i8o ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [June, 



A MITE-LARVA PARASITIC ON TETTIX GRANULATUS. 



By Joseph L. Hancock. 



An interesting and as yet unidentified microscopical larva of a 

 mite that I discovered on the pronotum of a small locust, Tettix 

 granuiaius, is here presented.* The accompanying drawings, 

 Plate viii, figs, i and 2, illustrate this better than a word description, 

 though some of the characters are especially noteworthy. Descrip- 

 tion — Hexapodal larva, length of body (to end of rostrum.) 18 mm. 

 width . 25 mm. ; yellowish with blackish hairs. Abdomen oblong, 

 clothed above with numerous short feathery hairs distributed 

 below and above as shown in figs, i and 2 of Plate. The head 

 is flattened, pyramidal, produced into a blunt pointed rostrum, 

 the latter curved downwards and slightly dilated toward the end. 

 A slender hair is inserted on the underside of the rostrum near 

 the tip, on each side, a short distance from the middle line. The 

 palpi are strong, thickened at the base, two jointed, with an extra 

 thumb process at the end, which is armed with two cu/ved claws 

 and a i&vi short, stiff hairs, on the outerside of the thumb and the 

 two main joints of palpi a single feathered hair grows from each, 

 the one on the first joint being long and particularly noticeable. 

 The legs are long, rather slender, of nearly equal length, com- 

 posed of six articles, the tarsus of each leg ending in a pair of 

 delicate hooks. Realizing the burden to science that a multi- 

 plying of scientific names incurs I have refrained from suggesting 

 a name for this larva, as many have previously done when de- 

 scribing undetermined larval forms of mites. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE. 

 Fig. I. — Ventral view of hexapodal larva, parasitic on Tettix granulatus. 



Original, greatly enlarged. 

 Fig. 2. — Dorsal view of same, correspondingly enlarged. Original. 



AcANTHOCHALEis NIGRICANS Cameron. — Yesterday (April 9), I was 

 so fortunate as to capture a 9 of this species at flowers of plum on the 

 college farm, Las Cruces, New Mex. So for as I know, both genus and 

 species are new to the U. S. fauna. The original specimen described by 

 Cameron was from " Northern Sonora," collected by Morrison. — T. D. 

 A. CocKERELL, Las Cruces, N. Mex. 



* The specimen of Tettix from which this mite was taken was collected by Prof. A. P. 

 Morse, at Wellesley, Mass. 



