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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

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ENTOMOLOGY,

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INSECTS OF NORTH AMERICA.

ILLUSTRATED BY

COLOURED FiaURSS

FROM
OKIGINAL DRAWINGS EXECUTED FROM NATURE.

BY THOMAS SAY,

Curator of the American Philosophical Society, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia ; Correspondent of the Philomathique Society of Paris ; and Professor of
Natural History in the University of Pennsylvania, and of Zoology in the Philadelphia
Museum.

" Each moss,
Eacli shell, each crawling insect, holds a rank
Important in the plan of Him who fram'd
This scale of beingp."

STIILINGFLEET.

PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL AUGUSTUS MITCHELL.

FOR SALE BY ANTHONY FINLEY, CORNER OF FOURTH AND CHESNUT ST.

William Brown, Printer.
1823.

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SPECTRUM.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Body elongated, slender, cylindrical; head
slightly inclined, oval ; antennae long, slender,
with numerous joints, inserted before the eyes ;
palpi cylindrical, short; labium quadrifid, the
two inner divisions shortest; feet simple, the
anterior pair being similar to the others; tarsi
five-jointed; elytra very short or none.

OBSERVATIONS.

We are told that there was a time, when a
piece of wood was transformed into a serpent,
and even in the present age of knowledge, a hair
fallen from the mane or tail of a horse into a
stream of water, is believed by many to become
animated into a distinct being ; dead leaves shed
by the parent tree are said to change gradually
into animals of singular shape, and to have
changed their place of abode under the eye of
the historian who related the wonderful tale ;

PLATE 37 & 38. B

dead sticks also were said to sprout legs, to move
from place to place, and perform all the func-
tions of a living body. These, and a thousand
other equally ridiculous tales, w^ere at one period
or another, more or less generally admitted as
indisputable truths, and to contradict them would
only be to expose oneself to the imputation of
ignorance or criminal faithlessness. And al-
though at present the possibility of making a
living serpent out of wood, and the story of ani-
mated leaves and sticks would be despised as
absurd, yet many are to be found, both in Eu-
rope and America, who firmly believe in the
reanimation of a horsehair. But the most obvious
errors have often a shadow of truth whereon to
rest, or palliate, if not excuse them by the plea
of ignorance or mistake. The historian of the
walking leaf may have been deceived by the
Mantis siccifolium of Linne, the wings of which
have some resemblance to a leaf. The Gor-
Dius resembles a horsehair, and no doubt gave
rise to the story of the metamorphosis above
mentioned, and the account of the walking sticks
may have very honestly originated from the sin-
gular appearance and form of some insect of the
present genus. These arc long, slender and
cylindrical ; and on a first view it is not a little
PLATE 37 & 38.

difficult to reconcile their appearance to our pre-
conceived ideas of the general insect form. They
are nevertheless perfectly inoffensive, and feed
altogether on vegetables. They are, probably,
indebted for safety from the attacks of their ene-
mies the birds, to their deceptive appearance,
and by their general similarity in point of co-
lour to the object on w^hich they rest.

PLATE 37 & 38.

SPECTRUM FEMORATUM.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Apterous ; intermediate thighs dilated, angu-
lated, and with the posterior thighs armed with
a spine near the tip heneath.

DESCRIPTtON.

Male. Body greenish-hrown, without any
rudiment of hemelytra: head yellowish with
three dilated fuscous vittae ; antennx brown :
anterior thighs unarmed, simple, bright green ;
tibia dull green, tip and tarsus testaceous ; inter-
7nediate thighs dilated, angulated, pale ochreous,
annulated with brown, the inferior angulated
lines slightly serrated; a prominent, piceous,
acute, robust spine beneath near the tip ; tibiae
greenish, slightly serrated on the inner side;
tarsus testaceous; posterior thighs brownish,
ochreous, with a prominent, piceous, acute, ro-
bust spine near the tip beneath.

Female. Body cinereous, more robust than
that of the male; thighs nearly equal, inter-

PLATE 37.

mediate and posterior pairs with the subtermiual
spines very short.

OBSERVATIONS.

I first published an account of this species in
" Long's second Expedition," from a male spe-
cimen obtained near the Falls of Niagara on a
Hickory tree. I had previously found an indi-
vidual in Missouri, and recently on a journey
with Mr. Maclure, I found several specimens
on the sheltered face of a rock at Franklin, New
Jersey ; amongst these was the female which we
now make known.

