December, '15] LEONARD AND CROSBY: GONATOCERUS AND IDIOCERUS 541 



digestive processes of various forms of animal life have been discussed 

 by other writers. House-flies captured in the open are said to show a 

 great variety of spores. Dr. Graham Smith states that feces, de- 

 posited by flies, contain organisms in considerable numbers for at 

 least two days after feeding by the insects and that they are fre- 

 quently infective for much longer periods. Anthrax spores, according 

 to this writer, survive for many days on the exterior of the insect as 

 well as in the alimentary canal. Some writers maintain that the 

 danger of disease germs that pass through the body of the common 

 house-fly is greater than from those supposed to be carried from foul 

 substance on their feet. Studies on the Fusarium rot of corn showed 

 that the germinating powers of this disease were little or not affected 

 when subjected to the digestive processes of chickens. The studies 

 by Morse on potato scab indicated that the spores of this disease are 

 able to pass through the digestive tract of both horses and cows and 

 go into the manure pile without being destroyed, but much more 

 readily with the former than the latter. The manure of horses is 

 very likely to carry the germs of this disease. Similar views are held 

 by plant pathologists generally with respect to corn smut, cabbage 

 club-root, and other plant diseases. 



A NEW SPECIES OF GONATOCERUS (MYMARIDiE) PARA- 

 SITIC ON THE EGGS OF A NEW SPECIES OF 

 IDIOCERUS (BYTHOSCOPIDiE) FEEDING 

 ON POPLAR 



By M. D. Leonard and C. R. Crosby, Ithaca, N. Y. 



On May 29, 1914, a resident of Ithaca brought to the Insectary 

 some poplar branches badly infested with nymphs of a Bythoscopid. 

 No further opportunity was presented for the study of the insect until 

 the spring of 1915 when, on April 1, we procured some small branches 

 from the infested trees and placed them in water in a warm room in 

 order to force out the buds. The eggs began to hatch on April 19 and 

 the flrst adults were obtained on May 14. The insect was at first 

 thought to be Idiocerus alternatus Fitch but, owing to discrepancies 

 between the fife history of that insect as described by Osborn and 

 Bah (Iowa Agr. Exp. Sta. Kept, for 1897, p. 118) and the life history 

 of the species under discussion, we were led to question the determi- 

 nation. Prof. Herbert Osborn has kindly compared our specimens with 

 those in his collection and informs us that he is of the opinion that they 

 represent an undescribed species. 



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