908 
Annual Report of New York 
OHIO CURRANT 8AW-PLY. LARVA. IT8 HABITS. 
its namesake the goddess of pleasure, represented as a beautiful 
young woman elegantly dressed and adorned. I have therefor* 
termed it the Alaria Volupia. 
Omo Currant Saw-fly, Pristophora rufipes ? St. Far<reau. 
(Ilymenoptera, Tenthredinidas.) 
Eating the leaves of the currant and the gooseberry in July, clusters of small, 
cylindrical, pea-green worms with blackish heads; growing to three-eighths of an 
inch in length, and then entering the ground and enclosing themselves in cocoons 
the size and shape of kernels of wheat, and producing a black, four-winged fly 
with light brown legs. 
This insect made its appearance in such numbers as to attract 
notice about ten years since, in the vicinity of Cleveland, Ohio. 
Our knowledge of it is obtained from a very intelligent account, 
published in the Ohio Farmet' of July 24th, 1858 (vol. vii, p. 233), 
from the pen, we suppose, of Dr. J. P. Kirtland. It was about 
five years previous to that date, that the writer says he first became 
aware of the presence of this new enemy, from noticing particular 
places among the currant bushes, where the leaves had been much 
eaten, evidently by broods of worms, although none of the worms 
could then be found, they having, no doubt, completed their 
growth and gone into the ground to repose during their pupa state. 
And it was not until the year then current that he had succeeded 
in finding these worms at their work upon the leaves, whereby he 
had enjoyed a good opportunity to watch their transformations and 
obtain a satisfactoiy knowledge of their history. 
The worms are described as being of a pea-green color, with th* 
head brownish black. The segments of the body are slightly 
wrinkled, and along each side is a row of protuberances, or warts, 
of the same color as the body. Like the larvm of most of the 
saw-flies they have twenty feet, six being placed upon the breast 
or underside of the three first rings, twelve upon the abdominal 
segments, and two at the tip or hind end of the body. 
These worms live together in clusters and eat the leaves, com¬ 
mencing at the edge and devouring all except the coarse veins. 
As they move about they spin a very light web from leaf to leaf. 
When young they are difficult to perceive, being so small in size. 
They often take shelter in the axils of the leaves, and will also 
drop themselves to the ground when disturbed, spinniug a fine 
thread of silk as they descend, in the same manner as the measure 
