13 
ber 17, to the number of twelve or fifteen on a brancli of apple about 
four inches long and on which some five or six tree-hoppers were ovi- 
positing. The other little parasitic fly is a Trichogramuia , and lias been 
described by Mr. William H. Ashmead as T. ceresarum (Canadian 
Entomologist, vol. xx, p. 107, 1888). 
DESCRIPTION OF THE EARLIER STAGES. 
The egg is about one-sixteenth of an inch long, slightly curved, 
tapering towards the outer end and more rounded at the inner one. It 
is without markings, of a dirty, whitish color, and cylindrical, except 
as more or less angulated by the pressure of the wood and the adjacent 
eggs. 
The early larval and nymphal stages have never been carefully 
described. In general, however, the larvae and nymphs resemble the 
adult, but are wingless and covered along the center dorsally with 
numerous forked or barbed projections, in this particular resembling the 
same stages in the very closely allied taurina, which Dr. Eiley has fig- 
ured. (Fig. 6, o and d.) 
Mr. Jack has described what is probably the last nymphal stage as 
follows : 
The full grown larva is about 8 mm in length, and light green in color, somewhat 
lighter than that of the mature insect. The young larvte appeared to be of a darker 
green than they were at a later period of their growth. The general shape is tri- 
angular, like that of. the mature insect, but the broad horn-like projections are not 
seen in the larva, The eyes are prominent. On the front of the elevated thorax, 
and behind each eye are two short, strong spines, one above the other, armed with 
several lateral prongs or forks ; higher up, near the apex of the triangular shaped 
thorax, are two more, somewhat larger armed spines, and the last two visible tho- 
racic segments are each provided with a pair of these branching spines that are still 
longer. There are also a pair of these spines, each armed with about 6 or 7 barbs, 
on each of the abdominal segments next to the terminal. These are graduated in 
length, the shortest being on the last segments, and the longest hardly more than a 
millimeter in length. The thoracic spines project forward, while those on the 
abdominal segments are drawn forward at the base and then curved back, strongly 
suggesting the dorsal fin of a fish. On the last segment, which is long and tapering, 
there are two short armed spines directly above the anal opening, which is terminal. 
The ventral surface of the abdomen is scatteringly covered with short, strong brktles 
or hairs. The legs are also covered with stiff hairs. 
FOOD-PLANTS. 
The larvae and pupae, as well as the adults, feed on all sorts of 
succulent vegetation, such as weeds and garden vegetables, and are 
apparently not particularly fond of the apple, much preferring the 
more succulent annual plants. Mr. Jack reports that he found the 
adults feeding on the young and tender shoots of the apple, near 
the ground, by which I suppose he means the water shoots, for cer- 
tainly after very careful and repeated observations in an orchard 
which was so infested as to be nearly ruined, I failed entirely to find 
any indication of the feeding of larva 1 or adults on apple. The injury, 
then, in this direction, to fruit and shade trees, is practically not 
3613— Xo. 1 2 
