122 CEPHUS PYGMOTS. 



8. CEPHUS PYGMSEUS. 



PI. Ill, fig. 4, $ ; fig. 5, c? . PI. IV, fig. 8, Lar. (after 



Curtis). 



Sirex pygmseus, Lin., S. N., i, 929, 7. 



Astatus pygmseus, Klug, Mon. Sir., 50, pi. vi, fig. 3. 



spinipes, Klug, 1. c., 61, pi. vi, fig. 4, a, 6. 

 Sanchus viridator, Fab., S. P., 127, 5. 



spinipes, Pz., F. G., 73, pi. xvii. 

 Tenthredo longicornis, Fourc., E. P., ii, 378, 44. 

 Cephus leskii, Lep., Mon., 20, 58. 



pygmseus, Ste., 111., vii, 105, 6; Htg., Blattw., 361; 



Costa, F. N., Cef. 4 ; Thorns., Hym. Sc., i, 

 322. 



atripes, Ste., 111., vii, 105, 4. 



Black, shining ; antennae distinctly thickened towards the apex ; a 

 large mark on side of third, a broad band all around the fourth and 

 sixth, more or less of the seventh, and the apical segment, citron-yellow ; 

 knees, base of posterior tibiae, and the anterior four tibiae and tarsi, tes- 

 taceous. Wings hyaline, nervures black. 



The <$ has the greater part of the clypeus, the lower orbits of the 

 eyes on the inner side, the breast, coxae, trochanters, and the lower side 

 of the femora, yellow. 



Length 3| 4 lines. 



Ab. a. Hind tibiae for the greater part testaceous. 



The larva feeds in corn stems. The egg is inserted 

 a little below the first joint. The larva as soon as 

 hatched commences to eat its way upwards, boring 

 through, it may be, all the joints; when it becomes 

 full-fed it makes its way down again to the bottom of the 

 stem close to the roots ; bores a hole there for exit as a 

 fly ; then spins a cocoon, in which it remains unchanged 

 till the following spring, becoming a pupa and emerging 

 in the perfect state in the early summer in time to 

 deposit its eggs in the young growing corn. 



In consequence of so much of the inside of the stem 

 being devoured by the larva the plant is insufficiently 

 nourished, becomes weak and discoloured, bears few if 

 any perfect grains and but a small number of ears, 

 which are empty and erect and pale in colour, and 

 finally in the autumn are felled to the ground by the 

 wind. 



