IQO NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Life history and habits. This account of the life history and habits is 

 based on that published by Prof. R. A. Cooley. The eggs are deposited 

 from the second week of May to about the time the spruces are putting 

 forth new shoots, and may be found at the base of buds enveloped in a 

 white, wooly mass. A cluster contains about 300 light yellow eggs, each 

 attached by a slender stem. The eggs hatch in about a week, and in a few 

 hours the young venture out from the protecting wooly mass, crawl to the 

 tender, )-oung shoots and nestle closely in the cracks- at the base of the 

 leaves of young galls which have already begun to form. The starting of 

 the galls must therefore be attributed to the female rather than to the 

 young, though the latter undoubtedly have some influence on their further 

 development. There is nothing on the young gall to indicate that there 

 will ever be cavities to inclose the nymphs. It gradually grows over the 

 insects, the cavities slowly closing, leaving only a semicircular incision 

 surrounded by a grayish or pinkish pubescence. Late arriving nymphs 

 sometimes e.xperience difficulty in finding a cavity open enough to allow 

 admission. Generally all the nymjjhs in one gall come from an egg cluster 

 laid by a female. After the cavities close, the space within enlarges, and in 

 a few days the young may be seen closely adhering to the sides, heads 

 directed toward the opening. The nymphs become full grown in early 

 August, at which time the galls begin to loose their dark green color, slowly 

 turning yellowish. The cavities gradually open and the nymphs emerge 

 one by one, molt, leaving the cast skins attached to the leaves, the wings 

 developing as they crawl along. The first winged specimens were observed 

 at Amherst Mass., Aug. 10, and most of the adults emerged before the 

 20th, but stragglers continued to appear for some time. About two clays 

 after attaining maturity, the female begins laying eggs after having first 

 permanently attached herself to a leaf, generally near its tip, where she 

 remains, her dead body serving as a protection for the egg cluster. The 

 eggs do not all hatch at the same time, a period of about two weeks being 

 required. The young nymphs remain under the dead body of the mother 

 for a short time and then the young wingless females spread over the 



