322 



PSYCHE. 



[March-April iSgo. 



pest ; for, as is the case when attracted 

 to the aphides, occurring on other plants, 

 they had gone there for the purpose of 

 lapping up the saccharine substance, 

 which, from the punctures of these pests, 

 was exuding in considei'able quantity, 

 as a sweet viscid fluid, frequently cover- 

 ing most of the upper surface of the 

 blades, and particularly in notches 

 formed at the basis of the leaf-stalks, 

 where the larvae and maturing insects 

 were found to be fond of congregating. 



INJURIES AND LIFE HISTORY. 



The injurious afiect, of this insect, on 

 growing corn is readily apparent : the 

 depletion of its juices and the saccharine 

 substance on which the young and old 

 feed, so necessary to growth and the 

 maturing of the crop, occurs from the 

 punctures of their beaks, whereby it is 

 stunted in growth and the ears never 

 fully mature ; moreover, it is still fur- 

 ther injured, scarred and disfigured by 

 the ovipositor or egg-borer of the female, 

 which is used as a saw or borer, to cut 

 into the cellular tissue of the blade or 

 stalk, where she deposits her eggs. 



The little cicatrices or scars, thus 

 made, and the depletion of the juices of 

 the plant from the punctures of their 

 beaks, give to it a diseased, sickly appear- 

 ance, that, in connection with the 

 swarming ants and flies, cannot fail to 

 attract attention. 



No delphacid, that I am aware of, 

 has ever been thoroughly worked up 

 in all its stages, and the o.^^ and newly 

 hatched young have never been de- 

 scribed or figured ; and, as these are 



peculiarly characteristic and probably 

 of biologic importance, it is particu- 

 larly gratifying to me, to have been so 

 situated to work up the life history of 

 the present species, and, to be able to 

 present illustrations of their many re- 

 markable peculiarities. 



Finding the species so plentiful on 

 corn and grass in my own garden, for 

 some weeks, it was possible to make 

 visits daily, and thus, the opportunity 

 and satisfaction in working up and 

 studying the insect in all its stages — to 

 a naturalist, the greatest of pleasures — • 

 was afforded me. 



The egg, (fig. a), about i mm. in 

 length, is of a greatly elongated shape, 

 narrowed into a more or less distinct 

 neck at base, and of a translucent white 

 color, except a yellow yelk-like spo^ 

 near the base, shown in the figure as a 

 black dot. 



The female makes an incision, with 

 the ovipositor, under the epidermis of a 

 leaf or in the stalk, into the cellular 

 tissue, of a sufficient size to contain two 

 eggs together, as is shown in the figure. 

 After oviposition, the orifice is cemented 

 with a greyish or white glutinous sub- 

 stance that appears externally, on the 

 surface of the leaf or stalk, only as a 

 cicatrice. 



The eggs are laid in regular rows, a 

 slight distance apart, and invariably two 

 are found together, never more or less. 

 Hundreds were examined but I always 

 found two together, as illustrated. 



The egg hatches in from a week to 

 ten days, and a succession of broods 



