ma = ~ chime Yee st 4 bate SP eh shi Terai ing Fem xe nhs o bes pale > bee hy: Entomological News AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. &L vw VOLUME V, 1894. EDITOR : HENRY SKINNER, M.D. PHILIP P. CALVERT, Associate Editor. ADVISORY COMMITTEE : Gro. H. Horn, M.D. CHARLES A. BLAKE. Ezra T. CRESSON. CHARLES LIEBECK. Rev. Hznry C. McCook, D.D. ~~ we PHILADELPHIA : ENTOMOLOGICAL ROOMS OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, LOGAN SQUARE. 1894. | ol : INDEX TO VOLUME V. GENERAL ENTOMOLOGY. Alpine insects . . I Arthropods, Claasiticoation mae 213, _ 35. Bisulphide of Carbon as an insecticide. . . ts iy BRE Chicago, Bittholey st sacs Se Bemease and flies... ..... 18 Doherty, W... e . . . 48 Economic Entomologists, he. sociation of 248, . . 249, 254. Economic Entomology 15, 44, 73, 116, 143, 182, 220, 249, 283, 311. Editorials 14, 42, 72, 115, 142, 181, 219, 248, 282, 310. Elementary Entomology 65, 104, 138. Entomological Literature 16, 21, 51, 81, 116, 117, t21, 143, 144, 148, 187, 220, 222, 225, 255, 284, 288, 310, 317. Entomological Section, Pro- ceedings of 24, 85, 154, 193, 233, 292, 323. Experimental Agriculture . . 19 Exportation of Beneficial in- la ae . 184 Feldman Ciilectiiy: Gocial, Meeting of . . . . 292, 322 Floriculture, Entomology in . 316 Field meeting at Jamesburg . 224 Fireflies, Experimenting with . 316 NN MOS te bats 9 ge SO Enpecticides.. .. . . « 22%, 223 Introduced insects . . . . 3II MMOM WW oo 2k cee Ree Legislation against tastes . 44 Local lists, Value of . . . . 119 Mails, Transmission of speci- IN gg oe. ay ee Morris; Réev.:)2Gus_- es thio 88 Mt. Washington, Insects of 1, 271 Net, Graf-Kriisis’ . . . . 147 New genera, Formation of. on Newspaper entomology 218, 247 253- Norton, Edward . . . 161 Notes and News 17, 47, oa 118, 146, 185, 223, 253, 286, 313. Parasites of wild bees . . . 170 Say Memorial Chapter A. A. . 18 merstery; Mo pee Jo.3 3 a Stowaways, Insectsas . . . 113 Texas, Cellecting in . . . . 307 Typéspecimens . .°. 2.442 US; Entomologist 2... >=. 7182 Waist. DDoS ee Whistiag tree . . .72° 2233 ARACHNIDA. ‘So: Ge rtee sey (Fo a . i a ee TF Euphoria inda* . 198 Geometrid larve, Deseriptvds Be eee o Dain s One ae Geometrina . . W685 Id., Types of N. Amer: in Bu ropean collections . . 302 Grain moth at the Fair... . 15 Greenland Microlepidoptera . 129 Hepialus lembert®* . . . + 25 Hesperide, African . 26, 89 Hyparpax tyria* . 198 Martindale collection . . 146 Microlepidoptera 104, 129, 138 Missouri, Sphinges of . 176 Montana, Butterflies of . . . 36 Myscelia skinnert* . . «+ 96 New African species . . 26, 57, 89 New Genera, Formation of . 253 New N. Amer. species 24, 25, 56, 96, I10, 124, 131, 153, 193, 198, 2324, 260, 330, 331, 332. Notes common or otherwise . 277 Pagara eudora* . 198 Papilio cresphontes 7a ‘“ homerus \arva and pupa Io1 ‘< philenorin N.E. . 41,77 Philampelus licaon . 314 Pterophorina 208, 279 Pyralidina and Pterophorina, relationship between . 208, 279 Sannina exitiosa n. var. ‘hax Sciapteron dollit* . . 330 fe seminole* . 330 Sericoris mengelana* Pa i, 5 Smerinthus geminatus a 3 4 % Interfaunal hybrid. 326 Sphinges of Missouri . . 176 Sphinx luscitiosa \arva and pupa ; . 265 Tachyris saiee Vv. ‘Neuaiee geni* SOPTO Thecla acis . 180 ‘+ californica oo ee Timor-Laut, Butterflies of . . 39 Utah, Collecting in 133, 164 Venturesome insects . . 120 HYMENOPTERA. Alyson radiatus* . . . » « 87 * Denotes new North American species. iv INDEX. Alyson striatus* . . .. . & Synopsis of . . . . 86 Ants from N. Mex. - 103 Bees fly, How far do? . 254 Bembex monedonta . BM Bees, Parasites of wild Pa by (3) Brachycistus ‘ . 296 et elegantulus* . 295 Calliopsis subalpinus* . 235 Chrysis mesille* . . 125 Didinets nodosa* . 51527 ‘‘ . peculiaris® . . 128 ‘* Synopsis of . . 126 Harpiphorus maculatus, Num- ber of annual broods of . . 275 Hemiteles . 118, 146 Longevity of parasites . 147 Mellinus, Synopsis of . 201 Melissodes tristis* . e334 Mounting H., Hints in regard to 245 New N. Amer. species, 56, 85, 87, 124, 125, 127, 128, 154, 193, 199, 232, 234, 260, 293, 297, 323, 328. New localities for H. . 246 Nomada penniger* . 235 Northward range of southern species . . 224 Parasites of Micmac hus >. 287 Parnopes festivus* . 328 Perdita luteola* . 328 Pezomachus and Hemiteles, Identity of . 118, 146 Photopsis is nocturnal . 286 ‘ territus* . 200 =i versus Brachycistus 296 Sphere’ dugesit* . . 294 heterochroa* 293 megacantha* 294 o toumeyt* . , 297 = townsendi* . 199 2 tome”; . 199 CONTRIBUTORS TO VOL. V. Aaron, S. F., . IIO Aich, H., ; 147, 148 Arnold, Sir. E., ek yg Baker, C. F., uae ae (Ge Banks, N., 8, 178, 213, 298 Bischoff, E. A., . 115, 118 Blaisdell F. B..s:. See Boerner, C. R., . Ree yf." Brendel, E., 158, 194 Calvert, P. P., . 9, 242 Casad, Miss J. E., . 293 Casey, T.: Li, . 205 Cockerell, T. D. A. es 9; 79, 125, 157, 173, 199, 203, 210, 234, 263, 282, 287, 293, 328 Coquillett, D. W., . 125; 192 Daggett, F. S., . 216 Davidson, A., . 170 Davis, J. , ace) aetna . 108 Denton; 'S2Waos- sees . 4! Dyar, H. G., ae: 60, iok ans 329 Ehrmann, G. A., > 252 Fall, H.C. s.r ae Fernald, C. H., 104, 129, 138 Fischer, E. R., 7 cee Fox, W. J., 24, 86, 126, 201, 296, 297 Hamilton, J., é . 288 Harvey, F. L., . 324 Heilprin, . 301 Holland, W. a “ ® 39, 57, 89 Hopping, R., 4 . 116 Horn, G. H., 6, 14, $6: T4I, 146, 224 Hulst, G. D., . 65, 279, 302 Kellicott, D. S., . 314 Kellogg, V.L.,. . 283 Kingsley, J. S., . + 338 Klages, E. A., eau Kunze, R. E., 265, 316 Laurent, Fi, 146, 147 Lembert, J. B., . 120 Marlatt, C. L., es . 255 McDade, J. E., 3... Menzel, Ly, Waist, «sa eee Merkel, A., 0 ee . 254 Moore, I. F., Jf; 0:7 eae Moore, , Wo) ais see Nason, W. A., 245, 246 Neumoegen, B., 326, 330 * Denotes new North American species. Osten Sacken, Cr Ottolengui, R.., Packard, A.S., . Patton, W. H., Pilate, G. R., Riley, C. V., Rowley, R. R., . Schaus, W., Sharp, F., Skinner, H., . Slingerland, M. V., Slosson, Mrs. A. T.., INDEX. v 48 . 314 . 11g 119, 224 E20 185, 186 Bir76 17 . 307 . 110, 180, 332 17 ¥,-¥98;. 271 Smith, J. B., 15, 44, 73, 116, 143, 182, 218, 220, 240, 249, 283, 311 Snyder, A.J., . 133, 164, 277, 309 | | Taylor, GB ee eae a th FOL Townsend 6. Best ees TOR Tutt, Je Wy ae pa 08 Van Duzee, E.'P.; 2.2” 108,155 Wadsworth, MissM., . . . 132 Walton, UL. Beis; tone been as Webster F. M., 78, 140, a 147, 275 Wenzel, H. W.. slehe ey AO Westcott, OO Sir ae ae oe White, H. G.,) 5 235 aa 2a7 Wickham, H. F., 33, 78, 117, 260 Wiley, C. A., . Te pehe nite Ate 5, Williston, S. W., 48, 5 186, 196 Wood, WC. 0 Sse Hie: ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. VoL. v. JANUARY, 18094. No. 1. CONTENTS: Slosson—List of insects taken in alpine PEO, «02.4... -.000:csecsesgunpendevent siutanens 1¢ region of Mt. Washington...........-. I | Economic Entomology.......ssssssesereeeees 15 Horn—A note on Cryptohypnus........... 6 BIGEeS. ANG NewS. ....00:.: dnlonedetipsdeenusates 17 Banks—Notes on Larinia and Cercidia 8 | Entomological Literature................. 21 Calvert—On the specific identity of AE. Entomological Section........ccccesesereecee 24 clepsydra and crenata ....cs.sseereeseeeee 9 | Dyar—A new Hepialus from Cala......... 25 Walton—Oxy. rufipennis and stygicus.. 13 | Holland—African Hesperiide............. 26 LIST OF INSECTS TAKEN IN ALPINE REGION OF MT. WASHINGTON. By ANNIE TRUMBULL SLOsson. In 1874, Mr. E. P. Austin (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. vol. Xvi, p. 265) published his ‘‘ Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Mt. Washington, N. H., with descriptions of new species by J. L. LeConte, M.D.’’ In 1877, Mr. F. Gardiner, Jr., published in ‘‘ Psyche’’ (vol. li, p. 211) a list of additional species taken by himself and Mr. W. Schaus, Jr., in July, 1877. In neither of these catalogues do the authors limit themselves strictly to insects collected in the alpine region proper, though in the latter list nearly all were taken there. . . Mr. Austin’s camp was situated ‘‘a short distance below the- Half-way House,’’ about 3900 feet altitude, and nearly all of his collecting was done near that place. He includes, also, he says, Coleoptera taken by Mr. S. H. Scudder ‘‘near the foot of the mountain,’’ others gathered by Mr. Samuel Henshaw, locality not given, and some from a list of general White Mountain species by Mr. G. D: Smith, as far as I can discover comparatively few - of the insects named in this catalogue were.taken on the summit I 2 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, or above what is called the alpine line, 4000 feet above sea-level. In the list of Messrs. Gardiner and Schaus the localities are carefully designated. Out of its 114 species not contained in Austin’s list, all but a half dozen or so seem to have been taken above the alpine limit. I know-of no lists in orders other than Coleoptera ever published. In July and August, of 1893, as mentioned in a previous paper (Ent. NEws, vol. iii, p. 249), I spent several days on Mt. Wash- ington and collected many species. I herewith append a com- plete list of such, and add also a few taken in previous visits. These last are marked with an asterisk. Every insect here men- tioned was taken at or above 5500 feet altitude, and much the greater part of them on the summit, or cone itself, about 6300 feet. Among the Coleoptera there are fifty species not included in either Austin’s or Gardiner’s lists, and in other orders there are at least five entirely new species, and probably more. Let me again repeat here my grateful acknowledgement of assistance .rendered me in the identification of insects by Messrs. Liebeck, Fox, Davis, Van Duzee, Calvert and others, without whose aid I could not have prepared this list. : COLEOPTERA. Amara hyperborea De. “* latior Kirby. 584 eS * Platynus cupripennis Say. Cicindela longilabris? Say. Agonoderus pallipes Fab. Carabide. Harpalus pleuriticus Airéy. . t ® . Carabus chamissonis Fisch. Stenolophus cola * Calosoma frigidum XA7rby. Elaphrus fuliginosus Say. Nebria suturalis Lec. ‘* sahlbergi Fisch. Bembidium pictum Lec. Patrobus rugicollis Rand. Trechus chalybeus A/ann. Pterostichus adoxus Say. f coracinus Newm. * es lucublandus Say. " vitreus De. a; mandibularis Kirby. i vindicatus Mann. sf hudsonicus Lec. Amara arenaria Lec. ‘© similis Kirby. Dytiscide. Laccophilus maculosus Germ. Bidessus affinis Say. Hydroporus sp. ? Agabus confinis ? Rhantus binotatus Harr. Hydrophilide. Helophorus linearis Lec. ? Hydrophilus mixtus Lec. Berosus striatus Say. Cymbiodyta fimbriatus J7Ze/sh. Creniphilus subcupreus Say. Silphide. Silpha surinamensis /aé, 1894. ] Staphylinide. Quedius sp. ?. Philonthus palliatus Grav. ? es debilis Grav. Xantholinus hamatus Say. Stenus sp. ? Acidota crenata Fad. . Coccinellide. Coccinella trifasciata Linn. ig transverso-guttata Fad. Harmonia similis Rand, = picta Rand. 12-maculata Ged Psyllobora 20-maculata Say. Brachyacantha ursina Fad. “s Byrrhide. _ Simplocaria metallica Sturm. Cytilus trivittatus J/e/sh. Byrrhus cyclophorus Airéy ? “« geminatus Lec. Elateride. Cryptohypnus sanborni Horn. «« —___ abbreviatus Say. restrictus Mann. Elater socer Lec. “ semicinctus Rand. nigricans Germ. ? rubricus Say. apicatus Say. Agriotes limosus Lec. Limonius sp. ? Campylus denticornis Arby. Paranomus costalis Pay. sd pictus Cand. Corymbites virens Schr. Je resplendens Esch. spinosus Lec. medianus Germ. triundulatus Rand. propola Lec. hieroglyphicus Say. cruciatus Linn. * Asaphes decoloratus .Say. “ce oe “ ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Buprestidae. * Buprestis maculiventris Say. Melanophila longipes Say. “ drummondi A7réy. fulvoguttata Harr. Chrysobothris trinervia A7rby. * bs scabripennis Z.@G. “ Lampyride. Cznia dimidiata Fad. Eros aurora Abst. Lucidota atra Fad. Ellychnia corrusca Linn. Pyropyga decipiens Harr. Podabrus diadema Fad. Telephorus carolinus Fad. es rotundicollis Say. Cleride. — Thanasimus undulatus Say. Ptinide. ‘Ptilinus ruficornis Say. Scarabeide. * Aphodius fimetarius Zivzz. ae granarius Linn. prodromus Brahm. Allorhina nitida Ziv. * Euphoria fulgida Fad. iad Cerambycide. Asemum meestum add. Tetropium cinnamopterum Azrby. Rhagium lineatum OH. * Rhopalopus sanguinicollis Horn, Pachyta monticola Rand. Anthophilax attenuatus add. Acmeops bivittata Say. 43 proteus Azrby. Leptura 6 maculata Zinn. f canadensis Fad. ‘proxima Say. pubera Say. ruficollis Say. mutabilis Vewm. * Monohammus scutellatus Say. 4 ENTOMOLOGICAL Pogonocherus penicellatus Lec. Chrysomelide. * Donacia emarginata A7réy. Orsodachna childreni Airby. = tibialis Airdy. Adoxus vitis Linn. Doryphora to-lineata Say. Chrysomela elegans Oliv. Gonioctena pallida Zzuz. * Luperus varipes Lec. eg = cyanellus Lec. ‘s meraca Say. * Trirhabda canadensis Kirby. Galerucella cavicollis Lec. ‘s decora Say. Tenebrionide. *Tphthimus opacus Lec. * Upis ceramboides Linn. Cistellide. Isomira 4-striata Coup. Melandryidz. Scotodes americanus orn. Pyihide. Crymodes discicollis Lec. Cephaloide. Cephaloon lepturides Newm. Anthicide. * Corphyra lugubris Say. Pyrochroide. Schizotus cervicalis Vewm. Curculionide. Lepyrus colon Liz. Balaninus uniformis Lec. Scolytide. Polygraphus rufipennis A7rdy. HYMENOPTERA. Tenthredinide. Pristiphorus identidem JVor7. Strongylogaster annulosus? Vor‘. (a var. ?) NEWS. [ January, Dolerus arvensis Say. * Macrophya epinota Say. : fuliginea Nort. © Tenthredo rufipes Say. 63 eximia ort. signata JVort. Uroceride. Xiphydria provancheri C7. Ichneumonide. Ichneumon sublatus Cr. ie leviculus C. e w-album Cy. sp.? i. approximanis (?) Prov. Platylabus scutellatus Prov. ¢ signatus Prov. Phygadeuon sp. ? Cryptus annulatus Prov. Mesostenus albomaculatus Ophion bifoveolatum Brule. Anomalon rufulum Prov. Xenoschesis alpinensis Davis ms. * Opheltes glaucopterus Linn. Mesoleius canadensis Prov. sf bicolor Davis ms. * Arotes amoenus C7. “« ~~ decorus Say. Pimpla inquisitor Say. * “ -pedalis-Ce: Schizopyga frigida C. Meniscus elegans C7. %, => var. Xylonomus stigmapterus;Say. Braconidae. Bracon simplex C7. Rhogas sp. ? Helcon dentipes Brulle. Chrysidide. Elampus sp. ? * Chrysis nortoni Aaron. Formicidae. * Camponotus herculaneus Zinn. Formica sp. ? a ae “ce “ce “ 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Lasius sp. ? Myrmica sp. ? Apide. Bombus pennsylvanicus DeG. * Apis mellifica Zinn. LEPIDOPTERA. Rhopalocera. * Danais archippus /aé. Argynnis atlantis Zwd. “3 myrina Cram. «. —montinus Scud. 3" bellona Fad. * Melitza harrisii Scud. Grapta faunus Edw. “gracilis G. G& R. Vanessa antiopa Zinn. te milbertii Gd. * Limenitis arthemis Dru. “ disippus Gd7. Chionobas semidea Say. Pieris napi Zs. “rape Linn. Colias philodice Gad. * Papilio turnus Zinn. * Pamphila hobomok Harr. 3 peckius Azrby. ah ata cernes Edw. Nisoniades icelus Lint. Heterocera. Albuna torva Hy. Edw. Aegeria fulvipes Harr. * Alypia langtonii Coup. CEdemasia concinna Pack. Platypteryx arcuata Walk. Agrotis prasina. ste: SD:.? * Pachnobia wockei Moesch. * Carneades opipara Werr. Plusia vaccinii Hy. Edw. ** simplex Guen. Anarta melanopa 7hunbd. ** scheenherri Ze?z. Lobophora sp. ? * Carsia paludata 7hund. Eupithecia cretaceata Pack. Laodamia fusca Haw. Caccecia georgiana G77. Ptycholoma melaleucana Wak. Sciaphila meeschleriana Wocke. Penthina intermistana Clem. HEMIPTERA. Heteroptera. Corimelzena atra Am. G 5S. * Canthophorus cinctus Pad. Beauv. Podisus spinosus Dad/as. ‘* — modestus Dadas. Brochymena arborea Say. Acanthosoma lateralis Say. Ligyrocoris sylvestris Linn. Eremocoris ferus Say. Trigonotylus ruficornis Fad/. Leptopterna dolobrata Zinn. Resthenia insignis Say. %: insitiva Say. Lopidea confluens Say. * Calocoris rapidus Say. Capsus ater Linn. Monaloccris filicis Zinn. * Capsid gen. ? sp. ? “ce cc “ce Aradus 4-lineatus? Say. Coriscus punctipes Rez. Limnoporus rufoscutellatus Zaz. * Salda deplanata UAd. Be SDo? Homoptera. *Ceresa bubulus Fad. Cyrtolopus sp. ? Ophiderma salamandra Faim. Delphacid gen. ? sp. ? Philznus lineatus Zinn. * Bythoscopus sobrius Wadk. =H pruni Prov. Oncometopia costalis Fad. Helochara communis Fitch. Deltocephalus configuratus UAd. Cicadula 6-notata Fad/. ys slossoni VanD. "6 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. DIPTERA. Bibio sp. ? * Chironomus sp. ? Dicronomyia pudica O. 5S. Tipula sp. ? Xylophagus rufipes Loew. Je sp.? Therioplectes lasiophthalmus A/acg. Dioctria albius Wadk. - Cyrtopogon bimacula Say. Holcocephala abdominalis Say. Dasyllis flavicollis Say. Symphromyia pullata Cog. * Laphria pubescens Wid/ist. “s sericea Say. * Melanostoma obscura O. |S. * Syrphus contumax O. 5S. ms torvus, O. |S. pall os lesueurii Macq. Eristalis compactus Wa/k. - ‘* dimidiatus Wied. “* tenax Linn. Also many species of Tachinidz and Muscidz not identified. * Xylota curvipes Loew. Temnostoma bombylans Fad. a alternans Loew. Homalomyia sp. ? [ January, Cordylura sp. ? Scatophaga stercoraria Linn. *Tetanocera plumosa Loew. * saratogensis Fitch. ORTHOPTERA. * Pezotettix glacialis Scud. Melanoplus femur-rubrum DeG. Chortophagus viridifasciata DeG. Hippiscus tuberculatus P. deB. Tettix granulatus Azrby. - “* ornatus Say. Tettigidea polymorpha Burm. Periplaneta americana Fad. NEUROPTERA. Nehalennia irene Hag. Chrysopa oculata Say. Several Phryganide, etc., un- identified. ARANEZ., Clubiona canadensis 2m. Pardosa brunnea £m. PHALANGIDE. Oligolophus montanus és. ms. ACARINZA. Rhyncolophus montanus #és, n. sp. oO A NOTE ON CRYPTOHYPNUS. By Gro. H. Horn, M.D. In a recent number of ‘‘ Entomologische Nachrichten’’ (1893, pp. 305-311) Mr. E. Bergroth publishes some remarks on the Cat. Col. Eur. by E. Reitter, which have but little interest for our fauna until Cryptohypnus is reached, concerning which he says: ‘‘The genus Crytohypnus Latr. is still confounded with Hypnoidus Steph. They are, however, two distinct genera stand- ing well apart, as Schioedte has shown, defining them in the fol- lowing manner: Cryptohypnus.—Epimera of mesothorax reaching the coxa, 1894. ] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 7 the outer closure of the coxal cavity formed of mesosternum, mes-epimeron and metasternum. Hlypnoidus.—Epimera of mesothorax not reaching the coxa, the cavity closed externally by the meso- and metathorax. Schioedte’s work was entirely overlooked by me, and the char- acters above noted were equally unobserved. ‘As the genera formed, at the expense of Cryftohypnus, seemed untenable, I ventured the remark that, ‘‘if any division of Cryptohypnus be thought necessary, that based on the form of the prosternal sutures appears to be the only one desirable.’’ The genus Hypnozdus, as defined, is really due to Schioedte, as without his definition it is as untenable as several others which are not now recognized as valid. As thus defined, our species arrange themselves in the follow- ing manner: Hypnoidus Steph. (Schioedte). Cryptohypnus Zacr. striatulus Lec. littoralis Asch. delumbis Horn. grandicollis Lec. charis Say. hyperboreus Gy//. ornatus Lec. , barbatus Sah/d. cucullatus Horn. abbreviatus Say. melsheimeri Horn. impressicollis J/ann. caurinus Horn. nocturnus Esch. dispersus Horn. squalidus Lec. gradarius Horn. funebris Cand. tumescens Lec. planatus Lec. musculus £sch. dubius Horn. gentilis Lec. zstivus Horn. perplexus Horn. restrictulus J/ann. obliquatulus M/s. pectoralis Say. On comparing the above list with my essay on Cryptohypnus, it will be observed that our species divide into the two genera on precisely the lines indicated by me, based on the form of the prosternal sutures. 8 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, NOTES ON LARINIA AND CERCIDIA. By NATHAN BANKS. The genus Lavinia was established by Simon in 1874, for two spiders from France. The genus is readily distinguished from its ally, Simga, by having the p. m. e. nearly touching, and the larger a. s. e. quite widely separated. The body is elongate, and the abdomen projects over the cephalothorax in a blunt point. Epeira directa Hentz agrees with the characters of Lavinia, and so must belong to it. In the Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1892, p. 127, Dr. McCook forms, for £. directa, the new genus Drex- elia; but as the type species belongs to Lavinia, Drexelia be- comes a synonym. I have seen another species of this genus which may be separated from ZL. directa by the following char- acters: Metatarsus I longer than tibia I and twice as long as the width of body, - sternum yellow . . . err Metatarsus I not longer than “aitia I and hot nae than width of body, sternum black.) 2 wou. SO. Larinia borealis nov. sp. Length 6 mm.; tibia plus pateJla I 2.5 mm. Cephalothorax pale yel- lowish, with a black line on the margin and a black line, bifid near an- terior end, reaching from the dorsal groove to the p. m. e. Mandibles, palpi and legs pale yellowish; sternum black, with a narrow median yel- low line. Abdomen gray, with black spots on the sides, above with a pale median stripe, and a row of four black spots on each side near tip; venter with three narrow black stripes, uniting at base of spinnerets. Ce- phalothorax much narrowed in front, but not as slender as in LZ. directa; sternum barely narrowed in front; legs moderate; much shorter than in L. directa, especially the anterior pairs; abdomen about twice as long as wide, pointed in front, broadly rounded behind. I have six specimens of this species, four from Olympia, Wash. (Mr. Trevor Kincaid), and two from Franconia, N. H. (Mrs. A. T. Slosson). Larinia directa Hentz. Epeira directa Hentz and Fpeira rubella Hentz. Drexelia directa McCook. Length 1o mm.; tibia plus patella I 55 mm. This is a much more slender species than Z. borealis, the abdomen three times as long as broad, and the legs much longer. The abdomen varies much in mark- ings, usually having a yellowish stripe above, and some black spots or lines each side; the venter has two brown lines uniting just before the 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 9 spinnerets; the sternum is yellow; the legs are sometimes finely pointed with black. The abdomen projects beyond the spinnerets farther than in L. borealis. I have collected it in eastern Texas, where it makes an oblique web in grass. Hentz had it from South Carolina and Alabama. Cercidia Thorell, 1870. This genus is also close to Simga, but differs in having the fourth pair of legs longer than the first. The abdomen is pointed in front like that of Zarinia. One species is known in Europe, and I have received it in a collection of spiders from Franconia, N. H., made by Mrs. A. T. Slosson. Cercidia prominens Westring. Singa scutigera Westr. Epeira bella Mead. Atea spinosa Ohl. Length5 mm. Cephalothorax red; st ancibibe red with a black spot; sternum black; legs yellowish with brown rings; abdomen brownish above, with a large reddish shield nearly covering the dorsum, an indis- tinct light stripe and behind some transverse black lines; venter with a median black stripe as wide as sternum, yellowish each side; there are five short black spines in front on the dorsal shield, and four prominent muscular spots above. The cephalothorax has above on the median line two prominent spines. The epigynum consists of a short and broad finger arising from the anterior edge of a cavity which is much broader than long. One female, Franconia, N. H. 0 ON THE SPECIFIC IDENTITY OF ASSCHNA CLEPSYDRA Say and ZZ, CRENATA Hagen (evemita Scudder). By PuiLip P. CALVERT, Philadelphia, Pa. In my recent ‘‘ Catalogue of the Odonata (Dragonflies) of the vicinity of Philadelphia, with an Introduction to the Study of this group of Insects’ (Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. xx, pp. 152a—-272, 1893), I have placed schna crenata Hagen 1856, and . ere- mita Scudder 1866, as synonyms of clepsydra Say 1839, prom- ising in a foot-note (p. 248) to present the evidence for this ac- tion later. This paper is a fulfilment of that promise. The specific identity of crenata and eremita has been known since 1875, and needs no discussion here. Having suspected that clepsydra and evemita were but two ex- fe) ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, treme forms of one and the same species, I sent a specimen of what I presumed to be clepsydra to Mr. Samuel Henshaw, with the request that he compare it with specimens at Boston and Cambridge. His reply, dated Cambridge, July 7, 1893, is as follows: ‘‘ Your ‘presumed clepsydra’ agrees in every point you. mention with the cleAsydra in the M. C. Z. [Museum of Com- parative Zodlogy] collection, and also with the Say type in B. S. N. H. [Boston Society of Natural History] Harris collection, as far as it can be compared with it. In the Say specimen, one of the sup. app. is wholly destroyed, and also the apical portion of the other; the inf. app., clypeus, and comparative robustness of the Say specimen agree with your ‘ presumed clepsydra’ rather than with evemita.”’ I possess one of the original $ types of evemita Scud., given to me by Dr. Hagen. The following table shows the differences which I find between this type and a male ‘‘ presumed c/epsydra’”’ almost exactly like the one sent to Mr. Henshaw. With the ex- ception of number 2, these are the ‘‘ points you mention’’ re- ferred to in Mr. Henshaw’s letter: LE. eremita Scud. oJ type. Presumed . clepsydra Say 3. 1. More robust in form, e. g., great- 1. Less robust, é. g., greatest width est width of thorax 8 mm. of thorax 6.5 mm. 2. A black line on the suture be- 5 No such black line. ‘tween nasus and frons. 3. Clypeus broad (5 mm.) in pro- 3- Clypeus narrower (3 mm.) in portion to its height (3 mm.) ae to its height (2.6 mm). 4. Auricles on second abdominal 4, The same with four teeth, the segment with five teeth, the outer one very small. outer two smaller. ; 5. Median basal tooth of 10 not 5- Compressed, sharp at tip when compressed, blunt at tip when viewed from behind. — viewed from behind. 6. Sup. app. abruptly narrowed in 6. Sup. app. not abruptly narrowed the basal third; extreme apex in the basal third; extreme apex prolonged into a distinct, acute barely with an acute point. process. 7. Inf. app. more than half as long as sup. app. and more acute at tip. None of these differences are constant, and they vary indepen- dently of each other. \can find no characters that are invariable, and consequently regard the two specimens here tabulated as two extremes of one and the same species. These conclusions are based on a study of forty males from the following localities: An original type of evemzta Scud. from 7. Inf. app. one-half as long as.sup. app. 1894.] ~ ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. II Hermit Lake, Mt. Washington, N. H.; twenty-two from the same locality collected Aug. 2, 1890, and two from near Fabyan’s, White Mountains, N. H., Aug. 22, 1889, by myself; eight from Lake St. Regis, Franklin County, N. Y., by Mr. J. Percy Moore; two from Pictou, Nova Scotia, by Mr. W. Sheraton; two from Sherborn, Mass., by Mr. A. L. Babcock; two from the Catskill Mountains, N. Y., August 28, by Mr. E. M. Aaron (A. E. S.); one from St. Johns, Newfoundland, by the Peary Relief Expedi- tion (Phila. A. N. S.). I have not been able to separate the females of this species from those of 4. constricta, verticalts, etc. In view of the existence of Dr. Scudder’s careful and detailed description of evemzta, it will be necessary here to note merely those variations from his description and from Dr. Hagen’s de- scription of clepsydra (Syn. Neur. N. A., p. 122, 1861) which are revealed by a study of the above material. The black line on the fronto-nasal suture is present in all the males (23) from Hermit Lake, in the one from Newfoundland, in one from the Cats- kills, and in one from Lake St. Regis, but absent in the remaining four- teen.* The single male from Lake St. Regis which possesses this black line approaches the males from Hermit Lake in the shape of the sup. app. more closely than do any of the other seven from Lake St. Regis which have not this black line. Nevertheless, the transitions in shape of the sup. app. between all eight from Lake St. Regis are very gradual. The number of teeth on the auricles varies as follows: 3-6 (Hermit Lake), 3-4 (Lake St. Regis), 3-4 (Catskills), 2-4 (Sherborn), 3 (Newfound- land, Fabyan’s); their number is frequently different on the right and left auricles of the same individual. The blue spots on the tenth abdominal segment are confluent in three males from Lake St. Regis, not confluent in the remaining thirty-seven. The shape of the superior appendages is the most important structural character involved in this discussion. The variation is shown in the ac- companying series of seven figures. MY Dorsal view of apex of right superior appendage of a series of males of schna clep- sydra Say, from various localities. (Enlarged.) 