: [From the Forty-fourth Report of the New York'State Museum.] SEVENTH REPORT ON THE Injurious and Other Insects STATE OF NEW YORK, Made to the Reo^enis of the University, Pursuant to Chapter 355 of the Laws of 1883. By J. a. LINTNER, Ph. D., State Entomologist. ALBANY JAMES B. LYON, STATE PRINTER. 1891. ?v.c'^UXlJo '-o'j^'^ L. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. INTRODUCTOKY 215 No serious insect attacks, or importation of insect pests during the year, 215. Abundance of the apple-tree tent-caterpillar, 215. The neglected orchards of the State, 215. The failure of the fruit crop of the State ascribable largely to seasonal conditions and fungoid attacks, 215. Exemption from the usual injury from the white- marked tussock-moth caterpillars, 216. Injuries to corn from the corn-worm, 216. Increasing depredations from the bud-worm, 216. Spread of the apple-leaf Bucculatrix in Western New York, 216. A New Y''ork locality for Chloropisca prolifica, and probable dis- covery of its breeding grounds, 216. Unusual abundance on Long Island of the northern lady-bird, and the 12-spotted Diabrotica, 217. Continued northern progress of the elm-leaf beetle, 217. Studies of the bean-weevil, 217. Prevalence of the grain aphis in rye fields in Eastern New York, 217. Unlocked for, and inex- plicable appearance of the 17-year Cicada on the Hudson river, 218. Collection of insects made in Keene valley, in the several orders, with notice of the more interesting forms, 219. The contri- butions to the department, 220. A collection purchased, con- taining rarities, 220. Need of assistance in field work and in office duties, 221. Contents of the Appendix, 221. Courtesies acknowledged, 222, INJURIOUS INSECTS 223 AuLACOMERus LUTESCENs, the Poplar saw-fly 223 May prove to be identical with Cladius viminalis of Europe, 223. Comparison of the two made by Mr. J. G. Jack, 223. The male of the European species needed to determine the question, 224. Variation in the venation of the Tenthredinidae, 224. The larval habits of viminalis as given by Dr. .Jacobs, differ from those of lutescens, 224. Note, establishing the identity of the two, 224. 200 • Table of Contents PAGE. Ptrrhakctia ISABELLA, the Black-and-red Woolly-Bear 225 Bibliography of the species, 225. Not a serious insect pest, 225. Information of the caterpillars asked, 225. Traveling habit of the caterpillar, 226. Figures of the insect, 226. Description of the caterpillar, 226. Its means of defense, 227. Its hibernation, 227. An unusual number of moltings, 227. Transformations of the insect, 227. Description of the moth, 227. Food of the caterpillar, 228. Its natural enemies, 228. Helophilus latierons — one of the Syrphus flies 228 Its bibliography, 228. Appearance and mode of flight of the Syrphidee, 229. Mimicry of other insects, 229. Little known of their early stages, 229. Dr. Williston's monograph of the family, 229. Correction of an erroneous specific determination, 230. Dif- ference between H. similis and H. latifrons, 230. The "rat-tail" larvae of H. latifrons found in a water-tank, 230. The mature larvse, 231. Their pupation, 231. Account by Dr. Morey of their habitat, movements in the water, and place of pupation, 231. Erroneous habits ascribed to the larvae, 232. The perfect insect, 233. Its distribution, 233. Apparently rare in New York, 233. Not an injurious species, 233. The Syrphidee, except a few, are not harmful, 233. The corn-feeding Syrphus fly one of the exceptions, 233. Chloropisca prolifica, the Prolific Chlorops 234 Beference to notices of it, 234. Entering dwelling-houses for hibernation, 234. Where first observed, 234. Remarkable gather- ings of allied species recorded in Europe, 235. Interest excited by these gatherings, 235. Speculations concerning them, 235. Only three known localities for the fly in the United States, 235. Recently appearing at Ausable Forks, N. Y., 235. Its first appear- ance as described by Mrs. Graves, 236. Observed within doors, 236. Not controllable by Pyrethrum powder, 236. Their immense number, 236. Seeking new quarters, 236. Some of their annoying habits, 236. They arrive in three companies, 237. Effort to destroy them, 237. No other house visited by them, 237. Manner of arrival in summer and departure in spring, 237. Features of special interest in the fly, 238. Where does the insect breed? 238. Sur- roundings of the infested house, 238. Probability that the breeding Table of Contents 201 PAQB. ground is in the extended lawns of the infested localities, 239. The flies found abundantly upon the grass, 239. Could not be secured coming from the ground, 239. Do both sexes hibernate ? 