30 PROCEEDIISrGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.77 



gioni Tozzetti on Crataegus oxyacantha^ Pulvinaria carpini Lin- 

 naeus on Oarpinus, Lecaniuon corni Bouche and L. persicae Fab- 

 ricius, Gossypajria spuria Modeer and other Coccidae. The adults 

 feed on the buds of young plants and have been taken on Aesculus 

 hippocastanuTn, Prunus cerasus^ Carpinus hetulus^ Crataegus oxya- 

 cantha^ Mdlus malus, Juglans regia^ Picea excelsa^ and Pinus 

 silvestris. 



The type of Brachytarsus is variegatus Fourcroy (varius Fabri- 

 cius). The larva lives on the scales of Physoher'mes piceae Schrank 

 on Abies and Pinus and other conifers. 



The writer has not yet perfected a suitable table of species of 

 Brachytarsoides, of wliich griseus LeConte is hereby designated type. 



The following notes on the habits of our American species will be 

 of interest. 



BracJiytarsoides alternatus Say breeds in many plants. It is 

 recorded from Zea mays, Vigna unguiculata, Pisuon sativum arvense, 

 Ipomoea pandurata (in the fungus Aystopus ipom^oea-panduranae) , 

 Elymus virginicus, Sideranthus phyllocephalus. R. A. Cushman 

 bred it from dry galls of Ipomoea lacunosa, at Dallas, Tex., April 9, 

 1907. H. S. Smith bred it from heads of Grindelia squarrosa col- 

 lected at Clarendon, Tex., October, 1908. V. I. Safro bred it from 

 heads of Grindelia squarrosa nuda at Childress, Tex., July 29, 1908. 

 S. Goes found it on flowers of Sideranthus phyllocepTialus at Ennis, 

 Tex., October 7, 1905, and on Amhrosia at Mexia, Tex,, June 12, 1905. 

 A. C. Morgan and W. E. Hinds found it hibernating in cotton bolls 

 at Corpus Christi, Tex., March 23, 1905. A. L. Quaintance recorded 

 (1907) that the eggs were deposited with excrement and partly 

 digested food and placed loosely on bases of kernels of shelled corn. 

 The life cycle was six or seven weeks. The writer found the species 

 laid its eggs in the tips of new lateral stems of Sideranthus. The 

 larvae feed in these stems surrounded by pulverized remains. They 

 pupate in the tips of the stems, or even in the main stem, becoming 

 so numerous that they absolutely riddle the stem in which they are 

 breeding. They may be described as pseudopods. It is parasitized 

 by braconids and Microdontomnerus anthonomi Crawford. 



Braehytarsoides griseus LeConte was taken on Aphanostephus 

 skirrohasis flower heads at Cuero, Tex., April 6, 1906, and at Calvert, 

 Tex., May 18, 1907, by R. A. Cushman. 



Braehytarsoides li/tntatus Say was first bred from the flower heads 

 of Helenium tenuifolium by E. A. Schwarz. It also breeds in Hele- 

 nium microcephalum, and has been collected on Rudheckia amplexi- 

 ^aulis and Xanthium. The larvae feed among the seeds of Helenium 

 and pupate in the cell they have made. In H. microcephalum the 

 pupal cell is sometimes in the columnar portion of the head. 



