THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



17 



mandibles, dulllioiiej--ycllow. Antenna;brown-bIack, 

 oltcn tinged with rufous above, except towards tlie 

 base, and beneatli entirely dull rufous except the two 

 basal joints; Ibui'-tifths as long as the body, joint 3, 

 when viewed laterally, four times as long as wide, 

 joints 3-5 equal in length, G-9 very slowly shorter and 

 shorter. In two females the. antennae are 10-jointed, 

 joint 10 slender and % as long as 9. Tkorax with the 

 anterior lobe above, a wide stripe on the disk of each 

 lateral lobe which is verv rarely reduced to a mere dot, 

 or very rarely the whole of each lateral lobe, a spot at 

 the base and at the tip of the scutel, the two spots 

 sometimes confluent and very rarely subobsolete, a 

 small spot at the outer end ot each cenchrus and a 

 geminate small spot transversely arranged between the 

 cenchri, the tip of the metathoracic scutel, the front 

 and hind edge above of what seems the 1st abdominal 

 joint, but is in leulitv the hind part of the metathorax, 

 or verv rarelv it> uholr >uif;ii"e above, and also the 

 whole iowers"\ul;n . ii ih. im :i»t between the front and 

 middle legs, or \. r\ rmvlv iwo large spots arranged 

 crossways on lb;il -unMrr, all blaek. Cenchri whitish. 

 Abdomen with joiui> 1 iiiul :i very rnrely ed.ied at tip 

 with black. Sheaths of the ovipo-itnr fi\iyr:\ more or 

 less with black, the surrounding jin t- >..nirtiiiies more 

 or less tinged witli dusky. The ti ian-nlar inmilirane 

 at the base of the abdomen above, wliiii-h /./.sbright 

 honey-yellowj all the coxae and troelianters whitish; 

 the extreme tip of the hind shanks and the whole of the 

 hind tarsi, brown-black. Win(is glassy; veins and 

 stigma brown-black, the latter" as well as the costa 

 obscurely marked with lUiU lionrv-yollow. In a single 



$ all three submarginiil .r m in- arc absent in one 



wing, and onlv llie ba^al nw i- pn-mt iu the other 

 wing. In another v ;ill tlir.a- arr iicli-tiiictly present 

 in one wing, and in the other oiiU ilt^ I'l-al "ne and a 

 rudiment of the terminal one. In -ij " "/oftwo 

 other g , the terminal submargin I ; :ili?ent. 



And iu a single $ there are but lln i; n; i _inal cells 

 in either wing, precisely as in the g^nn- —Length 



2 0.22—0.28 inch. Front wing § il 27— ll.o3 inch. 

 Kxpanse of wings ? 0.53— 0.64 inch, (wings depressed). 



Male Fly.— General color of body black. Bead 

 with the clypeus and the entire mouth, except the tip 

 of the mandibles, dullhoniy-> .How Antenna; brown- 

 black, often more or Ins- liimnd wiili rufous beneath 

 except towards the base: a- li.ng.i- ihc body, the joints 

 proportioned as in $, but tin' whole antenna, as usual 

 in this sex, vertically much more dilated, so that joint 



3 is only 2)^ times as long as wide wh-en viewed in pro- 

 file. Thorax with the wiug-scales and the entire coUare 

 honey-yellow. Cenchri whitish. ^Mom«a with more 

 or less of its side«, the extreme tip above, audits entire 

 inferior sur;aee lioney-yr-llow. Legs as in $. Wings 

 asiu$. In two -" tlir moMle sub'margiual cross-vein 

 is absent in Inuli win--, >o iliat if captured at large 

 they would natuially !..■ rclcrrcd to the aenns Eimra. 



In two .ilhrr - thi- 

 other -' ha- hut 1 

 reniaiiiinu in .Mrh u 



Length c? 0,20-0.2 

 cir. Expanse of 



iieh. Front wing <$ 0.23-0.25 

 ngs ^ 0.44—0.51 inch, (wings 

 depressed.) 



Described from 22 c? antl 13 ¥ , 3 c? and 1 ? 

 of the spring brood. The fact of two $ , con- 

 trary to the established character of the genns 

 Xematus, having 10-joiiited instead of 'J-jointed 

 antenna; is a variation of a kind of which no 

 other example in the whole Family of Sawflies 

 is on record. Had such a specimen been cap- 

 tured at large, instead of being bred, along with 

 a lot of normal ? , from the same lot of javvte 

 taken from the same lot of bushes, it would pro- 

 bably liavc been made tlte basis for a new genus 

 and a new speciesby some of our genus-grinding 

 closet-entomologists. 



The mode in which this Currant Worm has 



been transmitted, first from the European nur- 

 sery to the American nursery, and afterwards 

 all over several States of the Union, can be 

 easily explained. As has been stated just now, 

 it usually passes the autumn and winter in the 

 ground under the buslies, where it has fed, 

 housed in a little oval cocoon from i to i inch 

 long. Hence if, as often happens, infested 

 bushes are taken up in the autumn or early in 

 the spring, with a little dirt adhering to their 

 roots, and sent off to a distance, that dirt will 

 likely enough inclose a cocoon or two. A single 

 pair of cocoons, if they happen to contain indi- 

 viduals of opposite sexes, will be sufHcient to 

 start a new colony. The first and probably the 

 second year the larvse will not be noticed; but 

 increasing, as almost all insects do, unless 

 checked from some extraneous source, in a fear- 

 fully rapid geometric progression, by the third 

 or fourth year they will swarm, strip the bushes 

 completely bare of their leaves, and ruin the 

 prospect for a good crop of fruit. Cf course, 

 like other winged insects, they can fly from 

 garden to garden in search of a suitable spot 

 whereon to deposit their eggs ; so that any point 

 where they have been once imported becomes, 

 in a few years, a new centre of distribution for 

 the immediate neighborhood. 



Nurserymen and all others, importing Goose- 

 berry and Currantbushes from a distance, should 

 be particularly careful, before they plant them, 

 to trash the roots thoroughly in a tub of icaler, 

 and burn, or scald ichatever comes off them. 

 Any cocoons, that may happen to be hidden 

 among the dirt attached to the roots, will then 

 be destroyed. By attending to this precaution 

 the dissemination of tliis mischievous little pest, 

 throughout the United States, may be greatly 

 retarded for many years to come. 



For those who are already cursed with it, the 

 same hellebore which we shall recommend at the 

 end of this Article, as universally efficient against 

 all three kinds of Gooseberry and Currant 

 Worms, is the best, the cheape.st and the most 

 available remedy. Where this cannot be con- 

 veniently obtained, the Imported Currant Worm, 

 owing to a peculiarity in its habits, can be pretty 

 successfully fought upon a system, which is inap- 

 plicable to the other two species on account of 

 the difference in their habits. Unlike the other 

 two, the Imported Currant Worm, as has been 

 already stated, lays its eggs in large groups on 

 the under side of the leaf, and upon the princi- 

 pal veins, as shown at No. 1 in Figure 9, instead 

 of attaching them in comparatively small patches 

 to the twigs and branches. Hence, when the 

 eggs hatch out, the miiuite little larvte can find 



