676 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



situations. This beetle may be recognized by its brown head, antennae, 

 prothorax and legs, while the wing covers are mostly a dark prussian blue 

 with a broad, yellowish band near the apical third, extending anteriorly 

 along the margin and to the base of the wing covers along the suture. 

 This insect ranges from about z/% to nearly y 2 inch long. 



False pine webworm 



Lyda sp. 



Loose web nests thickly sprinkled with excrement, occur on the terminal twigs and 

 contain greenish or brownish false caterpillars. 



Several species of these interesting false caterpillars feed on both hard 

 and soft white pine. They are easily recognized by the conspicuous 

 antennae and almost equally developed anal filaments at the opposite 

 extremity which, with the prominent anal shield, give the creatures a some- 

 what two-headed appearance. While the nests of these sawfly larvae are 

 somewhat common, the insects are rarely abundant enough to cause serious 

 damage. Their method of feeding is somewhat different from that of 

 Benta, in that there is more of a tendency to eat the needles off at a uni- 

 form level. A soldier bug, E u s c h i s t u s variolarius Beau v., is rather 

 common on the nests of these insects in September and is probably of 

 considerable service in keeping these leaf feeders in check. 



Pine webworm 



Benta malanogrammos Zell. 



Loose web nests, with considerable brown excrement, on the needles of terminal pine 

 twigs, are very characteristic of this species. 



This leaf feeder appears to be a somewhat common one on pine in the 



vicinity of Albany, but as it is a difficult insect to rear, it has been 



impossible to determine its specific identity beyond question. The peculiar 



nests, found in midsummer and later, are two to three inches long and 



consist of an irregular, loose, cobwebby structure with brown pellets of 



excrement thicklv sprinkled throughout the mass. This species has been 



