?'he

Florida Entomologist
Official Organ of the Florida Entomological Society

VOL. VI SUMMER NUMBER No. 1
JUNE, 1922

THE CORN LEAF-TIER, LEREMA ACCIUS S. & A.*
GEO. G. AINSLIE,
Entomological Assistant, Cereal and Forage Insect Investigations, Bureau
of Entomology.
The corn leaf-tier, Lerema accius S. & A., is one of a large
number of corn feeding species of insects which have never been
known to cause appreciable damage, but are still a potential pest
of this plant and of other economic grasses. It belongs to the
Hesperidae or skipper butterflies, several of which, in the South
are recognized as pests, among them the Bean Leaf Folder
(Eudamus proteus L.), and the Larger Canna Leaf Roller (Cal-
podes ethlius Cramer).
The original description of the adult was published in a paper
on the "Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia" by Smith and Abbott
in 1797 under the name of Papilio accius. In 1872 Mr. S. H.
Scudder erected the genus Lerema with this species as the geno-
type. The most complete account so far published is one by this
same author in his "Butterflies of New England" in 1889. The
records of the Bureau of Entomology regarding this species are
very meager. Mr. R. A. Vickery reported finding a single small
larva on corn at Brownsville, Texas, Mr. W. R. McConnell noted
it at several points in Mississippi, and Mr. W. H. Larrimer
found larvae on two species of grasses at Chickasha, Oklahoma.
The above records, a few other scattered observations and a
series of hearings at Lakeland, Florida, during the winter and
spring of 1913 furnish the material for the following paper.
It is impossible to fix definite limits for the range of this
species. It was first described from Georgia, the exact local-
ity not being indicated. An attached note adds that "It is also
found in Virginia." Scudder's map of its distribution shows it
*Published by Permission of the Secretary of Agriculture.
We recommend the goods advertised in The Florida Ento-
mologist. Please mention Entomologist when you write our
advertisers.

- THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST

to occur throughout a narrow strip of territory along the Gulf
and Atlantic coasts as far north as Massachusetts, and another
along the Mississippi River as far north as southern Illinois.
It has been found by Mr. Larrimer at Chickasha, Okla., by the
writer at Chattanooga and Leadvale, Tenn., and Clemson Col-
lege, S. C., all outside of the above limits and indicating that
its distribution is more general throughout the Southeastern
states than Scudder's map leads one to believe. Like several
of its close relatives it is probably of tropical origin and habit
and if so its northern limit fluctuates from year to year with
the severity of the winter and the conditions favoring northward
flight during the summer.
The adult butterfly has a wing expanse of about 33 mm. and
in color is a dark, warm brown with six more or less rectangular
white spots on the fore wing of the female (in the male but
four and these much smaller). Three of the six in the female
are small and in a close, nearly straight row near the anterior
margin about two-thirds out from the base of the wing; two
others, of which the posterior is the larger, lie between this
group and the hind margin of the wing, and the last at the
upper edge of the cell. In different individuals the prominence
of these markings varies considerably but their relative size and
position are constant. The hind wing is uniform brown above,
and beneath both fore and hind wings shade to purple along
the distal margins. The butterfly is a strong flier and has the
erratic, zig-zag flight characteristics of its family.
The eggs are laid singly and widely scattered, usually on the
lower but sometimes on the upper surface of the leaf. Seldom
is more than one found on a plant and we have never seen two
on the same leaf. They are white with a pearly luster, sub-
hemispherical in shape and about two-thirds as high as wide,
with the basal angle rounded, diameter 1.2 mm., height .8 mm.
The chorion is finely reticulated. The rounded basal angle serves
to distinguish this from the otherwise very similar egg of Cal-
podes ethlius in which the wall joins the base with a sharp right
angle.
Since oviposition has never been observed, the exact length
of the incubation period is not known. Of eleven eggs taken
in the field at various times, seven hatched in nine days, two
in six days, and two in five days, indicating that nine days is
probably the normal period. A day or two after being laid the

