FACKARD.] CEANBEEKY-VINE WOEM CEANBEERY WEEVIL. 



.25 



body beiog contracted at tbe base of the abdomen, on the rings of 

 which there are dorsal rows of fine spines. 



Mr. Fish writes me that "these larvae, called the cranberry- vine worms, 

 hatch about tbe 1st of June from eggs that have remained upon the 

 leaves of the plant all winter. They commence to feed upon the tender 

 growing shoots of the plant, drawing the leaves together with their net 

 for shelter, concealing themselves and feeding within. Before reaching 

 their full size they, if very numerous, almost wholly destroy the leaves 

 and tender shoots, giving the whole bog a dark dry appearance, as though 

 a tire had been over it. This is why they are in some places known as 

 "fire-worms." Having reached their full .size they spin among tlie 

 leavesor among the dead leaves upon the ground. After remaining in the 

 pupa state about tenorthirteen days themothscome out and deposit Uieir 

 eggs upon the leaves. This year the moths were out the last of June and 

 first of July. In five or six days the eggs hatched, and this second brood, 

 which is usually the most destructive, mostly changed to pupae on the 20th 

 of July. On the 26th of July the first moth came out, and most were 

 out before the 4th of August. I saw the moth at Sandwich as late as 

 the 20th of August. Most of the eggs laid in August do not hatch until 

 the following spring. I did succeed in finding two or three larvie in 

 September, but they were rare at that time. The only sure means known 

 of destroying them is to let water upon the bog for twenty-four hours." 



Besides the moths and their caterpillars men- 

 tioned above, there are two other insects which 

 derive their nourishment from the leaves. Mr. 

 Fish has noticed plant-lice [A^his) on the cran- 

 berry-vines. 



A species of Cecidomyia, or closely allied genus 

 belonging to the family of dipterous gall-flies, has 

 been discovered by Mr. Fish attacking the leaves. 

 The following figures, reduced from sketches made 

 by Mr. F. G. Sanborn, will serve to give some idea 

 of the transformations of this insect. The larva 

 (h) is pinkish, and of tbe form indicated in the cut. 

 It spins a cocoon (a) on the leaves apparently, and 

 changes wi:hin the cocoon to a chrysalis (c) ; d rep- 

 resents the female, much enlarged, lier body ending in a long retractile 

 point; e represents the female antennae, much enlarged. It is not 

 likely that this insect does much harm. 



I"IG. 4.— Cranberry Gall-Fly. 



ATTACKING THE PLOWER-BUD. 



The Cranberry Weevil (Anthonomus suturalis LeConte). — Mr. W. 

 C. Fish has found this insect preying on cranberry-buds, 

 and communicated to me an account of its habits. It 

 was identified by Dr. J. L. LeConte as Anthonomus 

 suturalis Lee, and I extract the following description 

 of it fiom my "Guide to the Study of Insects," p. 487: fig 5 -Cranbeny- 

 "It is a minute reddish-brown beetle, with the beak one- Bud Weevii. 

 half as long as the body, just beyond the middle of which the antenniB 

 are inserted. The head is darker than the rest of the body, being brown- 

 black. The thorax is a little darker than the elytra, and covered very 

 sparsely with short whitish hairs ; the scutellum is whitish, and the 

 elytra are shining reddish-brown, with the striae deeply punctured, the 

 interstices being smooth. It is .13 of an inch long, including the beak. 

 Mr. W. C. Fish detected this little weevil laying its eggs in the buds of 