1. Lake St. Regis; 2. Fabyan’s, N. H.; 3. Lake St. Regis; 4. Pictou, N. S.; 5. Lake St. Regis; 6,7, Hermit Lake; 6 is from the original type of eremta Scud., quoted in the text. Some of the denticulations on the carina are shown by minute circles. * Dr. Hagen writes of . evemiz[ic\a, ‘‘ The black anterior line on the front is some- times wanting.” Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H. xviii, p. 34. 12 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, The shape of the superior appendages in the males from Hermit Lake varies but slightly (Figs. 6 and 7), while the maximum variation is shown by those from Lake St. Regis (Figs. 1, 3, 5). Those from Fabyan’s, Pictou, Sherborn and the Catskills incline towards the typical clepsydra in this detail, the one frem Newfoundland to the typical eremita. The number of denticulations on the carina of the superior appendages varies from 4-9 (Hermit Lake), 4-8 (Fabyan’s), 4-7 (Lake St. Regis), 5-7 (Catskills), 8 (Newfoundland), and is not always the same on the right and left appendages of the same individuals. In the two males from Sherborn the denticulations are so slight as to suggest that transitional forms may hereafter be found connecting this species with 4. verticalis Hag., which itself is but a variety of the circumpolar jumcea L. (See Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. xx, p. 248.) The following measurements show the variations in size in millimeters: Abdomen (including appendages), 54-57.5 (Hermit Lake), 51-57.5 (Lake St. Regis), 52-53.5 (Fabyan’s), 52 (Pictou), 52-56 (Snerborn), 54 (Cats- kills), 57.5 (Newfoundland). Hind wing: 43-47 (Hermit Lake), 44-45 (Lake St. Regis), 43-44.5 (Fabyan’s), 42° (Pictou), 45-50 (Sherborn), 47 (Catskills), 49.5 (Newfoundland). Number of antecubitals on front wings: 16-21 (Hermit Lake), 19-23 (Lake St. Regis), 18-20 (Fabyan’s), 16 (Pictou), 16-22 (Sherborn), 17-19 (Catskills), 17-18 (Newfoundland); of postcubitals on the front wings: 12-18 (Hermit Lake), 13-14 (Lake St. Regis), 11-13 (Fabyan’s), 10-11 (Pictou), ro-14 (Sherborn), 12-13 (Cats- kills), 14 (Newfoundland); On the front wings, the antecubitals which are thicker than their fellows are: Ist and 5th — 3 Lake St. Regis, 1 Sherborn, 2 Catskills. 1st ‘* 6th— 2 Hermit Lake, 1 Lake St. Regis, 1 Fabyan’s. Ist ‘* 5th on one side, 1st and 6th on other — 2 Pictou, 1 Fabyan’s. «< th—{ 13 Hermit Lake, 1 Sherborn, 3 Lake St. Regis. 7 1 Newfoundland. Ist ‘‘ 5th on one side, 1st and 7th on other —-1 Hermit Lake. Ist ‘ ‘6 “ “c “c 2 Hermit Lake. ist“ 6th —{ t Lake St. Regis. ist." 7 “ 1stand 8th ‘“ — 4 Hermit Lake. On the hind wings, the antecubitals, which are thicker than their fellows; are: Ist and 6th — 2 Hermit Lake, 1 Sherborn. 1st ‘‘ 6th on one side, rst and 5th on other — 1 Lake St. Regis. 1st ‘‘ 7th—11 Hermit Lake, 4 Lake St. Regis, 1 Fabyan’s, 1 Sher- born, 1 Catskills, 1 Pictou, 1 Newfoundland. 1st ‘‘ 7th on one side, rst and 6th on other— 5 Hermit Lake, 1 Cats- kills, 1 Pictou. Ist ‘* 7th on one side, 1st and 8th on other — { 1 Hermit Lake. 2 Lake St. Regis. 1st ‘‘ 7th on one side, rst and gth on other — 1 Lake St. Regis. 1st ‘“ 8th—2 Hermit Lake. i Ist ‘‘ 8th on one side, rst and 6th on other —1 Fabyan’s. 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 13 The number of cells in the discoidal triangle of the front wings varies even in individuals from the same locality, but no tabulation has been made. The preceding data on variation have been included in order that they may serve as cautions against regarding the conditions to which those data refer as specific. Bibliography and Synonymy. Eschna clepsydra Say, Jour. Ac. N.S. Phila. viii, p. 12, 1839. Hagen, Syn. Neur. N. A., p. 122, 1861; Proc. Soc. N. H., xviii, p. 35, 1875. Cal- vert, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. xx, p. 248, 1893. 2. crenata Hagen, Stet. Ent. Zeit. xvii, p. 369, 1856. Selys, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. xv, p. 35, 1872; xxxi, p. 60, 1887. Bergroth, Ent. Nach. vii, p. 86, 1881. ; 2. eremita Scudder, Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H. x, p. 213, 1866. Hagen, Z. ¢. Xv, p. 376, 1873. “si AE. evemitlic\ja Hagen, Proc. B. S. N. H. xviii, p. 34, 1875. A. maxima Heikel, Not. Faun. Flor. Fenn. vi, p. 117, 1861. The known distribution of this species is—Labrador to Massa- chusetts, New York, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Da- kota, Saskatchewan, Irkutsk and Wilui River (Siberia), Finland. Regarding the Identity of Oxyporus rufipennis and stygicus. By L. B. WALTON. LeConte, in his paper on certain genera of Staphylinidze Oxy- telini, etc. (Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. vi, October, 1877), says in reference to Oxyporus rufipennis Lec.: ‘‘ This is perhaps only a color variation of the entirely black O. stygicus Say, but as yet I have seen no intermediate specimens. There is no difference in form or structure.’’ A year ago last Summer, while doing some collecting at Bear Lake, Pa., I took a large number of both stygicus and rufipennis, and also what appeared to be an intermediate form having the elytra black with two yellow vitte plainly evident on each ely- tron. The occurrence of this form, together with the fact that all were taken on the same piece of fungus, would seem to bear out LeConte’s supposition as to rufipennis being merely a variety of stygicus. Having sent some specimens to Dr. Horn, he says: ‘“While I believe the two are one species, something more than an opinion is required to corroborate it,’’ referring to the fact that it would be necessary to take them 7x cozfu to bring in the conclusive proof. 14 : _[ January, ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Published monthly (except July and August), in charge of the joint publication committees of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, and the American Entomological Society. It will contain not less than 300 pages per annum. It will main- tain no free list whatever, but will leave no measure untried to make it a necessity to every student of insect life, so that its very moderate annual subscription may be considered well spent. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $1.00, IN ADVANCE. sea@> All remittances should be addressed to E. T. Cresson, Treasurer, P. O. Box 248, Philadelphia, Pa.; all other communications to the Editors . .of ENTOMOLOGICAL News, Academy of Natural Sciences, Logan Square, Philadelphia, Pa. PHILADELPHIA, PA., JANUARY, 1894. THERE are a number of entomologists among us who are expert col- lectors, and who have in the course of their collecting trips gleaned many interesting and important facts relating to insect life and habits. They are usually well and favorably known among their brethren, who may be able, from time to time, to get some benefit from association with them, but usually this is as far as it goes. The general entomological public reaps no advantage from their lives, and the literature is not enriched thereby. There are many such men, and they live and die, and their knowledge and information unfortunately passes away with them. This should not be. While the man may enjoy his hobby, and get much benefit from it for himself, there is no reason why he should not make an effort to benefit others also, and the study in general by publishing his notes from time to time. Perhaps he is diffident and does not care to run the risk of publication, fearing it may not be new on account of his insuffi- cient knowledge of the literature. His publisher will probably know about this, and he can let him shoulder it. We know of one instance where a long life was devoted to entomology without any benefit to others, but in this instance the individual was postponing publication from day to day and year in and year out until he died. We can only say that we think it incumbent on all to publish their observations. Saprinus sulcatulus Schmidt. Ent. ‘‘ Nachrichten,”’ 1890, p. 51. Fora specimen of this I am indebted to Mr. Geo. Lewis, and find it not in any way differing from scissus Lec.—G. H. Horn. 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 15 “DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. Edited by Prof. JOHN B. SMITH, Sc. D., New Brunswick, N. J. The Grain Moth at the Fair.—Early in the season, while yet matters were in an extremely unfinished condition at Chicago, [ wandered through the “Palace of Agriculture,” admiring the enormous quantities of corn dis- played in every possible fashion; used as ornaments, and for decorations of every descriptions. Wheat, in any quantity, was also represented, and ingenious use was made of it to enhance the beauty and characteristic features of this building. At that time I noticed only a very slight amount of grain and corn that appeared infested by the grain moth; here and there, in an ear of corn, there was a kernel with the little hole character- istic of the injury done by this insect. In August, first early in the month, -and again some time about the middle, I] again wandered through the building, observing matters here and there, and I was now struck by the fact that there was not an exhibit in which even the majority of ears of corn did not show signs of the work of this insect. Even in the exhibit made by the Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, almost every ear showed some infection, and not only corn grown in one part of the country, but wherever Indian corn was exhibited were signs of this insect apparent. In October, Prof. Voorhees, of the New Jersey Station, made another visit to the Fair, and also made rather a close examination of the grains and corns that were exhibited. He informs me that everything was ruined by the insect; that in the New Jersey exhibit, which, of course, he examined more particularly; every jar of grain was simply a nest of moths and larve, and that everywhere the same appearance prevailed; that in fact, the whole building had become one vast breeding ground for these insects. Orders were therefore given, that all the grain that had been gathered with so much trouble, the finest specimens of each variety, the great ears of Indian corn, everything in fact should be destroyed to pre- vent the introduction of the insect into localities in which perhaps it had not yet appeared naturally. Some interesting questions come up now— what will be the effect of the liberation of the vast number of insects which matured in this immense building? What will become of them? Will they be able to live through the Winter, or will they meet destruc- tion by the elements? Have they not already spread from that building into the surrounding territory, or will they not seek shelter when they are disturbed by the clearing out of the building, find their way into the ‘country around about, into barns and into graineries, and will they not cause considerable damage? The questions may not be of very much importance; but it is rather an interesting matter, because other insects, not so noticeable perhaps as this grain moth, may have been quietly breeding in some of the exhibits gathered at Chicago during the present season, and we may hear of them again at no distant date, in a manner 16 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. { January, which may raise the question in the minds of some whether this Fair was anything but an unmitigated nuisance. On the enormous number of plants that were brought together from all parts of the country, and indeed from other climes and from other countries with similar climate to our own, can we be sure that no insects were introduced on them? We can question this at present; but time alone can answer the questions asked. Handbook of the Destructive Insects of Victoria. Part II.—This little work by Mr. C. French, the government entomologist, is at hand. It contains rather more than 200 pages of text prepared with great care, and colored plates numbered from 15 to 36, illustrating all of the species treated in the book, and most of them in all stages; structural details — being also given in some instances. The plates are generally good, so far as appearance is concerned, and undoubtedly add very largely to the value of the book for the agriculturist. The figures very frequently lack in detail, and are of inferior value to the the scientific student; but they are fully sufficient from the standpoint of the farmer, for whom, after all, they were prepared. It is to be regretted, perhaps, that we cannot in our own country illustrate our publications somewhat more in this same style; but, really, good colored plates are with us so frightfully expensive as to be quite beyond the reach of our Experiment Stations, and to be possible only to the National Government; even here it is necessary to limit the . number because of the cost. There is an appendix to the book treating of spraying devices, and there are a considerable number of plates in black and white, illustrating this -appendix, and showing machinery, pumps and nozzles of all kinds—good, bad and indifferent. It is a matter of some interest that twelve of the colored plates illustrate insects that are also injurious in our own country, including among them such pests as the plum cucurlio, the cabbage louse and others of like ilk; only a very few of the species being really characteristic of the country in which they are troublesome. This illustrates one of the points which is worth while considering in our speculations concerning remedies, and that is that a certain number of species seem, in the provision of nature, to occur in a certain abundance each year, and the natural checks, such as they are, are intended to leave a very wide margin for the increase of the species. In cases of this kind we must entirely ignore the so-called natural-checks, and must act as if none such were in existence. INSECT’S DEADLY STING (appearance of a winged spider in Kentucky). —-Newport, Ky., August 3.—A deadly insect-has appeared about the electric lights. People stung by the insect suffer intensely. A sudden swelling and a peculiar somnolent condition follow the bite. Michael Ryan was stung Saturday and died last night. Judge Helm, of the Cir- cuit Court, is laid up with his neck swollen to twice its normal size. Harry Clark, another victim, is in a precarious condition. Local entomologists describe the bug as a sort of winged spider.— Newspaper. 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 17 Notes and News. ENTOMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS FROM ALL QUARTERS OF THE GLOBE. [The Conductors of ENTomoLocicat News solicit, and will thankfully receive items of news, likely to interest its readers, from any source. The author’s name will be given ‘in each case for the information of cataloguers and bibliographers.] To Contributors.—All contributions will be considered and passed upon at our earliest convenience, and as far as may be, will be published according to date of recep- tion. ENToMOLocICcAL News has reached a circulation, both in uumbers and circumfer- ence, as to make it necessary to put “‘copy’’ into the hands of the printer, for each number, ~ three weeks before date of issue. This should be remembered in sending special or im- portant matter for certain issue. Twenty-five ‘‘ extras” without change in form will be given free when they are wanted, and this should be so stated on the MS. along with the number desired. The receipt of ali papers will be acknowledged.—Ep. Last winter, while collecting at Lake Worth, Florida, in the beginning of March, I captured a 2 specimen of Lunica tatila H.S. Ido not see this species mentioned in any North American lists. It is a much larger insect than £. monima Cram., and very beautiful. Zunica tatila is a common insect in Cuba and also in Mexico.—W. SCHAUS. In a foot-note at the bottom of page 229 of my recent Bulletin on Pecilocapsus lineatus, 1 question the date on which Mr. Webster ob- tained adults for use in his experiment at Lafayette, Ind. Mr. Webster has called my attention to the fact that, in the case of Meromyza ameri- cana, the second brood of adults emerged earlier at Lafayette, Ind., than Dr. Fitch had found them in New York. This indicates that difference of about two degrees in latitude between Lafayette, Ind., and Ithaca, N. Y., makes a difference of two or three weeks in the emergence of in- sect life; and the seemingly very early appearance of the adults of the Four-lined Leaf-bug, at the former place, may thus be accounted for. I am glad of the opportunity to make the correction.—M. V. SLINGERLAND, Cornell Experiment Station. NoTES ON THE CUCUJID&, OBSERVED IN SAN DIEGO County, CAL.— Silvanus surinamensis (Linn.) abundant in cereals; S7/vanus bidentatus (Fabr.) not very common, occurs with the preceding species ; Sz/vanus imbellis (Lec.) one specimen; Si/vanus advena (Waltl.) common in gran- aries and in refuse about stables; Nausibius dentatus (Marsh.) occasion- ally taken in commercial storehouses; Lemophioeus biguttatus (Say.) sometimes met with in immense numbers under decaying and fungus- covered bark of dead sycamores (Platanus racemosus); Laemophloeus cephalotes (Lec.) rare, occurs under the bark of the sycamore, blue gum (Eucalypius globulus), pepper tree (Schinus molle), tive oak (Quercus agripolia); Brontes d. var. truncatus (Mots.) common, under the bark of the live oak.—F. E. BLatspELt, M.D. {* 18 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, NOTE ON CYCHRUS ELEVA1US.—The following instance of gregarious- ness in Carabide may be of interest: A few years ago, while collecting on the south shore of Long Island, I found, on the bank of a fresh-water pond, twenty-two specimens of Cychrus elevatus, all within an area not larger than the palm of my hand. They were crowded together in a small hollow under a board, and were very sluggish, so that I had no difficulty in taking them all. The males were about twice as numerous as the females. I have never before or since found more than two speci- mens together. All the Long Island specimens of e/evatus which 1 have seen are slightly different from the ordinary type, being smaller and more slightly built, with shorter legs. The color is a brighter purple and not so metallic, or cupreous, as the average.—W. C. Woop, New York. . SURGEON-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM Moore (Medical Mag., July, 1893) regards the dissemination of disease by flies as a matter looked upon with too much indifference, and instances an epidemic of anthrax which was. spread by flies which had covered a carcass of a dog thrown into a ditch in Cortal. He quotes the experiments of Lawtschenks with flies and cholera germs, and observes that it is worth noticing, in that in India it is during the time and season of the greatest prevalence of cholera that flies most abound. The possibility of flies carrying the organisms of typhoid fever and phthisis is suggested, and the belief is expressed that leprosy is often conveyed by flies which appear to be particularly fond of leprous sores, and of investigating in the way*of a sore ona healthy person. There is no doubt that ophthalmia is so spread, and an instance is given of complete destruction of an eye from diphtherial inflammation following the sting (bite) in the eye bya fly which had apparently arisen from a dung-hill. THE Say Memoria CuaApTER of the Agassiz Association is an organ- ization composed of those interested in Entomology, living in various parts of the United States, and conducting their proceedings by corres- pondence. Its object is ‘‘to promote the study of entomology in all its bearings, and to cultivate social and friendly relations between those. in any way interested in the science. Each member of the Chapter shall be required to write a bi-monthly letter or report of any special course of study he is pursuing, or in narrative form, recount observations of- habits of insects, collecting notes, etc. These letters must contain not less than two hundred words, and will be written on paper furnished by the Sec- retary-Treasurer, to whom they must be forwarded. This officer will keep a record of these letters, and start them on their course around the Chapter, each recipient of a letter forwarding it according to a geographi- cally arranged register.’’ Members are proposed by the Secretary-Treas- urer, two-thirds vote being necessary for election. The officer just named is the only one recognized by the chapter; his duties are indicated by the preceding statement and by his title; he makes a semi-annual report to the President of the Agassiz Association. The entrance fee to the Chap- ter is one dollar, annual dues one dollar. The originator of the Chapter 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 19 is Mr. William D. Richardson, of Fredericksburg, Va., and the present courteous and efficient Secretary-Treasurer is Mr. Roy Hopping, of Bloom- field, N. J., who will gladly furnish further information. By extending the membership all over the United States, it is hoped to make the chapter an important factor in entomological study, and this attempt has the hearty sympathy of the News. It is perhaps not too much to hope that this jour- nal may occasionally be favored with a ‘‘circulating’’ paper from the Chapter. EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE. (Chairman Hatch does not agree with the President).—Washington, December 11.—There are at least two rec- ommendations in the President’s Message which will not receive the uni- versal sanction of the Democrats in the House. These relate to the ex- tinction of the agricultural experiment stations in the various States and the abolition of the present system of distribution of seeds by the Depart- ment of Agriculture. Representative Hatch, the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, is outspoken in his opposition, and says that since the message appeared not a single member has expressed to him a concurrence in the President’s position, while scores have come to him and urged him to continue to incorporate in the Agricultural Appropria- tion bill the comparatively sma!l sums necessary for the maintenance of these two features. ‘‘The experiment stations were established by an act of Congress approved March 2, 1887,”’ says Mr. Hatch, ‘‘and have been exceedingly popular with the representatives of the agricultural interests of the country. Many of these stations have produced remark- able results. They were established by the almost unanimous vote of Congress, there being, as |] remember, not even a division on the ques- tion. I remember that after the measure had passed both houses, I went to the White House in company wit! a number of intelligent and highly reputable gentlemen from some of the agricultural colleges, and Mr. Cleveland, in my presence, spoke in the warmest terms of the measure. It was by his signature that it became a law. Since that time there has been no criticism of the work of these stations, and no controversies ex- cept as to the division of the funds in two or three States. No agricultu- ral association, organization or club,’”’ continued Mr. Hatch, ‘‘has ever spoken of these experimental stations except in commendation and ap- proval. They have been established about six years, and are nowina condition to render double the service and impart more valuable informa- tion to the States than at any time since they have been in existence. They have erected buildings, provided chemical apparatus, and the ap- propriations from this on will result even more largely than ever in the prosecution of experiments that will be of immense value in the diffusion of practical information.” ' THE Rev. Dr. John G. Morris, of Baltimore, is probably the oldest en- tomologist in the United States. On November 14th, last, he celebrated his ninetieth birthday. Mr. Morris published the first catalogue of Ameri- can Lepidoptera. 20 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, MISTAKEN FOR A CRANK (a Yale professor’s kindly treatment by the Indians who killed Custer),—‘‘ One very peculiar characteristic of the In- dian,”’ said Major Barbour, a former plainsman now metamorphosed into a clubman and raconteur, ‘‘is his reverence, amounting to absolue fear in ° many instances, of an insane person. They never harm one whom they believe to be mentally afflicted. I remember one striking instance which will illustrate. I was a member of the expedition headed by Gen. Cus- ter that made a tour through the Yellowstone Valley and that section of the country the year before the Custer.massacre. It was put on foot in the interest of science, and we had a lot of fellows from the Smithsonian Institute and about a dozen Yale professors. It was a big party, com- prising two or three companies of cavalry, one of infantry and some artil- jery, so the Sioux, who at that time simply swarmed over that country, were afraid to tackle us; but they hung around us all the time, and Gen. Custer gave orders, after two men who were hunting had been killed, that no one should leave camp without permission. Those Yale profes- sors just worried the life out of the soldiers. Every professor had a detail of five men who had to watch him. They would go around picking up bugs and chasing butterflies all over the prairie, and would break up rocks and pow-wow over them with magnifying glasses until the soldiers swore that every man of them was a howling idiot. One day the worst old fel- low in the crowd, who wore two pairs of glasses, one red and one green, managed in some way or other to get out of the sight of his detail and wandered two or three miles away. He ran plump into a gang of Sioux. He walked up to them and offered to shake hands. They grabbed him, and the first thing they did was to dive down into a big green baize bag he carried. They pulled out lizards and pieces of clay and bits of rock and bugs and the worst assortment of truck imaginable. Just about this time the old professor caught sight of a peculiar-looking bug. He caught it, pulled out his glass, and began to study it. That settled it. An Indian took him by the hand, led him to a hill close by, and, pointing to the army below, said ‘Go.’ He came back and said that the soldiers totally mis- understood the Indians. ‘Why, I found them the most polite and court- eous of people,’ said he to Gen. Custer. But an old chief afterwards told me that they wouldn’t have him stay in that country for anything on earth.’’— Washington Post. nite Identification of Insects (Imagos) for Subscribers. Specimens will be named under the following conditions: 1st, The number of species to be limited to twenty-five for each sending; 2d, The sender to pay all expenses of trans- portation and the insects to become the property of the American Entomological Society ; 3d, Each specimen must have a number attached so that the identification may be an- nounced accordingly. Exotic species named only by special arrangement with the Editor, who should be consulted before specimens are sent. Send a 2 cent stamp with all insects for return of names. Before sending insects for identification, read page 41, Vol. III. Address all packages to ENTOMOLOGICAL NEws, Academy Natural Sciences, Logan Square, Philadelphia, Pa. 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 21 Entomological Literature. * THE ENTOMOLOGIST’s MONTHLY MAGAZINE. London, November, 1893.—On Trachyscelis with descriptions of three new species, G. C. Champion. Notes on the earlier stages of the Nepticulz, with a view to their better recognition (cont.), J. H. Wood.—December, 1893. On two halophilous Hemiptera, E. Bergroth, M.D. Observations ‘on pee (No. 7), R. Newstead, fig. Sénince. New York, Nov. 3, 1893.—The systematic position of the Diptera, J. B. Smith.—Nov. tro. The systematic positign of Diptera, C. V. Riley.—Nov. 17. The sense- organs on the legs of our white ants, Termes flavipes Koll., Dr. A. C. Stokes, figs.—Nov. 24. On the syste- matic position of the Pipters, S. W. Williston. CORNELL UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. - Bul- letin 58. Ithaca, N. Y., October, 1893.—The four-lined leaf-bug (Pecilo- capsus lineatus), M. V. Slingerland. Pp. 207-239. 13 figs. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL History. London, No- vember, 1893.