Since the above was wTitten, Mr. Charles
Pickering, of Salem, Massachusetts, has inform-
ed me that he obtained an individual near that
city.

The left figure of the plate represents the
male.

The right hand figure, the female.

PLATE 37.

Jh-iiwn 6y 7'/' Pt-itJf.

38

Jint/mw,/ fiv ('.TiW'i'iif.

SPECTRUM BIVITTATUM.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Brown or blackish, with two yellow dorsal
vittae.

DESCRIPTION.

Male. Body above black, with two broad
yellow vittae extending from the base of the
antennae to the posterior extremity of the body :
antennae dull reddish-brown, not much elon-
gated : beneath dull yellowish clay colour : feet
dusky, thighs unarmed, blackish tow^ards the
tip.

Female, much larger than the male, the body
brownish in those parts which on the male are
black, with the exception of the vertebral line
which is black; the yellow vittae become some-
times obsolete towards the posterior part of the
body: thighs unarmed.

PLATE 38.

OBSERVATIONS.

The disparity of size between the sexes of
this species, would almost lead us to doubt
their specific identity, or at least it would induce
us to believe that the diminutive male is no
other than the young of the female he accom-
panies as a mate.

On a journey to Florida with Mr. Maclure,
I obtained a female which was crawling up the
body of an Orange tree on Cumberland Island,
Georgia. The male I had not seen until the
recent return of Mr. T. Peale from that coun-
try, who brought many individuals of both
sexes. He observed them in plenty in the
southern part of that region. They were gene-
rally in pairs, on the Palmetto, lying close to
the rib of the leaf. Mr. Peale remarked that
when taken they discharged a milky fluid, from
two pores of the thorax, diffusing a strong odour,
in a great measure like that of the common
Gnapthalium, or " Life everlasting;" and as
this plant was growing near the place where
they occurred, he supposed that it constituted
at least part of their food. They vary much
in colour, but it is believed that the two dorsal
yellow stripes are never wanting.

PLATE 38.

The upper figure of the plate represents the
male.

The lower figure, the female.

PLATE 38.

Drawn. iC lEny raved by C.TCeiout.

LANGURIA.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Body rather slender, cylindrical; antennae
with a gradually formed cluh of five or six
joints ; palpi filiform, terminal joint of the la-
biales a little larger than the others; mandibles
bifid at tip; maxillae with horny teeth; tarsi
with dense hairs beneath the three basal joints,
the third bilobate.

OBSERVATIONS.

The manners and habits of these insects are
but little known, and as the species are chiefly
North American, it is with our entomologists,
that the task of investigating them will rest.
They have been said to frequent flowers, and
I can corroborate the truth of the remark, by
stating that I have frequently found them on
flowers myself; but as Latreille observes, if they
feed only on the contents of the nectary, to
what use can the horny teeth be applied with
which their jaws are furnished? This is a very

PLATE 39.

limited genus ; Fabricius described three species
in his last work on insects of this order, two
from Sumatra under the names of Trogosita
elongata and Jiliformis, and the other from
North America, under that of Trogosita bico-
lor. He perceived that thej did not altogether
correspond with the other species of the group
to which he referred them, for when describing
the latter species, he expressly states, that in its
elongated and cylindrical appearance it differed
from Tenebrio, and that it ought perhaps to
form a distinct genus. Latreille finally estab-
lished a genus under the name we have adopted,
in his " Histoire Naturelle des Crustaces et
Insectes," for the reception of the bicolor. In
his " Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum," he
described another species under the name of L.
mozardi; and in the pages of the " Journal of
the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel-
phia," I increased the number to six, by the
publication of two new species.

PLATE 39.

LANGURIA BICOLOR.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black, slender ; thorax rufous, with a dilated
black vitta.

SYNONYMS.

Trogosita BICOLOR. Fahv. Syst. Elmt, part

1, p. 152.
Languria BICOLOR. Latv, Hist. Nat. Crust.

et Ins. 12, p. 35. Genera Crust, et Ins. 3,

p. 65. pi. 11, fig. 11. Lam. An. sans Vert.

4, p. 289.

