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Psyche 8:135-137, 1897.

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PSYCHE.
NOTES ON SOME EUROPEAN HYMENOPTEROUS PARASITES OF THE HESSIAN-FLY, CBCIDOMYIA DESTRUCTOR SAY, AND OTHER INSECTS; BRED BY DR. PAUL MARCHAL, THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT ENTOMOLOGIST.
BY WILLIAM H. ASHMEAD.
Assistant Curator, Departmen? of Insects, U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Iii 1895 and during the year 1896 I
received several sendings of most inter- esting Hymenopterous parasites, for
determination, from Dr. Paul Marchal,
the well-known French Government
entomologist, of the Paris Entotnolog-
ical Station.
All or nearly all of these parasites
were bred material and are of great
biologic interest, since a few are appar- ently new to science, and the hosts of
many others will now for the first time
be made known.
It is important, therefore, on account
of the economic importance of many of
the species, that the new species be
described and that all should be put on
record, for the benefit of those interested in these insects.
Below I have therefore given descrip-
tions of the new species, and as briefly as possible, the hosts and relationship
of the different parasites.
In recording these rearings by Dr.
Marchal, I shall begin with the Euro-
pean parasites bred from the Hessian-
No. I.)
fly, Cecidumyia destructor Say, and the
Wheat-fly, Cecidomyia avenue Marchal,
since these are of the greatest economic importance.
Host I. Cecidomyia destructor Say-
( I ) Boeutomws (Micrometus] rufo-
maculatus Walk. 9 .
(a) Merisus destructor Say $ $ .
(3) Boeotomus coxalis n. sp.
Winged form. $ Length 2 mm. Bronzed
green, brighter on mesonoturn, the head, thorax beneath and metathorax purplish or blue-green, somewhat coarsely squameously punctate; palpi white; scape of antennae except apically and legs, except come,
brownish-yellow, knees, tips of tibiae and tarsi, except last joint, and tegulae yellowish- white; flagellum brown, subcliiviite, pubes- cent. Head transverse, wider than the
thorax, about 34 times aa wide as thickantei-o- posteriorly; eyes rather large oval. Anten- nae 13-jointed with 2 minute ring-joints, inserted slightly below the middle of the face, but above an imaginary line drawn from base of eyes; pedicel obconical; funicle 6- jointed, the joints very slightly shortening- but also gradually widening to club, the first Psit-he 8 135-138 tpre-1903). ht~g:/lpsyclimilclub org/8tS-IJS html