—Two new Coccide from New Mexico, T. D. A. Cocker- ell, figs. RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN Museu, II, 5. Sydney, September 1893.—Description of a new flea (Stephanocircus dasyuri), from New South Wales; with notes of some other insect parasites known in Austra- lia, F. A. A. Skuse, 1 pl. BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL Museum No. 46.—The Myriapoda of North America, by Charles Harvey Bollman. Edited by L. M. Underwood. Containing the collected writings on North American Myriapoda, both published and unpublished, of the late C. H. Bollman. Washington, 1893. 210 pp. THE BUTTERFLIES OF Nortaé# AmeErIcA, with colored drawings and descriptions, by W. H. Edwards. Third series, part xiv. Boston and New York. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1893. Contains Neominots riding sii, Chionobas eno, assimilis, crambis, macouniti. COMPTE RENDU. SOCIETE PHILOMATHIQUE DE Paris. Oct. 28, 1893.— New note on an entomophagous insect [Doria meditabunda], parasitic in the European silk-worm, E. L. Bouvier and G. Delacroix. Zor. San Francisco, October 1893.—The species of Amblychila, J. J. Rivers, 2 pls. A mesquite Tineid which constructs a bag-like case from the leaves, C. H. T. Townsend. Leucarctia rickseckeri, Dr. H. H. Behr. Nature. London, Nov. 16, 1893.—Further notes and observations upon the instincts of some common English spiders, R. I. Pocock. The stigmata of the Arachnida as a clue to their ancestry, H. M. Bernard, 1 fig.—November 30. Protective habit in a spider [ Zpezra], C. L. Morgan. 22 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, Le Naturaviste. Paris, Nov. 15, 1893.—New remarks on the habits of Coleoptera destructive to forests, M. Decaux. THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. Philadelphia, November, 1893.—Ani- mal intelligence, J. Weir. The androchonia of Lepidoptera, M. B. Thomas, 1 pl. Fleshy cecidomyid twig-gall on Atriplex canescens, C. H. T. Townsend. Tvichodactylus xylocope in California, H. Osborn. ComPTE RENDU. SOCIETE DE BIOLOGIE. Paris, Nov. 18, 1893.—On the reproduction of the Sarcoptidz, Dr. E. Trouessari. PsycHE. Cambridge, December, 1893.—The primitive number of Malpighian vessels in insects (concluded), vii, W. M. Wheeler, figs. De- scriptions of new species and genera of West African Lepidoptera, W. J. Holland, figs. The Dolichopodid genus Ziancalus Loew, J. M. Aldrich. Two new forms of Diaspine, T. D. A. Cockerell. A note on the larva of Datana floridana Graef., H. G. Dyar. INsEcT LIFE, vi, 1, Washington, D. C., November, 1893.—An impor- tant predatory insect (Zrastria scitula Ramb.), Eds., figs. Notes on Tasmanian Coccinellide, E. H. Thompson. Experiments with the hop- louse in Oregon and Washington, A. Koebele. Report on outbreaks of the Western cricket and of certain locusts in Idaho, R. Milliken. The present status of the recent Australian importations, D. W. Coquillett and A, Koebele. On the injurious and other locusts of New Mexico and Arizona, C. H. T. Townsend. The usual extracts from correspondence and general notes. THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD. London, Nov. 15, 1893.—On the larva of Arctia caia, with special reference to its correlated variations in plumage, tnoulting and hybernation, Dr. T. A. Chapman. ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER, Leipsic, Nov. 27, 1893.—On the bite of Pseudoscorpions, C. Berg. THE Entomococist. London, Dec., 1893.—The coloring of Chryso- phanus phieas as affected by temperature, F. Merrifield. Observations on Vanessa c-album, W. H. Bath. A catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland (cont.), W. F. deVismes Kane. Three new Coccide from the arid region of N. America, T. D. A. Cockerell. Notes on the synonomy of Noctuid moths, A. G. Butler, Ph.D. Vanessa atalanta in Florida, J. Arkle. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, 1893, part II, Aug. 1, 1893.—Descriptions of new species of Lepidoptera Hetero- cera from Central and South America, H. Druce, 3 pls.—Pt. iii, Oct. 2, 1893. A monograph of the butterflies of the genus 7hysonotis, H. H. Druce and G. T. Bethune-Baker, 3 pls. BULLETIN 44 OF THE U. S. NATIONAL MusEuM.—Catalogue’ of the Lepidopterous Superfamily Noctuidz, found in Boreal America. By John B. Smith, Sc. D.—This great work of 424 pages marks an era in the 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 23 study of American moths. From this time on it will be possible for anyone who has access to a fair entomological library, with the aid of this work to intelligently study our Noctuidz. The references to all the species are — given, and also tke original generic references, as well as the synonymy, etc., of all the species. The habitat, time of appearance, and location of the types are all given, as well as anv other notes considered of impor- tance. A most valuable index is given, which adds very materially to the value of the work, inasmuch as every name used in the body of the work is referred to. This will be invaluable to many collectors and students who have their species under old or improper generic names, and who do not know where to place them in our later lists. The advent of such a work is of vast importance, as it makes it possible for the general student to work in what was heretofore a special field only open to a few most painstaking workers who worked out the literature for themselves. Prof. - Smith is to be congratulated on this work, and also to a greater extent the entomologists of America, who will be benefitted by it. WE have received Bulletin of the United States National Museum, No. 45, devoted exclusively to Mr. William H. Ashmead’s monograph of the North American Proctrotrypidz, the receipt of which we take pleasure in acknowledging. The work is quite voluminous, there being 454 pages of text and 18 excellent plates executed by the author. Mr. Ashmead considers that the Proctotrypidz ‘‘have but little affinity to the Chalci- didz,’’ and should be placed at the head of the Terebrantia, as he be- lieves them to be closely related to the Aculeata, and further asserts that after the removal of the group Myrmarine, which he regards as a distinct family, they have no relation to the Chalcididz. The external structural characters are described at length, and plate I is entirely devoted to the illustration of them. The habits, dimorphism and parthenogenisis, life- history and distribution are dwelt on. He asserts that there is scarcely any doubt, but that many of the wingless species to be found in the various genera are only dimorphic forms of winged species, but as little positive is known on the subject, they must be described as distinct species, as any other course would be but guesswork, and, consequently, unscientific. Such forms must be bred from generation to generation before anything positive can be learned regarding them. The arrangement proposed by Halliday, in 1839, he discards as unnatural, as the scheme widely sepa- rates some closely-allied groups. The classification of Forster being re- garded by him as the most satisfactory, he has made it the basis of his own work. After reviewing the works of numerous authors his own clas- sification is announced, in which he recognizes ten subfamilies, all of which were regarded as families by Férster. After tabulating the sub- families, and the genera likewise, the species are so treated. Many new species are brought to light, as is well illustrated in the genus Megaspilus, in which the species are trebled, and still better in Polygnotus, in which genus the number ‘of species is increased from three to thirty-three. The work is completed by a ‘‘ tabular view” of the bred North American 24 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, Proctotrypidz, which gives a list of their hosts, and a catalogue of the literature on the subject, and explanations of the abbreviations used. We cannot consider this work otherwise than a most valuable contribution to the literature of the micro-Hymenoptera, and while we are not versed sufficiently with the parasitic Hymenoptera to offer any criticisms on the work, we feel sure that very few, if any, unfavorable comments can be made thereon, and beg to congratulate the author for the masterly way he has handled the subject.—W. J. F. NEW SPECIES OF NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS DESCRIBED IN THE PRECEDING LITERATURE. HEMIPTERA. ' Orthezia Anne Cockerell, Ann. Mag. N.H. (6) xii, p. 403, N. Mex. Bergrothia townsendi, p. 404, N. Mex. Aspidiotus uve Comst. var. coloratus Cockerell, Psyche vi, p. 571, N. Mex. Mytilaspis albus Ckll. var. concolor, p. 572, N. Mex. Fairmatiria (Ceroplastodes) nivea Cockerell, Ent. xxvi, p. 350, Mex. Ceroplastes irregularis, p. 351; id. Pseudococcus helianthi, p. 352, N. Mex. MYRIAPODA. N. spp. Bollman, Bull. U. S. N. M. No. 46. LEPIDOPTERA. ’ Leucarctia rickseckeri Behr., Zoe iv, p. 247, Calif. ‘ Tagora corax Druce, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1893, p. 299, Mex. DIPTERA. Cecidomyia atriplicis Townsend, Am. Nat. xxvii, p. 1021, N. Mex. Liancalus hydrophilus Aldrich, Psyche vi, p. 569, S. Dak. JZ. similis, p. 571, Wash. The Entornological Section ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA, PROCEEDINGS OF MEETINGS. DECEMBER ITI, 1893. A regular stated meeting of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences was held in the Hall, S. W. cor. Nineteenth and Race Streets, this evening, Dr. G. H. Horn, Director, presiding. Members present: E. T. Cresson, G. B. Cresson, Calvert, Liebeck, Johnson, Skinner, Ridings,. Laurent and Welles. Associates: Fox, Nell, Haimbach, Drs. 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 25 Griffith and Castle. This being the business meeting of the year, the re- ports of the different officers were read and the following named gentle- men were elected to serve for the coming year: ‘ Director, G. H. HORN, M.D. Vice-Director, C. S. WELLES. Recorder, H. SKINNER, M.D. Treasurer, E. T. CRESSON. Conservator, H. SKINNER, M.D. x Publication Committee: 1 WW. JOHNSON, The following papers were read and accepted by the Committee for publication in ENTOMOLOGICAL NEws: A NEW HEPIALUS FROM CALIFORNIA. By Harrison G. Dyar. Hepialus lembertii n. sp.—Light fawn color, of the tint usual in this genus; secondaries blackish, with a small, pale spot at apex. Below both wings blackish, the fringe pale. On the fore wings area series of dusky whitish, subquadrate, intervenular spots, each neatly surrounded by a smoky black border. The spots are arranged in six irregular, caten- ulate, transverse bands, as follows:—(1) Two rather large spots at base of cell and vein 1 (ix) respectively; (2) two or three small ones below me- dian vein (cubitus); (3) a transverse, complete row before middle of wing of about five spots, nearly straight; (4) a row of small ones from end of cell to costa, becoming furcate before reaching costa; (5) a complete row of about eight spots in the transverse-posterior position, dislocated at vein 4 (v3); (6) a terminal row, leaving the margin for a short space near” the terminations of veins 7 to 9 (iii5 to iii3). Veins indicated in smok¥ black. Expanse 31-33 mm. Described from two examples captured in the high Sierras of California by Mr. John B. Lembert. Mr. Lembert writes that the moths were taken on September 1st flying about dusk within a short distance of the ground. He took them in the highland meadow near the banks of the Lyell fork of the Tuolumne River. The species is different from any known to me either autopti- cally or by description. I am unacquainted with the Hepzalus californicus of Boisduval; but his short description cannot be made to apply to this form. Boisduval says of californicus : “* Elle a le port et la taille de la carnus des Alps. Ses ailes su- périeures d’un grisatre obscure offrent a un certain jour, vers Yextrémité, des raies blanchatres parallales renfermant des petites taches arrondies d’une couleur plus obscure. Les ailes inféri- eures sout d’un gris noiratre.’’ * 4 26 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. . (January, AFRICAN HESPERIIDA. : By W.. J. HoLLanp, Ph.D., Pittsburg, Pa. Subfamily HESPERUNZ. SARANGESA Moore. 1. S. exprompta sp. nov. <'.—Allied to S. perpaupera Holl., and also to S. melania Mab., according to the tenor of the description of the latter spe- cies. The antennz and the entire upperside of the body are blackish brown; the lowerside of the body is paler brown. The primaries dark gray, clouded below the apex by a broad irregular transverse black shade, which is continued parallel to the outer margin to the outer angle. There is also a black shade at the apex, and a small black circular spot below the cell near the origin of the first median nervule. There are eight vitre- ous spots upon the wing, disposed as follows: Three minute spots form- ing a short subapical band just below the costa, one-third of the distance from the apex; a small circular spot on the costa above the end of the cell; amelongated spot closing the cell, with its inner margin straight and its outer margin excavated; three spots on the median intervals forming a short series parallel to the outer margin. Of these three last-mentioned spots, the one in the middleis the largest, and is subtriangular; the lower one is quite minute, andthe upper one subquadrate. The oblong spot at the end of the cell is shaded posteriorly by a blackish shade. The fringes are concolorous, slightly checkered with paler fuscous on the intervals, and distinctly marked with whitish at the apex and just above the outer angle. The secondaries are of the same color as the primaries, clouded along the outer margin with blackish, and traversed about the middle and just beyond it by two interrupted parallel series of blackish circular spots. The fringes are concolorous, slightly checkered with paler fuscous on their edges at the interspaces. Upon the underside the ground color is a trifle paler than upon the upperside. All the spots and markings of the upper surface are reproduced upon this side. Expanse 26 mm. Hab.—Accra, West Africa. This insect belongs to the subgeneric group, for which. Mons. P. Mabille has proposed the name Zvef/s. The structural differ- ences are scarcely sufficient to warrant a separation from the genus Sarangesa Moore, to which a large number of African spe- cies must be assigned. 2. §. subalbida sp. nov. ¢’.—The antennz are black. The upperside of the body is black; the lowerside of the palpi and the pectus are ochra- ceous; the legs whitish, as also the lowerside of the thorax and abdo- men. The upperside of both wings are gray, the primaries clouded with blackish at the outer angle, and the secondaries heavily clouded in like manner at the outer angle. There are seven very minute, whitish vitre- ous spots upon the primaries. Four of these spots form a subquadrate Ent. News, Vol. V. 18 See page 26. AFRICAN HESPERIIDA Holland (Reduced one-fifth). 1894. | ENTCMOLOGICAL NEWS. 27 group before the apex near the costal margin, the other three are dis- posed as a limbal series on the median interspaces beyond the middle of the wing. They are all surrounded narrowly by darker cloudings, deep brown or blackish. Upon the underside the primaries are as on the upper- side, but paler, with the inner margin laved with whitish ; the secondaries are bluish white, with the base covered with bluish gray scales. The outer angle is heavily marked with black, and there is a small circular black spot near the costa beyond the middle of the wing. Expanse 32 mm. Hab.—Kangwé, Valley of the Ogové. CELZENORHINUS Hib. 3. €. macrostictus sp. nov. Jj .—Closely allied toC. e/mina Ploetz (=C. proxima Mab.), from which it differs in no respect, except that the en- tire middle area of the wing is occupied by a large white spot, which replaces the four or five spots which compose a median band of markings in the species described by Ploetz, and that the fringes of the secondaries. are not white, checkered with black, as in C. e/mina, but are uniformly brown, like the body of the wing. Expanse 41 mm. ffab.—Valley of the Ogové. ZGRIS Guen. 4. E. fuscosa sp. nov. 2.—Antennz black; head and upperside of the palpi brown, lower side of palpi white; upperside of thorax and abdomen fuscous-brown, lowerside of thorax grayish; lowerside of abdomen pure white; legs grayish. The primaries on the upperside are fulvescent brown, with the outer borders marked with-blackish.. There is a double black spot beyond the base near the inner margin. The wing is traversed by a median band of seven elongated translucent spots: one near the costa: two below it, at the end of the cell (the lower one of which is the largest): a small one between the second and third median nervules; a larger one, subtriangular in form, between the first and second median nervules; two smaller ones between the first median nervule and the submedian nerve. All of these spots are margined externally with blackish. There is a sub- apical series of six small spots arranged in a curved line, the second from the the top being advanced sharply beyond the others. The secondaries. have the same ground-color as the primaries, and have a large black spot at the end of the cell, followed by a regularly curved series of eight black spots, two of them on the costa; the fourth and fifth, reckoning from the costa, tending to coalesce. The outer angle is broadly marked with blackish. The primaries on the upperside are pale fuscous, the translucent spots of the upperside reappearing. The secondaries are pure white, with the base laved with bluish; the costa and outer angle broadly marked with dark brown. The fringes are brown; a brownish shade runs in- wardly near the first median nervule. There are two small black spots at the end of the cell, and a subcostal curved series of five black spots, the 28 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, second of which, reckoning from the base, is the largest; and the fourth and fifth tend to coalesce. Expanse 40 mm. HTab.—Valley of the Ogové. This species seems to be closely allied to Z. Ahyllophila Trim.., from which it differs, however, in the form of the spots upon the primaries, and in the absence of the submarginal spots upon the lowerside of the secondaries in the region of the median nervules. ACLEROS Mab. 5. A. substrigata sp. nov. 3'.—The antenne, the upperside of the palpi, the head, the thorax and the abdomen, black; the tip of the abdomen and the lowerside of the palpi, the thorax and the abdomen, whitish; the legs are gray, margined with whitish. The upperside of both primaries and secondaries is black ; the fringes of the primaries on the upperside are black; the fringes of the secondaries are white, more broadly so at the anal angle. On the underside the primaries are fuscous, broadly marked with white upon the inner margin. There are two very small and obscure whitish spots at the end of the cell, one above each other, and faint traces of a curved limbal series of similar spots, in which the two uppermost members of the series are the most conspicuous, and in some specimens are well defined. The secondaries are gray, slightly darker on the costa and traversed by subbasal, median, and submarginal series of spots, lighter than the ground-color of the wings, aud margined externally by fine dark lines. Q.—The female is like the male, save that the primaries are marked by two diffuse white spots, one above the submedian nerve about its mid dle, and another just above it, between the first and second median ner- vules at their origin. Expanse ¢' and 2 25—28 mm. f1ab.—Valley of the Ogové. On the upperside this insect looks like A. mackenii Trim., but is smaller. A glance at the underside, which is totally unlike that of any other species in the genus, reveals at once its specific distinctness. } GASTROCHATA Mab. 6. G. mabillei sp. nov. <¢'.--Antenne black; upperside of the head, thorax and abdomen, dark brown; lowerside of the palpi whitish; lower side of thorax brown; lower side of abdomen yellowish, the yellow color produced upwardly on the sides along the outer margin of the segment. Primaries on the upperside black. There are two small white translucent spots, one above the other, at the end of the cell; there are three minute spots, forming a curved subapical series; there are three subquadrate spots, forming a transverse median series, the middle spot being the largest, and located just below the two small spots at the end of the cell. the lower spot is semi-opaque. The secondaries have a large circular 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 29 translucent spot at the end of the cell, and beyond it two narrow elon- gated white spots separated by the second median nervule. On the un- derside the primaries are marked as on the upperside, but the ground color is obscure fuscous, shading into blackish on the cell. The secon. daries are yellowish, with the outer margin broadly brown. There is a ‘translucent spot at the end of the cell, very narrowly edged with brown; there are two blackish rays running from this spot tothe base. The costa is narrowly marked with brown, and there is a curved series of four small brown spots, two below the costa, the third opposite the end of the cell, geminate; and the fourth, just below the two translucent linear spots, which reappear upon the lowerside, and are especially noticeable when the wing is held up to the light. © .—The female does not materially differ from the male, except in having a stouter body. Expanse (¢/ and 2 35 mm. Hab.—Valley of the Ogové. I name this well-marked and distinct species in honor of Mons.. P. Mabille, of Paris, the veteran hesperidologist, to whom I sub- mitted the species, and who declared it to be unknown to him. GANGARA Moore. 7. G. (?) basistriga sp. nov. 9.—Antennz dark brown, narrowly mar- gined with yellow on the underside of the culmen, and broadly marked with yellow on the underside of the club. The upperside of the palpi and the entire body are dark brown; the lowerside of the palpi is yellow- ish; legs brown. ‘The primaries on the upperside are dark brown. There is a long subquadrate spot filling the outer half of the cell; a subapical series of three yellow spots, of which the outermost one is the largest. There are three yellow spots forming a transverse limbal series, of which the one located between the first and second median nervules is very large, and is separated from the large spot in the cell by the median nervule ; the other two spots are subtriangular, one located between the second and third median nervules, and the other being located upon the submedian nerve, a little beyond its middle. The fringe is dark brown, except at the outer angle, where it is yellowish. The secondaries are dark brown, with the base and inner margin covered with olivaceous hairs. There is a yellowish ray at the end of the cell, followed by a transverse median series of three yellow opaque markings, which cross the wing at right angles to the inner margin; the two innermost spots, which:are located between the median nervules, are circular; the outer- most, which is elongated and linear, is situated between the third median and the first subcostal. The fringes are narrowly yellowish, shaded with brown at the ends of the nervules, except near the anal angle, where the fringe is uniformly bright yellow. On the underside the primaries are dark maroon, marked with pale cinereous near the apex, and laved with pale yellowish along the inner margin. The spots‘of the upper surface reappear on the lowerside, and, in addition, there is a small geminate 30 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, costal spot about the middle-of the costa. There is a narrow ray of cinereous on the costa at the base; the cinereous apical tract is marked by a band of darker submarginal cloudings, and the margin at the apex is ac- centuated by a series of dark brown spots, shading about the middle into the dark ground-color of the wing. The third spot of the median series, which is very conspicuous on the upperside, scarcely appears on the low- erside, but is lost in the prevalent yellow shade of the inner margin. The secondaries are dark brown, laved with purplish-ashen arranged in trans- verse bands. At the base, running diagonally from the costa to the sub- median nerve, there is a narrow, pale cinereous streak; the outer margin is dark brown. The fringe at the anal angle is bright yellow. Expanse 68 mm. Hab.—Valley of the Ogové. This fine species, which is one of the largest of the African Hes- periidz, is represented in my collection by a single female. It strongly suggests, in some respects, the well-known Gangara thyrsis of India; but I suspect that an accurate examination of the neuration, which I am reluctant at present to make, will reveal that it is generically distinct. PARNARA. 8. P. unistriga sp. nov. ¢.—The antennz@ are black, paler on the lower- side, with the lowerside of the club bright yellow; the upperside of the palpi, the head, and the body is dark brown; the lowerside of the palpi is whitish, of the thorax gray, and of the abdomen pure white. The legs are gray, like the thorax. The primaries on the upperside are blackish brown, with greenish hairs at the base. There are two narrow, elongated ‘spots at the end of the cell, one above the other. There are two minute subapical dots and a transverse median series of four spots, of which the uppermost is very minute; the next larger subquadrate; the third the largest of all, trapezodial; and the fourth, which is located on the subme- dian vein near its middle, is lunate. The fringes are slightly paler than the body of the wing. The secondaries, upon the upperside, are of the same color as the primaries, with the fringes at the anal angle, and the inner margin quite pale. They are traversed by a transverse median band of four or five white opaque spots, which gradually widen from the first subcostal to the first median nervule, where the series terminates. On the underside the primaries are fuscous, slightly darker in the region of the cell. The spots of the upperside reappear on this side, and are much larger, though less dstinctly defined. The secondaries are fuscous, slightly tinged with rufous, and externally bordered with a darker shade; there is a circular whitish spot at the end of the cell. The transverse me_ dian series of spots reappears upon the lowerside, but more distinctly defined, and a narrow whitish ray runs from the innermost of these spots to the outer margin. The female is unknown to me. Expanse 30 mm, Hab.—Nalley of the Ogové. 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 31 In the plate figs. 13 and 14 show white spots near the costa of the primaries, beyond the base, and in fig. 13 there are white yots near the costa at the base of the secondaries: these are pin-holes in the wings of the specimen, and must not be taken into account when studying the figure. I did not have an oppor- tunity to retouch the plate and stop them out. 9. P. melphis sp. nov. ¢'—Antennz black, paler beneath. The palpi are brown, edged below with the yellowish. The thorax and abdomen are dark brown, sparingly clothed with greenish hairs. The upperside of the primaries is black, clothed with greenish hairs at the base. There are two small subapical spots, and a transverse limbal series of five translu- cent spots, the first exceedingly minute; the second subquadrate; the third and fourth, which are also subquadrate, are the largest in the series, and are closer to each other than the other spots; the lowermost spot of the series, which rests upon the middle of the submedian vein, is small and nearly oval. The secondaries on the upperside are black, with a light vestiture of greenish hairs at the base and on the inner margin. The fringes are narrow and whitish. This wing is crossed about the middle, beyond the cell, by an irregularly curved band of translucent spots, ex- tending from the first subcostal to the internal vein. Both wings, on the underside, are brownish ferruginous. The spots of the upperside reap- pear. The small oval spot, which forms the last member of the trans- verse limbal series of the upperside, is represented upon the lowerside by a large, brilliantly-white lunate spot, which is opaque, except on its inner margin, where it coincides with the oval mark of the upper surface. The median band of spots on the secondaries is reinforced by a small brilliantly- white opaque spot at its outer extremity above the first subcostal nervule, and the inner spot contiguous to the internal vein is larger than upon the upperside, brilliantly white and opaque, except where it coincides with the small translucent spot of the upperside of the wing. Expanse 35 mm. ffab-—Valley of the Ogové. This species in some respects resembles P. statira Mab., ac- cording to the published description; but Mons. Mabille, who has seen the type, declares it to be a species unknown to him and quite distinct from his P. s¢atira. EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. . Sarangesa perpaupera Holl., Ann. and Mag. N. H. (6), x, p. 288. Celenorhinus macrostictus Holl., sp. nov. . Sarangesa exprompta Holl., sp. nov. rs motoztioides Holl., Ann. and Mag. N. H. (6), x, p. 288. af as (female). Eagris fuscosa Holl., sp. nov. Sarangesa subalbida Holl., sp. nov. (underside). . Katreus johnstonii Butl., P. Z. S., 1887, p. 573. . Eagris dekastigma Mab., C. R. Soc. Ent. Belg., 1891, p. 1xii. “10. Acleros substrigata Holl., sp. nov. es ee (underside). 