Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington (Volume 22-24) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920. Excerpt: ... This is a two year species. In most cases the eggs were laid near the ground, and the larvae on hatching, bore directly into the bark from the underside of the eggs, filling the empty shells with excrement, then burrowing downwards into the roots where they pass the first winter, the following spring they start making spiral mines around the limbs and extending upwards for a considerable distance before reaching maturity, when they extend their mines into the wood and make their pupal cells near the outer wood, from which they emerge the following year. These mines are rather difficult to distinguish, and as the plant is a rapid grower, the new wood grows over the larval mines, causing a slight swelling on the outside, which is scarcely noticeable. When these mines are examined, those made by the larvae during the first year are covered with new wood, and represented by a raised spiral ring on the wood, while the mines made during the second year are only covered by a thin filament of wood, allowing the dark borings in the mines to be readily seen through the new wood. This species seems to be apparently free from natural enemies in the localities where the writer made observations, as no evidence of parasites was found in any of the mines. In some sections a great many of the plants have been killed by this beetle, but where the plants were only slightly infested, the mines were soon overgrown, without any noticeable injury to the plants. A DIVING WASP. Bv A. N. Caudell. The following is an extract from my Entomological Journal: "Monday, July 4, 1921.--A blazing hot day, but I went picnicking to Great Falls, on the Maryland side of the Potomac. Very disagreeable weather, but in spite of the heat I secured a few desirable insects and made some interesting...