REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 199 



at tlio time of transformatiou. Tlic pupal rest lasts at tlie most 14 dayis. The empty 

 pupa skin is entirely white. 



Gall. — On the uaclennost root leaves of Trifolium pi-aleuse, tho leaflets hccome 

 fastened together by the work of tho just described larvae, so that their bent edges lit 

 upon one auother so tliat they resemble little pods. The leaf substance is thereby 

 a little thickejied, yellowish or j^ellow, with brownish specks. On the above-named 

 leaves usually only one leaflet is in this way deformed, seldom all three. Before tho 

 midge emerges, the pupa works its way through between the closed edges of the leaf 

 until half its body protrudes. 



Occurrence, — This species comes from the meadows of the Sattel Mountain, in the 

 district of Wienerwaldes, is not rare, and one finds their galls in spring. The midge 

 appears at the end of June. From the galls which I had collected on the 20th of June, 

 and in which most of the larvao were already pupating, I reared, on June 28, the first 

 imagines. 



THE CLOYER-STEM BOREE. 



{Languria mozardi, Fabr.) 

 Order ColeopterA; family Erotylidae. 



Eating out the center of clover stalks for a greater or leas distance ; rather long, slen- 

 der, yclloATish larvae, transforming within their burrows and eventually becoming 

 slender reddish beetles, with dark blue wing covers. 



A new clover pest has been discovered the past summer, in the shape 

 of this well-known insect ', for, although the beetle is ranked as com- 

 mon by collectors, its larval habits have not, I think, been heretofore 

 described. (PI. I, fig. 6.) 



In localities where this beetle is abundant, if the stems of red clover 

 be carefully examined some time in June, on many of them will be seen 

 one or more small discolored spots, which seem to have been made by 

 the gnawing of some insect. If one cuts into the stem at one of these 

 spots, a slender yellowish egg, 1.7'"°' (about ^V inch) long, rounded at 

 both ends and somewhat curved, will be found imbedded in the pith ; 

 the gnawing having evidently been done for the purpose of penetrating 

 the comi)aratively hard exterior and allowing the egg to be easily 

 pushed in. Often the egg is found as far as 6°"^ (nearly ^ inch) from 

 the opening, which shows that the mother insect must have forced her 

 whole body into it. 



The larvae hatching from these eggs are slender, almost worm-like in 

 form, and feed exclusively upon the pith of the stalk. While they do 

 not kiU the stem outright, they gradually weaken it and eventually cause 

 its destruction, having also, of course, a very injurious effect upon the 

 maturing of the seed. The egg is usually laid high up in the stem and 

 the larva usually burrows downwards, often extending its work for a 

 distance of from six to eight inches below the point of entrance. The 

 full-grown larva is about 8™™ (.315 inch) in length, yellow in color, with 

 six prominent thoracic legs and a proj) leg at the posterior end of the 

 body. The last segment of the body has two stiff, slightly upward-curved 

 spines above. 



Upon attaining full growth the larva transforms to a pupa in the lower 

 part of its burrow. The pupa is about G'"'^ long, slender, with a large 

 head, and is yellow in color. TliO adult beetles begin to issue in August 

 and are continuaEy making their exits until late in October. 



There is probably but one brood in a season, and the insect hibernates 

 in the beetle state. An examination of many stalks during the winter 

 failed to show the insect in any stage of growth. 



Two parasites were found within the burrows of the stalk borers, the 

 one a small black chalcid, the dark, naked pupa of which was often met 