12. Gangara (?) basistriga Holl., sp. nov. (underside). “13. Parnara unistriga Holl., sp. nov. Sea fs (underside). 15. Gastrocheta mabillei Holl., sp. nov. 4 = (underside). “17. Carystus (?) thersander Mab., Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. (6), x, p. 30. “ 18. Parnara melphis Holl., sp. nov. Fig. PEI AVES Po . 32 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ January, OBITUARY. Mr. WILHELM JULICH died Nov. 8, 1893, in New York City, aged 54 years, of cerebro-spinal meningitis. Mr. Jiilich’s death was as unexpected by his own family as it was by his many friends, to whom the news of his sudden demise came as a great shock. He was a man of robust health, and while not feeling his best for some days, believed that his energy and will power would carry him through, as it had done before under more trying circumstances. On Tuesday, November 7th, he declared his in- tention of going out to vote, and it was only the timely arrival of his physican that prevented him from doing so. Wednesday evening he be- came unconscious, and passed away peacefully about midnight. Mr. Jiilich was born at Rhine-Pfaltz, Germany, and came to this country at the age of fifteen, residing continuously from that time in New York City. He was appreciated for his good qualities by a large number of entomol- ogists who are not limited to New York, he being an honorary member both of the Brooklyn Institute and of the Newark Ento. Society, as well as of the New. York Ento. Society. His labors in Entomology had been chiefly in Lepidoptera up to some fifteen years ago, at which time he began to devote his attention more exclusively to Coleoptera, of which he had a collection, beautifully mounted and arranged, of over 10,000 specimens. He contributed a number of valuable-and interesting articles on his favorite study to the various entomological journals, principally to ‘‘Entomologica Americana.’’ He was a member of the 1st Regiment N. Y. Volunteers, and served two years in defence of his adopted country, was severely wounded at Chantilly, and lay several months in the hospital at Washington. On one occasion his entomological pursuits came near costing him his life. He was captured while trying to return inside the Union lines without the countersign, and arrested as a spy. When he appeared before the court-martial, his story that he had been catching insects was not appreciated until he produced his bottles and displayed the ‘ Kafers,” etc., they contained. His old commander, General Sigel, made a short and impressive address over his remains, in which he voiced the general regret that would be felt by the many friends who loved and honored him, and by whom his memory would be long cherished. He was buried November roth in the Lutheran Cemetery, Brooklyn, L. L., with appropriate military honors. C. FREIHERR VON GUMPPENBERG, lepidopterist and postmaster at Bamberg, Germany. ; ENTOMOLOGICAL News for December, 1893, was mailed Dec. 7, 1893. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA, VOL. v. FEBRUARY, 1894. No. 2. CONTENTS: Wickham—Habits of some Oceanic | Economic Entomology......cssscseceeseeeeee 44 Hemiptera aS ja NOLES ANG NEWS, .... va0c0eese ion odeess soncee 77 African Hesperiidae............sscces sere 89 Entomological Literature..............-2:++- 81 | Mengel—Description of new species of Entomological Section. ........-..:sssssseseee 85 - Myscelia from western Mexico...... 96 ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY. -LEPIDOPTERA-HETEROCERA (Moths). By Geo. D. Hutst, Ph.D. The Geometrina comprise about 600 described species, and there remain probably from 200 to 300 species to be described. They are, as a rule, slender-bodied moths, with large, frail wings, and a weak flight. The labial paipi are usually rather short, not more than half the length of the head, projecting for- ward, with the end member usually very short; sometimes as long as the head, very rarely recurved. In two instances only in the males they extend far forward, with second member very long, the palpi being decidedly Deltoid in appearance. The maxillary palpi are wanting. I have, by careful bleaching under a strong power, found rudiments, but these are scarcely to be noticed here. The antennz are very variable. In the females they are more simple in character than in the males, being generally ciliate and rarely bipectinate. In the males they vary from the simplest form through serrate and dentate to very broadly plumose bi- pectinate. With us no form has been found with unipectinate antennz as in other parts of the world, and one only with an- tennz doubly bipectinate. (> 66 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. { March, The tongue is generally well developed, long though slender. In a few cases it is wanting. The ocelli are generaily wanting, and are never prominent. The eyes are very uniform in character, being generally large, globose, prominent and naked. The clypeus is variable in appearance, generally broad and subquadrate. It is sometimes broader than long, and rarely very narrow, with the eyes almost joined. It varies generally from being flat to being well rounded, and is rarely tubercled. The vestiture is generally scaly and close, but very often the front is tufted, and rarely with hairs. The head, as a whole, is generally large, prominent and free, though in the Bombycoid forms there is a strong tendency to retraction and smallness, as well as to a loss of the tongue, and an increase in hairness and quantity of vestiture. The thorax is generally slender and weak. The vestiture is generally loose. There is rarely a dorsal crest, more often low posterior tufts. The patagiz are well developed, loose, fluffy. The wings are generally very large for the size of the body, though frail. They are always present in the males, but in a few cases are aborted or entirely wanting in the females. Ordinarily, where present the wings have sharper apices and angles in the females than in the males. The wings vary in shape from very broad almost to lanceolate; apices and angles are broadly rounded, or extended and acute; margins even, angulated, in- cised or eroded. They are generally covered with short scales, closely laid, as a rule; but these are often in part, sometimes al- together, transformed into close-lying hairs. In a few cases the wings of the males are ornamented with tuftings or pencils of hairs. A The venation is extremely variable; far more so, probably, than any other family of the Lepidoptera; both as the species are compared, and in the individuals of the species. The fore wings are generally 12-veined, though in individual specimens 13 are found, the last being along the costa nearer the base than 12. Vein 11 is very often wanting, so that many species have 11 veins only, though this cannot be depended upon to any great extent for classification, as in any specimen of the species vein I1 is likely to appear. There are one or two internal veins. Vein 5 is generally from near the middle of the outer edge of the cell. a bi 2 ¥ Ci % * % 1894. ] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 67 Veins 7, 8 and 9 nearly always on one stem. In very many species, more generally in the 11-veined ones, there is a vitreous spot or fovea, as Mr. Meyrick calls it, at the base of 1a in the fore wings beneath. Ina few cases a pencil of hairs near the same spot. In one of our species there are 8 veins only in the fore wings, and in very many the relations of 10, 11 and 12 are ex- tremely variable, these separating or anastomosing in the indi- vidual species without regard to uniformity. In some cases there is no accessory cell, in many there is one, in many two. In some cases there is a subcostal cell, but 12 is generally free. The hind wings have normally 8 veins. There are one or two internal veins, and the position of all veins presents great varia- tion. Veins 3 and 4 generally separate, are sometimes stemmed. Vein 5, generally near the centre of the outer margin of the cell, is very often wanting, or merely a fold. Veins 6 and 7 may be separate or stemmed; vein 8 may be stemmed with the anterior part of the cell, joined near its base only, joined by a short cross- bar, or entirely separate. The wing often has a vitreous spot or fold below at base near vein 8, and the inner edge is quite often _modified by a fold and hair tuftings. The abdomen is slender, rather long, sometimes with lateral - or dorsal tufts in the male. The legs present very considerable variation. They are gen- erally long, slender and frail, in some cases very long. The fore tibiz are rarely spined. The epiphysis is always present, and is often prolonged to beyond the end of the tibiz. The middle legs are, with one exception, armed with a pair of spurs at the end of the tibiz, and are very uniform. The hind legs are generally longer than the others, and are usually with a pair of spurs at the end, and another pair above near the middle of tibia. In a few cases the legs are.so much aborted as to be useless, and in a few are simply rudimentary in character. Many are furnished with a long pencil of hairs; this starts from the upper portion of the tibia and reaches to the lower end, being ordinarily concealed in a long groove on the inner side; where the hair pencil exists there is always a swelling and enlargement of the tibia, and a shortening and abortion of the spurs and tarsi. This is a characteristic of the males, though in some cases there is a loss of spurs in the female. The history of variation in the hind legs seems to be as follows: The legs are 68 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, normally long and slender, with two pairs of spurs. Then for ornamentation the tufting is evolved, with the tibia correspond- ingly developed at the expense of the spurs and tarsi. Soon the ~ eg becomes an appendage for ornamentation only, not for walk- ing. But, not being used for walking, its muscular power fails, without a recovery of its normal power, the other legs being sufficient for that purpose. With the loss of muscular energy the tufting vanishes, the tibia contracts and weakens, and the whole leg becomes more and more rudimentary. The moths have a weak uncertain flight, rarely prolonged. They are, as a rule, easily disturbed by day. They hide during the hours of light underneath leaves and rubbish, or against the bark of trees, which in coloration they much resemble. In re- pose the wings lie flat, but generally partly spread. They are most abundantly found among plants in rich dark woods, and in damp swampy valleys. The eggs are generally oval, slightly flattened, and covered with reticulated spaces. The larva are largely characteristic from their peculiar mode of progression. One or more pairs of the abdominal legs are wanting, and to move the hind part of the body is drawn for- ward, curving up the central portion. They are consequently called ‘‘loopers’’ or ‘‘ measuring worms.’’ In a few species the first, or first two pairs of abdominal legs are wanting; in the great majority the first three pairs are aborted. The two hind pairs | are correspondingly developed and muscular. The larva is generally naked, slender, cylindrical, rarely with extended processes, but generally more or less roughened, mim- icing in appearance living or dead twigs, or the petioles of leaves. They are generally nocturnal in habit, during the day descending to the ground or sitting rigid upon their hind legs with the body raised and’extended in a nearly straight line. They spin a thread of silk as they move along, and when disturbed are apt to drop by this to the-ground. They are as a consequence easily col- lected by beating bushes and plants over an umbrella. The larve are often of economic importance, a few, such as the canker worms, becoming pests in certain parts of the country. The pupa is generally slender, naked, and elongated; some- times suspended by the extremity of the abdomen, and with a girth of silk about the thorax, sometimes in a thin cocoon, and sometimes it is subterranean. 1894. | . ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 69 The Geometrina are, in the main, very easily separated from other families of the Lepidoptera, but in some cases they very nearly approach certain Bombycina and Noctuina. From the latter they can be distinguished by the position of vein 5 of the fore wings, which in the Noctuina is close to 4, at the lower angle of the cell, while in the Geometrina it is near the middle of the outer edge of the cell. From the Bombycina they are separated by a phase of struc- ture which is at once characteristic and exclusive—namely, the structure of the larva. The tendency of the Bombycina is to- wards the modification of the fosterior abdominal legs to other uses, often resulting in their entire abortion. In the Geometrina the tendency is to give them more power by an abortion of the anterior abdominal legs. I am aware that entomologists look with little favor upon taking anything but the mature insect in classification, but embryology will change that. In botany, and elsewhere in zoology, embryological characters are regarded as being of the greatest importance, and certainly a student can locate his insect as closely by the eyesight only from the larve as he can from the imagines. The species is the insect in both sexes, and in its whole history. _ The classification of the Geometrina has been largely artificial and empirical. The systematists have seemingly arranged their collections as nearly as it seemed_they ought to be from appear- ance, and made their genera conform to peculiarities of appear- ance or the more obvious breaks in the line. There was no ability, and rarely any effort to exclusive definition. Some have, through Hiibner, Curtis, Stephens, Treitschke, Duponchel and Guenée, a classification without structural definition, and this has culminated with the system of von Gumpenberg, who follows the law that ‘‘nothing shall be used in classification which rre- quires the use of the glass, or the denuding in any way of the insect.’ The early systematists of course are to be pardoned, as they were pioneers groping their way to the light. A structural classification was begun by Herrich-Schaeffer, and vastly bettered by Lederer, whose system has been followed in Europe from his time till now. Both, however, had in their systems much that was not based on structure. In 1892, Mr. Edward Meyrick, of England, published a paper on the ‘‘Classification of the Geometrina of the European : 70 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, Fauna,” in which he gave a classification rigidly based on struc- ture, while following as far as possible the line of superficial re- semblances. He also follows the now universally-received law of priority in the use of generic names. We have thus a classi- fication which is thoroughly structural, and premises to be more or less permanent. And we have generic names which cannot be superseded, thus giving a permanent nomenclature. | As applied to our own fauna, adding where it does not apply, as well as changing in some items of importance, Mr. Meyrick’s classification is as follows, by synopsis, so far as families go: GEOMETRINA. 1. Hind wings.—Vein 5 present andstrong . . . ...... .2 Hind wings.—Vein wanting, orafold only . . . . . Ennomide. 2. Hind wings.—Vein 8 anastomosing with cell more thas one-half its length; or when separate, joined by a cross-bar beyond the middle eee . . . . « Hydriomeniide. Hind wings.—Vein 8 Balirely paar or cell, or joined only shortly at bases eS ot et wae 3. Fore wings.—Veins 6 aiid 7 seme, eepatate ne 8 atid 9. Microniide. Fore wings.—Vein 7 long stemmed with 8andg . . ... . . 4. 4. Hind wings.—Vein 5 much nearer 6than4. . . . . . Geometridae. Hind wings.—Vein 5 near middle of cell . ays 5. Hind wings.—Vein 8 separate from cell at base, then shortly ainagtt mosing, then rapidly diverging . . . . . Sterrhide. Hind wings.—Vein 8 entirely separate Soni cell, or shores joined at base, then subparallel with cell. . . . . . . . Monoctenide. The Ennomidz cover many divergent forms. A7ifz/a has doubly bipectinated antennz. Many species have 11 veins only in the fore wings, and many have the basal fovea beneath in the male. These correspond to what has been known as the Boar- mine. The greatest aberrancy is shown in wing form among the Ennomide, as the species have the borders very variable through angulation. The Hydriomeniidz cover what has been known as Eupithecta and the Cidaridae. Some of the species have the inner margin of the hind wings modified by a lobe or tufting, as Calocalpe. Those where vein 8 is joined with the cell in the hind wings also have the inner edge of these wings much modified in some cases, and are known as the Lobophorine. Dysfteris falls in this group. = 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 71 The Microniidz include only a few genera with us. They are far more largely represented in the tropics. Leucula, Calledap- teryx and Callizzia belong here. The Geometridz include most of the green moths. They vary much in the sexes so far as the palpi and post-tibial spurs go. The Sterrhidz take the place of the Acidaliine. They are very closely connected with the Geometride, and here the greatest variation in the structure of the hind legs is found. Gonzaci- dala has but 8 veins in the fore wings. The Monocteenide (another new name to us) are poorly rep- resented in our fauna, though a very large family in Ausiralia and the far East. They connect the Hydriomeniide with the Geometridz, and are represented by the genera Brephos, Bap- tria, Paleacrita, and a few others. A full classification of the Geometrina following Mr. Meyrick’s method is now in preparation, and will shortly be published. THE statement in the “Canadian Entomologist’’ vol. xxv, p. 310, of Rev. W. J. Holland that a specimen of Erebus odora was found in the lecture-room of a church in Allegheny, Pa., reminds me of a similar experience : When I was Superintendent of Schools at Racine, Wis., in 1879, the janitor of the High School building, an excitable old gentleman, rushed up to me one morning with the information that after considerable effort (which no doubt he considered praiseworthy) he had captured a bat in one of the school-rooms and had confined it within one of the drawers of my desk. An entomologist will imagine my feelings when, on investiga- tion, I found a specimen of Erebus odora battered almost beyond recog- nition, especially when at that time the species was a stranger to my cabinet, It goes without saying that the janitor was instructed to allow me to capture any other bat that he might discover on the premises. Only forty-eight hours afterwards he came to me with the information that there was another bat in a certain room. By lashing my entomologist’s cane to a ten-foot pole I had little difficulty in capturing the ‘‘ bat,”’ though it had chosen a position on the ceiling, fortunately beyond the janitor’s reach. It was a magnificent specimen of Zrebus odora, perfectly fresh. My curiosity is excited anew as to the motive which impels this moth in particular to enter houses. It seems to be something more than an acci- dent. In this case it could not have been the attraction of artificial light, for the school-room was never lighted at night. It is also true, so far as I have observed, that Erebus odora, though coming to trees smeared with treacle for the capture of moths, will invariably start if the light of a dark lantern is allowed to come near it.—O. S. Westcott, Chicago, II. 72 { March, ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Published monthly (except July and August), in charge of the joint publication committees of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, and the American Entomological Society. It will contain not less than 300 pages per annum. It will main- jain no free list whatever, but will leave no measure untried to make it a necessity to every student of insect life, so that its very moderate annual subscription may be considered well spent. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $1.00, IN ADVANCE. ke@s~ All remittances should be addressed to E. T. Cresson, Treasurer, P. O. Box 248, Philadelphia, Pa.; all other communications to the Editors of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEws, Academy of Natural Sciences, Logan Square, Philadelphia, Pa. PHILADELPHIA, PA., MARCH, 1894. - BORROWING BOOKS. A correspondent writes as follows: “‘Is there any possible way of bor- rowing books from the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences or the American Entomological Society? If not, might not some scheme be devised? For example, I particularly want to see Ragonot’s new mono- graph Phycitide and several parts of the ‘‘ Biologia Centrali-Americana.”’ I don’t care to buy them; and, in fact, do not want to possess them at all, but if I could borrow such works by paying all cost of transport and de- positing a sum to cover possible loss, it would bea great advantage. You see entomology is being dreadfully crippled by the great difficulty of get- © ting necessary works, the result being that those not situated near a large library are placed at a disheartening disadvantage. Cannot this matter be brought up before the American Entomological Society or the Acad- emy of Natural Sciences, and see if anything can be done? Many people would doubtless give books to form the nucleus of such a loan library, and probably enough money could be raised to pay the salary of a libra- rian. I think the mere discussion of the matter might have ultimate good results, though nothing was done at present.’? We see no reason why such a library could not be inaugurated with this idea in view. Of course, such a thing could not be done in any of our society libraries at present, as it would be a manifest injustice to those who pay for the use of the books, and if they found a work missing which they wished to consult, there would be war at once. Also, there are few libraries which have sufficient funds to duplicate expensive books, and expensive works are the ones which would be in demand. It would have to be a special li- brary for this purpose alone, with a special fund and librarian. Of course, it could be an adjunct department to some already existing library. we 1894. } ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 73 DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. Edited by Prof. JOHN B. SMITH, Sc. D., New Brunswick, N. J. Wookpecker Work.—It is nothing unusual to see a woodpecker hard at work on the trunk of a tree, evidently after a meal, and sometimes quite large trunks are hammered into in the search for larve. Itis surprising how Fic. 1.—Section of a trunk of black oak, showing holes made by woodpecker; one-third natural size (from a photograph). much work seems to be done for such an apparently small return, and in wocd like white and black oak. Among our rare insects are the Cossids, and_among those forms that entomologists like to get, is C. guerciperda. 74 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, I have recently received evidence that leads me to believe that the abun- dance of woodpeckers and the rarity of the Cossids are directly related. _ Through my friend, Mr. J. T. Brakeley, of Bordentown, N. J., whospends a considerable portion of the year in the New Jersey pines, I have recently received some good specimens of the work of woodpeckers in oak, and a figure* of one of the specimens is herewith presented showing the holes Fic. 2.—Section of trunk sawed to show the burrows of the larva sought by the woodpeckers; the termination of their holes marked by ax; one-third natural size (from a photograph). ~ made by the woodpeckers on the outside of the tree, and showing also a cut through the trunk to indieate the locality of the larve that the wood- peckers were after. I urged upon Mr. Brakeley in his chopping opera- tions to keep a lookout for the insects that the woodpeckers were after, * These figures were first published in ‘‘ Garden and Forest,”’ No. 300, and electrotypes were obtained through the kindness of the publishers of that paper. : ne eer 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. re as he informed me that quite frequently he found that the woodpeckers. had not reached the larval burrows, having been either scared off, or had become tired of the work, with all the probabilities in favor of the first suggestion. A few days ago he sent me a larva taken from one of these biack oak sticks, and in this case also, a woodpecker had attempted to get at the burrow; but had for some reason stopped short, giving this- larva a chance to mature. I had expected to find some Longicorn larva, and was quite surprised to find instead a magnificent specimen of a Cossid,, which is almost certainly guerciperda. These insects live for two or three years in the trees, and the woodpeckers, therefore, have a very long time to find them, and in that way few of them ever reach maturity and change to moths. When these insects inhabit the lower parts of trees and be- come nearly full grown, they make enormous channels, and these chan- nels are very frequently taken-possession of by ants, who make use of them for their nests. It is, indeed, quite usual to attribute this work to the ants. It would seem as if the nutritive value of these larvze must be very high if it pays for the expenditure of force used in getting at them. A New Fact in the Life-history of the Silk-worm.—One learns from all sorts of sources; even the daily papers sometimes give us extremely in- teresting information concerning entomology. The latest that I have seen is from the New York Tribune for Jan. 31, 1894, and it gives us the new information that “‘ worms crawl out of their cocoons.’’ The entire article is as follows : ‘ “In the cargo of a steamer which recently arrived at a Pacific port from China were a number of boxes of silk-worms, in transit for London. After the steamer arrived in port the worms began to crawl out of their cocoons. Holes had been bored in the boxes to give air to the worms. They soon found the holes, crawled through them, and a number suc- ceeded in reaching the deck, where they were picked up by visitors. An enterprising man on shore saw the worms, bought all he could get, and. proposes starting a silk industry in Oregon.”’ We wish the enterprising man the enormous success he merits. A Note on the Habits of the Cockroach.