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I36 ps?'-c~. [November 1897.
a little longer than thick, the second and third subequal, about as long as thick, the following wider than long; club ovate 3- jointed.
Thorax with the pronotum transversely
narrowed, the 'mesonotum a little more than twice as wide as long, with the parapsidal furrows indicated only anteriorly by two short convergent impressed lines which
become obsolete at a'bout the middle of the mesonotum; sciitellurn convex, with the
axillae about as wide from each other as their width at base; metiithorax pro~lnced into a subglobose neck; with curved lateral folds but without a median carina or spirac- ular furrows, the spiracles small, rounded. Wings hyaline, the nervures pule yellowish, the marginal and postmarginal veins sub- equal, one-third longer than the stign~al. Abdomen ovate, scarcely as long as the
thorax, the second segment (first body seg- ment) occupying two-fifths of its entire length, with a large fovea at base above, the third segment above one-third the length of the second, the fourth, fifth and sixth very short and gradually shortening, the seventh and eighth much longer.
Bred May, 1895, from infested stalks
of wheat collected March fJ.
Subapterous form.
8. Length 1.4 nim. Bronze green, the
head in front blue-green; scape and pedicel brownish-yellow, the flayellurn filiform, dark brown or brown-black, clothed with a fine pale pubescence; palpi pale; niandihles 4- dentate, fei~uginous; legs, except coxae, stramineous; come metallic; abdomen aene- ous black, brassy towards base.
Head and thorax squan~eously punctate,
the head transverse wider than the thorax, about 3& times as wide as thick antero-postc- riorly. the occiput concave; eyes subovate; antenme 13 jointed, with 2 ring-joints, in- serted near the middle of the face, tlic scape about half as long as the flagellum, the ped- icel ohconical: a little longer than the ring- joints and the first joint of funicle united, the funicle joints all a little longer than thick, the club ovate, 3-jointed
Thorax with the paraphidal furrows indi- cated only anteriorly, the pronotum short, rounded anteriorly; bcutellum subconvex, with a subobsolete cross-f~irrow before upex; metaLhorax with a subglohosc neck. without carinae or spiracular sulci, the spiracles very small. Wings abbreviated, narrowed, not
reaching much beyond the middle of the ab- doinen, the tegulac yellowish, Abdomen
broadly oval, polished, impunctate, de-
pressed, wider than thorax and usually but not always truncate at apex, by the retrac- tion of the termin~il segments; second seg- ment occupying about half the whole surface or nearly so, the following- segments short and gradually shortening toward tip.
Hab. - Poitou and various parts of
the Vendee in France.
This has also been bred by Dr.
M;-trchd, from Ins Cecidomyia -( OZ&os-
tro'phs) averme, infesting oats.
The species comes nearest to Boeoto-
mus (Meviszts) su&$terns Riley, but
is readily distinguished from it by the
metallic coxae, darker Hag-cllun~, the
longer funicular joints and by its broader more depressed abdomen.
It seems quite distinct from Merisus
microptera Lind., Bull. Soc, Imp.
Nat. Moscow, 1887, p. 182.
(4) Holcaeus cecidomyiae 11. sp.
$?.-Length 2,s mm. Head and thorax
olive-green, squameonsly punctate; scape, trochanters, knees, tibiae and tarsi, except last joint honey-yellow; pedicel bluish; flagellum black, clothed with a short, black- ish pubescence; wings hyaline ; abdomen
aeneous, the large second t'egrnent, except the apical margin, blue.




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November 1897.1 PSYCHE. 137
Head transverse, wider than the thorax,
concave behind, about three times as wide as thick antero-posteriorly, the space between the eyes about twice as wide as the eye or a little more than twice the width of the eye; viewed from in front subtriangular; ocelli reddish, subtriangularly arranged. Antennae inserted on the middle of the face, 13-jointed, with 2 ring-joints, the scn-pe extending to middle ocelhis or lialf as long as the flagel- lum without the pedicel, the latter obconical, smooth: shorter than the first flagellar joint; flagellum subclavate or gradually incrassated towards tip, clothcd with 21 shoit rather dense pubescence, the joints delicately fluted, the first joint the longest, less than twice as long as thick, the second a little shoi ter, the fol- lowing' gradually and imperceptibly shorten- ing so that the last joint is scarcely as long >IS wide.
Thorax a little more than three times as long as wide at the widest part of the prono- turn, rounded anteriorly and with its upper surface narrowed at the middle, the mesono- turn as long as wide posteriorly, slightly narrowed anteriorly, with the parapsidill fur- rows only indicated anteriorly; axillae as wide from each other as their width at base, the scuteliuin proper convex, longer than wide; metnthorax not short, with a distinct median cn-rim, the lateral folds wanting, or at least only indicated by foveae cit base, the &piracies not large, rounded, with rather broad sulci behind. Front wings with the ncrviires pale, the marginal neyure one and a half times as long as the stigmal, or a little longer. the stigmal two-thirds as long as the postmarginal, subclavate, the postmarginal a little shorter than the marginal. Abdomen conic-ovate, as long as the thorax, the second segment the longest, as long as segments 3-5 united, with a large fovea at base above where it unites with the short petiole, and with its posterior margin squarely truncate, segments 3-6, subequal, the 7th longer than the foregoing, the 8th conic.
8.
Coeruleous; tibiaeexcept at both ends
embrowned, the scape yellowish beneath,
the flagellum long, filiform, with black pile, all the joints long, cylindrical, the first the longest, as long as the scape, or about 7 times as long as thick/the following very gradually shortening; abdomen oblong, nearly linear. with a large oblong, yellow spot on basal third above; otherwise as in female.
This species was bred by Dr.
Marchal, in June, 1895, from
Cecido-
7 7 y h dcstrzictor Say attacking- stems of wheat.
The species comes evidently nearest
to H. torymotdes Thomson, hut is
readily separated in the 9 by color,
the shorter abdomen, relative length of
the segments and by the length of the
flagellar joints, while the 8 is at once distinguished by the very long joints of the flagellum which are clothed with
black pile, not white pile as in H.
torymoides.
(:)) Eupelmus atropurpii.reus
Dalm. 8 9.
(6) Polygnotiis (Platygaster) zos-
Z-ve Walk. 3.
With the above parasites I found also
a single male specimen of Isosoma
brevicorne Walk.
Dr. Marcha1 also reports Oscinis
pttsilltis as occurring in the oat stubble. Host. 2. Cecidomyia avenae
Marchal.
( I ) Boeotomtis coxalis Ashin. 3.
(2) j\feris7,t,s destructor Say 3 9.
(3) Homoforus luniger Nees 8 9 .
(4) Eupelimis atropu@ureus Dalm.
( = atrocoeritletts Thorns.) 8 9 .
(5) Eupelmus degeeri Dalrn. 9 .