DESCRIPTION.

Body piceous-black, slender : head dark pice-
ous, with very obvious punctures : thorax pale
yellowish-rufous, with obvious, rather distant
punctures, and a dilated vitta of a dark piceous
colour, occupying about one third of the surface :
elytra black, with strongly impressed striae of
punctures: pectus pale yellowish rufous; post-

PLATE 39.

pectus black: feet blackish-piceous : venter pi-
ceous.

OBSERVATIONS.

It may he distinguished from the puncticoUis,
to which it is perhaps most closely allied, aside
from its colours and more elongated form, by
the obvious punctures of the head and thorax,
as w^ell as by the more deeply impressed punc-
tures of the striae and the approximation of the
striae to each other.

The lowest figure of the plate.

LANGURIA MOZARDI.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Rufous ; antennae, elytra, and feet black.

SYNONYM.

Languria MOZARDI. Ltttr. Genera Crust, et Ins.
3, p. 66. Lamarck An. sans Vert. 4, p. 290.

PLATE 39.

DESCRIPTION.

Body pale rufous, glabrous: antennx dark
piceous : thorax immaculate : elytra punctured ;
the punctures placed in regular series, deeply
impressed, but without impressed striae: feet
black ; thighs pale-rufous at base ; tibise with a
slight rufous tinge : venter with the three pos-
terior segments black.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species was first described by Latreille
in his elaborate and important work entitled
" Genera crustaceorum et insectorum." The
specific name is that of the donor. The mo-
zardi has not been hitherto figured.

The left figure of the plate.

PLATE 39.

LANGURIA PUNCTICOLLIS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Rufous; antennae, thoracic spot, elytra and
feet black.

SYNONYM.

L. PUNCTICOLLIS. Noh. Jour, Acad, Nat, Sc.
3, p. 462.

DESCRIPTION.

Body rufous : antennse and palpi black : tho-
rax with a small, round, black spot on the mid-
dle, and an abbreviated, indented line upon the
basil margin each side of the middle: elytra
with rather slight striae of impressed points,
black, slightly tinged with blue: feet entirely
black: venter, terminal segment, black.

PLATE 39.

OBSERVATION.

I obtained this species on the bank of the
Mississippi river, above the confluence of the
Ohio. It somev\^hat resembles the L. bicolor,
Fabr., but is more robust.

The upper figure of the plate.

LANGURIA TRIFASCIATA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Rufous; head black; elytra bifasciate with
violaceous.

SYNONYM.

L. 3. — Fasciata, Nob. Jour, dead. Nat. Sc, iii.
p. 462.

description.

Body rufous, punctured: head black: an-
tennm, with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth
PLATE 39. D

joints, dull rufous : thorax immaculate : elytra
with a violaceous base and tip ; each band
occupying about one-third of the entire length;
with striae of punctures: feet pale: venter at
tip, and obsoletely at base, black.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species was also found on the bank of
the Mississippi, above the entrance of the Ohio
river. It is about equal in size to the L.
mozardi, Latr.

The right figure of the plate.

PLATE 39.

JJniwn /v TK Fi-a/e

40

J^iu/rM-uY iy I ■ Tiehnti

PAPILIO.

For generic characters, see the article on
Papilio philenor.

OBSERVATIONS.

In pursuance of his attempt to unite natural
and civil history, Linne divided his vast genus
Papilio into several families, of which he
named the first Equites or Knights. This fa-
mily, containing some of the largest and most
beautiful of the insect tribes, was subdivided
into Trojans and Greeks. The former w^ere
distinguished by red spots on the breast.

The P. philenor, which we have already
represented, belongs to the division of Trojans.
But this arrangement has been abandoned by
modern authors, who apply the name of Papi-
lio only to the Linnaean Equites, subdividing
the genus into those which have the inferior
wings elongated behind in the form of a tail,
and those which have them simply rounded in
that part.

plate 40.