—It sometimes happens, even in the best regulated families, that certain household pests make their ap- pearance in rather annoying numbers, and these are not always insect pests alone. Recently it has happened that in the house occupied by me there was “in invasion of mice and roaches (Periplaneta orientalis) and some measures became necessary in order to get rid of them. A mixture of even parts of borax and chocolate, finely powdered and thoroughly mixed, proved tolerably effective, and it would probably have been per- fectly satisfactory could I have had it applied thoroughly and persistently for a sufficient length of time. They did not disappear soon enough or completely enough to suit me, and I substituted a phosphoric paste, which was promptly effective in so far that the roaches disappeared from the lower regions where this had been used; but made their appearance in the upper part of the house, where they were even less welcome. For 76 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, the mice, traps were introduced, and a great haul was made two or three days in succession. I noticed one morning on examining the traps that one of the dead mice had been eaten into and a considerable portion of it devoured. I attributed this to cannibalism, and thought it probable that the mice were hard up for food. This occurred on two or three oc- casions, and in one instance I noticed that several roaches ran away from the trap when I opened the closet door. ‘lhis induced me to look a little more carefully into the matter of the eating, and I suspected that the mice could not well have done that kind of chewing which was present. I concluded to experiment a little further, and when I captured another mouse, left it in the trap for two or three days to see what the outcome would be. Then early one morning I carefully opened the closet door scaring off several roaches that were evidently engaged in making a meal on the dead mouse. I found that they had not only eaten hide and hair, but had eaten a considerable portion of the intestines and the flesh. Around several of the vertebrze the muscular tissue had been cleaned off as completely as if ants had done it, and every bone and every process, and every spicule, as well as the ribs were perfect and entirely cleaned, making, so far as it went, a perfect skeleton. I had known, of course, that roaches were almost omnivorous, and that nothing was sacred to them; but this is the first time that I ever noted such a habit as that above described, nor do I recollect ever having read of any similar occurrence. Perhaps some of the readers of the NEws have seen or heard of some like instance, and if so I would be pleased to have a note of it. The Pear-leaf Blister-mite.—In Bulletin No. 61, of the Cornell Station, Mr. M. V. Slingerland has an account of the above insect, Phytoptus pyri Scheut., in which he finds that Winter spraying with the kerosene emul- sion diluted not more than eight times is an almost perfect remedy. The life-history of the mite is stated, and it is found that the adults hibernate under the bud-scales, where they are easily reached by the kerosene, which penetrates every crevice readily. The emulsion diluted only three times produced no injurious effects upon the trees. This result is an important one, in that it forces the grower into his orchard in Winter, and the application made as against the mite will be of use also against the Pear psyl/a, and will destroy many another insect which seeks shelter in crevices and like situations. In New Jersey this species is abundant, seasonally and localiss but usu- ally noted only early in the year, nearly all trace of the insect’s work dis- appearing by mid-Summer. No permanently injurious effects have been noticed in this State. - Timber Beetles—Mr. A. D. Hopkins has sent out from the West Vir- ginia Experiment Station a circular to lumber manufacturers asking in- formation concerning injury done to timber by a number of species of wood-borers, mainly Scolytids and Lymexyllids. The object is to gather statistics, so far as possible, concerning the percentage of defective timber and the actual money loss. It is impossible to repeat the questions asked, —s 1894. } ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 77 because they refer to illustrations and descriptions of injury which ac- company the circular. Of course any information derived from replies to such a circular will be exceedingly imperfect; but will give some infor- mation perhaps as to how the commercial value of lumber is affected. Just at the present time pin holes in oak are a positive advantage in the manufacture of ‘‘antique’’ furniture, since it saves putting them in artifi- cially. The circular displays Mr. Hopkins’ activity, however, and also the fact that he is devoting his entire energy to the question; the only true way of obtaining permanently valuable results. Ten years would not be more than sufficient to gain a thorough knowledge of the relation of in- _ sect life in its relation to the forest trees of a single locality only, and there need be no period of idleness.at any season. Notes and News. ENTOMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS FROM ALL QUARTERS OF THE GLOBE. [The Conductors of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEws solicit, and will thankfully receive items of news, likely to interest its readers, from any source. The author’s name will be given in each case for the information of cataloguers and bibliographers.] To Contributors.—All contributions will be considered and passed upon at our earliest convenience, and as far as may be, will be published according to date of recep- tion. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEws has reached a circulation, both in numbers and circumfer- ence, as to makeit necessary to put “‘ copy’’ into the hands of the printer, for each number, three weeks before date of issue. This should be remembered in sending special or im- portant matter for certain issue. Twenty-five ‘‘ extras” without change in form will be -given free when they are wanted, and this should be so stated on the MS. along with the number desired. The receipt of ali papers will be acknowledged.—Ep. Pictures for the album of the American Entomological Society have been received from Dr. R. E. Kunze, C. V. Piper, A. G. Weeks, Jr., Ernest André, of France, M. J. Elrod. EDMOND DE SELYs-LONGCHAMPS was unanimously elected a corre- spondent of the American Entomological Society at its meeting held Feb. 15, 1894. Dr. E. H. Eames, of this city, while out botanizing for specimens of the Virginia Snake-root (Aristolochia serpentaria), found a plant upon which were a number of Papilio philenor \arve. The doctor was glad to get the plant, as it is very scarce about here. I attempted to raise them, but could find nothing upon which they would feed; I tried Spice-bush, Sassafras, Smartweed and all the most pungent plants I could find, and they would take to none; one was full SroNs: and changed to a chrysalis without eating any more. E. H. Eames is a thorough botanist, and he says that this is the northern limit of the food-plant. I have also found /u#onia cenia common about here, but not until after the first of October. TZerias lisa is also common through September and October.—I. F. Moore, Jr., Bridgeport, Conn. 78 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, A VARIATION IN TACHINID ATTACK.—An instance recently came under my observation which not only appeared to be something of a departure from the ordinary method of attack, as it is usually observed in these parasites, but afforded an illustration of the fact that a proteetive resem- blance or mimicry does not always protect. Ordinarily, the eggs of Tachina and closely allied species when deposited on Lepidopterous larve, are placed on the dorsal or lateral surface, more frequently the former, and especially on the thoracic segments, where they are least, liable to become detached by the victim. In this case the host was the larva of one of the Geometridze, and when first observed was alive and -attached posteriorly to a limb, with the body thrown out at an angle, as is the habit in caterpillars of this family, while the eggs had been placed on the ventral surface of the thoracic segments about the bases of the legs and in the region of the cesophagus. None of the parasites developed to adults, and hence the species cannot be determined. Just what led the parent fly to place her eggs in this locality it is of course impossible to ‘say. A slight movement in the limbs of the larva might, if not already known to the parasite, have led to the discovery of its true nature; but -even in that case it would seem that the larva should have been able to defend itself in that quarter and driven the fly to attack a less protected part, even if the latter had not found it out of its own accord. F. M. WEBSTER. A BUG GNAWED HIS HEART.—A young boy’s death gets a strange ex- planation. Muncie, Ind., Jan. 19, 1894. A remarkable case of a boy being killed by a bug that gnawed his heart deeply interests local physi- cians. Samuel Lennox, seven years old, died a few days ago with very peculiar symptoms. The boy had been sick for some time, but his case was different from any other. A post-mortem examination revealed that part of the heart had been eaten away by an insect, causing death. Nearly a year ago the boy drank water from a brook and swallowed a water bug. The insect ate its way through the boy’s stomach and then began devour- ing the heart, the boy bleeding to death. Note.—tThis is undoubtedly a species of bug we have had occasion to refer to before in the News—humbug.—EbD. A FURTHER note on Oceanic Hemiptera.—The species of Rhagovelia mentioned in my article in the February number of the NEws is, accord- ing to a recent communication from Mr. Heidemann, not cod/aris, but a new species which is about to be described by Prof. Uhler as pluméea. H. F. WIickKHAM. THE Texas Goddess of Liberty has more than a bee in her bonnet. She isn’t a Populist of the Mrs. Lease order, but a 17-feet high statue - poised on the highest pinnacle of the State Capitol at Austin. In cleaning the statue a few days ago it was discovered that a swarm of bees had made their home in the hollow head of the goddess, using the nostrils as an entrance, and had filled it half full of honey.—New York Sun. —- ‘ 1894. | ; ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 79 AspIpIOTUS NERII.—The distribution of this scale, brought about by human means, is very wide; yet the insect is by no means found every- where. Curiously enough, the true 4. zerii is not yet known from the ‘West Indies. In Jamaica the oleander is much cultivated, but no 4. nerii was to be found; nor is it in Mr. Barber’s collections from the Lesser Antilles, or those of Mr. Ulrich from Trinidad. There is a scale on palms in the West Indies that was considered a variety of nerii, but I have recently satisfied myself, by the examination of a good deal of material, that it is a quite distinct species, namely A. destructor Signoret; and further, that my 4. fa//azx and Mr. Newstead’s A. cototis are but slight varieties of it. The supposed A. palmarum from Bar- bados is another variety. On the continent, 4. nzeriz is known from widely separated points. On August 8th, last year, I found it on a pink oleander in Las Cruces, N. Mex. Dr. A. Dugés sent it to me on oleander from Guanajuato, Mex., where it is known to have existed at least since 1884. Jt had been recorded from Chili, and a few days ago M. Lataste sent me specimens on oleander and jasmine, from Santiago. It would be interesting to obtain fuller particulars about the distribution of this scale, and I would suggest that those who have the opportunity might examine oleanders in various localities whence it has not been reported, to see if it is really absent, or merely unnoticed. The white scales on the leaves are very conspicuous and could‘not well be overlooked by any one searching for them.—T. D. A. COCKERELL. Aw Earty Butrerr_y.—As evidences of the extraordinary mildness of the season hereabouts friends have been bringing or sending to the Ledger office during the past week or two dandelion flowers, pansy or heartsease blossoms, and other floral specimens gathered outdoors in sunny nooks and sheltered places. On Monday, Jan. 23, 1894, these treasures and harbingers of Spring were pleasantly added to by a live and healthy specimen of the pretty yellow butterfly of the species which is so -well known to everyone, and which forms the finishing touches to every pastoral scene. This golden specimen of butterfly down was found flut- tering happily about the regions of Seventh and Market Streets, and was brought to the Ledger office and given the freedom of the editorial rooms. —Fublic Ledger. THE SILK SpipEk of Madagascar forms the subject of an interesting article in Die Natur, by Dr. Karl Muller. Its native name is Halabe, meaning great spider. ‘‘This Halabe, or Mephi/a madagascariensis, spins threads of a golden color, and strong enough, according to Main- droin, to hang a cork helmet by. The female spider may attain a length of 15 cm., while the male does not exceed 3cm. A single female indi- vidual, at the breeding season, gave M. Cambone, a French missionary, some 3000 m. of a fine silken thread during a period of about 27 days. The thread was examined with a view to creating a new industry. Small textures woven of these threads are actually used by the natives for fas- tening flowers on sunshades and for other purposes.’’—Pudlic Ledger. 80 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, In the News for October, 1893, p. 270, we reprinted from the “ Zoolog- ischer Anzeiger,”’ a new classification of the Tracheate Arthropods pro- posed by Mr. R. I. Pocock. In ‘‘ Nature’ for Dec. 7, 1893, Mr. Pocock states that Dr. E. Haase has informed him that in Scolopendrella the generative openings ‘‘are situated on the fourth body-segment. This genus is therefore progoneate, like the Dilopoda and Pauropoda ; but whether it should be ranged with these two classes, or occupy an inde- pendent position between the Progoneata and Opisthogoneata, is a ques- tion for future discussion.’’ Owing to our not receiving the proof of the note in the October News, certain errors are contained in it which we take this opportunity to correct: line 6, for ‘‘ Pauropod,’’ read ‘‘ Pauro- poda;” line 7, for ‘‘aimple,’’ read ‘‘simple;’’ line 15, for ‘‘a,”’ read ‘‘aa;’” line 17, for ‘‘ B,” read ‘‘ bb.”’ IN an article on the correct name of the Milk-weed butterfly, published in the ‘‘ Entomologist’s Record”’ for January 15th, Mr. F. J. Buckell comes to the conclusion that it should be Anosia archippus. INTERESTING FossIL INsEcts.—Dr. S. H. Scudder, from Paris, Dec. 2, 1893, contributes a brief article on ‘‘ The Carboniferous Insects of Commentry, France,”’ to ‘‘ The American Journal of Science”’ for February, 1894. He states that he has recently had the opportunity of seeing a considerable part of a collection of fossil insects from the Upper Carbon- iferous of Commentry, in Central France, and also the illustrations pre- pared by M. Charles Brongniart, of the Paris Museum, to portray these remains. When M. Brongniart’s work appears, ‘“‘our knowledge of paleozoic insects will have been increased three- or four-fold at a single stroke and an entirely new point of departure for the future opened. No former contribution in this field can in any way compare with it, nor even all former contributions taken together. Besides, it will offer such & striking series of strange forms as cannot fail to awaken the attention of the least curious. One may not enter into details, but mention may simply be made of one species, regarded by M. Brongniart as one of the fore- runners of the dragonflies, in which the wings have an expanse of con- siderably more than two feet (or about seventy centimeters), and of which several specimens are preserved. It is a veritable giant among insects.”’ TRANSACTIONS of American Entomological Society, vol. xxi, 1894. No. 1, in press, containing the following articles: Catalogue of the Cole- optera of Alaska, with synonymy and distribution, by John Hamilton, M.D.;, Descriptions of new genera and species of Noctuidz, by J. B. Smith; 6 pls. Identification of Insects (Imagos) for Subscribers. Specimens will be named under the following conditions: 1st, The number of species to be limited to twenty-five for each sending; 2d, The sender to pay all expenses of trans- portation and the insects to become the property of the American Entomological Society ; 3d, Each specimen must have a number attached so that the identification may be an- nounced accordingly. Exotic species named only by special arrangement with the Editor, who should be consulted before specimens are sent. Send a 2 cent stamp with all insects for return of names. Before sending insects for identification, read page 41, Vol. III, Address all packages to ENTOMOLOGICAL News, Academy Natural Sciences, Logan Square, Philadelphia, Pa. | Wes. 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 81 Entomological Literature. ScieNcE. New York, Dec. 29, 1893.—A new mite infecting mush- rooms, H. Osborn, figs.—Jan. 19, 1894. Another rope of maggots, W. H. Ward. _ ANNALES DES SCIENCES NATURELLES. ZOOLOGIE (7), xv, 6. Paris, Dec. 1, 1893.—Note on the existence in Senegal of a new species of Pro- sopistoma, A Veyssiere, figs. ~ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER. Leipsic, Dec. 27, 1893.—On Chordeuma germanicum mihi (Diplopoda), C. Verhoeff. Preliminary communication on new observations on the intercalated stage of the Julide, a new grouping of the old genus /#/ws and some new and rare Diplopods from Tyrol, id.—Jan. 22, 1894. Preliminary note on the spermatogenesis of ~ Bombya mori, K. T. Nogakushi. ANNALES DE LA SOCIETE ENTOMOLOGIQUE DE BELGIQUE, XXxXvii, I2. Brussels, 1893.—Note on the Attini, A. Forel. ‘BIHANG TILL KONGL. SVENSKA VETENSKAPS-AKADEMIENS HAND- LINGAR, xviii, iv Afd. Stockholm, 1893.—[On nerve endings and fine capillaries in epithelium of lepidopterous larve—in Swedish], E. Holm- gren, 1 pl. ; FLOWERS AND INSECrs—xi, by Charles Robertson. Extract: Botanical Gazette, xviii, pp. 268-274. July, 1893. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AND SYNONYMICAL CATALOGUE OF THE DESCRIBED MEMBRACID2 OF NorRTH AMERICA. By F. W. Goding, M.D., Ph.D. From Bull. Ill. State Lab. Nat. Hist. vol. ?, pp. 391-482. Date? THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES (2), viii, 1. Sydney, July 28, 1893.-—On the life-histories of Australian Coleoptera, part i, W. W. Froggatt. Revision of the Australian Amaryg- mides, part ii—the genera Chalcopterus (cont.) and Amarygmus, Rev. T. Blackburn. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SociETY OF VICTORIA (n. s.), V. Mel- bourne, May, 1893.—Further notes on ;the oviparity of the larger Victo- rian Peripatus, generally known as P. Leuckartii, A Dendy, D.Sc. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL History. London, Janu- ary, 1894.—The endosternite of Scorpio compared with the homologous structures in other Arachnida, H. M. Bernard, 1 pl. On the Elateridz of Japan, G. Lewis. ComPTE RENDU, SOCIETE PHILOMATHIQUE DE Paris, Dec. 24, 1893.— Trachez and tracheal respiration, J. Martin. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST, January, 1894.—Hymenoptera Phytophaga, 1893, W. H. Harrington. ae 82 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. { March, REVUE BIOLOGIQUE DU NORD DE LA FRANCE, vi, 3. _ Lille, December, 1893.—New species of Zhysanura found in the grotto of Dargilan, R. Moniez. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. London, Ont., January, 1894.—De- scription of the preparatory stages of Phyciodes carlota Reakirt (Chari- dryas ismeria Scudder), W. H. Edwards: Note on Copidryas platensis, A. R. Grote. An entomological trip to Copper Cliff, Ont., W. H. Har- rington. Some undescribed stages of Noctuid larvae, H. G. Dyar. The mottled umber moth (Aiéernia defoliaria L.), J. Fletcher, figs. Descrip- tions of two new Hymenopterous parasites from water-beetles, W. H. Ashmead.—February, 1894. A check-list of the Nearctic Coccide, T. D. A. Cockerell. Notes on Coleoptera, C. W. Stromberg. Notes upon Lycena extlis Boisd., with descriptions of some of its early stages, W. H. Edwards. On some aquatic larve, with notice of their parasites, H. F. Wickham. Descriptions of the larve of certain Tenthredinide, H. G. Dyar. Food-plants of some Californian Lepidoptera, J. B- Lembert. The genera Pieris Schrk. and Euchloe Hb., J. W. Tutt, figs. Addi- tions to the list of Canadian Coleoptera, ii, A. H. Kilman. A very re- markable and anomalous Syrphid with peculiarly developed hind tarsi, C. H. T. Townsend, figs. DEUTSCHE ENTOMOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT IRIS, vi, 2. Berlin, Jan. 3, | 1894.—The macrolepidoptera of the vicinity of Dresden, H. Steinert and K. Zeidler. Revision of the first group of the genus Afediconius, G. Weymer, 2 pls. THE LOCUSTID2 AND BLATTID# OF INDIANA. By W. S. Blatchley. Extract: Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. 1892, pp. 92-165. Terre Haute, Ind., 1893. THE ENTOMOLOGIsT’s RECORD. London, Jan. 15, 1894.—Danais archippus, Anosia plexippus, or What ?, F. J. Buckell. Hair tufts and androconia in Zustroma reticulata, T. A. Chapman, M.D. Notes on Dr. Buckell’s paper on classification, W. F. Kirby. On an additional method for determining the species of Lepidoptera [by the scales], W. S. Riding, M.D. On the larva of Arctia caja (cont.), T. A. Chapman,-M.D. SPECIES DES HYMENOPTERES D’EUROPE ET D’ALGERIE. Fondé par Edmond André et continué sous la direction scientifique de Ernest André. 43e fascicule. Gray: Bouffaut Freres. July 1, 1893. Pp. 137-240, Vol. V (Braconide, cont.). 44e fascicule, Oct. 1, 1893. Pp. 209-272, pls. iii, v, vi, xi, Vol. VI (Chrysididz, cont.). PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILA- - DELPHIA, 1893.—The Odonate genus Ortholestes, P. P. Calvert, figs. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATURAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION OF STATEN ISLAND, iv, 3. Jan. 13, 1894.—Staten Island Harvest flies, W. T. Davis. BULLETIN DE LA SOCIETE LINNEENNE DU NORD DE LA FRANCE, xi, 257. Amiens, November, 1893.—Theory of the parasitism of insects, L. Carpentier. 1894. ] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 83 BIOLOGISCHES CENTRALBLATT. Erlangen, Jan. 1, 1894.—On the origin of the social life among Hymenoptera, C. Emery.—Jan. 15, 1894. The -erigin and formation of the worker stage among ants, C. Emery. On the morphology, biology and pathology of the ‘‘ Nonne”’ [Psi/ura mo- nacha), E. Wasmann. ZOOLOGISCHE JAHRBUCHER, vii, 4. Jena, Dec. 23, 1893.—Contributions to the knowledge of the North American Ant fauna, C. Emery, 1 pl. ZEITSCHRIFT FUR WISSENSCHAFTLICHE ZOOLOGIE, lvii, 2. Leipsic, ' Dec. 31, 1893.—Contributions to the knowledge of the colors of Insects’ : scales: 1. Lepidoptera, 2. Coleoptera, F. Urech. THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. Philadelphia, January, 1894.—Courtship among the flies, J. M. Aldrich. PsycHe. Cambridge, Mass., February, 1894.—The habits of the acu- leate Hymenoptera, i, W. H. Ashmead. New and undescribed genera and species of West African Noctuidae, ii, W. J. Holland, figs., 1 pl. ; Hermann August Hagen, Eds. Wilhelm Julich, T. L. C. MITTHEILUNGEN DER SCHWEIZERISCHEN ENTOMOLOGISCHEN GESELL- SCHAFT, ix, 1. Schaffhausen, 1893.—Contributions to the knowledge of the Hymenopterous fauna of Switzerland, T. Steck. List of Lepidoptera taken at electric lights in Bern from May to October, 1892, R. Benteli. Coleoptera helvetica, pp. 321-352, Dr. G. Stierlin. TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, xx, 4. Philadelphia, Oct.—Dec., 1893.—Notes on Bees, with descriptions of new species, C. Robertson. Notes and descriptions of Pselaphide, with remarks on the Scydmznidz, E. Brendel, M.D., 1 pl. A synopsis of the Harvest-Spiders (Phalangiidz) of South Dakota, C. M. Weed, 1 pl. The Cosmetidz of the United States, id., 1 pl. Seventh contribution to a knowledge of certain little-known Aphidide, id., 1 pl. The ento- mology of the mid-alpine zone of Custer County, Colo., T. D. A. Cock- erell. ; THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE (3), xlvii, 278. New Haven, _ February, 1894.—The Carboniferous Insects of Commentry, France, S. - H. Scudder. CORNELL UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION., Bul-. letin 61. Ithaca, N. Y., December, 1893.—The pear-leaf blister (Phytop- tus pyri), M. V. Slingerland. y THE Kansas UNIVERSITY QUARTERLY, ii, 3. Lawrence, Kans., Jan-| _ wary, 1894.—New genera and species of Dolichopodide, J. M. Aldrich. Descriptions of North American Trypetidz, with notes, W. A. Snow, 2 pls. TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO, 1893. Toronto, :894.—Injurious insects of the year, J. Fletcher, figs. Annual address of the president, W. H. Harrington, figs. Entomological mistakes of authors, Rev..T: W. Fyles. The season of 84 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, 1893, id., figs. Mosquitoes, J. A. Moffat, figs. Canadian Uroceride, W- H. Harrington. Additional notes on Japanese insects, id. Notes and queries, Rev. W. J. Holland, figs. The Dragonfly, T. J. MacLaughlin, figs. The song of 7hyreonotus, W. T. Davis. Notes on some of the more important entomological exhibits at the Chicago Exhibition, J. Fletcher. A contrasted summary of the main external characters of Butterflies in their different stages of life, S. H. Scudder. Some of the papers read at the last meeting of the Economic Entomologists are here reprinted, for a full list of which, see Ent. News for February, p. 52, under “ Insect Life.’’ THE FirrH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, Fort Collins, Colo., for the year 1892. 1894. Report of the section of Entomology, C. P. Gillette. THE ENTOMOLOGIST. London, February, 1894.—-On an unusual num- ber of monstrosities occurring in Zyros (Platycis) minutus F., ]. W. Shipp. On the vertical distribution of the British Lepidoptera (concl.), W. H.- Bath. A catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland (cont.), W. F. de V. - Kane. Remarks on certain genera of Coccidze, W. M. Maskell. Notes on the synonomy of Noctuid moths (cont.), A. G. Butler. Protective resemblances in S. American insects, W. C. Mit. THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE. London, February, 1894. —-Notes on some British and exotic Coccidz (No. 27), J. W. Douglas. Additions and corrections to the list of British aculeate Hymenoptera, E. Saunders. Grease, R. Freer. Notes on the earlier stages of the Nepti- cule (cont.), J. H. Wood. NEW SPECIES OF NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS DESCRIBED IN THE PRECEDING LITERATURE. ACARINA. Tyroglyphus lintneri Osborn, Science, xxii, p. 360. N. Y.? COLEOPTERA. : Pselaphida, Scydmenidz: n. spp. U. S., Brendel, Trans. Am. Ent, Soe. Xx, pp. 277-284. DIPTERA. Dolichopodidz: n. gen. et spp. U. S., Aldrich, Kans. Univ. Quart. ii, pp. 151-157. . Trypetidz: n. gen. et spp. U. S., Snow, Kans. Univ. Quart. ii, pp. 159- "174, pls. vi, vii. Syrphide: Calotarsa n. gen. Townsend, Can. Ent. xxvi, p. 50. Type C. ornatipes, p. 52, figs., Ill. . HEMIPTERA. Membracidz: n. gen. et. spp. U. S., Goding (see ante). ‘Pa he 1894.) ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 85 HYMENOPTERA. _ Gausocentrus gyrini Ashmead, Can. Ent. xxvi, p. 25, Ila. Cyrtogaster dineutis, p. 26, la. Fermicidz: n. spp. U. S., Emery, Zool. Jahrb. vii, pp. 633-681. Apidz: n. spp. U. S., Robertson, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. xx, pp. 273-276. © Monostegia quercus-coccinee Dyar, Can. Ent, xxvi, p. 42, Mass. ODONATA. Ortholestes abbotti Calvert, Proc. Ac. N. S. Phila. 