REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I909 93 



a small, delicate, pale yellowish fly only about 1/25 of an inch long. 

 The male can be recognized by the long, knobbed, hairy feelers 

 or antennae one half longer than the body. The female is about 

 1/16 of an inch long and may be distinguished by the shorter, less 

 densely haired feelers or antennae. The slender ovipositor, as long 

 as the body in this sex, is well adapted to placing the tiny eggs 

 within the developing floral tissues. Field observations June 15-17 

 showed that this midge was fully as abundant in the Chautauqua 

 region as in 1908. The work of these insects in the vineyard of 

 Mr H. L. Gumming of Fredonia resulted in the destruction of a 

 considerable proportion of his Early Moore grapes, possibly over 

 75^. This midge not only causes serious loss by blasting numerous 

 grapes in the bud, but inflicts damage by destroying a few grapes 

 in many clusters, thus materially affecting the appearance of the 

 bunches and lowering their commercial value. The youngest larvae 

 found June 15 were probably but two or three days old, while many 

 were fully half grown and would presumably desert the blossom 

 buds within four days to a week. No midges were seen flying in 

 the vineyard either in the afternoon or early evening. A close ex- 

 amination of cobwebs and windows in the near vicinity of the badly 

 infested Early ]\Ioore vines resulted in finding no midges. Similar 

 conditions obtained near somewhat badly infested Concord vines in 

 the vineyard of D. K. Falvay at Westfield. The midges are ap- 

 parently not attracted to any extent by light and probably remain 

 near their food plants, as is the case with the violet midge, C o n - 

 tarinia violicola Coq. It is probable that the grape blos- 

 som midges fly in normal seasons about the first of June. An ex- 

 tended account accompanied by detailed descriptions of the larvae 

 and both sexes is given in the writer's report for 1908 [N. Y. State 

 Mus. Bui. 134, p. 15-19]. 



Tree crickets (Oecanthus sp.). These insects, though 

 predaceous and therefore beneficial, have the unfortunate habit of 

 depositing their eggs, which remain unhatched till the following 

 spring, in woody tissues. A very large proportion of the raspberry 

 canes in a patch near Albany were seriously injured last winter by 

 this insect. Recent investigations conducted at the Agricultural 

 Stations located at Geneva and Ithaca have shown that the snowy 

 tree cricket, Decant h u s n i v e u s DeG. is not, as has 

 formerly been supposed, the chief oft'ender in this respect. The 

 snowy tree cricket usually de]X)sits its eggs singly or in pairs in 

 apple twigs. The studies of Professor Parrott show that this in- 



