258 WILSON : HYMENOPTERA NEAR YORK. 



NEMATIDES. 



^Hemichroa rufa Pz. I found the larvae of this insect on Alnus 

 glutinosa var. laciniata, in September 1883. The female lays 

 her eggs on the underside of the leaves, along the midrib and 

 lateral ribs. They are oval in shape, though somewhat pointed, 

 and are placed end to end, thus resembling a miniature watch 

 chain. There are fifteen or twenty placed on each leaf, in 

 strings of four or five on the lateral and eight or ten on the mid- 

 rib. When the eggs are hatched the little larvae move restlessly 

 about for some time, and then proceed to the edges of the leaves 

 and commence the business of life. Feeding gregariously, they 

 soon demolish the leaves, leaving nothing but the ribs. In this 

 way whole branches are stripped. The sides of a tree then 

 present a very naked appearance. However, the sight of such 

 as this is very pleasing to an entomologist, whose delight is in 

 finding something fresh or rare. The colour of the adult larvae 

 is greyish green, with a double row of dark spots on each side of 

 the dorsal line. There are also some dark spots along the 

 spiracles. Like many more species of Sawflies, they have the 

 peculiarity of taking fast hold with their prolegs, and coiling up 

 the anal segments. When full fed they enter the earth to undergo 

 their transformations. 



The perfect insect I will thus describe : — Head and face pale 

 red ; eyes and ocellus black ; mandibles black tipped ; the 

 other parts of the mouth red, with slight touches of black on 

 them ; antennae black, nine-jointed ; mesothorax and scutellum 

 red; the first segments of the abdomen suffused with black, 

 the remaining ones pale red. Front wings : costal nervure, the 

 anterior half pale red, becoming darker towards the stigma ; 

 stigma reddish, suffused with black; the basal half of the wings 

 clouded with grey. Legs : coxae and trochanters black, the 

 joints showing paler; femora black; tibiae and tarsi, the anterior 

 parts pale red, the posterior dark grey. 



^Cladius eradiatus Htg. Examples found in this neighbourhood, 1884. 



^Nematus croceus Fall. Captured at Holgate, on the wing, 1884. 



^Nematus cseruleocarpus Htg. I met with larvae of this species in 

 the autumn of 1883, upon smooth-leaved willows, and reared 

 three examples. The larvae are dark green, like the leaves on 

 which they feed, and are scarcely to be distinguished from them 

 without spots or lines, their distinctness from most other SawfTy 

 larvae being in their manner of carriage during feeding. They lie 

 along the edges of the leaves in a very straight manner, clasping 



Naturalist, 



