74 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



into the form of an Appendix — to be "skipped " 

 at discretion by the general reader. 



APPENDIX TO THIS CHAPTER. 



Osten Sacken has repeatedly complained — and with 

 very great .justice too — of the exceedingly slovenly man- 

 ner in which certain European authors "have attempted 

 to define and limit the multiplicity of new Cynipidous 

 genera which they have thought fit to establish , •■■■ {Proc, 

 M!nt. Soc. Phil., IV. p. 338, etc.). In our paper on 

 Gyni^s (Ibid., II. pp. 468-9 and 477-8) will he found, 

 first, the characters which in .our opinion separate 

 Gympidm from Figitidce, and secondly those which 

 separate the Gall-making Gall-flies {Cynipidm psenides) 

 fsom the Guest Gall-flies {Cympidm iiiquilinai). "We 

 will now give a Synoptical Table of those genera of 

 GynipidcB psenides found in N. A. , which we consider 

 to be sufticiently distinct to be classified as anything 

 more than subgenera. In such matters as these, opin- 

 ions of course will difter; but we have always thought 

 that a good reliable Synoptical Table of genera is worth 

 far more to the scientific student than one hundred times 

 the same space occupied with mere generic circumscrip- 

 tions, full ol tautology and indefinite platitudes. 



ISr. A. GENERA OF CYSIPIDJE PSENIDES. 



A. The second abdomina] joint (comitiDS the peduncle as the first) very 



large; the rest quite small and sub-equal. 



1. Ventral valve tcinale moderate. Cynips, on Oak. 



2. Ventral valve female enormously elon- ^ «, ,-,.„ „ „ 



Rate, horny and shining < Khodites, on Kose . 



B. The 2d abdominal Joint moderate; the restS 



smaller and sub-equal. (VentralvalveSTribalia, on Potato, 

 female nearly as in I'hoditeB) S 



C. The 2d and 3d abdominal joints large, the 3d 



rather smaller than the second; the rest 

 much smaller and sub-equal . 



1. 3djointot antennaj longer than 4th DiastrophuB, 



on Rosacea:. 



2. 3d joint of antennae shorter than 4th....AntistropliUBn. g., 



on VomposiltE. 

 D. . Abdommal joints 2—7 sub-equal Ibalia, habits unknown. 



ANTISTROPHUS, U. g. 



Infests Lygodesmia, (Family Composited) and difi'ers as 

 foUowb from Diastrophus, a genus infesting Bramble 

 (Buhus) and occa,sionally the allied PoteiiHUa, (Family 

 Bosacem) : — 1st. The 3d joint of the antennse is much 

 shorter than the 4th, whereas not only in Diastrophus, 

 but in all otliei Cynipidai'knovm to us, joint 3 is longer, 

 and often very much longer than joint 4. 2d . Both trans- 

 verse veins in the front wing are fully as slender as the 

 other veins, almost entirely colorless as well as the other 

 veins, and not margined by any cloud whatever. 3d. 

 The radial area is more elongate, but otherwise similarly 

 shaped; and as in Diastrophus ousoutaformis o. s, (but 

 not in D. nebulosus o. s.) the areolet is obsolete. 

 \/' Antistrophus I. pisum, D. sp. g Black. ITead opaque, 

 confluentry and almost microscopically punctate, the 

 face with very fine and short appressed pubescence; 

 color, a dark rufo-sangiiineous, very rarely on the ocoi- 

 putverging upon black. AntennaJ ^-athsas long as the 

 body, 13-jointed, joint 4 longer by J^ than joint 3, joints 

 5 — 12 very slowly shorter and shorter, joint 13 as long as 

 11 and 12 iiut together; the two basal joints almost 

 always black, the rest ol a dark ruto-sanguineous color. 

 Thorax opaque, confluently and almost microscopically 

 punctate; the parapsidal grooves distinct and acute, 

 the dorsal one obsolete on its anterior %, and with an 

 abbreviated longitudinal groove on each side of it, ex- 

 tending from the collare half way to the scutel. Scutel 

 large and inflated, directed upwards and backwards, 

 its tip widely rounded and with a slight medial emar- 

 gination ; the normal basal fovea: shallow and almost 

 confluent, and covering about J^ of its upper surface. 



