44 Thirty-first Report on the State Museum. 



ustilago salvei b. & br. 



Leaves of Calamagrostis Pickeringii. Mt. Marcy. Aug. 



This fungus forms long discolored lines or patches on the leaves, closely 

 resembling those formed by Urocystis Agropyri and Urocystis occulta. The 

 spores in our specimens, as well as in those received from Europe under this 

 name, are quite uniformily globose, not obovate as given in the description. 

 They are generally .0004 '-.0006' in diameter, but occasionally they attain a 

 diameter of .001 . I am not aware that this species has been before detected 

 in this country. 



Massospora, gen. nov. 

 Spores numerous, loosely adhering together and forming a pulverulent mass 

 without any evident peridium. Insecticolous. 



This is a peculiar genus, apparently belonging to the Coniomycetes, but its 

 affinities are doubtful. 



Massospora cicadina Pk. 



Spore mass occupying the abdominal cavity, whitish or pale cream-color, at 

 length exposed by the falling away of the terminal rings of the abdomen ; 

 spores subglobose or broadly elliptical, granular within, sometimes containing 

 one to three unequal nucleoli or oil globules, .00065-.00085' in diameter. 



In the abdomen of the " Seventeen-year Locust," Cicada septendecim. 

 Livingston, Columbia county, and Albany. June. 



A specimen was also received from Rev. R. B. Post, which was taken at 

 South Amboy, New Jersey. 



This is a singular fungus, unlike any other known to me. In its early 

 stage it is wholly concealed in the body of the insect, but just before, or soon 

 after the death of the insect, the terminal rings of the abdomen fall away, 

 revealing the pulverulent mass of spores within, which, by a superficial 

 observer, might easily be mistaken for a lump of pale-yellow or whitish clay. 

 I have not been able to detect any proper peridium, nor does any seem to be 

 necessary, the walls of the abdomen answering as a substitute. In one or 

 two examples, the spore mass was less fully developed, and of a brighter 

 color. The spores, in this case, were much larger, being .0015'-.002' in 

 diameter, with the epispore roughly reticulated. This is probably an earlier 

 condition of the same species, and is another indication that the proper posi- 

 tion of the fungus is among the Coniomycetes, where there are several genera, 

 with spores of two orders. The position of the genus, as it seems to me, is in 

 the vicinity of the genus Protomyces, which has the spores developed in the 

 living tissues of plants, as this has in the tissues of insects. This fungus is 

 noticed, but not named, in Smithsonian Contributions, Vol. v, p. 53. 



ISARIA TENUIPES Pk. 



Stem very slender, elongated, glabrous, lemon-yellow, one to one and a 

 half inches high, divided above into a few irregular branches, which are 

 wholly covered by the white mealy coating of conidia ; conidia oblong-ellip- 

 tical, .00016'-.0002' long. 



Dead pupae buried under fallen leaves. Center. Sept. 



This is probably only a condition of some Torrubia ; but, as it does not 

 agree with any described form, I have thought best to designate it, for the 

 present, by a name of its own. 



