THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



17 



mandibles, dull honey-yellow. Antennae brown-black, 

 olten tinned with rufous above, except towards the 

 base, ana beneath entirely dull rufous except the two 

 basal joints; four-tiftlis as lou^ as the body, joint 3, 

 when viewed laterally, four times as lonjj as wide, 

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

 shorter. In two females the anteunx ai-e 10-jointed, 

 joint 10 slender antl % as long as <J. T/iora.i: with the 

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

 lateral lobe which is very 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 seutel, the two spots 

 sometimes continent and very rarely subobsolete, a 

 snndl spot at the outer end of each" cenchrus and a 

 geminate small spot transversely arranged between the 

 cenchri, the tip of the metathoracic seutel, the front 

 and hincl edge above of what seems the 1st abdominal 

 joint, but Is in reality the hind part of the metathorax, 

 or very rarely its whole surface above, and also the 

 whole lower surface of the breast between the front and 

 middle legs, or very rarely two large spots arranged 

 crossways on that surface, all black . Cenchri whitish. 

 Ahdomen with joints 1 and 2 very rarely edged at tip 

 with black. Sheaths of the ovipositor tipped more or 

 less with blac'k. llie siirrnundin;,' parts sometimes more 

 or less tinged with dusky. The tiiaii,;;ular membrane 

 at the base of the alidomen above, whitish. In/s bright 

 honey-yellow; all the coxa; and trochanters whitish; 

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

 hind tarsi, brown-black. Wings glassy; veins and 

 stigma browii-bhirk, the latter as well as the costa 

 obscurely marUi'd with dull hdiicv-velluw. In a single 

 $ all three sul)iii;ir;;inal ,.i(,>s-v(iiis are .absent in one 

 wing, and only the l.asul .me is present in the other 

 wing. In another $ all three are indistinctly present 

 ill one wing, and in the other only the basal one and a 

 rudiment of the terminal one. In a single wing of two 

 other § , the terminal submarginal cross-vein is absent. 

 And in a single § there are but three submarginal cells 

 in (;ither\\ing,preeiselv as in the genus jFram.— Length 

 ? 0.22—0.28 inch. Front wing $ 0.27—0.33 inch. 

 Expanse of wings $ 0.53—0.64 inch, (wings depressed). 

 Male Fr.v.— General color of body black. Head 

 with the clyijcus and the entire mouth, except the tip 

 of the mandibles, dull honey-yellow. Autenujc brown- 

 black, often moie or less tinged with rulbus beneath 

 except towards the base: as long as the bodv, the joints 

 proportioned as in $ , hut the whole antenna, as usuiil 

 in this sex, vcrti. ■ally much more dilated, so that joint 

 o is only 2'.^ times as Ion,;,' as wide whni viewed in pro- 

 tile. Thorax With the wing-scales and the entire eollare 

 houey-yellow. Cenchri whitish. AliJomen with more 

 or less of its sides, the extreme tip above, audits entire 

 inferior siiriace honey-yellow. Legs as in $ . Wings 

 as in 2 . In two ^ the middle submarginal cross-vein 

 is absent in l)oth wings, so that if captured at large 

 they would naturally be referred to the genus Euura. 

 In two other ,^ this is the case in one wing only. An- 

 other (j' has but the basal submarginal cross-vein 

 remaining in each wing. And In two other jf the ter- 

 minal submarginal cross-vein is absent in one wing — 

 Length ^f 0.20—0.22 inch. Front wing ^ 0.23-0 25 

 inch. E.vpanse of wings (^ 0.44— 51 inch, (wings 

 depressed.) 



Described from 22 ^ and 13 ? , 3 t? and 1 ? 

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

 trary to the established character of the genus 

 Nematus, having 10-jointed instead of 9-jointed 

 antcnnro is a variation of a kind of wliich no 

 otlicr example in the whole Family of Sawflies 

 is on record. Had such a specimen been cap- 

 tnred at large, instead of being bred, along with 

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

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

 bably have been made the basis for a new genus 

 and a new species by some of our genus-grinding 

 closet-entomologists. 



The mode in wMch this Currant "Worm has 



been transmitted, first from the European nur- 

 sery to the American nursery, and afterwards 

 all over several States of the IJuion, can be 

 easily explained. As has been stated just now, 

 it usually passes the autumn and winter in the 

 ground under the bushes, where it has fed, 

 housed in a little oval cocoon from i to J 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- 

 vidtiaLs of opposite sexes, will be suflicieiit 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. Of 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 Currantbushcs from a distance, should 

 be particularly careful, before they plant them, 

 to wash the roots thoroufjhly in a tub of ^iHtler, 

 and burn or scald whatever comes off them. 

 Any cocoons, that iiviy happen to be hidden 

 among the dirt attached to the roots, will then 

 be destroyed. By attending to this precaution 

 the dissemination of this 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 cheapest and the most 

 available remedy. Where this cannot be con- 

 veniently obtained, the ImportedCurrantAVorm, 

 owing to a peculiarity in its habits, can be pretty 

 successfnlly fought upon a system, which is inap- 

 plicable to the other two species on account of 

 the difierence 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 minute little larva; can find 



