August — October 1S90.] 



PSYCHE. 



393 



and one-half times the length of the 

 insect. J^^gs rather pale, tibiae and 

 tarsi infuscate, rather densely set with 

 silvery hairs. Wi?igs beautifully iri- 

 descent and rather sparsely set with 

 long gray pubescence, fringed all the 

 way around ; costal and first longi- 

 tudinal nervures rather heavy and united 

 at the apex of the wing as one contin- 

 uous vein. The little cross vein be- 

 tween the first and second transverse 

 nervures and the outer or upper branch 

 of the fork in the third transverse ner- 

 vure are almost obsolete and scarcelv 

 visible except in favorable light. Length 

 of dry specimens one and one-half mm. 

 Length of fresh specimens two mm. 



The eggs (E) are a bright orange 

 color, .4 mm. in length and much elon- 

 gate. Some are straight, others are 

 variously bent and all are pointed at 

 one end and often with a short pedicel 

 attached. 



This insect is decidedly an injurious 

 species. Trees upon the College cam- 

 pus that were the most severely attacked 



by this fly the past summer have had 

 not more than half of their normal 

 amount of foliage this year. 



On the iSth of April, last, the writer 

 noticed the flies abundant among the 

 branches of the trees and the process of 

 egg-laying was carefully watched with 

 a hand lens. The females were so in- 

 tent in their duties for the propagation 

 of the species that they were not easily 

 disturbed. They do not pierce the bud 

 scales but work their long slender ovi- 

 positors far down between the scales 

 and there deposit a large nest of eggs, 

 sometimes forty or more in a place. By 

 separating the scales the clusters of eggs 

 can be plainly seen with the naked eye. 

 The irritation set up by these eggs and 

 the miiggots that hatch from them aided, 

 perhaps, by a poisonous secretion from 

 the mother insect causes the abnormal 

 development of the part. The galls all 

 die a few weeks later when the maggots 

 leave them. These dead galls turn 

 black and remain upon the trees giving 

 them an unsightly appearance. 



PREPARA.TORY STAGES OF CERURA MULTISCRIPTA, RILEY. 



BY HARRISON G. DYAR, RHINEBECK, N. Y. 



E,gg' Slightly more than hemispher- 

 ical, the base flat, dead sordid white, 

 covered with many short dark blown 

 hairs irregularly laid on and distributed 

 also on the parts of the leaf adjoining. 

 Diameter 1.3 mm. Laid in groups of 

 five or less on the under surface of a 



leaf. These eggs had hatched when 

 found, the larva having emerged from a 

 hole in the side, leaving the rest of the 

 shell intact. 



First stage. Head subquadrate, de- 

 pressed at the vertex, black and shining. 

 Width, .6 mm. Body furnished with 



