THE DOCK FALSE-WORM. 6 



according to the laws of priority, the specific name glabrata Fallen 

 should be used, and the species belongs in the genus Ametastegia. 

 The synonymy, as worked out by Kohwer, is given below: 



AMETASTEGIA GLABRATA (Fallen). 



Tenthredo glabrata Fallen, Svensk. Vet.-Akad. Handl., p. 108, 1808. 

 Tenthredo (Allantus) agilis Klug, Magaz. Ges. Naturf. Fr. Berlin, viii, .p. 208, 1814. 

 Tenthredo (Allantus) rufipes Lepeletier, Monog. Tenthred., p. 81, 1823. 

 Ametastegia fulvipes A. Costa, Rendic. Acad. Sc. Napoli, xxi, p. 198, 1882. 

 Taxonus nigrisoma Norton, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., ix, p. 119, 1862. 

 Strongylogaster abnormis Provancher, Addit. Faun. Can. Hym., p. 10, 1885. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The dock false-worm is widely distributed in both Europe and 

 America. In Europe it has been found as far north as Lapland, in 

 northern Russia, and as far south as Italy. It is also recorded in 

 the literature from Scotland, Sweden, Russia, northern Germany, 

 southern Bavaria, Holland, and France. 



In America the dock false-worm appears to be confined to Canada 

 and the northern part of the United States. Provancher and Fletcher 

 have observed it in Ontario, the latter having found the larva3 bur- 

 rowing into apples. Norton's description of Taxonus nigrisoma is 

 from specimens taken at Dorchester, Mass., and Jack found the 

 larvae at Jamaica Plain, both just south of Boston. From the 

 other articles which have appeared concerning this species, and 

 from the specimens in the National Museum collection, the follow- 

 ing additional localities are taken: Stratford, Conn. (Walden), New 

 York City and Flatbush, L. I. (Dyar), Seacliff, L. I. (Banks), Sher- 

 brooke, Quebec, Harrisburg, Pa. (Myers), Menominee, Mich. (Chit- 

 tenden and Titus), Ames, Iowa (Webster), and Minnesota (Ashmead 

 collection). In the West the writer has found it very abundant in 

 north-central Washington, at Wenatchee and Entiat, in Chelan 

 County, and Prof. Melander reports it from Lynden, Whatcom 

 County, Wash., from Kittitas County, Wash., and from British 

 Columbia. It is very probable that the species has an almost con- 

 tinuous distribution in America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It 

 has never been recorded south of 40° north latitude, either in Europe 

 or America, although some of its food plants are found farther south. 



It is probable that the dock false-worm is distributed chiefly when 

 in the prepupal or pupal stage in the dry stems of plants, for it is 

 well protected here and during the winter season is to be found in 

 these stems for a period of six months or more. The stems and stalks 

 are very likely to be carried about in hay, packing materials, etc. 

 In the egg and active larval stages the insect is greatly dependent 

 on the fresh leaves of its food plant, and the adults, though active, 

 are not strong flyers; thus it is not possible for the insect to travel 

 far in these stages. 