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138 PSYCHE. [November 1897.
(6) Trichacis (Platygastei-) rem-
ulus Walk. ,t 2 .
(7) PoZygnotus (Platygusted min-
ntus Lind. 8 .
(8) Aqzaphes patensis Forst. 9.
(Egg parasite).
With these were also 8 9 specimens
of Isosoma brevicor~e Walker, which
must be a gall-ma kc^ on tlic oats.
Most of the above parasites were
bred from their host, occurring in oat
stubble, collected in 1894-95, at Poitier and Montreuil.
The rearing of Ana-
#es fratensis Forster, is most inter-
esting, since it is without doubt an egg parasite.
Hoit. 3. Cecidomyia tritici Kirby.
( I ) Merisus destructor Say f 9 .
DIPTERA FROM THE WHITE SANDS, ON THE TULAROSA PLAINS OF SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO.- I.
BY C. H. TYLER TOWNSEND, LAS CRUCES, N. MEXICO. The Tularosa plains may be roughly
described as lying between the Sacra-
mento Mts. on the east, and the San
Andres Mts. on the west, and stretch-
ing from the Organ Mts. north to the
vicinity of White Mt. They are some
80 miles long, by 30 or 40 wide.
In the northwestern extent of these
plains there reposes a remarkable and
extensive surface deposit of clisin-
tegraded and weathered gypsum, cov-
ering an area some 35 or 40 miles long
by an average width of 10 miles, and
varying in depth from a mere crust to
ridges piled up 30 ft. above the level of the surrounding plain. This immense
deposit is known as the White Sands.
The gypsum is pure, without grit, and
nearly white, and the banks of it appear from a little distance almost like banks ofsnow shining in the sun. From the
road going up into the Sacramento
Mts., in the Rip Tularosa canon, a
splendid view of this gypsum
aiea is
obtainable. A view is had at a point
some 1200 ft. above the plain, and
although the spectator is then distant
at least 30 miles, the effect is striking in the extreme. The vast stretch of
sands lies spread out upon the plain in
a panorama of billows, and it is hard lo resist the impression that one is looking upon a distant arm of the sea, where a
high surf is rolling up upon the sandy
beach. The San Andres range, lying
close by the western edge of the Sands,
enhances the effect, and appears like a
rocky promontory washed by the waves.
When one comes to walk over the
Sands, he finds that the immense
and billows are real, and the
gypsum is seen to assume all the un-
dulations and form& that the winds of
the plains are capable of producing.
These Sands are scatteringly covered
with a considerable vegetation through-




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