REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 1923 35 
nourishment, but was very sick. After the use of calomel one 
Dipterous larva was passed in the feces. Whether more than one 
maggot was present in the intestinal tract is not known. This was 
determined as one of the common blue bottle fly maggots. Appar- 
ently, the child, even though so young, must have had access to 
blown meat. 
Serica parallela Casey. On August 13, 1923, a letter was re- 
ceived from Thomas Dicket of New Rochelle, N. Y., accompanied 
by specimens of a beetle with a statement that they had destroyed 
every young flower and vegetable in his garden, and that it seemed 
almost impossible to poison them with arsenate of lead or any other 
spray which had been used. They were first noticed eating dahlia 
plants. The beetles seemed to come from the ground at night and 
fly on the foliage. Mr Dicket further stated that his neighbors were 
having trouble with the beetles and nobody in the vicinity had ever 
seen the insects before. 
Mr D. B. Young determined the beetles as a species of Serica 
apparently not represented in the State Museum collection. Speci- 
mens were sent to Doctor Howard at Washington, who replied 
under date of August 22d that W. S. Fisher had determined them 
as Serica parallela Casey. This species is listed in Leng’s 
Catalog as a synonym of S. sericea, but it does not agree in 
several respects with the specimens of sericea in our collection. 
On August 22d Mr Dicket wrote further that these beetles dam- 
aged severely his dahlias, asters, calendula and young chrysanthe- 
mum plants and in a neighbor’s garden had destroyed an entire 
patch of lettuce. He stated that the beetles fed only at night and 
when disturbed dropped to the ground and instantly burrowed into 
the soil or flew off to other quarters. Apparently at this time the 
beetles were not so numerous as they were 2 or 3 weeks before. 
A cursory search through literature failed to give any informa- 
tion concerning the life history or habits of the species under 
question. 
Diprion simile Hartig. During September a letter was received 
from Mrs Clara H. Spain of Pleasantville, N. Y., accompanied by 
sawfly larvae, with a statement that these were doing great damage 
to several pine trees on her place. The needles were being eaten 
and webbed together by large numbers of these pests. The larvae 
proved to be those of Diprion simile, a sawfly from Europe 
which has quite recently become established in Connecticut on 
pines, but which has heretofore apparently been practically unknown — 
in New York State. 
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