54 



Galeruca decora, Say, is a beetle slightly larger than the grape-vine flea-beetle, and 

 f of the same shape, but has not the hind legs formed for leaping. Prof. Riley (Rept. U. 

 S. Entomologist, 1884) states as follows of this species in connection with insect attacks 

 tipon willows near Washington : " The most numerous and most dangerous of these 

 'enemies is, beyond question, the Willow Galeruca (Galeruca decora, Say), of which young 

 larvae and imagos were met with everywhere on the leaves. . . . Full grown larva? 

 were not found early in June, and only a few egg clusters .Next in number comes 

 Colaspis tristis, which in the imago state preferably feeds upon the very young, not yet 

 Hully developed leaves. Its larva, which no doubt has subterranean habits, was not met 

 with, and it probably feeds on the roots of some other plants." 



Lina lapponica, Linn., is a dark yellowish beetle, with black dots upon the elytra* 

 much resembling in size and shape Diabrotica 12-punctata, Oliv. (see Fig. 38), but having 

 the thorax wider and the spots upon the elytra more numerous. The larvae feed upon 

 willow and alder, and are of a dingy yellowish white colour, with black head 

 and legs, and have upon the back and sides rows of small dusky tubercules 

 which exude drops of a disagreeable secretion when the larvae are disturbed. 

 This species varies greatly in colour and the specimens I have bred were 

 Fio. 38.' generally paler than those captured in the imago condition. 



The remaining beetles all belong to the Rhynchophora or " beak-bearing " division 

 of the Ooleoptera, and nearly all to the extensive family Curculionidae. The larvae of 

 these weevils are short, fleshy, whitish grubs, feeding upon various portions of plants, and 

 generally concealed in cells or short burrows, so that they are seldom discovered until 

 their operations have been some time in progress. 



The largest of about twenty species which I have found upon willows is Lepyrus 

 ■geminatus, Say ; sometimes it appears quite abundantly, but never upon other plants. 

 The habits of the larvae are not known to me, but in all probability they infest the roots 

 of the trees upon which the beetles are found. The beetle is a little over one-half an inch 

 long, with a stout beak, equal in length to the thorax. The general colour is greyish ; the 

 thorax has an orange line on each side, and there is a dot of the same colour on each 

 elytron near the middle. 



Of Apion and Anthonomus there are several small species, either black or mod- 

 estly coloured. Some of thesebreed in the galls made by the saw-flies and midges before 

 described, and the habits of others are not yet fully known. There are also species 

 belonging to genera allied to Anthonomus, including a number of species of the genus 

 Orchestes. These little weevils correspond to the flea-beetles of the Chrysomelidae, as 

 they have the posterior legs enlarged, and possess great jumping powers. The beetles 

 feed upon the leaves, of which they riddle the epidermis with numerous small holes. The 

 habits of the larva? are not known to me. The most abundant species is 0. pallicomis, an 

 entirely black insect, and another which is sometimes abundant is 0. rufipes, which is 

 smaller, and has, as its name denotes, red or yellowish legs. 



Hemiptera. 



Of the " bugs," properly so-called, ten or fifteen species, including some Aphides or 

 plant-lice, are recorded in my notes, but as the extent of their ravages, and their life- 

 histories are imperfectly known to me, I shall not give any account of them in this 

 paper. 



In conclusion it may be stated that my object in this paper has not been to give a 

 complete catalogue of all the species of insects found upon the various willows, or to 

 describe them minutely. It has been rather to give a general idea of the great number 

 of these depredators, and the different classes to which they belong. To have given the 

 name, description and complete history of every species would have made this paper 

 ■much too long, and too technical for the general readers of this Report, and would also 



