Larix Americana. It was briefly characterized, mainly from wing 

 features, in the Transactions of the iV". J''. State Agricultural Society, 

 for 1857, p. 753, and also appearing in the 4th Annual Report on the 

 Insects of New York, p. 66 (3d-5th Reports, 1859), as Chertnes larici- 

 folicB. 



Dr. Packard in his Guide to the Study of Insects, 1869, p. 522-3, fig- 

 ures a pupal and a winged form resembling European species of J ^/p/(/e< 

 Vallot (.4. coccineus of Ratzburg and A. strobilohivs of Kaltenbach), 

 found by him in abundance, upon spruces in Maine, and producing 



