THE SPOTTED BEET WEBWORM. 7 



iiiid was told by the <>artlenfr that this moth e\ iih'iitly beh)no-e(l to a 

 small larva ■which was doiiio- oreat damage to the leaves of several 

 varieties of Alternanthera grown in boxes and pots in the green- 

 house. It was also observed that the larvfe worked mainly at night 

 and that they concealed themselves during the daytime between the 

 roots of these jDlants at the bottom of the pot. 



November 27, 1!)09, Dr. 11. T. Fernald sent specimens of this spe- 

 cies for identification that had been received from Cuba. 



November 15, 1010, Mr. D. K. McMillan, while working under the 

 Avriter's direction at Brownsville. Tex., collected the larva^ of this 

 species on Amaranthus and beets in that vicinity. The larva^ were 

 attacking the leaves and flowers of both plants and webbing the 

 leaves and stems. Moths were very numerous on December 6 of the 

 same year, a few larvfe still being found on the food plants men- 

 tioned. Parasites were reared from larvtip taken November 15. 



April 11, 1912, Prof. Glenn AV. Herrick, of Cornell University, 

 Ithaca, N. Y., sent specimens of the moth with report that they were 

 reared from larvie found very abundantly in a greenhouse in Brook- 

 lyn, N. Y., and that they were especially bad on Alternanthera. 



Mr. John June Davis has forestalled the writer in publishing an 

 article on this same species, which he terms the Alternanthera worm. 

 He records that in 1910 this species was found eating the foliage of 

 the variegated border plant Alternanthera, and states, what the writer 

 has also noted, that if the larva are numerous enough to attract at- 

 tention they usually defoliate the plant repeatedly as new shoots 

 and leaves put forth, thus ruining it for ornamental purposes and 

 sometimes killing it. The article includes descriptive matter, notes 

 on habits, and suggestions as to remedial measures, among Avhich 

 arsenicals, hand picking, and light traps are especially mentioned. 



ASSOCIATED INSECTS. 

 THE YELLOAV-NECKEl) FLEA-BEETLE.^ 



(D-isoinjelia iiirllicollis Say.) 



October 8, 1912, the Avriter observed, in a badly infested plat not 

 previously examined in Iowa Circle. Washington City, about 20 indi- 

 viduals of the yellow-necked flea-beetle {Disonycha melllcoJlis Say) 

 congregated in a space of less than a square foot. They were in a 

 warm place, the sunlight Avas strong, and hence they could all have 

 escaped, though they could have been captured that evening. The 

 writer captured enough specimens to be sure of the species, although 

 this insect can be readily separated from xantlxamelnna in life some- 



iSee also Bui. 82, Pt. IL Bur. Ent.. T'. S. Dept. Ajir., pp. 20-?.2, 1909. 