240. Observations that apparently confirm the presence of both sexes, 240. General features of the fly, for its detection, if observed else- where, 240. Its reapx^earance the present year at Franklin, N. H., where it was first observed, 241. Reappearance, in diminished numbers, at Alfred Center, N. Y., the second place of its occur- rence, 241. The halteres of the fly, 241. Phytoomyza chrysanthemi, the Chrysanthemum Fly 242 Synonymy and references, 242. Its notice in a former Report as identical with an European species, 242. The error detected, and the fly described under the above name, 242. Its description by Mr. Kowarz, 243. Observations and figures of the insect by Mr. Jack, 244. Differences in the larval mines appear to indicate two species, 245. The flies produced from the different mines found to be iden- tical, 245. Comparison of this with allied species, 245. A Phyto- myza mining the leaves of Aquilegia, 246. Remedy for the chrysanthemum insect, 246. Dynastes Tityus, the Rhinoceros Beetle 246 Bibliography, in addition to that in a former Report, 246. No publication of the early stages of the insect, 247. A detailed description and figures of the larva furnished by Dr. Riley, 247. The same of the pupa, 249. Illustration of a Mexican species of Dynastes described by Dr. Duges, 250. Method of feeding of D. Tityus on the inner bark of ash, 251. Another method ascribed to it, 252. The beetle attracted by the odor of bruised ash twigs, 252. Variations in color, 252. A rare insect in Say's time, 253. Dr. Rathvon's early recollections of it, and of its supposed larva, 253. The first authentic account of its occurrence in New York, 254. The beetle said to fly into the chimneys of cabins, 254. Is the attraction thither the same as that which draws, as reported, the larval hellgrammite? 254. Bruchus obsoletus, the Bean-Weevil 255 Bibliography, 255-6. A comparatively recent insect pest, 256. Probably an introduced species, 257. The large number of Bruch- idffi, 257. They all infest leguminous plants, 257. The insect under 202 Table of Cointents PAGE. two names, 257. Thought, by some, to be distinct species, 257. First noticed in Khode Island in 1860, 257. Later observations of it, 257. Its rapid spread and distribution, 258. Not yet known in Canada, 258. Is mainly distributed through infested beans, 258. Precautions that would limit its spread, 258. Its occurrence in imported beans at the Centennial Exposition, 259. Maybe identical with the South African bean-seed weevil, 259. Its occurrence in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, according to Fauvel, 260. General features of the beetle and illustration of it and its early stages, 260. Compared with the pea-weevil, 261. Say's description of the beetle quoted, 261. Eiley's description ot fabce referred to, with his comparison of it with obsoletus, 261. Ticketed in collections as ^./a6ce Fabr., 261. Explanation of this name, in MS. notes and a publication found of Dr. Fitch, 262. The MS. in possession of the Boston Society of Natural History, 262. A copy of the same furnished for present publication, 262. B.fabce described by Dr. Fitch and published in 1861, in the Transactions of a Rhode Island Society, and in separate slips, 262. Dr. Fitch's description of the bean-weevil, 262-3. B. fahce Fh. had been changed inadvertently to B. fabce Fb. 264. Severe injuries, and rapid multiplication of the bean-weevil, 264. Its destructiveness as reported by Prof. Popenoe, 265. Instance of its multiplication, 265. Infested beans should not be planted, 265. Not sufficient to destroy the inclosed beetles, 265. Prof. Goff's experiments on impaired germination of weevil- eaten seed, 266. The same by Professor Beal, 266. The same by Professor Popenoe, 266. These experiments contradict former belief, and show that the germ is destroyed or much injured, 266. This is at variance with the old European authorities, quoted, 267. Experiments, in Europe, in testing vitality and productiveness of weevil-eaten seed, 267. With germination hardly impaired, pro- ductiveness is seriously injured, 268. Infested beans unfit for food, 268. Epitome of life-history of the bean-weevil, 269. A brood of dwarfed bean-weevils from Waterbury, Conn., 269. Why they were dwarfed, 270. They suggested successive broods in the same beans, 270. Mr. Schwarz on consecutive generations, 270. Professor Popenoe on the question, 270. The fact of continued breed- ing established, 271. Oviposition, 271. The larvae entering the beans, 271. The third or fourth brood of the insect, 272. Oviposi- tion on infested seed, 272. Transformation to the final stage, 272. , Table of Contents 203 PAQK. Contents of an infested bean, 273, Conclusion of the history of the brood, 273. A dwarfed beetle frona insufiQcient food, 273. There may be four or five broods a year, 273. How the larva enters the bean, 273. How the beetle is released from the bean, 274. The construction of the lid, for exit, 274. The lid is not cut by the larva, but by the beetle, 274. Kemedies, 275.