SUMMER NUMBER

egg takes on a creamy tinge, on the sixth day a faint mottling
appears near the apex and on the eighth day the dark head of
the young larva can plainly be seen through the shell. The
embryo lies coiled around the circumference of the egg with
the head a little to one side of the center. The first break in
the shell is made by pressure of the mandibles and the larva
then proceeds to cut an irregular hole in the apex, rotating with-
in the egg during the process. When the opening is as large
as its head the larva emerges. The entire operation occupies
some time, one larva which broke the shell at 8:00 A. M. having
just released itself at 3:00 P. M. In the meantime the head of
this larva changed from chocolate-brown to glistening black.
The empty egg-shell is translucent white, waxy and parchment-
like in texture except the flat base which is transparent.
After a brief survey of the immediate vicinity the newly
hatched larva returns to the egg shell and consumes it, leaving
only the disk-like base which it cannot be induced to touch even
when it has been loosened from the leaf. This little glistening
disk can almost invariably be found somewhere on each infested
plant. After breakfasting on the egg-shell the small larva se-
lects a location on the upper surface of the leaf, near the edge
and begins to construct its retreat by placing a layer of silk
fibers on the surface. The effect of this is quickly seen in the
gradual curling of the blade. When a groove has been thus
formed the opposite edges are connected by a silk fiber which
bridges the concavity. This fiber is added to until it forms a
strong strand and its contraction draws the edge over until it
touches the surface of the blade, after which other similar at-
tachments are formed at short intervals until a complete tube,
open at both ends is formed. In the finished retreat of a full
grown larva there are from five to twelve such fastenings. In
the instances observed by the writer the fold was always over
onto the upper surface of the leaf, but Mr. McConnell has noted
that at Greenwood, Miss., larvae feeding on sorghum folded the
leaf upward and downward in about equal numbers. The earlier
retreats are generally near the tip. Later the edges of a nar-
row leaf may be drawn together or the margin drawn over to
the midrib at any point along the blade. When the roll is com-
plete the larva cuts a deep narrow notch into the leaf at each
end and seals the ends. The skill with which the weak and
apparently helpless larva manipulates the thick, stiff corn leaf
is remarkable.

THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST

During the day the larva never leaves its refuge but feeds
on the leaf close to the ends of the tube or on the tube itself.
At night other parts of the leaf or even other leaves are eaten.
When one retreat is outgrown or consumed another is con-
structed near by. The feeding is spasmodic, sometimes nothing
being eaten for two or three days and then in a night almost
all of a small plant consumed. When ravenously hungry a larva
will cut holes and notches in a leaf without waiting to construct
a retreat. The larva at any age seems unable to cling to the
naked leaf surface but when moving about always swings its
head from side to side laying down silk fibers to which it clings.
In this manner it readily climbs a perpendicular glass surface.
Excrement is ejected with a snap which sends it to a distance
of two or three feet from the plant.
The newly hatched larva is pale yellow with glistening black
head and with a single narrow black cervical band separated a
short distance from the head and running down on each side
to the latero-ventral margin where it ends in a small black dot.
The neck-like appearance, caused by a decided constriction of
the body just behind the head, is more conspicuous in the later
stages as is also the vertical position of the head. The body is
provided with scattering minute shining hairs, a pair of which
projecting caudad are. somewhat larger than the rest. As the
larva feeds it assumes a greenish color which, in the second and
later instars, is covered with a glaucous, frost-like overcolor. A
darker green meso-dorsal line appears and the caudal end of the
body becomes flattened and boat-shaped, covering and conceal-
ing the caudal pair of legs. A pair of black dots on the third
segment from the caudal end becomes more conspicuous with
each succeeding molt. The surface of the head becomes granular
and sparingly hirsute and under a lens the skin of the body is
seen to be covered with minute black bristles.
There are five instars which may be distinguished by the
head widths as given below in millimeters:
Instar Average Maximum Minimum
First .................- .................... .. .... ...... 0.6249 0.6530 0.6063
Second ............................................................ 0.9001 0.9328 0.7929
Third .............................................................. 1.2599 1.3059 1.2126
Fourth .................-.................. ........-......... 1.7492 1.8656 1.5858
Fifth ............................................................ 2.3599 2.5186 2.2387
These measurements were taken from a large number of head
casts and while there is considerable variation within each in-
(Continued on Page 10)