1893, p. 382, fig. 3, Hayti. ; ORTHOPTERA. Ceuthophilus latisulcus Blatchley, Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 1892, p. 146, Ind. The Entornological Section ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. PROCEEDINGS OF MEETINGS. JANUARY 25, 1894. A regular stated meeting of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences was held in the Hall, S. W. cor. Nineteenth and Race Streets, this evening, Dr. G. H. Horn, Director, presiding. Members present: Liebeck, Seiss, Calvert, Ridings and Skinner. Associates: Fox, Boerner and Dr. Griffith. Mr. Calvert spoke of the work by Prof. Com- stock on evolution and taxonomy, and read passages therefrom. The ¢ only previous work of any momenton this subject and relating specially to wing structure was that of Redenbacher, written in 1886. Redenbacher’s views on the primitive structure of the wing were given by the speaker. The views of Prof. Comstock on this subject were also given and explained by the aid of blackboard sketches. Reference was made to the neuration of dragonflies, and comparisons made with the wing structure of some of the other orders. Dr. Horn considered the methods pointed out by Prof. Comstock as the proper way to study. The question should always be asked oneself when any new anatomical structure is found, why is it? what does itmean? Mr. Calvert exhibited a Coleopterous larvz collected last September in a small stream in Delaware County, under and clinging to stones. At first glance it appeared to be an Isopod crustacean, but Mr. Liebeck had identified it as a Parnid larva, Dryops sp. Specimens were also taken by Mr. Moore at West Spring Hill, Delaware County, Pa. Dr. Horn stated that the larva had been actually described as a crustacean. FEBRUARY 15, 1894. Meeting held this evening, Dr. Horn, .Director, presiding. Members present: Laurent, Seiss, Skinner, Ridings, Johnson, Calvert, Liebeck. Associates : Fox, Nell. The Publication Committee reported in favor of publishing the following paper in the Trans. Am. Ent. Soc.: “‘ A Prelimi- 86 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, nary view of the Lepidopterous Family Notodontide,’’ by B. Neumoegen and H. G. Dyar. Mr. Calvert stated that in studying the genera of dragon- flies he had been led to investigate the value of photography as a means of illustrating the neuration.' He put the specimens in an ordinary spreading board and put the blue print paper ‘beneath the wings and placed glass slips over the wings and placed them in the sun. This gave a print with the veins in white and a blue back ground. He then went over the white veins with India ink and then dissolved the blue back ground with sodium carbonate, and this gave the neuration black on a- white back ground. The method was not as satisfactory as could have been wished on account of the smallness of the printed parts, which, of course, were only as large as the original wings. The results of the ex- periments were shown by aid of specimen prints. Dr. Horn said that some time in the near future he intended to present some thoughts on the family Meloidz, and said he took exception to the present classification of the Meloiini, which he considered unnatural. Mr. Fox called attention to a specimen of Stizuws unicinctus which he exhibited. It lacked the usual red band on abdomen which is possessed by the normal form. The following papers were read and accepted by the Committee for publication in ENTOMOLOGICAL NEws: STUDIES AMONG THE FOSSORIAL HYMENOPTERA.—I. Synopsis of the North American Species of Alyson. By. WILLIAM J. Fox. | ALYSON Jurine. Alyson Jur., Nouvelle Méthode, 195, 1806; Handlirsch, Sitzb. Akad. Wiss. “7 Wien, Math.-naturw. classe, xcvi, p. 235. FEMALES. 1. Median area of metanotum triangular... . Sie eS oy Median area of metanotum it gaat or u-shaped . tive: ll ike 2. Thorax; black: so422,°. ols “0° 4 Gis See oes Thorax red; legs, caéact hind ‘tibie vek:. ee 3. Abdomen notatallred. . . . . ee Abdomen on two basal segments red; ‘asda enclosure oF metanotum coarsely reticulated, the posterior face of metathorax when viewed from behind is bidentate laterally . . . . . . .» Oppositus. 4. Enclosure on metanotum at the base nearly as broad as it is long, and enclosing seven or eight distinct, longitudinal, radiating ridges; clypeus entirely yellow; wings subfuscous. . . . . . Fradiatus. Enclosure on metanotum decidedly longer than it is broad at the base, irregularly and rather finely rugose; clypeus with a dark blotch in the middle; wings, except the usual fuscous cloud, subhyaline. conicus. 5. Abdomen black; clypeus, and greater part of legs, black . guignardi. Abdomen on two basal segments red; clypeus yellow; legs fallvous: trianguliferus. Te SS 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 87 E MALES. 1. Median area of metanotum triangular... . . SO eas Median area of metanotum semielliptical, or U- shabad. Avril a eae 2. Within the median area the metanotum is coarsely reticulated . . 3. Within the median area the metanotum is not at all reticulated . . 4. 3. Legs and clypeus black . . . . . . . . Oppositus. Legs, except hind tibiz, fulvous; eiiiptian pelea .) Ws Sea. 4, Area of metanotum enclosing numerous distinct, radiating ridges: cly- peus and flagellum beneath, yellow . . . . . . « Fradiatus. Area of metanotum finely rugose, with two Sisiavaiie: ceabal, longi- tudinal ridges; clypeus yellow, black medially; flagellum testace- Ous beneath ...... . . + . Conicus. 5. Median area of metanotum nucle trisnoains seielndiank a transverse ridge before the apex; legs fulvous, the four anterior coxz yellow. trianguliferus. Median area of metanotum with a transverse ridge before apex, which gives the area the appearance of being Ae Se ase ps by Sea 6. Mesopleure punctured throughout. . . . SS Sinks guignardii. Mesopleurze on lower portion coarsely striated © iG lis «a: 1. Alyson oppositus Say. A. oppositus Say, Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist. i, p. 380, ¢'Q; Packard, Proc. Ent. Soc. Phila. vi, p. 421. Occurs from Canada to Virginia; Colorado. 2. Alyson melleus Say. A. melleus Say, |. c. p. 380, 2; Provancher, Add. Hyt. Quebec, p. 270, 2’, December, 1887. Canada to Mexico; Illinois. The credit for describing the % of this species should be given to Provancher, whose description appeared in December, 1887, while that of Handlirsch, who also describes a 8 apparently for the first time, did not appear until early in 1888. 3. Alyson radiatus n. sp. 9 .—Black; scape beneath, clypeus, spot between insertion of antenne, inner orbits reaching beyond middle of the eye, mandibles except tips and extreme base, and the anterior legs in front, yellow; the anterior coxe and trochanters are black on basal portion; four hind tibiz, tarsi and tips of femora reddish testaceous maculz; on second segment white; wings subfuscous or dark subhyaline, the usual cloud in the vicinity of the mar- ginal and submarginal cells very faint; stigma pale testaceous, the ner- vures much darker. Front finely and closely, yet distinctly punctured, the vertex perhaps more distinctly so; anterior margin of clypeus indis- tinctly bidentate medially; first joint of flagellum not more than one-fifth longer than the second; dorsulum and scutellum finely and rather closely 88 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, punctured, the latter distinctly impressed; enclosure of metathorax nearly as broad at the base as it is long, and with numerous strong, radiating ridges; outside of this enclosure the metathorax is coarsely rugose, except on the metapleurz ; abdomen shining, the first two dorsal segments scarcely punctured. Length 7 mm. 3'.—Antenne beneath, four hind tibiz and tarsi in front and the parts mentioned in the description of the 2, yellow; wings subhyaline; first joint of flagellum decidedly shorter than the second, which is in turn slightly shorter than the third, last joint curved. Length 7 mm. : Nevada, Colorado. The form and sculpture of the enclosure of metanotum will distinguish it. . 4. Alyson conicus Prov. A. conicus Prov., |. c. p. 271, Q. 3'.—Black; inner orbits as far as centre of front, scape and pedicellum beneath, mandibles except tips, clypeus, except spot in middle (some times the clypeus is entirely black), apex of anterior coxz, as well as the fore femora and tibiz in front, yellow; four posterior tibia, tarsi and apex of femora testaceous; flagellum beneath obscurely testaceous; wings sub- hyaline, iridescent, nervures and stigma testaceous; first joint of flagel- lum but little more than half as long as the second, which is in turn slightly shorter than the third; front finely and closely punctured, strongly impressed medially ; scutellum impressed ; metathorax bluish, the en- closure shorter than in the 2; abdomen shining, first two dorsal segments impunctate. Length 5.5 mm. Canada. One ¢ specimen has the flagellum yellowish be- neath. 5. Alyson guignardii Prov. A. guignardii Prov., |. c. p. 271, Qo. Canada; Illinois. 6. Alyson striatus n. sp. 3.—Black; scape beneath, clypeus entirely, sides of face, inner orbits as far as centre of front, mandibles except tips, two spots on prothorax above and apical portion of anterior coxe, yellow; legs yellow-testaceous, or pale-yellow, flagellum brownish beneath; maculz on second segment white, transversely elongate; wings subhyaline, iridescent, nervures testa- ceous; the head, thorax and abdomen is clothed with a rather conspicu- ous, oppressed pubescence. Anterior margin of clypeus slightly incurved; front finely and closely punctured, strongly impressed medially; first joint of flagellum but little more than half as long as the second, this latter joint fully as long or slightly longer than the third; last joint curved as usual; dorsulum and scutellum with tolerably fine and close punctures, the scutellum not impressed; enclosure on metanotum triangular, with a strong transverse ridge before the apex, which gives it the appearance of being semielliptic, within the enclosure there are two strong, longitudi- i FY Ent. News, Vol. V. See page 89. AFRICAN HESPERIIDA Holland. rTP eas on NTL IAL ’ FE PD NE a. = toe ae 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. , 89 nally diverging carinze; with exception of the space between these carinz and the metapleure, the metathorax is coarsely rugose; the mesopleurze on lower portion with coarse, longitudinal striations; abdomen with the _ last segment reddish. Length 7 mm. ; District of Columbia. Easily distinguished by the striated mesopleure. 7. Alyson trianguliferus Prov. A. triangulifer Prov., 1. c. p. 272, 3. 2.—Black; first and second abdominal segments red; mandibles, ex- cept tips, clypeus, orbits as far'as middle of front, scape, first two or three joints of flagellum beneath and tubercles, yellow; legs entirely fulvous, the anterior pertaining to yellowish; front finely and evenly punctured, vertex likewise; first joint of flagellum, if anything, a little longer than the second; prothorax and dorsultim’ with‘ fine and close, but distinct punctures, the prothorax on sides indistinctly striated; scutellum not im- pressed, the suture which separates it from the dorsulum strongly foveo- lated; enclosure on metanotum almost exactly triangular, within with somewhat irregular ridges, posterior face of metathorax rugose; wings subhyaline, iridescent, with a fuscous cloud in the vicinity of the marginal and submarginal cells; the abdomen, especially beneath, is clothed with long, sparse, dark hairs. Length 7-8 mm. Massachusetts, Virginia, Illinois. Resembles the 9 of opposz- tus, but the shape of metanotal enclosure will distinguish it as well as the color of legs. : Oo SOME NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN AFRICAN HESPERIIDA. By W. J. Hottanp, Ph.D., D. D., F. Z. S., ete: The species described and figured in the following paper are represented in my own collection by the types, or by authenti- cally determined specimens. The figure of 7agiades dannatti Ehrmann, recently described.in the pages-of the ENTOMOLOGICAL NEws, is represented by a drawing which I have carefully made from the type. Iam inclined to think that this species is iden- tical with 7: /acteus Mab., described in the Bulletin of the Ento- mological Society of France, ser. 5, vol. vii, p. xxxix. The description given by Mons. Mabille tallies well with the insect figured, save in one or two minor particulars. Calenorhinus atratus Mab., C. tllustris Mab., and C. interniplaga Mab., which were described a couple of years ago by Mons. Mabille in the ‘‘ Comptes Rendus,’’ of the Belgian Entomological Society, being there referred to the genus Pardaleodes, are known to me go ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, by the types, which I saw in the possession of Mons. Mabille upon the occasion of my last visit to Paris. While I did not have specimens of these species with me at the time for purposes of comparison, the insects before me agree so well with the descrip- tions given by Mons. Mabille, and with the hasty pen and ink outlines I drew at the time, that I am quite confident that there is no error in the determinations given. Celenorhinus collucens mihi, I had determined as C. (Pardaleodes) /ucens Mab., but my good friend, Dr. Scudder, who recently did me the great kind- ness of comparing a set of drawings of some of the Hesperiidae in my collection with those contained in the collection of Mons. Mabille and other great European collections, assures me that my species, while very near C. /ucens Mab., is manifestly distinct, the mesial band on the primaries being Bueh broader i in C. lucens than in my species. I hope shortly to be able to publish a revision of the ees periidze of Africa and the adjacent islands, and for this purpose am having drawings made of the types of the hitherto unfigured species which are contained in the museums of Europe. The work is one of some magnitude, and is attended with considerable expense, but will prove a great boon to Working pigs unless I am greatly mistaken. _ CELENORHINUS, Hiibn. t. C. collucens sp. nov. ¢'.—Allied to C. ducens Mab., MS? The upper side of the head, thorax, and abdomen is fuscous, clothed with.olivac eous- green hairs. The lowerside of the thorax and abdomen are much paler. The palpi on the lower side are ochraceous. The antennz, which are blackish, are marked with ochraceous on the underside at the tip and just after the club. The primaries are dark brown clothed with greenish olivaceous hairs at the base. They are traversed by a broad translucent mesial band of bright waxen-yellow, on the costa and near thé outer angle showing bright lemon. This band is somewhat regularly indented on the innerside and very irregularly indented on the outer margin. In addition, there are three large, translucent, subapical spots. The secon- daries are dark brown or blackish, heavily clothed with greenish hairs at the base, and with a few patches of similar hairs beyond the cell. Upon the outer margin, just- below the outer angle, is a broad lemon-yellow spot. On the underside the ground color of both wings is much paler. The markings of the primaries reappear on this side, and, in addition, the costa near the base is yellowish. The secondaries are without the large lemon-yellow spot near the outer ane | and are slightly clouded with darker brown. 1894. ] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. gI Q.—The female is much like the male, but larger, and on the secon- daries has the large yellow spot replaced by two or three small circular spots. These spots reappear indistinctly upon the underside. Expanse: 3, 38-40 mm.; , 45 mm. flab.—-Valley of the Ogové. OSMODES Wats. 2. 0. (?) fan* sp. nov. <’. Upperside of palpi, head, thorax and abdomen dark brown; lowerside of thorax and abdomen slightly paler brown; legs blackish; the underside of the palpi at the base whitish, The primaries on the upperside are black, crossed from the costa to the sub- median nerve by a broad orange-red mesial band, irregularly dentate inwardly, and irregularly angulated and indented outwardly. Thesecon- — daries on the upperside are dark brown or blackish. The primaries on the underside are as on the upperside, save that the mesial band shades. _into creamy white in the neighborhood of the submedian nerve, and there are two small white subapical dots near the costa, and another small white dot between the second and third median nervules near the outer margin. The secondaries upon the lowerside are dark fuscous, clouded with darker brown transverse bands and subapical spots. Expanse 30 mm. This beautiful species is allied to O.? vibius Hew. The single specimen in my collection is from the Bule country, one hundred © miles back from the coast at Great Batanga, in a region about 1800 feet above the level of the sea. PARNARA Moore. 3. P. (?) picaninit sp. nov. ¢’.—Upperside of head, thorax and abdomen black; lowerside of palpi and pectus broadly white; femora and adjacent parts of thorax grayish; legs black; lowerside of abdomen blackish. The primaries on the upperside are black. ‘There are some olivaceous hairs at the base. The inner margin at the base is narrowly edged with pale grayish hairs. Just above the outer extremity of this pale streak is a smnall linear white translucent spot. At the end of the cell are two similar translucent linear spots, and below the cell at the origin of the second median nervule a curved narrow elongated translucent white spot. There are three small translucent submarginal spots nearer the cell than the margin, two of them approximating each other, located one on either side of the third median nervule near its origin. The uppermost of the three is located beyond the end of the cell. The secondaries are black on the upperside, like the primaries, with a grayish ray extending from the base for a short distance along the submedian nerve. There is a transverse macular band beyond the cell, consisting of three or four spots, the two outer spots being pure white, the inner spots being obscured by grayish hair. There are one or two small obscure spots near the anal *Fan = Nomen tribus Africane, + Nomen puelli apud Africanos in America, nonnunqguam etiam in Africa, habitantes. 92 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, angle. On the underside the primaries are marked as on the upperside, but the spot near the submedian nervule is transformed into a somewhat vaguely defined elongated ray, and there is a very narrow white line bordering the cell on its upperside at the base. The secondaries on the lowerside are marked by a broad, white, transverse band, irregularly dentate outwardly, and interrupted in the region of the submedian nerve. Expanse 28 mm. The type, which is unique, was taken by Dr. Good in Liberia. 4. P. mabea* sp. nov. <'.—Upperside of head, thorax and abdomen dark brown; lower side of thorax and abdomen dark brown, covered with grayish hairs; legs concolorous. The primaries on the upperside are dark brown, marked by eight translucent spots, two above each other at the end of the cell; a triangular silvery white spot, with its base resting upon the middle of the submedian nerve; a larger subquadrate spot between the first and second median nervules, with its outer lower angle produced: toward the» margin; a smaller subquadrate spot between the second and the third median nervules, and three small subapical spots arranged in a curved series below the costa. The secondaries on the upperside are dark brown with two elliptical translucent white spots beyond the cell separated by the second median nervule. On the under- - side the primaries are slightly paler than on the upperside, with the region of the cell darker than the remainder of the wing. The spots of the upperside reappear on the underside. The secondaries are dark fuscous, inclining slightly to reddish on the lowerside; and in addition to the two elliptical spots, which appear on the upperside, there is a circular white - spot at the end of the cell, and a somewhat smaller spot before the outer angle midway between the margin and the cell. Expanse 32 mm. This species is represented in my collection by a single speci- men coming from the valley of the Ogové. 5. P. batange sp. nov. 3 .—Closely allied to P. picanini, but much larger, and without the basal streak on the inner margin of the primaries, and with the outer margin of the primaries not as deeply excavated before the inner angle, as in that species. On the underside the primaries are much as in P. picanini, but the secondaries on the underside are wholly differ- ent, being light gray clouded, with very pale fuscous in the region of the anal angle, with the fringes very pale fuscous inclining to whitish. The wing is marked by an irregularly curved series of pale whitish spots, two at the end of the cell, four composing a transverse series, the two outer- most being small, located on either side of the second median nervule near its origin, the third, and largest, being separated from the fourth, which is small and linear, by the submedian nerve. Expanse 32 mm. Hab.—Batanga, German West Africa. * Mabea = Nomen gentis Africane. | | ; | | ees) we ae 1894. | ENTCMOLOGICAL NEWS. 93 6. P. argyrodes sp. nov. ¢'.—The upperside of the thorax and abdomen dark brown; clothed lightly with grayish hairs at the insertion of the wings. On the underside the thorax and abdomen are dark brown. The legs are concolorous. The primaries on the upperside are black, marked by a subquadrate spot at the end of the cell constricted near the middle. ‘There are three subquadrate spots on the median interspaces beyond the cell regularly diminishing in size toward the apex, and two or three mi- nute subapical spots forming a curved series near the costa. The secon- daries on the upperside are black with two minute and obscure spots beyond the end of the cell, the inner fold of the wing near the base being clothed with grayish green hairs. On the underside the primaries are dark brown, becoming paler toward the outer margin, and slightly laved with purplish brown. The spots of the upperside reappear,,and in addi- tion there is a whitish spot above the submedian nerve. The secondaries are dark brown tinged with purplish on the outer margin and having the fringes very pale fuscous. The middle of the wing is traversed by a some- what irregularly curved series of four silvery spots, the innermost of which is the largest. Expanse 30 mm. _ Hab.—Valley of the Ogové. 7. P. leucopheza sp. nov. ¢'.—Upperside of head, thorax and abdomen black; lowerside of palpi inclining to ochraceous; lowerside of thorax and abdomen grayish; legs concolorous. The primaries on the upperside are black, margined with glaucous hairs on the inner margin at the base. There are two round spots at the end of the cell: three forming a median series beyond the cell, the lower spot on the submedian nerve being small, quadrate, silvery white; the second and third on the middle interspaces, the second the largest. In addition there are three subapical spots form- ing a curved series near the costa. The secondaries on the upperside are black with two oval white spots, one on either side of the second median near its origin, the uppermost being the largest. The fringes at the anal angle are broadly white. On the underside the primaries are marked much as on the upperside, but the spots are not so sharply defined as on that side. The secondaries are blackish. There is a small white spot at the end of the cell, and three similar small spots forming a transverse series beyond the cell. These spots are bordered with blackish. The outer third of the wing toward the anal angle is;washed with bluish gray, upon which the nervules, which are dark, stand out distinctly. The fringes at the anal angle are broadly white, and the white color of the fringe runs inwardly as a whitish ray along the submedian nervule. 2 .—The female is marked like the male, but the secondaries are more broadly whitish at the anal angle, and have, in addition, a white spot an- nulated with dark brown beyond the end of the cell near the outer angle. Expanse: ¢', 30 mm.; 2, 34 mm. flab.—Valley of the Ogové. Mons. Mabille, to whom I showed the type, declared the spe- 94 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, cies to be unknown to him. It is not found in the British Mu- seum. In some respects it is closely allied to P. zzdustiata Mab., but totally distinct. 8. P. (?) subnotata sp. nov. <\.—Upperside of thorax and abdomen fuscous; lowerside of thorax and abdomen fuscous, inclining to ochra- ceous; lowerside of palpi whitish; legs fuscous. The primaries on the upperside are dark brown. There is a small spot at the lower angle of the cell at its end. There are three spots forming a median series, the lower most white, subtriangular, and opaque, resting on the submedian nerve about its middle. The second, which is the largest and subquad- rate, is located just below the spot at the end of the cell. Above itisa smaller subquadrate spot lying between the second and third median . nervules at their origin. In addition there is a similar subquadrate spot below the costa beyond the end of the cell midway between it and the apex. The secondaries are dark brown, marked bya curved band of semi-translucent yellowish spots located beyond the cell near the origin’ of the median nervules. On the underside the primaries are brownish fuscous. The translucent spots reappear on this side, but are less distinct. The base is laved with ochraceous, as is also the outer margin near the apex. The outer margin is ornamented by a series of dark spots form- ing a regularly curved band from the apex to the second median nervule, where they are lost in the darker ground color of the wing. These spots are defined inwardly by pale yellowish hastate markings. There is a fine marginal black line. The fringes are dark fuscous. The secondaries on the lowerside are ochraceous, the middle area beyond the cell being trav- ersed by a somewhat broad band of bright yellow spots running from the costa to the first median nervule. There are four or five blackish spots between this band and the base pupiled with pale ochraceous. There is: a regularly curved submarginal series of blackish spots defined inwardly by paler markings. The margin and the fringes are as on the primaries. Expanse 26 mm. This species probably does not belong to the genus Pirndia though without a dissection its exact location cannot be absolutely determined. It probably comes nearer the genus Osmodes, though it does not belong to it, and may perhaps represent the type of a new genus. GASTROCHETA Mab. 9. G. cybeutes sp. nov. ¢’.—The upperside of the body is black. The lowerside is grayish white. The antennz are marked with white at the end of the club. The primaries on the upperside are black. There are two elongated translucent white spots at the end of the cell very near to each other, a median series of three moderately large translucent spots, of which the lower spot resting on the submedian nerve is oblong, quad- rate, silvery white, the second is subhastate with its point obtuse pointing “—- a ay 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 95 inwardly, the third, the smallest of the series, lying between the, origin of the second and third median nervules. There is a subapical curved series of three small white translucent spots. The secondaries have a round translucent white spot beyond the base divided by the nervule which de- fines the upper margin of the cell. This spot is partly obscured by the grayish hairs which cover the base. Beyond the cell are two oblong sub- -quadrate spots separated from each other by the second median nervule. The fringes of the secondaries are pale. On the underside the primaries are pale greenish fuscous with the middle area deep blackish. The spots on the underside are as on the upperside. The secondaries are greenish fuscous with the anal angle broadly laved with whitish. There are two series of spots forming macular bands, one crossing the cell, the other beyond it. The inner series consists of three spots, the uppermost of which is large and oval. The two innermost spots are smaller, opaque, and accentuated outwardly by blackish. markings. The outer band-of ‘spots is composed of a curved series of eight spots, of which the third and fourth reckoning from the inner margin, are translucent and the largest; the second and fifth are minute; the first and sixth are linear, the first being the larger; the seventh is minute and circular; and the eighth, which is nearest the costa, is linear. Q .—The female is marked very much like the male, but the secondaries on the underside are broadly whitish on the middle area and toward the base, with the outer margin clouded with dark brown. The two bands of spots are separated near the inner margin by a brownish area like that on the outer margin. The spots are all more or less obscurely defined in the female, their outlines being lost in the paler ground color of the wing. Expanse: ', 32 mm.; 2, 37 mm. fTab.—Valley of the Ogové., Mons. Mabille, who has seen this species, regards it as an un- ‘described. It is not found in the British Museum, nor in the museum at Berlin. EXPLANATION OF PLATE HI. 1. Tagiades dannatti Ehrmann, Ent. News, vol. iv, p. 309. 2) Celenorhinus interniplaga Mab. ,C.R.S. Ent. Belg. ’ gt, p. xxiii. 3. colluscens sp. nov. Q 4 colluscens sp. nov. 3. i ts atratus Mab., C. R. Soc. Ent. Belg. 1891, p. Ixxiv. rant Oe ty tllustris Mab., 1. c. p. Lxxiii. 7. Procampta rara Holl. , Ann. and ‘Mag, N. Hist. (6), vol. x, p. 293. 8. Osmodes? fan sp. nov. 9. Parnara picanini sp. nov. 10 batang@ sp. nov. att, ‘* argyrodes sp. nov. $6 E2. ‘* mabea sp. nov. ah ke ‘« (2) subnotata sp. nov. aes ‘* leucophea sp. nov. Pn) 3 “ cybeutes sp. nov. 96 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ March, Description of a new species of Myscelia from Western Mexico. By Levi W. MENGEL, Reading, Pa. Myscelia skinneri nov. sp.