24 



habits of the Sarcopliagidne, I may add that in Psyche for February, 

 1892 (pp. 220-221), Prof. To^vusend describes a Sarcophaga heUcis as 

 having- been bred from a living snail by Mr. Surface. In his Seventh 

 Eeport on tlie Insects of Missouri (p. 181), Prof. Eiley states that the 

 hirva? of Sarcopliaga sarracenke feed upon dead insects, and in his 

 Xinth Eeport (p. 95) he states that they also feed upon the eggs of 

 locusts. A few days ago, Dr. A. Davidson, of this city, submitted to 

 me two male specimens of an undescribed species of Sarcophaga which 

 he had bred from larvjie foiuid feeding upon the eggs of the spider, 

 P]udq)pHs op if ex ^IcGook. These flies differ from the above descrip- 

 tion of Sarcophaga opifera only in the following particulars: 



Antennte black, the third joint oue and a half times as long as the second, arista 

 plumose on its basal half, bearing oue long hair on its upper side beyond the outer- 

 most long one on its lower side. Face with two irregular, widely separated rows of 

 bristles each side. Palpi black. Hind margin of the fourth abdominal segment 

 black, genitalia grayish black, the lower half polished black. Length 6^ to 8""". 



It may be luimed Sarcophaga daridsomi in honor of its discoverer. 

 From the above observations it is very evident that in their habits 

 the Sarcophagidte are much more closely related to the Tachinidse than 

 is commonly supposed to be the case. 



A. NEW SWEET POTATO SAW FLY. 



(Schizocerus j>rJr«/(/s Nortou.) 

 By C. L. Marlatt. 



In the first volume of Insect Life (pp. 43-45) an illustrated account 

 was given of a rather rare saw-^y {Schizoceriis ebenits Norton) which 

 had suddenly appeared in very destructive numbers in the summer 

 of 1886-'87, attacking and nearly destroying the sweet potato crop of 

 Mr. C. Werkle, of Ocean Springs, Miss. Injury to the sweet potato 

 from this insect has not again been brought to my attention, A 

 year ago, however, attention was drawn to injury by the larvae of a 

 saw-fly to the sweet potato crop in Virginia by the receipt, July 6, 

 1891, from Mr. G. W. Stockley, of Keller, Accomac County, of speci- 

 mens of the young larv;e, together with one male and three female 

 flies. (See Extracts from Correspondence, Insect Life, vol. iv, p. 74.) 

 The specimens ^ere turned over to me by Prof. Eiley for study and 

 report. 



Examination of the adults showed that they belonged to a distinct 

 species, but one closely allied to the one mentioned above. This new 

 sweet potato pest belongs to the same genus as the former, and was 

 originally described as Schizocerus privatus by Mr. Edw. Islorton from 