Much has heen said and written relative to
the acuteness of the sensation of pain in insects,
and whatever may have a tendency to prevent
acts of wanton barbarity ought certainly to be
encouraged, as far as it is conformable to truth,
but not further. The poet's assertion, that the
worm, crushed beneath the foot of the passenger,
" feels a pang as great as when a giant dies,"
cannot be substantiated, and proves nothing,
therefore, but that the author declared posi-
tively w^hat he merely believed or imagined to
be true. My opinion, to the contrary of all this,
is founded on such facts as the following. I
caught an insect belonging to the present genus,
and having impaled it, by passing a pin verti-
cally through its body, it escaped from my hand.
The pin being light, and no injurious pressure
having been exerted on its body, the insect flew,
apparently with its usual facility, to a flower,
and unrolling its elongated proboscis, proceeded
to extract the sweet fluid from the nectary, as if
no mortal wound had been inflicted.

The plant represented in the plate, is the
Aquilegia canadensis.
PLATE 40.

PAPILIO TURNUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Wings tailed, yellow with a black margin
and abbreviated bands; angle of the tail ful-
vous.

SYNONYMS.

Papilio TURNUS. Linu, Fabr. Goeze Entom.

Beytr. iii. p. 7 1 . Herbst, Natursyst, Ins. iii.

p. 136, pi. 41, fig. 3, 4. ffubner, pi. fig. 1,

2. Palis, de Beauv. p. 119, pi. 2, b. fig. 1,

1. Catesb. Carolina, 2, pi. 83.
Papilio caudatus maximus, Carolinianus,

Umbris striisque nigris.
Papilio alcidamas, Cram. i. p. 62, pi. 38,

figs. A, B. — Goeze Entom. Beytr. iii. p. 77.
Der Kaiserschmetterling. Mutter, Nat.

Syst. Supp. p. 284 and 496. (Herbst.)

PLATE 40.

DESCRIPTION.

Body above black, with a yellow line each
side, passing over the origin of the wings, and
over the head each side before the eyes : supe-
rior wings yellow, costal margin black with
four black bands, of which the three exterior
ones are abbreviated; exterior broad margin
black with a series of small white spots and
white crenulations on the edge; beneath, the
colours are paler, and the dots of the exterior
margin are much larger : inferior ivings yellow ;
posterior portion black, with six lunules on the
margin yellow, the first and last fulvous, the
edge deeply crenated, the crenations white;
anal angle fulvous edged with white, and with
a bright green lunule above, and one or two
green spots near it; disk, with an oblique black
band, proceeding from the basal band of the
superior wings, abbreviated near the black por-
tion of the wing, and curving round and re-
turning upward along the inner margin; tail
moderate ; beneath somewhat like the superior
page, but the radiating lines proceeding from
the discoidal cellule are black, the marginal
lunules are much larger, and have a large ful-
vous spot in the middle of each, the black por-

PLATE 40.

tion is much tinged with green, and there are
about four fulvous spots above it : pectus yellow,
with two oblique lateral black lines.

OBSERVATIONS.

This beautiful, though very common insect,
has already been noticed by many authors, who,
for the most part, unite their testimony in favour
of its similarity to the P. machaon, Fabr. of
Europe. This correspondence is, however, only
a general one, for on a particular comparison, a
sufficient difference will be evident. It is found
as far north as Maine, from whence I have
received a specimen sent by Mr. E. Holmes, of
Gardineer Lyceum.

The annexed plate represents this species in
two positions.

PLATE 40.

i^

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41

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ENOPLIUM.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Three last joints of the antennae dilated,
forming a deeply serrated mass; the fourth,
fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth joints very
small ; palpi prominent, securiform ; hody cylin-
drical ; tarsi with but four very obvious joints ;
penultimate joint bilobate.

OBSERVATIONS.

The species that compose this genus vs^ere
separated by Latreille, from the genus Tilhis
of Olivier and Fabricius, from the circumstance
that the ultimate joints of the antennae, only,
form a serrated mass, and that the tarsi have
but four very obvious joints. Dejean mentions
but two species as inhabitants of Europe; we
have here given four species, but it would seem
that the genus might be divided with advantage
to the student, for whose convenience also it
ought perhaps to be removed to the Tetra-
MERA, together with several kindred genera.

PLATE 41. E

ENOPLIUM ONUSTUM.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black; thorax red, with two black Hues;
elytra margined with yellowish.

SYNONYM.

E. MARGINATUM. NoMs. Joum. Acad, Nat. Sci-
ences, iii. p. 187.

DESCRIPTION.

