Note on a barkmining lepidopteron of the genus Marmara Clemens

150 PROCEEDINGS

ENTOMOLOGICAL

SOCIETY

ninthabdominal segments^{whiletherestoftheinsect}developed^nor- mally,^is not without interest. This abnormality^is readilj- noted as the sheath (which ^is composed ^of the gonapophyses, which are appendages ^ofthe eighth

and

ninthventralsegments) ^issoreduced that it cannot be seen without magnification of thirty-five diam-

eters.

TENTHREDELLA

SPECIES (PROBABLY VERTICALIS Say) MALE.

At

Glencarlyn, Virginia, onJune _{9, 1911,} amale of this species

was

collected, inwhichthelateralocelliare entirelywanting. This causes the vertex to be _depressed. Along ^{with this} abnormality ofthehead_{goes a}slightly differenttype^ofcolorationandanarrow- ing ^of the facial quadrangle, ^{so it is} impossible ^to accurately ^de- terminethismale.

The

obliterationofthe ocelliisthe firstrecord ofthe kind

known

tome.

Inthis connection, forcompleteness' sake, ^it

may

^{bewell to call}

attention to the abnormally developed propodium ⁱⁿ Oryssits abietes Rohwer, which ^{is described} on page 154, Proc. U. S. Nat.

Mus., vol. 43, September, ^1912.

NOTE ON A BARKMINING LEPIDOPTERON OF THE

G?ENUS

MARMARA CLEMENS.

BY

AUGUST_BUSCK, BureauofEntomology.

In the course ofthe

work

onforest Lepidoptera^{at Falls}Church, Virginia,

we

have _lately bred several specimens ^of

Marmara

_fnl-

gidella Clemens, from _oak; it isgratifying to findthat the _biology of the _{species definitely} confirms the _generic determination

made by Mr.

^Chas. Ely

and

myself a yearago,

when we

transferred the species fromthe genus ^Gracilariato

Marmara,

solelyon_pterogos-

tic characters.

The

larvais oftheidentical flat,deeply segmented form ^{as that} of

Marmara

salictella Clms., thetype ^ofthe _genus. It forms_long winding galleries just under the epidermis ^of

young

^{trunks and} branches of oak, similar to those of

M.

salictella Clms. on willow,

and

leavesthe mine in early spring, April, to spin a small cocoon in

some

convenient crack inthebark.

The

cocoon^is ornamented

by

^similar globular air-bubbles, voided

by

^{the larva} through ^the anal opening ^{as is} characteristic ofthe other _{species of}this genus.

Imago

^issuedin

May.

Similar

Marmara

mines were found less

commonly

^{on chestnut,} but unfortunately the imago werenot secured this year^{; this}

may

prove the

same

_{species or} one ofthe alliedforms,fasciella Chmb., or eloteUaBusck, ^asyet ^listed under thegenus Gracilaria.

OF WASHINGTON,

VOLUME

_XV, ¹⁹¹³ 151

Mr.

Busck

alsopresented a^recent

work by

^{Dr. C.} Wesenberg

Lund

of

Denmark,

^{1whichhestrongly}

commended

tothemembers' attention asanexcellent biological study.

Mr. Busck

referred in detailto

some

ofthe _subjectsinthe article

and

_passedaroundthe interestingplates ^of the egg-laying habits of^this group^ofinsects.

NOTES ON A WOOD-BORING SYRPHID.

BY

H. S. BARBER, Bureau ofEntomology.

A

hickory log in early stages ^of decay, which

was

found in the vicinity of Washington, had ^{lost its} bark,

and

the weather beaten surface of the

wood

showed numerous _holes, with caked

damp

^{sawdust that had been} thrust out. This

work was

mis- taken for the borings ^{of the larvae of} the Lymexylonid, ^Meli-

tomma

sericeum_Harris, but

when

_chopped into, the log disclosed numerous short cylindrical grubs ^of a form that the speaker

had

never> seen before. These were

shown

tonumerous entomological friends, but no one could _place

them

with

any

certainty. Speci-

mens

were caged^forbreedingandthelogwas_frequentlyexamined

forchanges ⁱⁿthelarvae.

At

lasta

pupa was

^{found andthislatter}

disclosedaSyrphid fly (Temnostotna bombylans) the^larvaofwhich appears^to have been_previouslyunknown. Before this

was

bred, however, ^larvae were

shown

to Mr. A. B. Champlain,

who

on his return to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, found similar larva? boring abundantly ⁱⁿ very ^soft rotten willow wood.

He

also bred the

flies, and has forwarded hismaterial to

Mr. W.

R. Walton. Dr.

Boeving and

Mr. Shannon

alsofoundsimilarlarvaeonthe_Virginia shore opposite Washington. Comparison ^{of the larvae,} however, shows great differences in the armature of the _spiracles.

From

this it becomes evident that

more

than one_species is involved in the colonies. Adults bredfromthesedifferentcoloniescorroborate this idea, andare

more

or less different, so that it appears ^to the speaker thataboutfour species are involved in America underthe

name

Temnostoma _bombylans. This

name was

_{originally applied}

to a European ^form. There are, however, a

number

of

names

available forAmerican forms thathave been sunkas

synonyms

^of bombylans, butit isnot

known

to

what

formsthese refer.

In the first log found, the

wood

was _very hard

and

brittle but showed_signs offerment,and contained

much

moisture.

The

_gal-

leries were cylindrical, clean-bored _holes, and all boring dust wa- extruded at the surface of the _log.

Under

these conditionsthe larva?need strong protection against predatory enemies. This is

^iologisheStudien^iiberDytisriden(Footnote:PublishedinInternation- aleRevuederGesamtenHydrobiologieund Hydrographie, Leipzig, 1912.)