SUMMER NUMBER

A NEW AND REMARKABLE FIG MIDGE
By E. P. FELT, State Entomologist, Albany, N. Y.
The remarkable form described below differs from all other
gall midges known to us by the forty-one antennal segments in
at least one sex, presumably in both, and in addition possesses
structural peculiarities which necessitate the erection of a new
genus.
genus. Ficiomyia n. g.
The genus runs in our Key to the Chilian Scheueria Kieff,
from which it is easily separated by the much greater number
of antennal segments, the occurrence of distinct stems on the
flagellate antennal segments of both sexes, the absence of marked
reticulations in the circumfila and the claws being distinctly
longer than the pulvilli. The male genitalia present striking
peculiarities, evidenced in part by the subapical insertion of
the terminal clasp segment.
Type F. perarticulata n. sp.
Ficiomyia perarticulata n. sp.
The insects were reared from -the fruits of Ficus area, by
G. F. Moznette of the Federal Bureau of Entomology, stationed
at Miami, Fla., and forwarded under date of February 9, 1922.
Unfortunately, these specimens were somewhat broken in transit
and as a consequence, the descriptions given below are not com-
plete in certain details. The larger reddish females were much
more abundant in the sending than the few smaller, yellowish
males.
Male:-Length 2 mm. Antennae probably one-fourth longer
than the body, sparsely haired, light fuscous yellowish, probably
forty-one segments, the fifth with a stem about three-fourths
the length of the sub-cylindric basal enlargement, which latter
has a length almost twice its diameter, basally a sparse whorl
of moderately stout setae, sub-apically a somewhat thicker whorl
of long, bent setae; low circumfila occur at the basal third and
apically; terminal segments missing; palpi probably uniartic-
ulate; mesonotum fuscous yellowish; scutellum and postscutel-
lum yellowish; abdomen fuscous yellowish; wings hyaline, rather
thickly clothed with fuscous scales; sub-costa uniting with the
margin at the basal third, the nearly straight third vein at the
apex of the wing, the fifth at the basal fourth, its branch at
the basal third; halteres pale yellowish; coxae fuscous yellowish;
legs mostly dark straw; the distal tarsal segments pale straw;
claws long, rather stout, unidentate; the pulvilli about one-half
the length of the claws (Unguial characters probably true of all

THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST

legs and for both sexes); genitalia, basal clasp segment mod-
erately long, stout, with a spud shaped apical process having
a length nearly equal the diameter of the segment; terminal
segment sub-apical, moderately stout, slightly curved and with
a stout, chitinous spur apically; dorsal plate long, broad, very
deeply and triangularly divided, the lobes broadly triangular
and thickly clothed apically with long, stout setae; ventral plate
long, very deeply and roundly emarginate, the slender, sub-
acute lobes with a length fully six times their width; harpes
moderately long, broad, deeply and triangularly emarginate;
the lobes broad, and broadly rounded apically; style long, broad,
broadly rounded apically.
Female:-Length 2.5 mm. Antennae probably shorter than
the body, sparsely haired, fuscous yellowish, forty-one segments,
the fifth with a stem one-third the length of the sub-cylindric
basal enlargement, which latter has a length one-fourth greater
than its diameter, basally a thick whorl of long, stout setae ex-
tending to the tip of the segment; low circumfila at the basal
third and apically; terminal segment slightly produced, roundly
cuboidal and with a length nearly one-half greater than its dia-
meter. Palpi: uniarticulate, the one segment having a length
nearly twice its diameter and bearing apically a sparse group
of rather long, stout setae; mesonotum dark brown; sub-median
lines yellowish; scutellum dark brown; postscutellum yellowish
brown; abdomen dark reddish brown; halteres pale yellowish;
coxae reddish brown; femora a variable fuscous; tibiae and tarsi
dark straw; the ovipositor about one-fourth the length of the
abdomen, fuscous yellowish; terminal lobes with a length about
three times the width, broadly rounded apically and with a few
sparse setae. Other characters probably as in the male.
Type Cecid. A 3228, N. Y. State Museum.
ANOTHER CAMPHOR THRIPS
J. R. WATSON
KarYia gen. Nov. (Phloeothripidae, Cryptothripinae).
Head longer than broad and longer than the prothorax. Wings com-
paratively weak and short; membrane slightly narrowed in the middle.
Tibiae without teeth; tarsi of Y armed with a large curved tooth; fore
femora thickened in both sexes, without teeth near the apex. Antennae
8-segmented, segments 6 and 7 not united. Ocelli present, widely sep-
arated. Labrum sharp-pointed and extending beyond the remainder of the
broadly-rounded mouth cone. Bristles of the last abdominal segment long
and slender, extending beyond the tube, at least in the ?. Intermediate
antennal, segments little longer than the others. Cheek roughned but with-
out bristles. The new genus differs from Megalomerothrips (Watson) in
that the intermediate antennal segments are not elongated and the male
lacks the long tarsal tooth.