Body black, hairy, punctured : labrum and
basal joints of the palp% pale: thorax red, with
two dilated longitudinal black lines confluent
behind : elytra with a yellowish margin, suture
and base : thighs pale.

OBSERVATIONS.

This insect frequently occurs in Pennsylvania;
tiavc also ot

PLATE 41.

1 have also obtained it in the state of Ohio, and

Mr. John P. Brace, of Connecticut, presented
me with an individual taken in that state. It
resembles the E. pilosum, Forst. but is readily
distinguished by the yellowish margin of the
elytra.

I have been informed by Count Dejean, that
the specific name marginatum, is preoccupied
in this genus, I therefore substitute the present
appellation.

The upper left figure of the plate.

ENOPLIUM PILOSUM.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black ; thorax red, with two black lines.

SYNONYM.

Lampyris pilosa. Forst. Nov. Ins. p. 49.

PLATE 41.

DESCRIPTION.

Body shining black, covered with very short
hairs, punctured : labrum dull testaceous : thorax
bright sanguineous, with two broad longitudinal
black vittae approaching each other to the pos-
terior margin, where they are confluent ; anterior
margin yellowish, interrupted by the black vittae:
elytra entirely black, opake, immaculate : wings
black.

OBSERVATIONS.

The very great similarity between the pre-
ceding and the present species, would almost
persuade us that they are merely varieties of
one species; nevertheless, as they seem to be
constant in their respective characters, we con-
sider them as distinct, though closely allied
species.

The lower right figure of the plate.

PLATE 41.

ENOPLIUM DAMICORNE.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black; thorax rufous, slightly edged with
black.

SYNONYM.

TiLLus DAMicoRNis. Fobr, Syst. Eleut. i. p.
282.

E. THORAcicuM. Nohis, Journ, ^cad. Nat. Sci-
ences.

DESCRIPTION.

Body black, hairy, punctured, cylindrical:
antennsR with the terminal joint narrowed near
the tip on the inner side : thorax rufous, lateral
and posterior edges black : pectus rufous : elytra
black with a slight purplish tinge, immaculate ;
punctures large, profound, approximate, and
behind the middle small, confluent.

PL. ATE 41.

OBSERVATIONS.

This insect is an inhabitant of the greater
part of the Union. I have obtained specimens
in Missouri. In my account of the species as
above quoted, I made the follow^ing remark:
" I should consider it the same as the Tillus
damicornis of Fabr. but that, in the description
of that insect, the author mentions but two
dilated joints of the antennse, whereas in ours
there are three dilated joints." Notwithstanding
this remark, it agrees with it so well in other
respects, that on further consideration, I think
we may safely refer it to the damicorne, and
admit that Fabricius was mistaken in the num-
ber of dilated joints. Latreille, in his Histoire
Naturelle, &c. observes, that " Le tille damicorne
de Fabricius differe pen, or presque point de
cette espece, (E. weberi) a en juger par les
phrases specifiques."

The upper right figure of the plate.

PLATE 41.

ENOPLIUM QUADRIPUNCTATUM.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black; elytra sanguineous, with four black
dots. *

SYNONYM.

E. 4 — puNCTATUM. Nobis. Journ. Acad. Nat.
Sciences^ iii. p. 188.

DESCRIPTION.

Body black, somewhat hairy, punctured:
thorax depressed, subquadrate, not contracted
behind; angles rounded, punctures confluent
each side: scutel black: elytra sanguineous,
each with two black, orbicular, subequal dots,
one before, and the other behind the middle.

OBSERYATIONS.

This species is subject to vary in the size of
the spots on its elytra, those of some specimens

PLATE 41.

which I obtained in Arkansaw, being much
larger than I have ever observed them on those
of this state.

The middle figure of the plate, the lower
left figure represents the variety.

PLATE 41.

Drawn Ar T/{.reu/f

42

lEiufrixvevi i\' l'.TC{/>euf.

POMPILUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Labrum inserted under the nasus ; eyes entire ;
stemmata three; antennae as long as the head
and trunk, in the female convoluted towards the
tip; mandibles unarmed, or with one or two
teeth; maxillary palpi longer than the labiales,
three last joints nearly of equal length ; superior
wings not folded longitudinally; radial cellule
of moderate size ; cubital cellules three, the first
elongated; second and third subequal, nearly
square, receiving the two recurrent nervures;
fourth cellule rudimental; feet elongated.

