INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 413 



the larvae increasing the flow to such an extent as to seriously weaken a tree 

 unable to stand a severe drain. 



Bibliography 



1880 Comstock, J. H. U S. Dep't Agric. Rep't 1879, p. 256-57 

 1890 Packard, A. S. U. S. Ent. Com. 5th Rep't, p. 797-98 

 1903 Eckel, L. S. Ent. News, 14: 279-84 



LeConte's sawfly 



Lophyrus lecontei Fitch 

 Dirty yellowish, red-headed, black spotted caterpillars feed in clusters on the outer 

 branches of pines from which they strip the leaves. 



This species is a rather common one although as a rule it is not 

 injurious. It was first brought to notice by Dr Asa Fitch who character- 

 ized it in 1857, and described its work and the adult female as follows : 



When nearly matured these worms are so large that the end of a single 

 leaf of the pine probably furnishes them a very insufficient mouthful, hence 

 two worms often unite, standing face 

 to face, and thus hold the five leaves 

 which grow from each sheath on the 

 white pine pressed together in a bundle 

 as they eat it, commencing at the tip 

 and gradually stepping backwards as 

 the leaves become shorter. It is only 



the old leaves of the previous year's Fig- 93 Lophyrus lecontei, enlarged (original) 



growth which these worms consume, never touching the new ones at 

 the outer end of the limb ; hence they injure the tree much less than 

 they would were they to strip the limbs they invade of the whole of 

 their foliage. At least two broods of these worms appear annually, the 

 one in July, the other in September and October, the latter often remaining 

 on the trees after the frosty nights have occurred. Having finished 

 feeding, they leave the tree and inclose themselves in cocoons under fallen 

 leaves or other shelter on the surface of the ground, in which they remain 

 during their pupa state. 



The female. Length, .38 inch to the tip of the abdomen, and .48 inch 

 to the end of the wings. It may at once be distinguished from all our 

 other described species by the joints of its antennae, which are 21 in num- 

 ber It is shining dull, tawny yellow, with the antennae black, and also the 

 abdomen and base of the thorax. The underside is paler yellow, with two 

 broad, black stripes on the abdomen. The wings are smoky hyaline, their 

 veins black. Captured the middle of May. 



