Eggs of Cicada lyricen De Geer

210 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL^SOCIETY

thought ^{that the C.} emasculator

would

_{prove an} exclusive parasite ^of squirrels

and

that this is indicated

by

^{its smaller}

size.

Mr.

Barber exhibited specimens ^{of the} eggs ^of Cicada lyricen

and

presented the following notes ^for publication^:

EGGS OF CICADA LYRICEN DEGEER.

BY HERBERT

^S. BARBER.

The

egg-laying habits ^of the _periodical cicada are so well

known

to everyone ^that

we

aretoo apt ^to consider its injury as typical of thecicadas. Newell(U. ^S.Dept. Agr.,Bur. Ent.

Bull. 60. pp. 52-58) has,however, described the oviposition ^of a second species, Cicada erratica Osb., in the South, but be-

yond

^{this it seems that} nothing on the subject ^is

known

of our

more common

species.

The

reference

by

^Smith

and

Grossbeck _(Ent. News, April, 1907, p. 118) to DeGeer's "egg-laying habit ^of the adult"

of his Cicada lyricen seems un- fortunate in that the eggs he mentions

must

_belong to

some

otherinsect.

From

DeGeer'sac- count

(Mem.

^{Hist. d.} Insects, vol. _3, 1773, p. 215) one finds that his specimens ^{consisted of} adults

and

_pupal r-kins sent

him by M.

le Prevots Acrelius from Pennsylvania

and

Ni'w _Jersey, with

some

remarks on the song

and

_egg-laying habit.

The

ref- erencetothe _latter,freely trans- lated, ^is as follows: ".

the females place ^their eggs ⁱⁿ the forks of the branches

and

these _eggs, which are like white points, are confined in a sort of

, r,. ^{, , .} hard

and

transparent gum-like FIG.2. Eggs ^of Cicada_{lyricen f} ,, ^. ,. , ^, ,,

deGeer. Verticaland lateral view

m

^{ass of the}Size of a hazlenut.

of egg-cluster in incision between Obviously^{thisrefers to} the eggs woodandbark. Outline_{of single} of

some

other_insect,but

my ^own

egg, enlarged.

experience does not^offerasatis- factory guess ^{at its} probable identity.

A

femaleofoneofthe

common

cicadascollected at

random

on

Plummers

_{Island, Maryland,}

was

_placed in a _jar with a hard, dry hickory twig ^of about one-half inch diameter _standing

\)

OFWASHINGTON,

VOLUME

XIV, ^1912. 211

uprightⁱⁿthe sand.

A

_{few days}latershe

was

found_dead,

and

on close examination

two

or three very slight indications of punctures were found in the smooth, hard bark.

Many

clusters of eggs

wen

found

by

cutting ^into the bark, but in very few^{cases could the} puncture be detected before the eggs were _exposed. These _punctures appear ^to have been closed with a mucilaginous ^secretionwhich allowsthe disturbed

and

broken fibers of the bark to swell back into their original position before _drying,

when

_they are firmly

cemented

to- gether. In

some

instances a thin

membrane

like dried

albumen

covers the open spaces between the fibers.

The

incision is a cylindrical cavity 8

mm.

_long

and

less than a millimeter wide, paralh^{1 to} the surface

and

_usually in the inner bark, but often partly ⁱⁿ the wood.

One

incision

was

foundinwhich_{the eggs}werewithin the

wood

itself.

The

_eggs

are laid alternately in a double

row and

_usually

number

12 or 13.

The

_eggs measure 2.1 to 2.2

mm.

in length

by

^0.35

mm.

in width, ^are subcylindrical, slightly curved; one

end

tapers

more

gradually

and

is

nure

evenlyrounded, ^{the other}

is

more

_bluntly conical.

.

The

_identity of the female is

somewhat

_doubtful, but _ap- pears from comparison ^with specimens ^{in the} National

Mu-

seum,

and

reference to Smith

and

Grossbeck's paper, ^to be Cicada _lyricen DeGeer.^'

Dr.

Hopkins

thought ^these eggs

w

^rere truly those of the cicada

and

complimented Mr. Barber on their discovery.

Mr. Quaintance ^{calledattentionto}injury^towalnutleaves

and

shoots

by

^{the walnut} curculio, Conotrachelus juglandis,

and

exhibited photographs ^{of the injury.} Specimens ^{of in-} jured ^leaves

and

shoots have beenreceived the present season from Titus_ville, Pennsylvania,

Upper

Marlboro, Maryland,

and

_Stamford, Connecticut. Dr. R. T. Morris, writing ^of the injury ^at Stamford, Connecticut, ^states:

Ordinarlyⁱⁿ the vicinity of

my

countryplace^atStamford, Conn.,^this species hasconfineditself,so far as I know,^tothe involucreofJ. cinerea;

at least Ihave never noticeditexcept there ^before.

When

^Iintroduced largenumbersofexoticwalnuttrees this beetlechanged^itshabits,finding asuitable place^fordepositing^itseggsⁱⁿthe rapidlygrowing herbaceous shoots of the _species of .Juglandarea¹ mentioned (Jnglans regia, J.

siboldii,}. cordifonnis,J. cinerea,and Hicoria minima). ^It has_practi- cally wiped^outone orchard_{of/, regia}for

me

and tlm-atms ^Ihe industry 'Thisdetermination has very kindlybeenconfirmedby^Mr.W.T. Davis.