OBSERVATIONS.

These insects associate by pairs, and make
their nest in the earth. The female digs a
hole in a sunny bank or declivity; when this is
accomplished, she goes in search of a spider
or a caterpillar, which she punctures with her
sting, and places at the bottom of her nest.
Having deposited an egg, either in or upon the

PLATE 42. F

prey, she closes the hole with earth, and aban-
dons it. The young, hatched from the egg, has
an abundant and convenient supply of food, in
the body of the interred insect. Descending
the Arkansaw river, with Major Long's party,
I was one day surprised to see a species of this
genus, dragging along the ground the body of
the gigantic Bird-catching spider, the Mygale
avicularia, or a very closely allied species.

These insects are lively and active, flying
rapidly from place to place for short distances,
running briskly on the earth, vibrating their
antennae, and raising a little, and then depress-
ing their wings, which are reclined upon the
back.

The female is armed with a sting, and may
be distinguished from the male by having twelve
joints to the antennae, whilst those of the male
have thirteen joints.

Latreille was the first to separate this group
from Sphex, under the name of Psammochares,
but in his subsequent works, he adopted the
more recent name of Pompilus, given by
Fabricius.

PLATE 42.

POMPILUS FORMOSUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Polished bluish-green; wings rufous, with a
dusky terminal submargin.

SYNONYM.

PoMPiLUS FORMOSUS. NoUs. Westem Quarterly
Reporter, ii. p. 76.

DESCRIPTION.

Body bright greenish, a little tinged with
bluish, and in some lights changing to dull
purplish, sericeous : mitennse, black : feet black
with a green reflection: wings bright golden
rufous; at the extreme base, black; terminal
submargin of the superiores, and terminal and
inner submargins of the inferiores, dusky; the
corresponding margins pale.

PLATE 42.

OBSERVATIONS.

This large and splendid species occurred
within a hundred miles of the Rocky Moun-
tains, on the banks of the Arkansaw river. It
was not uncommon, and in consequence of the
striking colour of the wings, as well as of its
slow and steady flight, it was readily observed
and taken. It was occasionally found perched
on flowers, in company with Stizus grandis,
Nobis, and other Hymenopterus insects. The
strongest similarity certainly exists between the
P. formosus here represented, and the Pepsis
marginata, Beauv., but that species is so much
larger, that we cannot believe it to be the same.

The upper figure of the plate.

PLATE 42.

POMPILUS UNIFASCIATUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black ; antennae and large wing spot, yellow.

DESCRIPTION.

Body black, tinged with purplish : antennse,
excepting the first and second joints, bright
yellow: wings violaceous-black; superior pair
with a broad yellowish band or spot near the
tip of each, abbreviated before the inner margin,
and of a subquadrate or nearly orbicular form.

OBSERVATIONS.

On a recent journey, in company with Mr.
Maclure, I had the gratification to find this
handsome species in the vicinity of Easton,
Pennsylvania. I have not seen it elsewhere.
Only a single specimen occurred, which is a
female.

The middle figure of the plate.

PLATE 4^2.

POMPILUS TERMINATUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black; wings pale fulvous, with a dusky tip.

DESCRIPTION.

Body black, with a slight purplish tinge:
antennae black: superior wings pale fulvous,
with a broad dusky tip : inferior wings paler.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species was brought by Major Long's
party. I caught it near the Arkansaw river, about
two hundred miles from the Rocky Mountains.
But one specimen occurred, which is a female.
In the proportion and distribution of the colours
of the wings, it resembles P. discolor and
annulatus, Fabr., but in magnitude and colour
of the body it is very distinct.

The lower figure of the plate.

PLATE 42.

\ I

JJruwn /v CA.Le.uifiif

4S

Bn^r,xve<^ /'V CrZ-ift'/

TETYRA.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Thorax very narrow before ; scutel elongated,
longer than broad, not covering the sides of
the tergum; head immersed to the eyes in the
thorax; antennas five-jointed, second joint longer
than the third ; labrum very long, striated ; ros-
trum four-jointed, the three first joints subequal ;
tarsi three-jointed, the first joint longer than the
second.

OBSERVATIONS.