SUMMER NUMBER

Type K. weigeli.
K. weigeli, n. sp.
?. Color uniformly dark brown except the fore tibiae and tarsi and
antennal segment 3, which are brownish yellow.
Measurements: Total body length 1.4 mm. (1.2 to 1.6). Head, length
0.17, width 0.14 mm.; prothorax, length 0.12, width (including coxae)
0.25 mm.; mesothorax, width 0.23 mm.; abdomen, greatest width 0.28 mm.;
tube, length 0.11, width at base 0.056, at apex 0.029 mm.
Antennae: total length 0.29 mm.
Segment 1 |2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Length .................... 32 41 47 48 43 36 42 | 28
Breadth ..................| 27.5 27 1 26 28 22 | 21 20 1 12 microns
Head about 1.2 longer than wide and considerably longer than the pro-
thorax, smooth except for a few longtitudinal lines; cheeks slightly arched,
slightly converging posteriorly, roughened; post-ocular bristles about as
long as the eyes, knobbed, pale, no other prominent bristles on the head.
Eyes rather small, scarcely a third the length of the head, roughly triangular
in outline, dark. Ocelli large, yellowish brown, well separated; posterior pair
situated opposite the middle of the eyes, close to, but not touching, their
margins; bordered by narrow orange crescents. Mouth cone reaching .6
the distance across the prosternum. Antennae about 1% as long as the
head, segment 1 concolorous with the head; 2 lighter brown, urn-shaped
with a broad pedicel; 3 yellowish-brown, almost triangular; 4 brown but
lighter than 5-8 which are uniformly dark brown, conspicuously the largest
segment; 6 conspicuously short and narrow, ovoid; 7 barrel-shaped; 8
conical. Bristles and sense cones pale and inconspicuous.
Prothorax (including coxae) fully twice as wide as long, trapezoidal in
outline; posterior angles well rounded, bearing a single pale, knobbed
bristle of medium length, a somewhat longer one on each coxa, also knobbed;
a minute bristle on each anterior angle.
Mesothorax somewhat narrower than the prothorax, sides converging
sharply posteriorly. Metathorax, sides nearly straight and parallel. Wings
short, membrane reaching to about the middle of the abdomen, colorless
except for a brown area at the base; fringing hairs long but sparse, 2 or
3 interlocated ones. Legs short; fore femora much thickened, with a long
bristle.and two shorter ones on the inner side; fore tarsus with a curved
tooth, which is variable in size.
Abdomen cylindical, segments 2-9 bearing on each posterior angle a
knobbed, almost colorless bristle, which become progressively larger pos-
teriorly; segments 7-9 bear in addition from one to three pairs of pointed
bristles, two pairs of these on the ninth segment are much longer than
the tube, a pair of knobbed bristles nearly or quite as long as the tube
arises from the ninth segment adjacent to the base of the tube.
Male. Somewhat larger than the female; prothorax much smaller. Gen-
eral color brownish yellow, head, prothorax, and fore legs yellowish brown,
pterothorax and middle and hind legs light brownish yellow with darker
spots; abdominal segments 1 and 2 light yellow, 3, 4, 8, and 9 deep yellow,
3 and 4 with brownish anterior margins; 5 light brown, 6 dark brown, 7
yellowish brown, 5 and 6 forming a conspicuous dark band; tube brownish
yellow. Fore wings banded with brown in the middle and at the tips; no
interlocated hairs. Hind wings shaded with brown but not banded. Fore
femora enlarged but much smaller than those of the female. Terminal
bristles of the abdomen and of the tube much shorter than in the female.
Labrum shorter, barely exceeding the remainder of the mouth cone. No
tarsal teeth.
Described from two females and a male collected by Mr. C. A. Weigel
at New Orleans, La., February, '22, from camphor infested with camphor
scale (Pseudaonidia duplex), and 'a single female and larva collected from
camphor at New Orleans by Mr. W. W. Others, June 24, 1921. Type in
the author's collection.

