84 BRECK’S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 
from its favorite plant, so nearly resembles the slug-worm 
saw-fly as not to be distinguished therefrom, except by a 
practised observer. It is also very much like Selandria 
barda, vitis, and pygmea, but has not the red thorax of 
these three closely allied species. It is of a deep and 
shining black color. The first two pairs of legs are 
brownish-gray, or dirty white, except the thighs, which 
are almost entirely black. The hind legs are black, with 
whitish knees. The wings are smoky, and transparent, 
with dark-brown veins, and a brown spot near the middle 
of the edge of the first pair. The body of the male is a 
little more than three-twentieths of an inch long, that of 
the female one-fifth of an inch or more, and the wings 
expand nearly or quite two-fifths of an inch. These Saw- 
fliés come out of the ground, at various times, between 
the twentieth of May and the middle of June, during 
which period they pair and lay their eggs. The females 
do not fly much, and may be seen, during most of the 
day, resting on the leaves; and, when touched, they draw 
up their legs, and fall to the ground. The males are 
more active, fly from one rose-bush to another, and hover 
around their sluggish partners. The latter, when about 
to lay their eggs, turn a little on one side, unsheath 
their saws, and thrust them obliquely into the skin of the 
leaf, depositing, in each incision thus made, a single egg. 
The young begin to hatch in ten days or a fortnight 
after the eggs are laid. They may sometimes be found 
on the leaves as early as the first of June, but do not 
usually appear in considerable numbers till the twentieth 
of the same month. How long they are in coming to 
maturity, I have not particularly observed ; but the period 
of their existence in the caterpillar state probably does 
not exceed three weeks. They somewhat resemble the 
young of the Saw-fly in form, but are not quite so con- 
vex. They have a small, round, yellowish head, with a 
