. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. 10 BULLETIN 265, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. THE ADULT. The adult sawfiy (fig. 3; PL I, fig. 3) is a slender, blue-black, wasp- like insect, with reddish legs. At first glance it may be mistaken for an ichneumon fly, but it will be distinguished readily by its thicker and heavier abdomen, its relatively shorter antennas, and in the female by its lack of the usual long, conspicuous ovipositor of the ichneumon fly. The males and females are similar, the males averaging smaller. The description given for Taxonus nigr
. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. 10 BULLETIN 265, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. THE ADULT. The adult sawfiy (fig. 3; PL I, fig. 3) is a slender, blue-black, wasp- like insect, with reddish legs. At first glance it may be mistaken for an ichneumon fly, but it will be distinguished readily by its thicker and heavier abdomen, its relatively shorter antennas, and in the female by its lack of the usual long, conspicuous ovipositor of the ichneumon fly. The males and females are similar, the males averaging smaller. The description given for Taxonus nigrisoma by Norton (8) character- izes the adult very well, and is given herewith: Blue black, the legs dark rufous; length. , breadth of wings inch. Color blue black; abdomen rather long, flattened, acute; antennse slender, basal joint en- larged, third longer than fourth; apical joint as long as the preceding; clypeus angulate emarginate; labrum and base of mandibles pale rufous; legs rufous or honey yellow; base of coxse and tarsi black; wings faintly clouded, stigma and costa Fig. 3.—The dock false-worm: a, Adult fly, twice enlarged; &, adult female, much enlarged; c, anal segments of female showing ovivJositor; d, tarsus of hind leg of female. (Original.) LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. METHODS OF STUDY. In studying the life history of the dock false-worm, rearings were made in an outdoor insectary with a roof but no sides. In order to rear the larvae under conditions as nearly normal as possible, they were kept on living plants. Small plants of tne common curly dock (Rumex crispus) and of the wild buckwheat (Polygonum convolvulus) were potted in tin cans. After being kept in a cool place for a few days, with plenty of water, these plants appeared normal and made regular growth throughout the season, some of them even producing flowering stalks. The dock plants were by far the most. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may
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