'&he
FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST
Official Organ of The Florida Entomological Society, Gainesville,
Florida.

J. R. W ATSON....-- ......................--......-.. ....-...--..-.. ...........-......---Editor
WILMON NEWELL-...--....-....................---- --..........Associate Editor
A. H. BEYER-............---..........-...-------....---.... .... Business Manager
Issued once every three months. Free to all members of the
Society.
Subscription price to non-members is $1.00 per year in ad-
vance; 35 cents per copy.

A CORRECTION.' Thru an oversight the last number of the
ENTOMOLOGIST was marked No. 3 of Vol. V instead of No. 4.

MOSQUITO CONTROL IN FLORIDA
A very valuable bulletin has just been published by the Flor-
ida State Board of Health. It is entitled "Mosquitoes and Mos-
quito Control," by Geo. W. Simons and Geo. F. Mosnette.
In a recent publication of the Russell Sage Foundation, "Sur-
vey of Florida County Jails," by B. C. Riley of the General Ex-
tension Division, University of Florida, the statement is made
that "only half the jails have any screens." This is indeed a
deplorable and dangerous condition of affairs. Not only is an
unscreened jail a cruel injustice to the prisoners but also a con-
stant menace to the health of the community in which it is sit-
uated. It could easily serve as a center of infection from which
malaria might spread over the town.

MEETINGS OF THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
March 27. The Society met with the Horticultural Seminar
in the office of the Nursery Inspector, Pres. Floyd of the Seminar
in the chair. Members present: Berger, Burger, Floyd, Lord,
Montgomery, Stone and Watson. Prof. Watson read a paper
on the "Correlation Between Sunspot Maxima and. Florida
Freezes." This was followed by a general discussion. Dr.
Burger discussed Current Notes on Plant Pathology with a re-
view of Smith's "Bacterial Diseases of Plants." Mr. Goodwin
was elected Business Manager of the ENTOMOLOGIST in the place
of Dr. E. W. Berger, resigned. O. T. STONE, Sec'y Pro. Tem.

SUMMER NUMBER

April 24. The Society met in the Plant Board offices with
Pres. Stirling in the chair. Members present: Berger, Beyer,
Brown, Lord, Merrill, Montgomery, Newell, O'Byrne, Stirling,
Watson. Mr. Brown gave an illustrated paper on "Protecting
Florida's Horticulture."

May 22. The Society met with the Horticultural Seminar,
Dr. E. W, Berger in the chair. Major W. L. Floyd, Prof. of
Horticulture in the University; Reginald Hart of the Plant
Board, stationed at Ft. Lauderdale; Mr. Ed. L. Ayers, and Prof.
J. S. Rogers were elected to membership in the Society. Mr.
A. H. Beyer was elected Business Manager of the ENTOMOLOGIST.
Mr. Ayers gave the paper of the evening on Bordeaux Mixture.
He discussed the proper method of making the mixture and the
causes of burning.

