The Cecidomyidae, in their larval and pupal stages, are known to 

 possess remarkable vitality, and there is, therefore, good reason to believe 

 that the perfect fly will soon be obtained from some, at least, of the thirty 

 larvae which buried themselves last August in the sand which I gave 

 them, as before stated, and that its description may then be secured. 

 Dr. Fitch, in liis account of the wheat-midge (Sixth Report Insects of New 

 IW/r, p. 57) writes : " When a larva is but half-grown, we have seen that 

 although deprived of food it does riot die, and though kept from moisture 

 for many months it does not dry up so as to perish. Thus no extremity 

 of hunger or of thirst seems to have powej' to kill them." 

 , The above statement gives encouragement that the possibly prema- 

 ture burial of my larvae, and their having been meanwhile kept for the 

 greater part of the time in a warm room without moisture, may not 

 have proved fatal to them, but that they are safely hybernating within 

 their minute globular cocoons, which there would be but the slightest 

 chance of detecting for the purpose of examination, even if a very close 

 search were made for them. We will hope that these cocoons, within 

 the ensuing two months, from the warm temperature to which they have 

 been subjected hastening their development, will open by a smoothly cut 

 hemispherical lid, and disclose the delicate, tiny fly, in all probability 

 new to science, and with which, it is apprehended, we may hereafter 

 become too well acquainted. 



The extent of injury which the clover-seed fly may have already 

 inflicted, or is destined in the future -to inflict, can at the present be only 

 conjectured. It is possible that, for many years past, this little creature, 

 so insignificant in size, has been secretly levying a heavy tax upon the 

 clover-seed culture of our 'State, seriously diminishing the annual yield, 

 while its operations have been charged to unfavorable climatic condi- 

 tions, or to imperfect v fertilization of the blossoms through a scarcity of that 

 important if not indispensable agent in the work of fertilization the 

 humble-bee. Or it may have but entered on a career, which if unchecked 

 by parasitic agency, will result in the entire destruction of the seed in 

 infested districts, compelling, as did its congeiior Jjiplosis tritici with the 

 wheat, its importation from localities where the pest may not abound. 



The range of this insect will be an interesting subject of inquiry for 

 the coming season. Does it occur throughout the State of New York, 

 and is it to be found in other of the States ?. Will it be detected in Eu- 

 rope, from which its food-plant was introduced, now that its lurking- 

 place is known ? Is its aitack confined to the Trifolium pratense, or 

 does it extend to the T. hybridum (the Alsike clover) and other species ? 



To the extent that my engagements permit, it will be my pleasure to 

 investigate the history of this interesting insect the coming season, pro- 

 mising, as it does, a considerable degree of economic importance. 



THE CARPET-BUG Anthrenus scrophularice (Linn.). 

 In my communication presented to this Society two years ago (Trans. 

 N. Y. State Agricul. Soc., vol. xxxii, p. 240), I gave a brief account of 

 this new insect pest which was exciting much alarm in several portions 

 of our country, from the serious depredations which it was making upon 

 carpets, and the great difficulty that had been experienced in the 

 attempts made to check its ravages. A more extended notice of the 

 insect, giving descriptions of the different stages, together with illustra- 

 tions of the same, has since been prepared by me and contributed to the 

 Thirtieth Annual Report of the /State Museum of Natural History, advance 



