18 BULLETIN 808, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



large enough for the larva, and as the walls of the stem are very 

 thin it is easy to see that the larva would consume a large part of 

 the nourishment required for the developing seed and cause serious 

 loss in case of a heavy infestation. 



HOST PLANTS. 



H. foae has not been reared from any host other than blue-grass 

 {Poa yratensis) although a number of attempts have been made to 

 breed it in other hosts. 



LIFE HISTORY. 



As previously indicated, this species hibernates in the seed stalks of 

 blue-grass in waste places and along fences since pastures are kept 

 ^jropped so closely that there is little chance for it to winter over 

 there. It hibernates as a larva, pupates in spring, and the adult 

 emerges early in May. It is one of the first species to make its 

 appearance in the spring. Males normally occur. The ^^g is shown 

 in figure 8 at e. 



THE FESTUCA JOINTWORM.1 



The Festuca jointworm was described recently by the writer and 

 W. T. Emery (10, p. 454) from specimens reared from material col- 

 lected by the writer near Youngstown, Ohio, in 1913. Since that 

 date it has been located at other points in Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Virginia. It is the slenderest species among the gall 

 formers, the abdomen being particularly long and narrow. 



MANNEB OF INJURY. 



H. festucae forms galls or hardened enlargements, usually above 

 the second joint from the ground, although they may occur at any 

 joint. The galls (PI. VI, C) may be prominent or inconspicuous; 

 in the latter case they can be detected only by pinching the stems 

 between the fingers. The injury undoubtedly would be serious to 

 the seed crop and very probably would shorten the hay crop, also, as 

 the flowering stalks are rather slender, and although not quite as 

 frail, they are very much like blue-grass stems in that they are not 

 woody. Festuca sp., therefore, would naturally suffer more from 

 attacks of this kind than would orchard grass or timothy. 



HOST PLANTS. 



The writer has been rearing festucae from Festuca sp. in confine- 

 ment and making observations in the field for 5 years and has not 

 reared this species from any other host. 



^ HarmoUta festucae Phillips and Emery. 