•Giraud, as stated by Osten Sacken, reared what he has 

 described as a Diastrophus from a gall growing on the Com- 

 positous plant Centaurea scabiosa. {Verh. Zool. But, 

 Gesellsch. Wien., 1859, p. 368.) We strongly suspect that 

 this gall-fly belongs in reality to our new genus Antistro- 

 phus. The genus Phatiacis of Foerster, of which a single 

 species. Ph. centaurece, has been "reared from the stalks 

 of Centaurea scabiosa " by that author, as quoted by Osten 

 Sacken, is apparently a guest-fly, and is probably inquili- 

 noua on Giraud's so-called Diastrophus, which was des- 

 cribed three years after Foerster published. (See Verh. 

 d-Rhelnl. Vereins fur Naturk., XVII, p. 145, 1856 ) 



Collare very often, and sometimes the pleura and me- 

 sonotum, and occasionally the tip of the scutel, more 

 or less rufo-sanguineous. Abdomen, shining and pol- 

 ished; "ventral valve" rectangular at tip, with only 

 a very minute apical thorn , thin and semitransparent 

 and of a pale rufous color. " Dorsal valve " distinct, 

 but never showing the ovipositor projecting from its 

 tip. Xeffs bright rufo-sanguineous. Winqs hyaline; 

 veins and cross-veins scarcely tinged with brown; the 

 radial area fuUy thrice as long as wide, with the 2nd 

 transverse vein attached to it scarcelj; l-6th of the way 

 to its tip. Cubitus obsolete at its origin from the 1st 

 transverse vein. All the longitudinal veins nearly, but 

 not quite, attaining the margin of the wing. — Length 2 

 0.12— 0.14 inch. 



The c5" difl'ers from $ only as follows : — 1st. The head 

 is scarcely ever, and the thoraxnever, tinged with rufo- 

 sanguineous. 2nd. The antenna are fully as long as 

 the body, 14-jointed, joints 1 — 4 as in 5 i joints &— 13 

 very slowly shorter and shorter, joint 14 a trifle longer 

 than 13. 3rd. The legs are of a darker and duller color, 

 and the hind tibiae are obscurely tinged ivith dusky to- 

 wards their tips. — Length t^ 1.10 — 0.11 inch. 



Described Irom 29 (5", 34 $^, which came out May 12th— 

 26th, 1869, from galls kindly sent us in the preceding 

 March by E P. Austin ol Omaha, Nebr. We had pre- 

 viously bred a few specimens (f of the same insect in 

 the spring of 1868 from galls gathered by ourselves on 

 the Plains of the West from the very same plant. Ac- 

 cording to Dr. Asa Gray (Manual, 4th edition, page 

 xcv.) this plant also grows in Wisconsin, where no 

 doubt the same galls may be met with upon its stems. 



CA-BBA(}E BUTTERFLIES. 



BY CHAS. S. MINOT, BOSTON, 5I.VSS. 



There is a certain group of butterfles known, 

 scientifically', by the name of JPieris, to farm- 

 ers as "Garden "Whites "or " Cabbage butter- 

 flies." They are easily recognized by the fol- 

 lowing characters: The wings are generally 

 white, with inconspicuous black markings, and 

 occasionally with green or yellow underneath ; 

 they are very broad and have no scallops or 

 indentations in the margin ; the hindwings in 

 outline resemble an egg. " The feelers (palpi) 

 are rather slender, but project beyond the head ; 

 the antennas have a short flattened knob. Their 

 flight is lazy and lumbering. The caterpillars 

 are nearly cylindrical, taper a little towards 

 each end, and are sparingly clothed with short 

 down, which requires a microscope to be dis- 

 tinctly seen. They suspend themselves by the 

 tail and a transverse loop, and their chrysalids 

 are angular at the side and pointed at both ends.'" 

 (Harris). 



This genus is interesting, though disagreeably 

 so, to every farmer, for the difierent species are 

 very destructive to various vegetables : among 

 others cabbages, nasturtium, mlgnionette, cauli- 

 flowers, turnips, and carrots. We propose now 

 to notice only two of the species, as that number 

 will serve to indicate the habits of the whole 

 genus — which every farmer should be familiar 

 with, so that he may be able to recognize and 

 destroy such dangerous foes. 