212 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICALSOCIETY

so seriously that we probably ^shall have to give up raising /. regia ⁱⁿ theEastunlesssome meansforcontrolcanbe found.

The

larvaeinfest the swollen base ofthe leaf-stalk

and

also hollow out the tender shoots.

As

stated

by

Dr. Morris, the eggs ^are deposited ⁱⁿ the shoots of various walnut treesfrom the first

week

ⁱⁿ

May

^until September,

and

he has noted beetleson the trees aslate as October 5.

-Mr.

_Quaintance exhibited specimens ^{of a} chrysomelid beetle, the grubs ^of which

had

been complained ^of as quite injurious to cranberries in one locality in

New

_Jersey.

The

insect

was

determined

by

Mr. Schwarz to be Rhabdopterus picipes ^Oliv.

The

species has not heretofore been _reported asof economicimportance, and, ⁱⁿfact, butlittle is

known

as toits habits.

The

larvaewere _present in a cranberry bogⁱⁿ the neighbor-

hood

of

New

_Egypt,

New

Jersey,

and had

destroyed the plants in small patches here

and

there over the _bog.

The

_injury

consists inthe destructionofthefibrousroots ofthe cranberry plant

and

_{the eating}off ofthe bark of the _larger roots.

The

injury ^is very ^{similar to that} done

by

the grape ^root

worm,

Fidia viticida, to roots of the _grape.

Observations

made

in the cranberry

marsh

indicate that the beetles _feed, to a certain extent at _least, on the tender foliage of the cranberry plant,

and

itis thought possible that advantagemight ^be taken ofthis fact to securetheir destruc- tion

by

the timely use of arsenical sprays. Beetles confined with _{cranberry plants} in rearing cages ⁱⁿ the insectary ^at

Washington

fed freely

upon

^the foliage, but _{spent a}good ^deal of time below the surface of the _soil, where they probably oviposit, as eggs were foundin the ^soil.

-Mr.

Schwarz remarkedthatofthe multitude ofeumolpid Chrysomelidse which inhabit America _hardly anything ^is

known

of their natural _{history or} of their range ^{of variation.}

Even

in

North

America there are genera ^of which

we know

verylittle, forinstance thegenus Typophorus, which ^includes the strawberry ^leaf-beetle (now

known

under the

name

of 7.

canellus Fabr.).

At

_present all our eastern spotted ^or black forms are listedas varieties ofone_species, whereas^{it is}almost

OFWASHINGTON,

VOLUME

XIV. ^1912. 213

certain that

we

have several good species

among

^them.

^At any

rate, the form described

by

Say ^as Colaspissexsignata, which is very abundant on _{juniper(as already} stated), never occurring on

any

other plant

and

never _exhibiting

any

^note- worthy ^color variations, ^is certainly a good species.

How many

species

we

have

among

^{the other forms}

^must

^{be settled}

by

^future observations.

The

following papers were _accepted for publication^:

NEW SPECIES OF NOCTUID^ FROM THE GUIANAS.

BY

W. SCHAUS.

Safla caeruleotincta, sp. n.

Female. Palpi laterally fuscous brown irroratedwithwhitish. Frons brown. Vertex andcollardarkreddishbrownmottled with buff. Thorax dark brown mottled in front with buff; some bluish scales on _patagia.

Abdomen fuscous brown mottled with some pale scales; a darker trans- verse shade at base followed by some ^white irrorations on a dark red- brown shade. Fore wings chiefly dull steel blue; a fine and irregular, vertical, basal, and antemedial line; costa mediallyshadedwith brown;a yellowish-brown shade at end of cell, forming the reniform, and beyond

it inangle ofpostmedial line, whichis surmounted on costaby^adarker brown spot; a geminate, ^faint, medial line terminatingⁱⁿ a_large fuscous spot above inner margin; ^reniform outwardly edged with fuscous; post- medialoutbent oncostal margin, dentateandinbent tobefore reniform, outangled on^fold,inwardlyedged^withbrownoninnermargin;^{a dentate} whitish lineoutwardlyedges the darkbrowncostal spot; anoutercoarse, brown-blacklineinterrupted^atvein5,dentatebetween4and _3,preceded by^adark shade belowvein2;subterminaldark_spotsinwardly shaded^with light brown, and connected by short streaks to a faint lunular terminal line. Hind _wings brown irrorated with dark red; costal margin, streak below cell, and inner margin grayish brown; _postmedial and outer line dentatelunular,not reachingcosta,theouterlineheavilymarkedtowards inner margin, forming two lunules; veins terminally^irrorated with _blue, especiallyveins 2-4; subterminal spots^asonforewings; the terminal^line more distinct. Wings ^{below dark} grayish brown; white shades on cilia atvein 5. Fore_wings; some white spots on costatowards_{apex; a} dark postmedial ^line. Hind _wings somewhat _paler; a medial and _postmedial

line; abroadsubterminaldarkbrownshade.

Expanse, 42

mm.

Habitat: St. Jean,

Maroni

River.

Barydianigrescens,sp.^n.

Male. _Palpilight brownshaded abovewith fuscous. Headand collar mottled_light and dark brown. Thorax paler brown. Abdomen grayish