PERSONALS
R. N. Van Zwaluwenburg, entomologist of the United Sugar
Companies, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, was visiting Mr. Mer-
rill, May 28. He was on his way to Cuba to collect parasites of
the Sugar Cane Moth Borers.
The position of Extension Entomologist and Pathologist of
the Agricultural Extension Division has been filled by the ap-
pointment of Mr. Ed. L. Ayers of Texas. Mr. Ayers has had
much experience in Texas as Nursery Inspector and with com-
mercial horticultural firms.
Prof. J. S. Rogers, head of the Department of Biology in the
University, has left for Michigan on his summer vacation.
Mr. O. T. Stone of the Nursery Inspection Office has moved
into his new house on West Union street.

ANOTHER APHID FROM GAINESVILLE
In connection with the host plant list of Gainesville aphids by
Mr. Mason, published in our last issue, Mr. Geo. G. Ainslie
calls our attention to Carolinaia cyperi Ainslie, the original de-
scription of which was published in the Canadian Entomologist
March, 1915. This was collected from nut grass at Gainesville
by Mr. Ainslie and is probably the species Mr. Mason records
on page 23 as Carolinaia sp.

10 THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST

A LADY-BEETLE NEW TO FLORIDA
Mr. Geo. F. Merrill adds to the list of Florida Coleoptera the
white lady-beetle Olla abdominalis Say. It was sent in from
Tampa. Its range has hitherto been given as Indiana to Texas
and west.

THE CORN LEAF-TIER, LEREMA ACCIUS S. & A.
(Continued from Page 4)

star, they do not overlap. In the first two instars the head is
black, in the last two it is strikingly banded with white in the
form of a narrow white band completely encircling the face on
the margin and an inverted white V on each side of the face.
In the last instar the vertex becomes reddish-brown. The third
instar, however, presents both black heads and those striped
with white as described for the fourth and fifth. This variation
may be due to sex though this was not proven. Two larvae
taken near together and having exactly the same head widths
showed this difference.
As the larva prepares to molt the new head is formed within
the body just caudad of the old one and shortly before the skin
breaks there appear to be two distinct heads, even the mark-
ings of the new one showing through the epidermis. All the
head casts are discarded unbroken except the last one which
ruptures along the frontal suture. The pellicles of all except
the last molt are very delicate and difficult to find. The larva
is pale gray when freshly molted.
A day or two before pupation the larva becomes covered with
a distinct while pulverulence. We have observed its first ap-
pearance as much as four days before pupation as two powdery
white areas on the ventro-lateral margin of the body just caudad
of the caudal pair of legs. From this point it spreads until the
whole body is covered. It is all carried away with the last
exuvium which remains attached to the head cast and is much
more bulky than any of the preceding.
Twenty larvae were reared, nine of them completely through
from egg to adult. The following table shows in days the length
of the different instars and the total larval life.

SUMMER NUMBER

No. of First Second Third Fourth Fifth Total
Larva instar instar instar instar instar larval

7 5
6

9 10 -26-

45-
9 6 24
9 8 12 -14-

Pupa
stage

32
21
27
47 16
13

45 13
16
45 12
16
43 13

Prob- Total
able
egg

9 72

9 67

9 66

9 65

11 -23-
7 -22-
-14-
8 8

- -13-
-16-
-17- 5
23-
12 8

8 13 -13-
8 7 9-
5 -11-
8 4 -10-
--25-

Average 8.4

8.2 8.6 12 13 42.3 14 9 65

*These larvae were taken in Florida in November, 1912, and reared indoors at
Nashville, Tennessee. They are not included in the averages.

