HONEYSUCKLE SAW-FLY. 249 



body is somewhat flattened, with a black round spot on each 

 side of the anal plate ; beneath is a broad transverse incision. 

 Below and arising from each side is a long, corneous, three-joint- 

 ed, slender, outstretched appendage of the size and form of the 

 antennge. The under side of the body is mottled with greenish 

 and reddish as above, with a reddish median line. On the side 

 of the thorax are two rows of dots, and two rows along the mid- 

 dle on the ventral side of the three thoracic rings. 



INSECTS AFFECTING ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS. 



The Saiv-Fly of the Tartarean Honeysuckle. 

 Fig. 2.) One of our most beautiful ornament- 

 al shrubs, the Tartarean honeysuckle, is sub- 

 ject to the attacks of a false caterpillar, or saw- 

 fly larva, which often completely strips the 

 bushes of their leaves. These worms are the 

 young of the Ahia caprifolii of Norton, and 

 they seem to be abundant throughout the New 

 England States, extending west as far as 

 Chicago. 



Early in June the female appears, and lays ^^®' ^' 



her eggs probably on the twigs of the shrub, as the recently 

 hatched larvge may be found eating small, circular holes in the 

 leaves as soon as they are expanded. When fully grown, the 

 larva (fig. 2, taken from the " Guide to the Study of Insects,") 

 is of a peculiar pale bluish-green color, somewhat resembling the 

 peculiar glaucous green hue of the leaf on which it feeds. Along 

 the back, on the median line of the body, is a row of black, square 

 spots, with a small, transverse yellow spot on each side. The 

 body is transversely wrinkled, one wrinkle on each wing being the 

 largest, and on this ridge the prominent black spot is situated ; 

 on the smaller wrinkles are smaller black and yellow spots, ar- 

 ranged on the side of the body in three irregular rows. Like 

 the larva of Cimbex, to which it is closely allied, " it lies curled 

 up on the leaf, and when disturbed emits drops of a watery 

 fluid from the pores in the side of the body, and then falls to 

 the ground." (" Guide," p. 216.) Oar specimens spun their 

 pale, yellowish silken cocoons, about one-half an inch long, in 

 summer, but did not finish their transformations until the 

 spring, the single male which I raised appearing late in May or 



32 



