394 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 16 
An Outbreak of the Apple Flea-Weevil. An outbreak of the “Apple Flea-Weevil” 
Orchestes pallicornis Say., has been found by Anthony Berg at Morgantown, West 
Virginia. Forbes (1911) first recorded it as a pest on apple under the name Orchestes 
canus Horn. The larvae mine the leaves of apple, cherry, elm and alder and the 
adults feed on the foliage, eating out small'holes. The larvae transform in gall like 
pockets within the leaves. Larvae were reared at the State College laboratory 
Arendtsville, Pa., and the adults issued between June 8th and June 11th. The adults 
resemble flea beetles more than Curculionids in habits because their hind legs are en¬ 
larged and they are powerful jumpers. Records have been made of the adults feeding 
on the flowers of Amelanchier and on the leaves of willow. The species is widely 
distributed although is it not often taken as a pest. Mr. A. B. Champlain, who 
kindly determined the species, states that there is a long series of the species in the 
State Collection at Harrisburg. S. W. Frost. 
Note on Occurrence of Macrosiphum pisi Kalt. on Scotch Broom. During the 
summer and early fall of 1921 a search was made on all wild legumes that might 
possibly serve as hosts for Macrosiphum pisi Kalt. October 7th, in the vicinity of 
Forest Grove, Oregon, males (both alate and apterous), oviparous females, and eggs 
of this aphid 1 were found on Scotch broom ( Cytisus scoparius) which commonly 
grows wild in western Oregon and Washington as an escape from cultivation. It is 
especially abundant towards the seacoast where in places it lines the roadside for 
miles. Broom as a possible host for Macrosiphum pisi Kalt. was suggested by Mr. 
L. P. Rockwood because of its having been listed as a host for that aphid in Europe 
(Kaltenbach, 1874), though, so far as the writer knows, it has not been so listed for 
this country. 
Eggs on broom began hatching March 11, 1922, the first stem mothers maturing 
April 25th. Alates appeared towards the end of the third generation (about June 
1st) and in the fourth generation, but, contrary to expectations, they did not leave 
the broom this season, at least not in appreciable numbers. The fact that there was 
no vetch (their usual herbaceous host in this region) in the immediate vicinity may 
have had something to do with this. Most of the succeeding generations were 
apterous, the aphids continuing on broom during the entire summer, and sexual 
forms first appearing about September 18th, 1922, on which date two wingless males 
and one nymph were swept. Several oviparous females and males were taken two 
days later, and the first eggs were found September 23d. Oviparous females were 
much more numerous than males during this season, and the apterous males in turn 
were more abundant than the alate form. Viviparous females continued, along with 
the sexual forms, on the broom during the fall, all apparently disappearing early in 
December. 
The aphids feeding on broom are somewhat smaller and of a duller green than 
those feeding on vetch, but in all other respects they are identical, and will readily 
transfer to vetch or clover. They will also reproduce on alfalfa and locust under 
insectary conditions, sexual forms and eggs being secured on the latter host. 
The occurrence of Macrosiphum pisi Kalt. on broom is quite general in western 
Oregon and Washington, and the aphids have been collected from that host at Olym¬ 
pia, Kent, Tacoma, and McGowan, Washington; Eugene, Dallas, Forest Grove, 
Portland, Astoria, and Seaside, Oregon. 
determined by A. C. Baker of the Bureau of Entomology. 
