40 



Observations may be made during all mild weather from the present month (Novem- 

 ber) until the middle of June. The more frequent and detailed the observations the 

 greater will be their value. If you have not the time or inclination to make these obser- 

 vations personally, you will confer a favour by handing this circular to some person who 

 will be interested. 



Should this circular come to the hands of any entomologist familiar with the two 

 species, I would respectfully ask of such any information they may possess that will 

 throw light on the range and preferred food-plants of either. 



Respectfully, 



C. Y. Riley, 



Entomologist. 



A NEW FOE TO THE MAPLE. 



By W. Hague Habrington, Ottawa. 



On 25th June, 1882, 1 captured upon a maple shade tree near my house two insects 

 belonging to the Hymenoptera, or insects with four membranous wings, such as bees 

 and wasps. These I found upon examination to be female specimens of Xiphydria 

 albicornisj described by Dr. Harris in bis " Insects Injurious to Vegetation," as occurring 

 on the trunks of soft wood in August." The first, or generic, name is formed from a 

 Greek word for a "small sword," to which the ovipositor of the female may be com- 

 pared. The second, or specific, name, composed of two Latin words meaning " white 

 horns," is bestowed upon it because the antennae are chiefly white. Dr. Harris describes 

 them as white "with the two lowest joints black." The specimens in my collection have 

 the two lower joints and the base of the third black, and the tip is also invariably black. 

 In some instances this black tip is so small as to be scarcely visible without a magnifying 

 glass, but it is usually easily discernable. A few specimens have the antennae entirely 

 black, and answer to the description of X Frovancheri Cresson.- They are, however, 

 in my opinion, only varieties of albicornis, as they were taken in company with those 

 having the normal antennae. This view is further strengthened by the fact that I have 

 found no males with the usual white antennae. Of four captured during the past 

 summer, three have black antennae and the fourth has them variegated irregularly ; 

 black predominating over the white. X. Canadensis (Prov.) may be merely another 

 variety of the same insect, as it seems to differ chiefly in the colouration of the legs, 

 which members vary considerably in my specimens in that respect ; some being much 

 darker than others. 



The insect under consideration has a general resemblance, as regards shape, to the 

 larger and well-known maple horntail (Tremex columba), to which it is closely related. 

 It is black, with white markings, and legs of a varying shade of yellow. The females 

 vary in size from five-tenths to eight-tenths of an inch, and are easily distinguished by 

 the projecting ovipositor. The head is, roughly speaking, almost hemispherical, and is 

 distinctly separated from the thorax. The front, or face, is roughened ; the granulation 

 extending above and surrounding the three ocelli borne on the forehead. The true eyes 

 are moderate in size and not prominent. The antennae are white, with the exception of 

 the extreme tip, and of the first and second joints with part of the next. Occasionally 

 they are entirely, or nearly, black. The jaws are black, and are well adapted for cutting 

 wood, having teeth (four in number) like a little saw. The markings of the head vary 

 somewhat in different specimens, as do also the white markings on other parts of the 

 body. In the larger and more clearly marked ones a white oval ring, interrupted at the 

 apex and by the roughened ridge across the front, surrounds each cheek, enclosing the 



* This species is ^ven in the Lists published by the Natural History Society of Toronto, as well as its 

 synonym Xiphidion Canadense (Prov.). 



