﻿PACKARD.] 
  THE 
  EUROPEAN 
  CUREANT 
  SAW-FLY. 
  787 
  

  

  INJURING 
  THE 
  CUEEANT. 
  

  

  The 
  European 
  Currant 
  Saw-Fly, 
  Nematus 
  ventricosus 
  King. 
  (Figs. 
  57-59). 
  — 
  Devour- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  leaves 
  from 
  June 
  until 
  August 
  ; 
  a 
  green 
  false 
  caterpillar, 
  changing 
  to 
  a 
  pale 
  

   honey-brown 
  saw-fly. 
  

  

  This 
  destructive 
  insect 
  was 
  imported 
  from 
  Europe 
  into 
  nurseries 
  at 
  

   Toronto, 
  Canada, 
  and 
  was 
  detected 
  at 
  Eochester, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  during 
  tlie 
  

   year 
  1857. 
  It 
  seems 
  since 
  that 
  time 
  to 
  have 
  spread 
  westward 
  and 
  east- 
  

   ward, 
  arriving 
  in 
  Eastern 
  Massachusetts 
  about 
  1865, 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  informed 
  

   by 
  Mr. 
  F. 
  G. 
  Sanborn. 
  For 
  eight 
  seasons 
  past 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  very 
  de- 
  

   structive 
  in 
  gardens 
  in 
  Massachusetts 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  Illinois 
  and 
  Michi- 
  

   gan, 
  where 
  it 
  seems 
  destined 
  to 
  spread 
  farther 
  west. 
  

  

  The 
  j)arent 
  of 
  this 
  worm 
  is 
  a 
  saw-fly, 
  so 
  named 
  from 
  bearing 
  a 
  saw- 
  

   like 
  sting, 
  or 
  ovipositor, 
  with 
  which 
  it 
  pierces 
  the 
  leaves 
  or 
  stalks 
  of 
  

   plants, 
  cutting 
  a 
  gash, 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  deposits 
  an 
  eg^, 
  the 
  egg 
  passing 
  out 
  

   from 
  the 
  ovary 
  through 
  the 
  oviduct, 
  and 
  thence 
  through 
  the 
  blades 
  of 
  

   the 
  ovipositor 
  into 
  the 
  wound 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  plant. 
  While 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   members 
  of 
  this 
  family 
  cut 
  a 
  gash 
  in 
  the 
  leaf, 
  into 
  which 
  an 
  egg 
  is 
  

   pushed, 
  a 
  few, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  insect, 
  simply 
  place 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  under 
  

   surface 
  of 
  the 
  l^af, 
  as 
  seen 
  in 
  Fig. 
  59. 
  (1.) 
  The 
  fly 
  has 
  four 
  wings, 
  and 
  

   belongs 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  group 
  of 
  insects 
  {Rymenoptera) 
  that 
  comprises 
  the 
  

   bee, 
  wasp, 
  and 
  ichneumon-fly. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  habits 
  is 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  writer's 
  Guide 
  

   to 
  the 
  Study 
  of 
  Insects: 
  "There 
  are 
  about 
  fifty 
  species 
  of 
  Nematus 
  in 
  

   this 
  country, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  most 
  injurious 
  one, 
  the 
  gooseberry 
  saw-fly, 
  

   has 
  been 
  brought 
  from 
  Europe. 
  Professor 
  Winchell, 
  who 
  has 
  studied 
  

   this 
  insect 
  in 
  Ann 
  Arbor, 
  Mich., 
  where 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  very 
  destructive, 
  

   observed 
  the 
  female 
  on 
  the 
  16th 
  of 
  June, 
  while 
  depositing 
  her 
  cylindri- 
  

   cal, 
  whitish, 
  and 
  transparent 
  eggs 
  in 
  

   regular 
  rows 
  along 
  the 
  under 
  side 
  of 
  

   the 
  veins 
  of 
  the 
  leaves, 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  

   of 
  about 
  one 
  in 
  forty-five 
  seconds. 
  

   The 
  embryo 
  escapes 
  from 
  the 
  egg 
  

   in 
  four 
  days. 
  It 
  feeds, 
  molts, 
  and 
  

   burrows 
  into 
  the 
  ground 
  within 
  a 
  

   period 
  of 
  eight 
  days. 
  It 
  remains 
  

   thirteen 
  days 
  in 
  the 
  ground, 
  being 
  

   most 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  pupa 
  state, 
  

   while 
  the 
  fly 
  lives 
  nine 
  days. 
  The 
  

   first 
  brood 
  of 
  worms 
  appeared 
  May 
  

   21 
  ; 
  the 
  second 
  brood, 
  June 
  25." 
  

   Fig. 
  57 
  shows 
  the 
  eggs 
  deposited 
  

   along 
  the 
  under 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  midribs 
  

   of 
  the 
  leaf; 
  2, 
  the 
  holes 
  bored 
  by 
  

  

  the 
  very 
  young 
  larvte 
  ; 
  and, 
  3, 
  those 
  Fre. 
  57.— 
  Currant-le'af 
  with 
  (1) 
  eggs 
  ; 
  

   eaten 
  by 
  the 
  larger 
  worms. 
  holes 
  eaten 
  by 
  the 
  larvaj. 
  (After 
  Riley.) 
  

  

  Fig. 
  58 
  {a, 
  enlarged) 
  represents 
  the 
  worm 
  when 
  fully 
  grown. 
  It 
  is 
  

   then 
  cylindrical, 
  pale 
  green, 
  with 
  a 
  pale-green 
  head, 
  with 
  the 
  segment 
  

   next 
  behind 
  the 
  head, 
  and 
  the 
  third 
  segment 
  from 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  body, 
  

   together 
  with 
  the 
  last 
  or 
  anal 
  segment 
  yellow 
  ; 
  the 
  16 
  false 
  or 
  abdom- 
  

   inal 
  legs 
  are 
  also 
  yellow 
  ; 
  the 
  six 
  thoracic 
  legs 
  are 
  horn-colored. 
  The 
  

   body 
  is 
  transversely 
  wrinkled, 
  especially 
  on 
  the 
  back, 
  and 
  is 
  slightly 
  

   hairy. 
  The 
  eyes 
  are 
  black, 
  and 
  the 
  jaws 
  (mandibles) 
  are 
  black, 
  and 
  

   on 
  the 
  inner 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  edge 
  reddish.. 
  It 
  is 
  about 
  three-quarters 
  of. 
  an 
  

   inch 
  in 
  length. 
  

  

  