When fully grown the larva covers a portion of the surface of
a leaf with silk, suspends itself with a girdle about the thorax
and pupates in a fold of the leaf, head downward in most cases.
The larval skin breaks along the dorsal line from the head to
about the second abdominal segment and is worked back by the
pupa to its caudal extremity. The pupa is clear translucent
green, 27 mm., long and 5 mm. wide. The anterior end is drawn
out into a conical process 3 mm. long. The tongue lies in a
straight slender case along the ventral side. Four or five days
before emergence the wing pads and thorax assume an opaque
whitish color, the eyes begin to darken and finally become deep

9 55

34 12
14
16
11
14

THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST

purple. The body retains its pale color until a few hours before
emergence when it rapidly darkens from the head caudad. The
pupal case remains as a crumpled dingy-white skin attached to
the leaf. The duration of the pupal stage is shown in the table
on page 11. An individual reared at Brownsville, Texas, by Mr.
R. A. Vickery remained 11 days in the pupa and Mr. W. R.
McConnell noted seven at Greenwood, Mississippi, which emerged
in from seven to thirteen days. The maximum reached under
out-of-door conditions in Florida was 16 days and the lengthened
pupal period of the individuals reared at temperatures greatly
below normal at Nashville indicates some power of adaptation
to unfavorable conditions in this stage.
The writer has not had the opportunity to follow this species
throughout an entire year in the field and all the data at hand
concerning its seasonal history are fragmentary. February 11
a first instar larva was found at Brownsville, Texas. June 3 a
nearly full grown larva and June 17 a pupa were taken at.
Greenwood, Mississippi. As early as June 1 a larva nearly full
grown, was found at Marion, South Carolina, and September
16 full grown larvae and pupae were found at Clemson College,
in the same state, on corn growing in an open greenhouse used
as an insectary and at the same place on September 25 on up-
land rice growing in the open. At Orlando, Florida, larvae
survived the mild winter of 1912-13 which was unusually warm
even for Florida, there being insufficient frost to injure corn
growing in the open. Mr. McConnell attempted without success
to carry larvae and pupae through the winter at Greenwood,
Mississippi, where they were exposed to freezing, but not se-
vere, temperatures. The great susceptibility to frost of the
similar and closely related species, Calpodes ethlius, and the
probable tropical origin of this species lead to the conclusion
that it cannot survive severe freezing weather. If such be the
case the butterflies must travel for long distances and very
rapidly to reach so early in the summer the localities mentioned
above. The larvae in the table on page 11 are arranged in
approximate chronological order from November, 1912 to June,
1913, and the figures indicate that the time required for develop-
ment becomes less as the season advances. At none of the points
where this species has been noted do the records indicate any
distinct generations, furnishing further support to the theory
of its tropical origin; for definite seasonal habits with long

SUMMER NUMBER

quiescent periods, little or not at all affected by outside in-
fluences, are evidence of a long course of adjustment to condi-
tions as found in the temperate zone.
In the spring of 1913 the generations were not distinct, for
eggs and larvae of all sizes were found at the same time. The
time required for the development of a generation, 65 days not
including the time required for mating and oviposition after
emergence, indicates that there may be several generations in
Florida in one year, and at least two as far north as the species
is likely to go. It is probable that it is a continuous breeder
in its permanent range and that it travels northward every
summer and is killed back every winter as is the case with
several others of our economically important insects. However,
the fact that Calpodes ethlius has reached and caused damage
at Washington, D. C., may indicate similar possibilities for this
species.
The original account gave American wisteria (Bradleya frute-
scens (L.) Britton) as the food plant but a note adds that it
"is most commonly to be met with in the chrysalis state on the
blades of Indian corn, Zea mays, in which it enfolds itself."
Chapman found larvae in the leaves of Erianthus alopecuroides
(L.) Ell. at Apalachicola, Florida. McConnell found several
larvae feeding on sorghum at Greenwood, Mississippi, and one
on a grass locally known as "tumble grass," probably Panicum
capillare, at Memphis, Tennessee. The writer found larvae
feeding in leaves of upland rice on the grounds of the South
Carolina Experiment Station at Clemson College and a single
one in a rolled leaf of Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) at
the Florida Experiment Station at Gainesville. All other rec-
ords give corn as the food plant. Further observations are re-
quired to determine the possible food plants but, among culti-
vated crops, corn will probably head the list.
Three species of parasites have been reared, one from eggs
and two from larvae.
Xenufens ruskini Gir. Of eleven eggs taken on corn leaves
at Orlando, January 28, two were mottled and darker than the
rest. On February 10 they had become very dark and on the
20th 12 minute hymenopterons emerged from one egg, and on
the 25th, 10 from the other. They left through a small hole in

THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST

the apex. The empty shell retained its mottled appearance.
Another egg in the same lot appeared normal until February
4 when the shell showed faint mottling which slowly increased
until 12 adult parasites emerged on March 10, 42 days after the
egg was collected. Eggs of Calpodes ethlius occurring in large
numbers on canna leaves at Orlando on February 17 were found
to be almost 100% parasitized and though most of the parasites
had emerged, enough were obtained from the several dozen eggs
collected to determine them as the same species attacking the
eggs of Lerema accius. The parasite was described by Girault*
from specimens reared from eggs of Eudamus proteus taken in
the same vicinity and at the same time it was found attacking
the eggs of Lerema accius.

Microdus sp. A small dwarfed larva of Lerema, taken in the
field at Lakeland, April 10, gave forth on the 15th a hymenopter-
ous grub which, after spinning a few threads, pupated in a
corner of the box in which its host had been confined. The
pupa was 8 mm. long, naked, white except for the eyes and
ocelli which darkened as development proceeded. On the 24th
the thorax turned yellow, and the adult emerged on the 26th.
The adult, which proved to be a female, had a reddish-brown
head and thorax, yellow abdomen and black wings.

Euplectrus insuetus Gahan. An undersized yellowish larva
taken in the field at Lakeland, April 10 almost at once gave
forth 16 white grubs which moved a few millimeters from the
dead body of their host and transformed to naked pupae at-
tached to the bottom of the box with their ventral sides upper-
most. On the 23rd the adults, small Chalcids, emerged. They
are black except for the dark eyes and the legs and cephalic
half of the abdomen which are pale yellow. From this material
the species was described by Mr. A. B. Gahant as new.

Investigations during the more entomologically active part
of the year would undoubtedly reveal more parasites concerned
in the control of this species and it seems likely that the ordinary
scarcity of the larvae may be attributed to parasitic agency.

*Ent. News, Vol. 27, p. 6.
tProc. U. &; N. M. Vol. 48, p. 164.

SUMMER NUMBER

CONSIDER THE FLY

The tops of the maples are red with buds; the warm forest
glades are dotted with violets and white forget-me-notes (Hous-
tonias); an occasional sedge, and in the more sunny spots the
Sheep Sorrell (Oxalis), are in bloom; and in the deeper shade
the Twin Flower. It is early spring. (January 15.)
And as we rest here in this sunny glade in the forest Muscus
domesticus comes to keep us company. In our towns we call
him the "Typhoid Fly" and hire sanitary officers to deal with
him, to wage unceasing war against his young. In our dwell-
ings we call him the "House Fly." We screen against him. We
trap him. We poison him. We swat him. But here in the
woods he is a harmless, sociable fellow-and so hardy!-the
first insect to crawl out on a cold morning, a real harbinger of
spring. He does not bite like his cousin the Stable Fly. And
why blame him for carrying our filth about? It is we who
furnish him with his germs. Like too many of us humans he
has been spoiled by too much "civilization." Clean up our
towns and barns and he would cease to be a menace. Would he
cease to exist? Probably not, for I read that on some barren
South Pacific island, where the only vertebrate animal to fur-
nish him manure is a species of rat, he is present in abundance.
Verily he is a hardy rascal.

THREE SCALES NEW TO FLORIDA

Mr. Geo. Merrill has recently added to the list of the scale
insects of Florida three species, as follows:
Gymnaspis aechmeae Newst. was collected from Bromeliaceae
at Little River by Mr. Jeff Chaffin. It has also been taken at
Gotha.
Targionia sacchari (Ckll.) was taken from sugar cane at
Miami by Mr. E. L. Kelly.
Lepidosaphes camelliae Hoke-Camellia Scale. On Camellia
Japonica. From Oneco to Tallahassee, Alabama, Georgia and
Mississippi.