274 



INSECT LIFE. 



M^ 



The Ambush-bug. — There is a greenish bug, with 

 very strong fore legs and a broadly expanded abdo- 

 men (Fig. 250), which conceals itself in the flowers 

 of goldenrod and in other flowers. This is the am- 

 bush-bug ; it rests quietly among the flowers 

 until some nectar-loving insect comes with^ 

 in its reach, when the visitor is seized and 



destroyed. The ambush-bug can overcome 

 Fig. 250. . , , ° r 



insects much larger than itself. Its name is 



Phyrnata wolffii. {Phy ma'ta wolf'fi-i), and it belongs 



to the family Phymatid^ (Phy-mat'i-dae). 



The Goldenrod Galls. — One of the most 

 familiar of abnormal growths on plants is a ball-like 

 enlargement of the stem of goldenrod (Fig. 251). 

 This is caused by a maggot which lives within it, 

 and which develops into a pretty fly with banded 

 Vikings. The name of the fly is 

 Try pet a solidaginis ( Try-pe'ta sol- 

 i-dag'i-nii), and its gall is desig- 

 nated as the round goldenrod 

 gall. 



There is another gall on the 

 stem of goldenrod which is fiq. 2~.-The rounT gold- 

 more elongate and 'is holloAv. enrodgau. 

 This is known as the elliptical goldenrod gall ; it is 

 represented in the lower part of Fig. 246. This gall 

 is made by the larva of a Tineid moth, Gelechia gallce- 

 solidaginis {Ge-le' chi-a gaUlce-sol-i-dag' i-nis\ 



Collect specimens of these galls, and, placing 

 them in breeding-cages, rear the adult insects. 



