THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



123 



A^emalus. The genus Pristiphora is chiefly dis- 

 tinguished from Ncmatus by always lacking what 

 is technically termed the 1st submarginal cross-vein 

 in the front wings of the perfect insect, so that, in- 

 stead oi four submarginal cells there are only (hree, 

 the first very large. In the genus Eiiiira, which 

 is likewise closely allied to Ncniatus, there are also 

 only three submarginal cells, but there it is the se- 

 cond, not the first, submarginal cross-vein that is 

 lacking, so that the first submarginal cell, as in Nc- 

 matus, is quite small. 2nd. The body of the lar- 

 va is always green, and never bears the numerous 

 black spots which, except after the last larval moult, 

 always characterize the larva of the imported spe- 

 cies. 3rd. The larva never goes underground to 

 spin its cocoon, but constructs that cocoon among 

 the twigs and leaves of the plant on which it feeds. 

 4ih. The winged insect of the second brood comes 

 out the same season, instead of lying underground 

 all the winter in the pupa state, so that it cannot 

 of course lay its eggs upon the leaves, but must ne- 

 cessarily lay them upon the twigs of the infested 

 plant. Otherwise, if it laid them upon the leaves 

 in September, which is the month in which the fly 

 of the second brood appears, the eggs would be 

 scattered to the four quarters of the compass, along 

 with the leaves, far away from the infested bushes, 

 at the fall of the leaf, and the young larvse would 

 starve when they hatched out next spring, and the 

 species soon become extinct. Hence, iu the ca.se 

 of this species we caunot apply the method of coun- 

 terworking the other one recommended by Mr. 

 Bigelow. For I particularly observed that the 

 very young larvse were not gathered in numbers 

 upon one particular leaf — as in the imported spe- 

 cies — but were distributed pretty evenly over the 

 whole bush. Neither did they bore the similar 

 holes through the leaf, which render the other spe- 

 cies so easy of detection when young. b(h. The 

 insect is but f the size of the other in all its states. 



The first brood of this species I found had swarm- 

 ed in prodigious numbers on some gooseberry and 

 currant bushes, in Davenport, Iowa, about the end 

 of June and beginning of July, 1866, so as to strip 

 them almost completely bare. The owner of the 

 bushes stoutly maintained that all the damage had 

 been done iri three hours' time ; but that of course 

 was a mistake, for the larvse must have been feed- 

 ing there, as I afterwards ascertained, for at least 

 two weeks. His gardener, shortly before I visited 

 him, had syringed the bushes thoroughly with a 

 wash composed of whale-oil soap ; and as the larvas 

 had all disappeared, with the exception of one or 

 two individuals, he was strongly of opinion that 

 they were all killed, horse, foot and dragoons. I 

 told him that in all probability they had merely re- 

 tired to spin up, and that he would have a second 

 brood of them to aiBict his bushes, shortly after the 

 winged flies had appeared and laid their eggs for 

 the second brood. In the middle of August I again 

 visited these bushes, and just as I had anticipated, 

 found a very plentiful supply of very young larvEe 

 on them — enough, I should say, to strip them a 

 second time of their leaves. From these larvse I 



succeeded in breeding large numbers of the perfect 

 insect, the description of which, as well as of the 

 larva, is here subjoined. 



Pristiphora grossulari^, new species. A 

 black, four-winged fly, about the size of a common 

 house-fly, the males and females not perceptibly 

 diflTerent at first sight. 



Female. Body shining black, with fine, rather sparse 

 punctures. Sead with the entire mouth, except the an- 

 terior edge of the labrum and the tip of the mandibles, 

 dull luteous. Labrum transverse and very pilose. Cly- 

 peus short, squarely truncate, immaculate. Antennas J 

 as long as the body, joint .3 three and a half times as long 

 as wide, joint 4 fully i shorter than joint 3, 5 — 9 very 

 slowly shorter and shorter; brown-black above, beneath 

 dull luteous, except joints 1 and 2, which are black, tip- 

 ped below with luteous. Thorax with the wing-scales 

 honey-yellow and the cenchri whitish. Abdomen with 

 the basal membrane whitish; ovipositor honey-yellow, 

 its sheaths black. Legs honey-yellow, or sometimes pale 

 luteous, with the six tarsal tips, and iu the hind legs 

 sometimes the extreme tips of the tibise and of the tarsal 

 joints 1 — 4, pale dusky. Witiffs subhyaline, tinged 

 with dusky; veins black; costa honey-yellow; stigma 

 dusky, edged all round with honey -yellow, especially be- 

 low. In a single wing of two females only out of forty- 

 nine, the first submarginal cross-vein, which in this ge- 

 nus is normally absent, is quite distinct; and in a single 

 wing of five other females, traces of it are visible on hold- 

 ing the wing up to the light. Length 9 .17 — .21 inch. 

 Front wing ? .19— .23 inch. Expanse 9 .41— .45 inch, 

 (wings depressed.) 



The ma/e difl'ers from the female only as follows : — lat. 

 The antennse are a trifle longer, and as usual vertically 

 more dilated, joint 3 being only 2i (not 3i) times as long 

 as wide. 2nd. The coxte, except their tips, and the basal 

 half of the femora, are black; and in the hind legs the 

 extreme tip of the tibiae, and all but the extreme base of 

 the tarsus, are dusky. Anal forceps honey-yellow. 

 Length % .17— .18 inch. Front wing % .17.-19 inch. 

 Expanse % .35 — .38 inch, (wings depressed.) 



Described from four males and forty-nine females, 

 bred September 2 — 12 from larv» found on the 

 cultivated gooseberry. I have also a single female 

 in my collection which was captured at large in the 

 woods; whence I infer that this insect feeds also 

 on the wild gooseberry and currant. In this cap- 

 tured female the last submarginal cross-vein is only 

 partly developed, and, as is in one or two of my 

 bred females, the hind middle cell of the hind wing 

 is absent. This is the first species of the genus 

 Pristiphora hitherto described as North American. 

 Stephens mentions eight species as found in Eng- 

 land, none of which are said to feed on gooseberry 

 or currant. 



Larva. A pale grass-green worm, about } inch 

 long, without any black dots on its body, and with 

 a black head ; after the last moult the head becom- 

 ing principally green. 



Immature larva. Length not quite reaching i inch. 

 Body pale green, with a rather darker dorsal line, and a 

 lateral yellowish line above the spiiacles, the space be- 

 low which line is paler than the back. Anal plate and 

 prologs immaculate. Head black, not hairy. Legs brown, 

 except the sutures. 



The mature larva measures i inch in length, and differs 

 in the head being pale green, with a lateral brown-black 

 stripe commencing at the eye-spot and more or less dis- 

 tinctly confluent with the other one on the top of the 

 head, where it is also more or less confluent with a large 

 central brown-blaek spot on the face. The legs are also 

 green, with a small dark spot at the exterior base of each, 

 and a similar spot or dot before the base of the front legs. 



Described from forty larvse of various sizes, four 

 of which spun up August 26, and the others within 