—Expands two and one-quarter inches.. The basic color of the entire upper surface is black, paling slightly along the internal margin of the inferior wings. Beginning at the base of the su- perior wing, running into the discoidal cell about three-eighths of an inch, dividing, and running into the wing nearly three-quarters of an inch, is a blotch of rich purple. Along the margin of the wing is a line of white or pale bluish spots, broken, running along the entire margin. There is a parallel line of spots, nearly the same color, though somewhat darker, running very close to the edge. There are two white apical spots sur- rounded by the faintest tinge of blue, three submarginal spots, and two in the centre of the costa, all of the same, color. The inferior wings are emarginate, with a thin, pale, broken line of white spots running along the edge. A large blotch of the same rich purple as on the superiors spreads from the base into the cell, extending almost to the upper margin of the wing. It is not.divided, as in the superiors. Near the margin is a row of purple spots running parallel to the edge. A second and third marginal row run across the wing. Between the last row and the large blotch runs a band.across the wing in the centre. Counting this row, and excluding the white marginal line, there are four rows of these purple- colored spots between the edge and blotch. The undersides of the wings, as in MW. streckeri Skinner, resemble the under surface of Pyrameis ata- Janta, and, like it, cannot be described. The species is close to M. streckeri Skinner, and they may be varieties of the same species belonging to the same zodlogical area. But in the general appearance, and in the number of rows of purple spots, from which there is xo variation in skinneri, they differ to such a degree that I believe the species is worthy of a name. Described from five specimens from Bayemena, Sinoloa, Mex. Named in honor of Dr. Henry Skinner, of Philadelphia. TATE THe 2 AS ES OBITUARY. Moritz SCHUSTER died of apoplexy Feb. 7, 1894. Mr. Schuster was. born in Germany in 1823, and was an enthusiastic entomologist up to the time of his death. His home was at 1803 Hickory Street, St. Louis, Mo. ENTOMOLOGICAL News for February, was mailed Jan. 31, 1894. ef ee » ited pei | a NS eed ENIOMOLOGICAL NEWS PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. VOL. v. APRIL, 1894. No. 4. CON TENTS: Fall—Collecting in the Sierras of S. , Visitors from South America..........:++ 113: OS ES. G7 |. Ha@itorial veerscsusedscatccssscas: sssseecsvom enue 115 Taylor—Larva and pupaof P. homerus tor | Economic Entomology.......:ssscesseeeeeees 116 Townsend—Ants from Las Cruces....... FOZ. | Notes-andNewsvecs..c+sqcee ques /e-tesossebaaes 118: Fernald—Elementary Entomology ..-..- 104 | Entomological Literature.................0+ 12% _Van Duzee—Note on Scolopostethus.... 108 | Entomological Section........c:csssesceses eee 125. Dyar—Arkansas Lepidoptera........... .. 108 | Cockerell—A new Chrysis.........-/.ceceeeee 125 Skinner—Tachyris ilaire...........0022- sees 110 | Coquillett—New Diptera from Wash... 125. Aaron—The Bold Robber Fly............... 110 | Fox—Fossorial »_Pesatihaen Cents top COLLECTING IN THE SIERRAS OF S. CALIFORNIA. ‘By H. C. FALi, Pomona, Cala. ‘The chief glory of Southern California is its climate; but, un- like the proverbial lion, the Summer temperature is sometimes more pronounced than it is painted—by the real-estate agents. When the mercury has frisked about for several weeks between go® and 115°, the average man begins to feel the need of a read- justment of surroundings, and circumstances permitting, hies ~ himself to the coast or to the mountains. My friend, Mr. F. D. Twogood, of. Riverside, and myself con- sidered the above sufficient excuse for contracting with the stage driver to set us down on the top of the San Bernardino Moun- tains one morning in early July. Both Mr. Twogood and myself have a weakness for entomology, he being partial to the Lepidoptera, while I lean rather toward the Coleoptera. In the following remarks I shal! confine myself to noticing a few of the beetles taken during a month’s stay on: the mountains. We camped in a little valley at about 5000 feet elevation, through which an ever lessening stream fringed with alders and willows flowed toward the Mojave Desert. The higher ground was rather sparsely wooded with pine, fir, cedar and oak, the conifers predominating. The little variety of vegitation indicated 4 98 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ April, a limited insect fauna, which proved to be the case. About one hundred species of Lepidoptera and four hundred of Coleoptera were the result of our raid, and these were not obtained without labor. ‘ Our headquarters was located near a saw-mill, with two ob- jects in view—the greater facility of obtaining supplies, and the prospect of securing many species of beetles whose pleasure it is to complete the work of destruction once begun by the lumber- men. With the wastefulness characteristic of those who gather . from ‘an apparently inexhaustible supply, the upper, or even the whole trunks of hundreds of giant pines were left lying on the ‘ground, a prey to ‘the insects and the elements. Under the loosening bark of one of these fallen monarchs I began my search. “The first thing bottled was Cossonus piniphilus; these’ were always ‘to be found, and with them in greater or less numbers occurred Tachys nanus, Hister punctiyer, Plegaderus nitidus, Lasconotus pusillus and Hypophleus substriatus. Other occasional finds wunder bark were Rhyssodes hamatus, Alindria cylindrica (very smail), Bius estriatus, Uloma longula and Metaclisa marginalis. Buprestidee were here much more numerous than in the valleys below. Chrysobothris cuprascens (hitherto reported from Colo- rado and New Mexico) was beaten in numbers from pines, and with them a few C. femorata and C. californica. ‘The latter and also the brilliant M/edanophila gentills were taken dead from their burrows in dead pine twigs. Melanophila intrusa and .Chryso- phana placida were also beaten from pines. Specimens of Bu- prestis maculiventris and B. /eviventris were taken flying near the summit. I can perceive no differences other than color be- ~ tween these two forms, and their manner of occurrence indicates specific identity. Buprestis fasciata turned up in sweeping the low herbage beside the brook, and Dicerca hornii was dug from dead alder stumps. On willows occurred Agrilus politus and A. niveiventris; the latter was the more abundant, and several trees were observed which had been seriously injured by its attacks. The flowers of a large primrose yielded’ many Anthaxia eneo- gaster and Acm@odera connexa, and promiscuous sweeping or beating gave one specimen of Agrilus angelicus, also several Anthaxia deleta of both sexes, the male bright green and the female olivaceous. The piles of lumber near the saw-mill prompted frequent visits, ne 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 99 especially during twilight, when many things were on the wing. Of these the largest game was Ergates spiculatus, often seen fly- ing slowly about the board piles and easily taken. The large burrows in pine stumps bear witness to the larval habits of this ‘species. Under like circumstances were taken Pactopus hornii, Carebora longula, Lasconotus servus, Ernobius sp., Hylastes macer and 7. longus. Our camp fire attracted numerous speci- ‘mens of Anelastes druryi, and occasionally a Polyphylla crinita; I have never seen this species in the low country, its place there being taken by P. zo-Zineata, which is not rare at electric lights. Returning to camp one evening about sundown, I stopped to examine a small alder which had been felled across the stream, I had gathered a dozen or two of Pityophthorus pubipennis, which had etherged from their burrows and were taking an even- ing promenade, when, from the hole of one of the bark borers a strange head appeared ; it belonged to that curious Cucujide, Narthecius grandiceps, and diligent search resulted in the finding of about a dozen of this very rare beetle. I know not what may be the habits of this insect, but the circumstances strongly sug- gest that it may be parasitic on the bark borer above mentioned. On this same alder I found two or three Lasconotus linearis, and from a freshly-cut tree close by a little colony of Rhyncholus Spretus. Beneath a log partially imbedded in turf by the side of the stream I discovered the headquarters of Hippodamia con- vergens for this region; here, crowded together in places several deep, were not less than ten thousand individuals; what can be the signification of such a gathering ? Space will not permit a detailed allusion to even half of the - species collected, nor is a complete list now possible, owing to the difficulty of identification; many, indeed, being undescribed. _ That this article may be of some value as indicating geograph- ‘ical distribution, I append as complete a list as possible of the species not mentioned above : Cicindela 12-guttata De7. « Bembidium iridescens Lec. Cychrus punctatus Lec. Tachys anthrax Lec. Notiophilus semiopacus sch. ** - audax Lec. Dyschirius gibbipennis Zec. Pterostichus ater De. Schizogenius depressus Lec. . castanipes Men. Bembidium erasum Zec. sy occidentalis De/. y longulus Lec. Amara scitula Zimm. "8 semistriatus HYa/d. ‘* remotestriata De7. 100 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Platynus funebris Zec. ‘« fossiger De/. Lebia viridis ‘Soy, Stenolophus anceps Lec. Anisodactylus piceus Men. Bidessus pictodes Sharp. = affinis Say. Deronectes striatellus Zec. Hydroporus vilis Lec. Ilybiosoma regularis Zec. Agabinus glabrellus Mofs. Agabus lugens Lec. ‘* lecontei ©. Gyrinus plicifer Lec. Ochthebius puncticollis Lec. Hydrzena pennsylvanica Aves. Tropisternus californicus Lec. _Hydrocharis glaucus Zec. Cheetarthria nigrella Zec. Limnebius piceus Hor7. Cymbiodyta dorsalis Mots. Laccobius ellipticus Zec. Creniphilus rufiventris Horn. Cercyon lugubris Pay’. Ptomaphagus consobrinus Lec. Quedius explanatus Lec. ‘« capucinus Grav. ** — limbifer Horn. Philonthus sordidus Grav. sg nigritulus Grav. Stenus costalis Cas. ** terricola Cas. californicus Cas. Cryptobium californicum Lec. Lathrobium jacobinum Lec. Scopzeus punctatus Cas. = truncaticeps Cas. Caloderma angulatum Cas. ‘5 rasile Cas. Tachinus debilis Horn. Bledius ruficornis Lec. Trogophleeus diffusus Cas. Phalacrus penicellatus Say. Megilla vittigera Mann. Harmonia picta Rand. “ce consobrinus Lec. ‘ [April, Coccinella sanguinea Linn. Mysia hornii CG. Exochomus marginipennis Lec. Scymnus coniferarum Cr. - pacificus Cr. Aphorista morosa Lec. Synchita variegata Lec. Aulonium longum Zee. Cerylon castaneum Say. Pediacus depressus Aés¢. Brontes dubius Fad. Mycetophagus californicus Horn. Paromalus tejonicus Horn. Sabrinus lubricus Lec. Epurzea immunda Sturm. Nitidula ziczac Say. - Omosita discoidea Fad. * Thalycra concolor Lec. Trogosita virescens Fad. Tenebrioides sinuata Lec. Peltis pippingskoeldi A/ann. Hesperobznus abbreviatus Mots. Limnebius punctatus Lec. g nebulosus Lec. californicus Lec. tenuicornis Cas. Dryops suturalis Lec. Cyphon concinnus Lec. Horistonotus sufflatus Lec. Elater carbonicolor Zsch. ? Megapenthes aterrimus Horn. +3 stigmosus Lec. Athous excavatus Mots. ‘* limbatus Lec. Eros letus Mots. Podabrus comes Lec. Malthodes fusculus Lee. Dasytes pusillus Lec. ‘* hudsonicus Zec. Cymatodera puncticollis Bland. Clerus sphegeus Fad. Hydnocera seabra Lec. Cregya fasciata Lec. Necrobia rufipes Fad. Ptinus bimaculatus JZe/s. Hadrobregmus gibbicollis Zec. oe ae 1894.) ‘Ptilinus basalis Zec. _ Ateenius abditus Ha/d. __ Amphicoma canina Lec. _ Dichelonycha crotchii Horn. _ Spondylis upiformis Wann. Prionus californicus o¢s. Callidium hirtellum Lec. -Eucrossus villicornis Lec. Necydalis cavipennis Lec. Leptura crassicornis Lec. Acanthocinus obliquus Zec. Saxinis speculifera Horn. Cryptocephalus sanguinicollis Sujfr. Glyptoscelis illustris C. Colaspidea cuprascens Lec. é smaragdulus Lec. -Chrysochrus cobaltinus Lec. _ Plagiodera prasinella Lec. Phyllobrotica viridipennis Zec. Luperodes varipes Lec. Haltica bimarginata Say. ‘Crepidodera helixines Zinn. Epitrix subcrinita Lec. Glyptina atriventris Horn. Phyllotreta albionica Lec. ‘Chztocnema opulenta Horn. Microrhopala melsheimeri C~. Odontota californica Horn. Zabrotes obliteratus Horn. Asida obsoleta Lec. ‘ Iphthimus serratus Mann. ‘Coelocnemis dilaticollis Mann. *ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Io! Tenebrio tenebrioides Beauv. Plytydema oregonense Lec. Helops edwardsii Horn. Cistela variabilis Horn. Pentaria nubila Lec. Anaspis collaris Zec. Notoxus calcaratus Horn. Rhipiphorus flavipennis Zec. Rhynchites bicolor Fad. *f glastinus Lec. Thricolepis inornata Horn. Scythropus californicus Horn. Apion proclive Zec. Smicronyx imbricatus Cas. Anthonomus sycophanta Wadsh. - inermis Boh. . ce ornatula Dietz ? Magdalis cuneiformis Horn. *« — lecontei Horn. Orchestes parvicollis Horn. Piazurus californicus Zec. Copturus longulus Zec. Ceutorhynchus obliquus Zec. Balaninus uniformis Lec. ? Rhyncholus oregonensis Horn. Pityophthorus retusus Zec. Tomicus confusus Lec. Scolytus ventralis Zec. ? Phlceosinus punctatus Zec. Dendroctonus Hylurgops subcostulatus Mann. fay U Description of the Larva and Pupa of Papilio homerus Fab: By CHARLES B. Tay or, F. E. S. Larva.—Length about two and one-quarter inches; general appearance incrassated, the body being thickest from the third _ to the fifth segments, from thence tapering gradually to the anal _ extremity, which is abruptly truncated. Head small, pale ochre- ous or brown, deflected, and, when the larva is at rest, almost : _ completely obscured by a projection of the anterior margin of _ the first segment. Color protective, harmonizing closely with 102 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS« | [ April, the tint of the leaf of the food-plant. Upper surface a rich deep chrome-green, extending down to about the spiracular region, where it terminates with a more or less irregular or sinuous out- line most pronounced towards the posterior segments, where the green is sharply divided from the color of the under surface by a narrow edging of white; first segment with a short transverse dorsal bar of pale dun or ochreous brown; a broad curved band of the same color, bearing a few lines and spots of black, runs in a posterior direction across the dorsal surface of the third seg- ment and down to the sides of the fourth segment, where, curv- ing slightly upwards, it ends in club-shaped dilations enclosing a simple ocellus, colored as follows: On a comma-shaped ground patch of black is drawn a rather broad ring of dun, bordered belew with bluish gray, followed by a black iris, with a bluish white pupil. Across the posterior of margin of the fifth segment is drawn a most inconspicuous luniform stripe of white, having a raised appearance, as if laid on with several coats of body color, and which is in turn marked with little transverse bars of pale lavender, five in all; the horns of the crescent have this time a slightly anterior direction, and terminate at the sides, between the fourth and fifth segments, just at the junction of the green with ~ the brown. of the under surface. Anterior margin of the fifth segment immediately in front of the white stripe, finely irrorated with white; between the fifth and sixth segments is a broad trans- verse band of deep black, more or less completely hidden by the segmental fold, except when the larva ‘is in motion; then it is very conspicuovs. Ventral surface, including abdominal legs, dull dark brown; a broad band of this color, suffused with a lavender- gray tint, bearing a few scattered spots of blue-gray, and having a very irregular or jagged outline, is continued obliquely up- wards in a posterior direction from the eighth segment, and meet- ing on the dorsal surface of the tenth segment descends again obliquely, narrowing rapidly, however, before joining the brown of the under surface, thus enclosing an irregular diamond-shaped patch of green. Segmental folds strongly marked on the ventral surface. Pupa of usual shape, but not greatly angulated; color wholly dark wood-brown, with two pairs of white tubercles on the dorsal surface of the middle abdominal segments. Foop-PLANT.—A tree growing to a large size and of great i i i is é ma eye ag tal Sane 1894. ] - «ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. =) BOT. height, bearing subovate leaves with long stalks, deep glossy green. Local name, ‘‘ Water Wood;’’ botanical name unknown. ’ The larva was taken at the Fountain Road in the Bath district of the Parish of St. Thomas, in the East, on the 27th day of No- vember, 1893, and developed a male Homerus on the 29th of December following. Note.—The food-plant is probably Chimarrhis cymosa Jacq.—ED. (e) SOME ANTS FROM LAS CRUCES, NEW MEX. By C. H. TyLerR TOWNSEND. The following ants were collected at Las Cruces, New Mex., from 1891 to 1893. The determinations were all made at Wash- ington by Dr. Riley. They will be of interest, as very little is known of the ants of this region. _ Camponotus castaneus Latr. ?.—This species, which is ro-11 mm. long, is common in houses. It is wholly rufous, with black- ish abdomen, and head rather darker rufous than the rest. Cremastogaster sp. 2.—A small blackish ant, about 224 mm. long. Thorax, legs and antenne with a rufous tinge. Cremastogaster lineolata Say 9 .—This is a small species, with ‘rufous head, antennez, thorax and legs, and black abdomen. Length 4-5 mm. A coleny of workers and white larve found in galleries in dead stick of cottonwood, Feb. 20, 1893. Dorymyrmex sp. 9.—Asmallant. Head, thorax and antenne rufous, abdomen and legs black. Formica sp. $ (?).—A moderately small black ant. Legs: black, wings clear. Formica sp. &.—A winged specimen, black with yellowish legs; wings slightly smoky. Formica integra Ny\. 9 .—Workers. Monomorium minutum Mayr. 9 .—A very small black ant. Myrmecina sp. $.—A slender yellowish ant. Pogonomyrmex occidentalis Cr. 9 &.—Several workers and’ ‘males. Tapinoma sessile Say 9.—A small black ant. Tetramorium sp. (?) 9.—This isa small yellowish ant. The workers are about 2% mm. long and slender. Two of the above species, Cremastogaster lineolata and Tapi- ‘ noma sessile, are found in Baja, Cala., as shown by a small col- lection made there by the California Academy of Sciences, and __-sent to Mr. Theo. Pergande for determination. Mr. Pergande’s ‘paper appears in the Proceedings, series 2, vol. iv, pp. 26-36. 104 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY. MICROLEPIDOPTERA.—Part I. By Prof. C. H. FERNALD, Amherst, Mass. The group of insects known as microlepidoptera may be con- veniently divided into the following families, viz.: Pyralidz, Pterophoride, Tortricidae and Tineidze. Some authors regard them as superfamilies under the names Pyralidina, Tortricina, Tineina and Pterophorina, in the order given. Others consider the last-named group as a family under the Pyralidina, but it seems more natural to consider them a distinct family and place them immediately after the Pyralidz, to which they seem most nearly allied. The family Pyralidz includes medium- and small-sized insects ranging in expanse of wings from 10 to 60 mm. Their fore wings are entire and more or less triangular in form, while the hind wings are sometimes wider, and, when at rest, are more or less folded and covered by the fore wings, which are placed horizon- tally or sloping, with the hinder borders touching, along the line of the body. Some of the species (Crambids and Phycids) have narrower fore wings and roll them around the body when at rest. The maxillary palpi and tongue are usually well developed, though the latter is abortive in some species. The ocelli are usually present. The fore wings have twelve, eleven, ten, nine, or even in some species only eight veins. The dorsal vein (1b) is generally ac- companied by a short internal vein (1a), which sometimes runs to the hinder margin, sometimes it is lost before reaching the margin, and sometimes it curves up and joins the dorsal vein. This internal vein has very generally been overlooked, owing, perhaps, to the fact that. many persons mount their prepared or bleached wings in Canada balsam, which renders many of the _ finer veins entirely invisible. Wings designed for microscopic study should be mounted in glycerine (see Packard’s ‘* Ento- mology for Beginners,’’ p. 269). Vein 5 arises much nearer to 4 than to 6, 8 and gare stalked. The hind wings have the frenulum developed, and normally contain eight veins, but the number is sometimes reduced to seven, and in a few species to six. There are three internal veins 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 105 distinguished as 1a, 1b, and tc, counting outwardly. Vein 1b is rarely if ever forked at the base, as in the Tortricids and many of the Tineids. Vein 5 is much nearer 4 at its origin, than to 6. Veins 6 and 7 are stalked, or, in a few species, they are separate. The costal vein arises at the base of the wing near the subcostal and runs near and parallel with it to the end of the cell, beyond which it is either joined with vein 8 for a short distance, or else runs so close to it as to appear to unite with it. This is an im- portant characteristic of this family. The subfamilies may be separated by the following table: 1. Median vein of hind wings not hairyabove ........ 2. Median vein of hind wings hairy above . De ae a | BO ae 2. Fere wings with vein 7 separate from S8andg . . . , Pyraustine. Fore wings with vein 7 arising from the stem of 8andg . Pyraline. ereomines with vein 7 present. . . . . 2 2. 0s ew eh Fore wings with vein7 absent . . . ... . . . . Phycitine. 4. Maxillary palpitriangular. . ....... . .. . Crambine. Maxillary palpi nottriangular . . . .. .. =. =. +. Galleriine. The family Pterophoridz (feather-wings or plume-moths) in- clude small moths ranging from 10 to 36 mm. in expanse of wings. They have slender bodies; long, slim legs; long, narrow and fis- sured wings which they hold nearly horizontally, and at right angles with the body, but the feathers of the hind wings are folded over each other and drawn forward under the fore wings. The genus Agadistis, of Europe, has entire wings, but the fis- sure is indicated. The genera Scoptonoma and Stenoptycha, es- tablished by Zeller and placed among the Pterophorids, have been transferred to the Pyralids, the former being synonymous with Guenée’ s genus Lineodes. The fringes are quite long, and arranged on both sides of the divisions of the wings, giving them their strong resemblance to the feathers of a bird, and thus mak- ing more complete organs of flight. This family comprises two well-defined subfamilies: Ptero- phorinz and Orneodine. The Pterophorine have a fissure in the fore wings extending in from the middle of the outer margin, between veins 4 and 7, nearly one-fourth of the length of the wing. The hind wing is separated into three divisions by two fissures extending in from the outer margin, the first between veins 4 and 8, nearly to the middle of the wing, the second between tc and 2, nearly three- 106 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, fourths of the distance to the base of the wing. These divisions are called feathers; the anterior being called the first feather, the middle one the second feather, and the posterior one the third feather. The Orneodinz may be easily distinguished by having the fore and hind wings each six-cleft. Only one species has as yet been found in this country, and that is the well-known European O7- neodes hexadactyla L., the larva of which feeds in the flowers of honey-suckle (Panicera. spends the pupal state under ground and hibernates during the Winter in the imago state. The usual time of flight of the feather-wings is on mild, calm evenings, when they are frequently attracted to light and rarely to sugar. They may, however, be easily ‘‘ flushed’’ in the day- time from the low shrubbery on which they usually rest, when they will fly a short distance and alight again. These insects are not generally very abundant, yet where one is ‘‘ flushed’’ others can generally be found, often in considerable numbers. A few of the species are of economic importance, as they feed on useful plants and sometimes do much injury. The family Tortricide, or leaf-rollers; include a large group of rather stout-bodied insects, below the medium size, ranging in expanse of wings from 7 to 43 mm. They are distributed very widely over the globe, but do not appear to be so abundant in tropical America as in some other regions. Seeseseoss: scbsaccencsecascancse 142 | NORTH GREENLAND MICROLEPIDOPTERA. By Prof. C. H. FERNALD, Amherst, Mass. The insects described in this paper were captured at McCor- mick Bay, North Greenland, in lat. 77° 42’ North, between July 25 and Aug. 1, 1891, by Mr. Levi W. Mengel, entomologist, and Dr. W. E. Hughes, ornithologist of the West Greenland expe- dition. This party was sent out by the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences to escort Lieut. R. E. Peary to his Winter quarters at McCormick Bay. Mr. Mengel wrote me as follows: ‘‘The microlepidoptera were caught at the following places: Godhavn, on Disco Island, two species at Upernavik, three specimens at Cape York, and the remainder were taken at McCormick Bay. I can safely say that 75 per cent. of all the insects were taken at this locality, though we had but two good collecting days while there, all the others being foggy, cold and damp. The insects, especially the micros, did not fly unless the sun was shining. ** The shores at McCormick Bay, and in fact all the coast visited, sloped gently inward for distances ranging from 500 to 1000 yards, rarely further, unless glaciers or glacial streams were de- scending from the ice cap. The side of the mountain then arose 5 )~' 130 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, precipitously to the height of 2000 feet or ‘more. It was along | this narrow strip or belt of land bordering the sea that nearly all animal life was found. The soil was fairly fertile, though frozen below the depth of a few inches. Along this strip many flower- ing plants‘were growing. Here we caught many of our larger insects, but where the vegetation became scarce along the base of the mountain where the great mass of boulders lay which had become detached from the mountain side, the micros were most abundant. They were extremely hard to catch, and being nearly of the same color as the lichen-covered rocks, were more easily overlooked. When detected they would run rapidly and hide under some projecting leaf or rock. They flew with a quick jerky flight for a short distance and generally alighted on the rocks or on the lichens with which they were covered, and seldom alighted on the herbage. ‘‘ Diligent search failed to discover any cocoons: Several minute larvee about one-fourth in. long, of a pea-green color were found crawling along the side of the boulder. I was unable to find the food-plant, but attempted to raise them offering them both moss and lichen, but they refused to eat and died. Another larva was found on the stem of some:species of Campanula. It was green inclining to olive in color on the forward part, and was about three-eights of an inch long. I attempted to raise this larva also, but it refused to eat, and therefore died. I believe, however, that it may have been the larva of one of the micros, though of course I do not know. ‘* Willow and birch are the only trees found in Greenland, and in the northern part, at least, they never exceed four or five in- _ches in height. I am inclined to think that these little trees are the food-plants of a number of species, notwithstagglang the 16 I was unsuccessful in locating the larve.’ The information. given by Mr. Mengel in his letter to me, ex- tracts of which are given above, is of great interest, and gives us a better idea of the conditions under which these insects lived than we might otherwise obtain. : Unfortunately, all the specimens sent to me are marked ‘‘Green- land,’’ but Prof. Skinner, who sent them, stated that they were taken at McCormick Bay. One of the species sent is a small pale green Geometer in very poor condition, but strongly resembles Memoria. There were 1894. ] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 131. also four examples of Laodama fusca Haw., one male and three ‘females. . This species has a wide distribution occurring over northern and central Europe, Japan, North America, Iceland and Greenland. . The larva is supposed to feed on Betula and Calluna, and has been bred from the egg on Vaccinium myrtillus, and also on Salix caprea. It is therefore very probable that the larve of this species fed on the dwarf birch or willow as Mr. Mengel con- jectured. It is not probable that the larve found by Mr. Mengel belonged to this species since the imagos were on the wing during the seven days he was at McCormick Bay, and at this time they laid their eggs, which are known to hatch in about ten days, and they are supposed to hibernate during the Winter as half-grown caterpillars. There were in the collection thirty-two examples of Pyrausta torvalis Moesch. This species was first described by Moeschler in the Wiener Entom. Monatsch., Band vii, p. 198, pl. v, fig. 16 (1864), from Labrador, and Staudinger also gives the Pyranees as its habitat. The early stages and food-plant are unknown. The collection also contained ten examples of a new species which I have named for Mr. Mengel, the entomologist of the expedition, — . Sericoris mengelana n. sp.—Expanse of wings 20 mm. Head and an- tennz black; palpi black, whitish at the base, and with a whitish spot on the outside of the second joint. Thorax black, with a few scattered white scales almost forming a band across the thorax just in front of the small tuft. Fore wings black, with a white spot on the basal third of the costa extending down to the median vein, and on the costa in the middle of this spot there is a small black spot with another below it. On either side ° is an oblique black hair line through the white spot, below which are a few scattered white scales. From the outer fourth of the costa a white band extends to the anal angle. This band sends out a prolongation on the costa and one into the cell, and it also has two black spots on the costa; the outer one of which is elongated. Two minute white spots rest on the deep black ground of the middle of the costa, and the basal part of the costa has a few sprinkles of white. The fringe is black at the apex, but black and white mixed elsewhere. Hind wings and abdomen above dark ashy gray. Underside of the abdomen and wings ashy gray, with the markings of the upperside of the wings indicated. Legs dark brown, annulate with whitish. Described from ten examples in poor condition. 132 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May,. One of the most interesting features of this small collection is the very dark color of the insects. The specimens of the Zao- dama fusca, and also of Pyrausta torvalis, are much darker than any I have ever seen before, either of those taken in New Eng- land or in Labrador, but when we recall that Mr. Mengel states that they rest on the lichen-colored rocks we have not far to seek for the cause of this dark color.. The lichens, which almost en- tirely cover the rocks in northern regions, are very dark brown or black, and when insects habitually rest on such places the lighter colored varieties are more easily seen and destroyed by their enemies and the dark forms are left to propagate the species, and, as a result, a dark race is formed in time. ray Vv Third Addition to the list of Dragonflies (Odonata) of Manchester, Kennebec County, Maine. By Miss MATTIE WADSWORTH (See ENT. NEws, vol. i, pp. 36, 55; vol. ii, p. 11; vol. iii, p. 8. 10a. Lestes unguiculata Hag. 1890, July 15, one 8 over Snake Pond ; recently determined. 6f. Enallagma pollutum? Hag. 1893, June 29, two teneral ¢ $ near Lake Cobbosseecontee. 43a. Celithemis elisa Hag. 1893, June 22, one Q in pasture near woods. 39. Leucorhinia proxima Calvert. The @ of this species has not been recorded from this locality. 1892, June 15, one 2 near brook. 1893, June 18, 20, July 11, one @ each day, all near brook. These have been identified, as all others have been, by Mr. P- P. Calvert, of Philadelphia. Fifty-seven species of dragonflies have now been found in this place, and forty-five of these were seen or taken, during 1893. Of the rarer species but few were noted: one Cordulia (.Somato- chlora) lepida Selys, one Gomphus parvulus Selys, and a G. spinosus Selys, were taken. The only Fpitheca (Somatochlora) Jforcipata Scud. seen, was sufficiently accommodating to alight on the house and be taken by the hand. One Fonscolombia vinosa Say was found on the window, in the horse’s stall. 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 133 COLLECTING IN UTAH.—Part I. By ARTHUR J. SNYDER. From Tuesday night, when I entered a darkened car in the yard of the Northwestern Depot at Chicago, until Friday about I P.M. seems a long time to continue traveling westward at the speed trains now attain ‘‘just to catch butterflies!’ as ‘‘ Billy,”’ the waiter in our restaurant said. To any except interested natu- ralists such a trip may even seem ridiculous. Though my net and killing bottle were constantly at hand they proved of but little use until near the end of my journey. Once we were delayed in the midst of a seemingly boundless sage thicket by the breaking of our engine. I fully employed the time by making a thorough search for insects. My entire catch was two small Geometers which were whipped from the sage. One other moth was started which resembled a Syneda, but it escaped. At Croyden, Utah, while the train stopped for a few moments I found butterflies abundant, especially on the flowers of a spe- cies of Echinosternum. Several Lycena, a Melitea, and Pyrgus cespitalis were taken here. About rioon on Friday our train reached the beautiful city o1 Ogden. Here I parted company with Mr. Vernon Bailey, col- lector of birds and mammals for the Smithsonian Institute, and who had introduced himself at once on noting my collecting outfit. Although our acquaintance was of but a few hours, it was pleasant to meet some one interested in the same line of work who had been over the ground and could, in that brief time, give me valu- able information concerning the territory in which I was to collect. From Ogden to Salt Lake City was but a short trip through fields of A/fa/fa then in bloom, and especially beautiful after having passed through hundreds of miles of sage brush. It is not my purpose to fully describe the delightful scenery nor to enter into an extended description of the beautiful city of Salt Lake. Cool mountain streams are always refreshing, but to see them flowing where we usually see filthy gutters was indeed a restful and interesting sight. After wandering for a short time through the beautiful wide streets of the city and securing a room, I at once began the chase. The first specimen seen was P. rutulus. In the streets of the 134 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, city, and away from the busy parts, I soon found Chrysophanus hellotdes in abundance. One of my first captures was a perfect Epicallia virginalis, which had just emerged from the chrysalis, crawled onto a weed and had not yet tried its wings. This spe- cies I found only in the vicinity of Salt Lake, and though quite a number were seen flying about only four were taken in all. On this first afternoon P. camillus, P. pratensis, Leucarctia acrea, Canonympha ochracea, Lycena acmon, a Pamphila and Plusia californica were taken besides those I have mentioned. The Phyciodes and Caenonympha were quite common on blossoms of Alfalfa. On the following morning not knowing where to go I started out to find the best resorts and took the north side of the city. Trains run from Salt Lake City to the Salt Springs and Bountiful. From the terminus of the car line I started for the mountains modestly, as I thought, determined to go to one of the nearest banks of snow and be content for the first day. About noon the snow seemed as far away as ever so I gave it up and started on my return. During this forenoon I saw for the first time the beautiful Callochortus nuttallii or Sego Lily, the flower of Utah. In the lowlands I found the same species of insects as on the day previous and P. ¢essellata, also Vanessa milbertitz. On the moun- tains L. pheres and L. acmon were abundant, with an occasional Eudamus nevada. One P. rutulus was taken, and several were seen about the blossoms of Honey Locust trees. It may be of interest to note that at Bountiful I found the fruit trees nearly stripped of foliage by the larvee of C7/istocampa californica (1 may be wrong as to species); californica was abundant at Park City later in season, and I think this was the same. A trip on Monday forenoon to the lowlands in the vicinity of the Jordan River convinced me that collecting in dry localities. was not profitable. The Cenonympha, pamphiloides and ochracea were found here, also a few Lycena and Phyciodes. In the afternoon, with Prof. Smith of the Salt Lake Academy, a trip was taken to Red Butte Cafion up on the mountains above Fort Douglass. There the first Axgynnis were taken. It sur- prises one not accustomed to the mountains to note the changes. in vegetation as he ascends. On this trip a few A. meadii were seen and several taken. In a few days this species and A. neva- densis were abundant in the same locality. Along a tramway — 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 135: running up this cafion Misoniades brizo, Eudamus nevada, E. tityrus, Lycena pheres and acmon, Pyrgus tessellata and numer- ous beautiful Odonata were found. As an illustration of the abundance of the Avgynnzs, on June 2oth, fifty of the two species meadzi and nevadensis were taken. The former were found in the valley or lower part of the cafion, and nearly all were taken on the blossoms of Achillea millefolium. I soon found the easiest way to take them was to walk up and down the road and quietly capture them while sipping the nectar, for when once started they were not easily caught. The A. nevadensis were found farther up the mountain sides, and were most abundant on the sunny slopes, where they were flitting close to the ground under and through the Artemisia. Several unsuccessful chases up the mountain side and one or two falls made me wonder if there was not a better way. I noted that nearly all were working their way up the mountain and seemed to prefer a certain wind-protected patch leading up a narrow but not deep gorge which was so steep one could only ascend it by holding to the shrubs of Artemisia and Quercus gambelit. On taking my place near the head of this gorge, I found the question solved, for I had simply to stand and with one quick sweep of the net capture them as they attempted to pass. This method proved so much easier and more satisfactory that I gave up tearing clothes and nets in chasing specimens through the thick brush. It was often interesting to note butterflies flitting from flower to flower up the mountain keeping in the sunlight as the source of light gradually.sank to rest behind the hills and then returning to the valleys in same manner the next morning. The valleys or cuts between parallel ranges always were the best places for collecting, except for such genera as Parnassius and Chionobas. Besides species mentioned, Anthocharis auscnides, Nisoniades lucilius, Limenitis weidemeyerii, Melitea nubigena, Colias ed- wardstt, Pieris occidentalis, D. archippus and Pyrameis carye were taken in Red Butte Cafion. June 23d I left Salt Lake City for Park City, which is thirty- two miles away, and at an elevation of 7000 feet. Here the most of my collecting was done, an account of which will be given in my next article. 136 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, On August 19th Mrs. S. and myself returned to Salt Lake, and Monday the 2tst visited Red Butte Cafion for the last time. Satyrus ariane was abundant, but all old and mostly broken specimens. cone couenieee 248 | Kunze—Larvaand pupa of S. luscitiosa 265 Economic Entomology.......:ssessseseee 249 ‘A FLIGHT OF LOCUSTS. By Sir EDWIN ARNOLD in the Daily Telegram, London. We were sitting on a hill upon the southern side of the great _ plain of Esdraelon, in the Holy Land, with our backs turned to the west wind, which was softly blowing from the Mediterranean. The horses were picketed close by, grazing the sweet mountain grass. The Arabs of our caravans were cooking a ‘‘pillaw’’ a little distance off. Around us were laid out the wherewithals of a light lunch, among which was an open marmalade jar. I was thinking of Ahab, and wondering how he could put up so long with Elijah, especially when on this very spot the prophet said to the king, ‘‘ As the Lord liveth, in this place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood—even thine’’— when suddenly, right into the marmalade, there dropped what I took for a large grasshopper. It was yellow and green, with long jumping legs and a big head, and while I was taking it out of the jar two others fell into a plate of soup and half_a dozen more of the same kind upon a dish of salad. At the same time my horse stamped violently, and I saw more of these grasshop- 8 7>1 238 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [October, pers pelting his hocks and haunch.. Turning round to find whence this insect shower came,-I witnessed what was to me an extra- ordinary spectacle, though common enough of course in the East. A large cloud, denser in its lower than in its upper part, filled an eighth part of the western hemicycle. The remotenr portion of it was as thick, as brown and brumous, as a London fog. The nearer side opened suddenly up into millions, and billions, and trillions, and sextillions of the same green and yel- low insects, pelting in a close winged crowd quite as thickly as flakes of snow upon all the hillsides near and far. You could not stand a moment against the aggressive and offensive rain of these buzzing creatures. The horses even swung themselves round and stood with lowered crests, taking the storm upon their backs and flanks. You had to turn up the collar of your coat to keep them out of: your neck, and button the front not to have your pockets filled with the repulsive swarm, which in two minutes had so peppered the whole scene round about that its color and char- acter were entirely altered. Every little creature of the inter- minable flight on alighting veered himself round head to wind on the earth, just as if he had dropped anchor and swung to the breeze; and it was curious to notice that the general tint on the ground of their countless bodies was brown if you looked to wind- ward, and green if you gazed to leeward. But very quickly the | only green to be seen round about was the hue afforded by this sudden invasion. Even while we prepared to yield up the spot . to them and pack our lunch baskets for departure they had cleared off grass and leaves and every verdant thing around: and where they rose again from the soil, or from any clump of trees in a hungry throng, the place they quitted had already assumed a barren and wintry aspect. The Syrian peasants passing along the roads were beating their breasts and cursing the ill-fortune of this plague. Some of them, none the less, gathered up a clothful of the noxious things; for the locust is distinctly edible. Half in wrath and revenge and half for a novelty in diet, the Arabs to this day eat a few of them, roasting them in wire nets or in earthern vessels over a slow fire till the wings and legs drop off, and the locust becomes crisp, in which state it tastes, as I am able to say from personal experiment, something like an unsalted prawn. But it seemed as if, had all Syria and the globe itself taken to living on locusts, they would hardly have made a sensi- 1894. ] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 239 ble mark upon the extraordinary number that drifted that day over our heads. St. John the Baptist is said to have supported existence upon that sort of ‘‘locust’’ which grows on the carob tree, a kind of sweet bean; but this is very probably a mistake of the commentators, who did not wish history to feed so distin- guished a character upon a diet so disgusting. Probably he, too, -ate dried grasshoppers, for there is no doubt whatever that East- erners have already retaliated upon these devourers of their crops by in turn devouring them. No better proof is wanted of this than the constant practice of the Arabs to-day, and that verse in Leviticus which runs, ‘‘ Thou mayest eat the locust after his kind, the bald locust after his kind, the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.’’ The flying plague passed away almosteas quickly as it had come, disappearing over Jezreel and the Jordan in the same long, low brown cloud. But the earth remained for a long time strewn with them, almost as closely as if none had taken wing. Every depression in the ground, every horse-hoof mark, was filled with dozens or scores of them, spitting a green juice and always head to wind; and what we observed was nothing—be it remembered— compared to the flights witnessed in southern Africa and else- where. Borrow, in his travels, speaks of the ground being cov- ered by them over an area of 2000 square miles. Travelers tell of wide rivers, the water of which becomes invisible on account of the dead bodies of these insects floating on the surface. The Albert Nyanza is called by the natives the ‘‘ Muta Nzigi,’’ or “lake of the white locusts,’’ from the enormous masses of these creatures which drown in its waves and are washed up on its shores in pestiferous heaps. That is the worst of the locust. In inhabited countries it is almost more dreadful dead than alive— poisoning the cattle and spreading disease. It must be, however, an excellent manure in desolate regions, and no doubt, in some wonderful way of nature, manages to expiate its ravages by its agricultural usefulness. In Cyprus the English government has ~ waged a long and costly war with this Gry//us migratorius, but if anybody had sat with us at lunch that day upon the hill in Esdraelon, it seems to me he would have backed the locusts against the strongest and richest government that ever went to war with its winged host. 240 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [ October, CLASSIFICATION OF THE LEPIDOPTERA. By J. B. Smiru, New Brunswick, N. J. In the September, 1894, number of the Ent. News, Mr. Tutt makes some suggestions on Classification, particularly in refer- ence to the Pterophoride and Alucitide. Concérning these families, or whatever else their rank may be, I will venture no opinion; but on the general subject of which Mr. Tutt speaks I believe I am entitled to an opinion, and this, while I do not dis- agree with Mr. Tutt, is not quite entirely in accord with his sug- gestions. For instance, I do not believe for a moment that ‘‘ There never will be a final authoritative revision of any genus of butterflies until the preparatory stages in every species of it is known,’’ and in the same way I do not believe that it is neces- sary to know all the early stages before making a final classifica- tion of Lepideptera, based upon characters of the adult only. I would not for a moment suggest the idea that the early stages are not of importance. On the contrary I believe that they are of the highest possible importance, and I believe that no. classifi- cation which associates forms which show any real divergence in the structure of any of the early stages can be final. But this proves only the imperfection of the classification, and not that a perfect classification is not possible. I wish to say again, as I have said so frequently, that I do not believe that the present basis for our classification is a correct one. Many of the char- acters in use are valuable and absolute so far as they go, but we must remember that the entire external skeleton of the Lepid- optera has received practically no consideration in classification. We must remember that this very external skeleton affords char- acters of the very highest importance in the Coleoptera and Hy- menoptera as well as in other orders, and we must remember that in those orders the classification as based upon the structure of the adults carries throughout the entire life-history, and in so far ‘as it does, the classification may be considered final. In other words, I believe that there can be no essential variation in the structure or history of any of the early stages, which does not also leave its mark upon the imago, or final stage, and that when we really know the Lepidoptera as we know some of the other orders, notably the Coleoptera, our classification based upon the imagos will be found to agree perfectly with any reasonable clas- 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 241 sification based upon the early stages. The preparatory stages in the Lepidoptera are merely steps to a final end, the imago. It is the imago that represents the species, and that in itself is the product of all the circumstances that have surrounded the species in all its stages beginning with the egg. It is perfectly logical to consider that in the imago itself we have the perfect species, and that the early stages are really only preparatory, and this is especially true if we accept Dr. Gill’s suggestion that the larval stages in the Lepidoptera are simply interpolated. Larval characters may help us, and undoubtedly will help us by giving suggestions as to erroneous associations, but whenever this occurs we will find on a careful study of the adults that we have overlooked some characteristic, or failed to appreciate the importance of some point which will eventually enable us to make proper associates. I think it may be taken for granted that no two real species of animals, including the insects under that very general term, are ever entirely alike, and the whole matter is simply a question of our ability to ascertain the points of differ- entiation. Larval characters are just as apt to be mistaken or misinterpreted as those of the imago, and this holds true, as well, of characters drawn from the pupa, or from any other stage pre- ceding the imago. There are at the present day, I believe, very few naturalists that have not had some field experience; that have not observed insects in the field aS well as in the cabinet; and that are not familiar, at least in a general way, with the characters of the larve, and I do not believe that there are many who do not realize that family differences, and to a less extent specific differ- ences, are marked throughout the entire life of the insect. Yet, to repeat again what has been already said, the culmination is always in the sexually mature insect, and it is in this (using the singular term to include the two sexes) that we must look for the sum of all the characters, which will enable us to place the creature where it belongs in a natural classification. Miss OLpDwuN (listening to the insects hum)—‘‘I should so love to be a locust.”” He (inadvertently)—‘‘ You couldn’t very well be one of the seventeen-year variety.’’— Newspaper. 242 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. (October, DATA ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF DRAGONFLIES (GDONATA)—I. By Purp P. Catvert, Philadelphia. During the past seven years I have received dragonflies from various localities and entomologists. Since these collections in many instances add to our knowledge of the distribution of spe- cies beyond that hitherto published, I have determined to print lists of these collections, except in those cases in which I know the collectors intend doing so under their own names. An asterisk (*) denotes that the species, before whose name it is placed, has not hitherto been recorded from that State, although in some such instances I have already cited the locality in my Catalogue of Philadelphia Odonata (Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. xx, pp. 227-266, 1893). MAINE. Lists of Odonata from different localities have been published in the NEws by Miss Wadsworth (vol. i, pp. 36, 55; vol ii, p. 11; vol. iii, p. 8; vol. v, p. 332), Prof. Harvey (vol. ii, pp. 50, 73; vol. iii, pp. 91, 116) and Mr. Bullock (vol. ii, p. 93). In 1891, Mr. Bullock also gathered a few specimens at Mt. Desert Island, as follows: . Calopteryx maculata Beauv. July 13th. Argia violacea Hagen. July 13th. Enallagma hageni Walsh. July 13th, very numerous. Gomphus exilis Selys. July 13th. Leucorhinia frigida-Hagen. One male, July 10; ‘eyes chestnut- brown above, greenish in centre, greenish yellow below; appar- ently just emerged.”’ A collection made by, Mr. J. P. Moore, at York Harbor in 1890, comprised the following species: Lestes unguiculata Hagen. August 12, 15. Nehalennia irene Hag. August 15. Enallagma civile Hag. July 30, Aug. 15. Ischnura verticalis Say. July 29-Aug. 14. Diplax rubicundula Say. Aug. 12, 15. D. obtrusa Hag. Aug. 15. D. vicina Hag. Aug. 12. D. costifera Uhler. Aug. 1 (one teneral ‘‘ Notes on Insecticides’? were presented by Mr. C. L, Marlatt. He spoke ofalargenumber of experiments with various insecticides noting their effect. From his experience it seems that the kerosene emulsion may be used at a much greater strength than usually recommended. Mechanical mixtures of kerosene and water he had not found reliable, the two liquids not mixing continuously in the same proportions, making it impossible to apply them ata definite ratio. Arsenate of lead he considers meritorious, and the most promising of new insecticides. ; Mr. B. T. Galloway followed on ‘‘Some new Insecticides and their combi- nation with Fungicides.’’ This paper dealt largely with mixtures of kero- sene and emulsions, which, it is found, are easily made with lime. The -ordinary emulsion with soap may be diluted with the Bordeaux mixture ‘instead of with water. A variety of resin washes were described and combinations with kerosene were shown. It appears that our battery of insecticides is far from being exhausted, and that we have yet an enormous field for experimentation. No single mixture or wash was specifically recommended, but the subject was presented suggestively rather than otherwise. Considerable discussion ensued and many questions were asked concerning the effects of the mixtures on plants and insects. A paper from Mr. F. M. Webster was on “‘ Spraying with Arsenites vs. Bees,”’ in which he relates the results of some experiments which seem to prove that bees and their brood may be killed by feeding in sprayed blossoms. This is the first piece of real evidence in the case, but is yet far from conclusive. The paper, when published, will be worthy of close analysis. ; Mr. E. B. Southwick gave a description of the ‘‘ Economic Entomo- logical work in the parks of New York City.’? He gave in some detail the chief troubles of the entomologists and described the means used to lesson or destroy the insects. A feature of the work is the very large part played by manual labor—z. é., the collecting and destroying as against spraying or the use of poisons. Another interesting item was the use of a forcible jet cf clear water to break up colonies of plant-lice before using insecticides. This was favorably commented on by Mr. Howard. Later on Mr. Southwick also presented a noté on ‘“‘ The Wood Leopard Moth in the parks of New York City.”’ This is Zeuzera pyrina, and it is the most difficult of all pests to deal with. It is beyond reach of poisons and only cutting and burning infested wood, or searching for and destroy- ing larvz in valuable trees seems to be effective. This seems to have lessened the numbers somewhat. Electric lights to attract the moths are a desideratum and may be obtained in the future. The larva seems to be migratory to some extent and often, in confinement, leaves one twig or branch for another. Mr. Smith remarked that this latter character was shared by other Cossid larve, one of those boring in oak having been observed by him, Mr. A. D. Hopkins gave ‘‘ Notes on some discoveries and observations of the year in West Virginia.’ A very large number of insects were men 1894. | ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 251 tioned and interesting observations noted. Corthylus columbianus working in Poplar, So far from being injurious, may be considered rather an advantage, since it gives rise to discolorations which add materially to the appearance of the wood. Some extremely striking and handsome examples were exhibited. Woodpeckers working in the bark of certain trees, reaching the Cambium layer but not injuring the wood, .causes a deformation in the grain which is known as ‘‘curly,”’ or ‘“‘bird’s-eye,’”’ and is sought for and valued. It has been found, that in West Virginia, scab in potatoes is often due to a small Sciarid, the male of which is wingless, and which sometimes destroys the entire tuber. No pretence is made that this is the source ofall scab.