REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I917 125 



clinging thereto until it succumbs. Larvae of Hemerobius and 

 Chrysopa, and larvae and adults of Coccinellids and the nymphs of 

 certain Reduviidae occur on the pines and probably assist in checking 

 this insect. The ruby-crowned kinglet has been observed eating 

 the midges. 



Thecodiplosis ananassa Riley 



1870 Riley, C.V. Am. Ent., 2:244 (Cecidomyia cupressi-ananassa) 



1891 — ■ ■ & Howard, L. O. Ins. Life, 4:125 (Polygnotus 



proximus Ashm. reared, Cecidomyia) 



1906 Felt, E. P. Ins. Affec. Pk. & Wdld. Trees, N. Y. State Mus. Mem. 8, 

 2:755 (Cecidomyia) 



1908 N. Y. State Mus. Bui. 124, p. 392 (Contarinia) 



1912 N. Y. Ent. Soc. Jour., 20:242-43 



This species produces a rather common gall on Cypress, Tax- 

 odium distichum. The galls appear to originate as small, 

 globose or oval, densely pruinose swellings with rudimentary leaves 

 and located near the tips of the smaller, tender shoots. They vary 

 in length from 5 to 8 mm, are spongy, and the green interior contains 

 a variable number of pale yellowish larvae grouped about the central 

 axis of the shoot. At the same time we find more matured galls 

 containing reddish or deep orange larvae, which would seem to 

 indicate an extended period of flight and a prolonged oviposition. 

 Transformations occur within the gall, exuviae being left protruding. 

 From 3 to 8 larvae may occur in each swelling. Polygnotus 

 proximus Ashm. MS. (Insect Life, 4:125) was reared from the 

 gall produced by this midge. 



Gall. Developing galls are globose or oval, densely pruinose, 

 bear rudimentary leaves and are from 5 to 8 mm long. The fully 

 developed gall may be 1.25 cm long, brown, and appears much as a 

 small pineapple, owing to the numerous transverse elevations. The 

 larvae in either type occur in oval cells grouped irregularly about 

 the central axis. 



Larva. The small larvae are pale yellowish, scarcely .5 mm long. 

 The full-grown larvae have a length about 1.75 mm, are reddish 

 orange or deep orange and possess a clove-shaped, dark-brown or 

 black breastbone. 



Doctor Riley described the living specimens as of a bright-red 

 color, the head black and the thorax dusky above. The following 

 was drafted from pinned specimens in the United States National 

 Museum. 



Male. Length 1.25 mm. Antennae one-fourth longer than the 

 body, thickly haired, yellowish brown; 14 segments, the fifth with 

 stems one-half and one and one-half times their diameters; terminal 

 segment, distal enlargement fusiform, strongly constricted basally 



