Q6 



from pores along the side, which probably serves as a defence against many of its enemies. 

 In the latter part of summer it is full-grown (measuring an inch and a half or more in 

 length) and spins a strong brown oval cocoon, either in the leaves, with which it falls to 

 the ground, or on the surface of the earth under leaves, etc. It does not transform to a 

 pupa until the following spring, and the winged insect appears in June and July. Though 

 the larvae of this species are large and voracious, they are never so numerous as to become 

 very destructive to foliage. 



Trichiosoma triangulum is a northern species, somewhat similar in appearance to the 

 preceding, but smaller, being about three-tifths of an inch long. The head and thorax are 

 black, the latter clothed with long whitish hairs. The thighs are bluish-black (the four 

 posterior ones of the male having a sharp tooth underneath) and the remainder of the 

 legs yellow. The antennae are eight-jointed, the base and club being dark, and the inter- 

 vening joints yellow. The wings have a strong yellowish tinge. This insect is rare 

 throughout Ontario, but appears to be more plentiful west and north. Mr. Geo. W. 

 Taylor records it (Canadian Entomologist, vol. xvi, page 91) as tolerably common in Bri- 

 tish Columbia. The larva is said to have the same habits and to undergo the same changes 

 as that of Cimbex. 



Abia Kcnnicotti is a smaller and somewhat bee-shaped insect about one-third of an 

 inch long. Its colour is black varied with blue and green ; the legs whitish and wings 

 yellowish. I am not acquainted with its habits. Two closely allied species, not yet 

 recorded from Canada, although probably inhabiting it, are Abia caprifolia and Abia 

 cerasi, which, as their names indicate, feed upon the honeysuckle and cherry respectively. 

 The larva of the former is described as yellow, with the back greenish, and with rows of 

 black spots. It spins a compact cocoon half an inch long, in which it undergoes its 

 changes in the manner of that of the Cimbex. 



The last species of this sub-family which I will mention is a diminutive black fly 

 (only about one-eighth of an inch long) which I have frequently found on hickory (Carya 

 amara). It is Acordulecera dursalis, and lias short six-jointed antenna 1 , the last joint 

 rounded, but not enlarged so as to form a club or knob. The body is short and stout ; 

 black, with minute whitish hairs ; the feet are also whitish. I have taken these saw- 

 flies upon the hickory leaves about the first of June, and again about the first of August. 

 Larva;, which are perhaps those of these flies, do considerable damage to the hickory, 

 especially the smaller trees, as they feed together in a row across the leaf and devour 

 vverytbing but the mid-rib. They are pale green, whitish below, about one-third of an 

 inch long, and when full grown they descend to the ground and form therein white shell- 

 like cocoons about the size of a grain of rice, from which so far I have been unable to 

 obtain the winged insects. 



Sub-Family 2. — Hylotomin.e. 



The species of this group are not numerous, and are distinguished by the antennae 

 having only three or four joints, of which the third is very much longer than the others. 

 Two genera are represented in Canada ; the first — Schizocerus — by a single species which 

 I have not seen, the second — Hylotoma — by four. Of these I have collected three species 

 in this vicinity, and have received the fourth from Mr. Fletcher, who captured it at 

 r>alhousie, N.B. They are rather handsome insects, about one-third of an inch long, but 

 are neither sufficiently numerous nor injurious to call for detailed descriptions. They 

 are easily distinguished from our other saw-flies by their three-jointed antenme, of which the 

 third is very much elongated and in the males furnished with rows of hairs. 



SU13-FAMILY 3. TeNTHREDININjE. 



The species herein contained are of small or moderate size, and the number of 

 articulations in the antenna* varies from nine to fifteen. The sub-family contains at least 

 nine-tenths of our saw-flies, and nearly all the well-known destructive species. 



At the head of it stands Claditu isomera, which is a small shining black fly, with 

 whitish feet and clouded wings ; length less than one-quarter inch. The larvae feed in 

 large numbers upon the -willow, and devour the leaves with the exception of the skeleton. 



