24 



that I shall now make but a brief mention of it. It is much smaller than the preceding 

 species, the females only ranging from half an inch to somewhat over three-quarters of an 

 inch in length, while the males are correspondingly smaller. It is black with white mark- 

 ings, and the antennse are usually white, with the exception of the basal joints, whence 

 the specific name. They appear during June and July, both upon old and young trees, 

 and in this city I have noticed them to especially attack newly transplanted trees. The 

 maple being generally used as a shade tree is planted annually in large numbers, and it is 

 while they are less vigorous from the effects of transplantation that the Xiphydria selects 

 them as suitable for the deposition of her eggs. I have seen trees hardly more than an 

 inch in diameter attacked. 



3. Oryssus terminalis, Newman. This insect belongs also to the Uroceridse, but the 

 abdomen is blunt and rounded at the extremity instead of terminating in a horny point. 

 The ovipositor is concealed in the abdomen, instead of projecting therefrom and being 

 protected by sheaths. It is very slender, hair-like, and longer than the insect itself. The 

 insects are about as long as those of Xiphydria, but are much stouter in form. The head 

 and thorax are black ; legs and antennse black, with markings of white ; abdomen black, 

 or more or less red ; wings clear, with a dusky patch near the tip. Active and restless i,n 

 their motions, they might easily be mistaken for some species of wood wasps. Their 

 habits have not hitherto, so far as I am aware, been definitely known or recorded, but 

 specimens have been taken by me, both in the act of emerging from the trunk of a dead 

 maple, and in the act of ovipositing therein. They appear in June. 



4. Ibalia maculipennis, Hald. This curious species belongs to the family Cynipid?e, 

 or gall-forming hymenoptera, and is much larger than any of our other species. It is 

 nearly three-quarters of an inch in length, and the wings expand about an inch. The head 

 and thorax are stout, but the abdomen is compressed laterally until it is very thin, and 

 has the shape almost of a knife-blade. The ovipositor is very long and slender, and when 

 not in use is retracted and coiled up in the abdomen. The insects are rare, and have 

 only recently been recorded (by Provancher) as occurring in Canada. I find both sexes 

 upon old trees in June, and have found the female ovipositing in the bark. The general 

 colour is yellow, with brown «pots upon the head and thorax, and with black bands upon 

 the abdomen and the legs. It is possible that the larvae mav be parasitic upon those of 

 one or more of the insects mentioned in this paper. 



5. Megachile optiva Cress., or a very closely allied bee, (Fig 2 represents a common 

 leaf-cutting bee) sometimes greatly dis- 

 figures maples by cutting pieces out of 

 the leaves for the purpose of making 

 its cells. I have seen a small tree 

 nearly defoliated by these bees, of 

 which the habits are most interesting. 



Lepidoptera.. 



This order, which consists of butter- 

 flies and moths, furnishes a formidable 

 list of species infesting the various 

 varieties of maples. The following 

 species are recorded : — 



6. jEgerii Acerni, Clem. Of recent 

 years this moth has become generally 

 known as a borer in the maples. It 

 belongs to a genus containing several 

 well-known injurious moths, such as 

 JE. Rubi,the raspberry borer,^. Tipula 

 formis, the currant borer, JE. Exitiosa, 

 the peach-tree borer, etc. It was 

 figured and described in Report Xo. 12 (1881), and was then stated to be increasing in 

 numbers every year, and to be very destructive, especially to young maples. In 1883 



Fig. 2. 



