November— December iSSS.J 



PSYCHE, 



127 



Another specimen taken /;/ copula 

 on the same plant at the same time is 

 slightlv yellowish, and has the members 

 (cornicles, antennae, and legs) nearly 

 dusky throughout. A large number 

 of other specimens examined did not 

 differ materially from these two types. 



SiPHONOPHORA RUDBECKIAE (FiTCH) . 



This species was first described as 

 Aphis rjidbeckiae by Dr. Fitch in the 

 Fourth report of the regents of the 

 University of New York (1851, p. (id). 

 The description is very brief and drawn 

 up from winged specimens (said to be 

 males) found w^owRtidbeckla laciniata., 

 Solidago serotina and 6*. gigantea. 

 No dates of collection are given. 



In the Proceedings of the Entomo- 

 logical societv of Philadelphia for 

 December, 1S62 (vol. i, p. 29S) Mr. 

 Walsh describes winged male and 

 female specimens of an aphid found on 

 Silphium perfoliatitm and on an unde- 

 termined Cirsi?/m which he doubtfully 

 identifies as Aphis rudbeckiae. Certain 

 discrepancies as to color between his 

 specimens and those of Fitch are point- 

 ed out. No dates are given. 



In Bulletin no. 2 of the Illinois State 

 laboratory of natural history (1877, p. 

 4) Dr. Cyrus Thomas includes this 

 species in his list of aph/d/ni rei'evving 

 it however to the genus Siphonophora. 

 The host plants mentioned are Rud- 

 beckia laciniata^ Af/ibrosia trijida., and 

 Solidago serotina. No descriptions 

 are given. 



The species is next mentioned by 

 Mr. J. Monell (Bull. U. S. geol. 



surv., vol. 5, p. 21), who records eleven 

 host-plants, and remarks that the 

 species is probably the commonest of 

 all American aphidians. No life-his- 

 tory details are mentioned. 



Again in the Eighth report of the 

 state entomologist of Illinois (p. 49- 

 t^o) Dr. Thomas gives a full description 

 of the winged viviparous female (though 

 whethei- the summer or autumn form we 

 cannot tell) and records the occurrence 

 of a green variety, but makes no men- 

 tion of the sexed forms, nor of the 

 method of hibernation. 



The only other important mention of 

 the species that has come to my notice 

 is found in Professor O. W. Oestlund's 

 recent list of tlie aphididac of Minne- 

 sota (op. cit., p. 20) where it is said to be 

 found abundantly throughout the season 

 on Solidago serotina and Silphiiim 

 perfoliatnm. In discussing the apter- 

 ous males of an allied species {S.fri- 

 gidae Oestlund) the author states : 

 "Wingless males have been observed in 

 both of the above mentioned sj^ecies" — 

 6". rjidbeckiae and 6". anibrosiac., but 

 he describes neither of them, and omits 

 to state whether the sex was ascertained 

 by dissection or field observations. I 

 describe below a winged male, of the sex 

 of which tiiere can be doubt, so that 

 this is another species in which apterous 

 and winged males have been obseived. 

 I watched carefullv for apterous males 

 but found none. It is to be hoped that 

 in order to establish the fact beyond a 

 doubt the two forms of this sex may be 

 found in the same or adjoining col- 

 onies. 



