MAPLE BORERS. 383 
4. Oryssus sayi West wood. 
This interesting saw-fly has been proved by Mr. W. H. Harrington 
to breed in the wood of old dead sugar maples, while he thinks that 
it may also infest the willow, and possibly a variety of trees, but 
whether it feeds on the wood or is parasitic has yet to be determined. 
The perfect insect in Canada appears in June. It is very lively in its 
movements and might be mistaken for a moth. (Can. Ent., xix, p. 8L> 
1887.) 
The saw-fly. — Body stoat, black, cylindrical. Length about one-half an inch. 
Face very coarsely punctured, sometimes with a short white line on each side ; the 
vertex prominent, and the lower ocellus surrounded with conspicuous tubercles ; 
eyes moderately large. The antennae are peculiar : In the male they have eleven 
joints, the third slightly longer and four to eleven subequal : in the female they have, 
however, only ten joints, of which 4, 5, and 10 are very short ; in both, sexes they are 
touched with white near the middle. The wings are hyaliue, with a broad, smoky 
band commencing near the stigma, and extending almost to the tips. The legs have 
a spot on the tip of the femora, and a line on the tibia without white. In the 
female the anterior pair is swollen, the tibiae crooked, and the tarsi with only three 
joints. The abdomen has the basal segment very coarsely punctured, or scabrous; 
the remaining ones polished, shining, varying in color as previously mentioned. 
The ovipositor is of special interest, as it differs remarkably from those of the 
other Uroceridae. Usually it is not visible, as when retracted the tip is concealed in 
a deep cleft in the terminal segments. It has the appearance, as stated by Norton, of 
springing from the last segment, but it is evidently attached much nearer the base 
of the abdomen, and is protruded from beneath a small ventral scale, which is 
apparently a portion of the fifth segment. It is very slender, hair-like, and nearly 
twice as long as the insect, aud must consequently be coiled within the abdomen in 
a manner somewhat similar to that of Ibalia. Norton says it is ordinarily concealed 
in a channel beneath the abdomen ; Brulle', and other authors, as rolled spirally 
within it. (Can. Ent. xix, May, 1887, p. 85.)* 
5. Oryssus terminalis Newman. 
Mr. Harrington records having taken specimens, u both in the act of 
emerging from the trunk of a dead maple, and in the act of ovipositing 
therein." It appears in June. 
*Ibalia maculipennis Hald. " This curious species belongs to the family Cynipidae, 
or gall-forming hymenoptera, and is much larger than any of our other species. It is 
nearly three-quarters of an inch in length and the wings expand about an inch. The 
head and thorax are stout, but the abdomen is compressed laterally until it is very 
thin, and has the shape almost of a knife-blade. The ovipositor is very long and 
slender, and when not in use is retracted and coiled up in the abdomen. The insects 
are rare, and have only recently been recorded (by Provancher) as occurring in Can- 
ada. I find both sexes upon old trees in June, aud have found the female oviposit- 
ing in the bark. The general color is yellow, with brown spots upon the head and 
thorax, and with black bands upon the abdomen and the legs. It is possible that 
♦the larvae may be parasitic upon those of one or more of the insects mentioned in 
this paper." (Harrington, ttep. Ent. Soc. Ontario, 1887, p. 24.) 
