112 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. ig02. 



let of fatty matter. In the older stages the most of the fatty mat- 

 ter has been absorbed, but the cells still persist. 



HABITS. 



The insects usually live in some part of the grass plant where 

 they are protected from any disturbance. When a sheath is torn 

 down so as to disturb them, they begin to run about seeking some 

 place in which to hide themselves. If they are unsuccessful in 

 their search, they remain practically still and bend up the abdo- 

 men as if ready to sting the intruder. 



In the act of egg laying the female arches the body so as to 

 bring her weight to bear upon the ovipositor, which is slowly 

 worked down through the surface of the leaf into the under lying 

 tissue. The egg is then passed down the groove on the surface 

 of the ovipositor and lodged just beneath the epidermis of the 

 leaf. This process takes about one and a half minutes for its 

 completion. After an egg has been deposited, the insect moves 

 off and begins to feed. It frequently happens that the serrated 

 edges of the ovipositor become so firmly fastened in the tissues 

 of the plant that the insect is unable to free itself and finally dies. 



The insects attack a number of the common grasses during the 

 season, but in the early months its ravages are mostly confined 

 to the June grass, Poa pratensis, on which the results of its work 

 are the most manifest. As the season advances it is found quite 

 abundantly in timothy, Phleum pratense, and on several species 

 of Panicum, Agrostis, and Festuca. 



For treatment see page 128. 