The genus Tetyra was separated from
CiMEx of Linne, by Fabricius, to include
those species of which the scutel is very much
dilated and elongated, and the antennae five-
jointed. As instituted by that author, it is
perfectly synonymous with Scuteleera of
Lamarck and Latreille. Leach made a different
disposition of these genera. He restricted the
genus Scuteleera to those species that have
the abdomen entirely covered by the scutel,

plate 43.

and the second joint of the antennae shorter
than the third; the genus Tetyra he limited
so as to include only those of which the scutel,
though still dilated and elongated, does not
entirely conceal the sides of the abdomen, and
the second joint of the antennae is longer than
the third. A third closely allied genus was
distinguished by Schrank, under the name of
Thyreocoris, and adopted by Leach. Its
scutel is broader than long, the second joint of
the antennae is very short, and the anterior
margin of the thorax is but little narrowed.

Of all these genera, we shall be able to give
examples in the course of the present work.

TETYRA FIMBRIATA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Dark green; thorax with a yellow spotted
patch, each side behind; scutel margined with
yellow.

PLATE 43.

DESCRIPTION.

Body dark-green, with large punctures :
clypeus with the lateral edges parallel: anterior
edge rufous, indented in the middle: antennae
and middle of the rostrum rufous : thorax with
a large yellow spot each side behind, including
about two dark-green spots, and a brown one;
posterior angles a little prominent, obtuse : scufel,
excepting at base, with a three-toothed margin :
hemelytra dark-green, with a yellow lateral and
posterior margin, the membranous portion dark-
violaceous: feet rufous; thighs with three nar-
row, yellow bands, the anterior pair one-spined
beneath ; tibia with one yellow band, the anterior
pair dilated tow^ards the tip: venter with a trans-
verse thick line in the middle, and an anterior
longitudinal one; lateral and posterior margins
yellow, the former four-dotted each side ; beyond
the middle, are two large, slightly indented,
sericeous spots.

PLATE 43.

o

OBSERVATIONS.

This singularly marked species, is rare in
Pennsylvania.

The upper left figure of the plate.

TETYRA CINCTIPES.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Dull, testaceous; feet pale, with fuscous
spots.

DESCRIPTION.

Body above, dull, testaceous, or brownish,
with close set, rather large, profound punctures :
head black, acutely carinated, and with a very
obvious tubercle each side, near the base; tip
emarginated: antennx piceous; terminal joint
somewhat dilated : thorax with an obsolete gla-
brous line near the middle, and three tubercles
on the anterior submargin, the intermediate
one very obtuse, and sometimes obsolete ; anterior

PLATE 43.

angles with a tubercle, and another on the
lateral edge behind the middle : anterior thighs^
and all the tibix blackish, with one or two pale
bands: intermediate and posterior thighs pale,
with two bands, and base blackish.

OBSERVATIONS.

Inhabits the middle states. It is one-quarter
of an inch in length.

The lower right figure of the plate.

TETYRA VIOLACEA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Dark bluish-violaceous ; venter with a fulvous
line before the middle, and a spot at tip.

DESCRIPTION.

Body dark bluish-violaceous, with large
punctures: clypeus with the lateral edge parallel;
anterior edge indented in the middle: thorax,

PLATE 43.

posterior angles rather prominent, obtuse : ante-
rior thighs with a prominent spine beneath:
anterior tibise, dilated towards the tip : postpectus^
middle incisures edged with opake black: venter
with a bright fulvous line extending from be-
tween the posterior feet to the middle, where it
is gradually a little dilated ; behind the middle
are two slightly indented large sericeous spots;
tip with a small bright fulvous spot.

OBSERVATIONS.

Closely allied to the preceding, I caught it
on the margin of St. John's river, in East
Florida.

The upper right figure of the plate.

. 'i^3i ^•'» I'Vii.-
TETYRA ALTERNATA. -

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Rufous; beneath yellow; scutel with minute,
abbreviated black lines.

PLATE 43.

DESCRIPTION.

Body above rufous, punctured : head narrowed
before, and rounded at tip : antennsd rufous, basal
joint yellow, terminal joint fuscous: thorax with
the posterior angles obtusely rounded: scutel
with numerous, very short, transverse black lines ;
a transverse, slightly raised elliptical line at base,
from which proceeds a slightly carinated longi-
tudinal line, becoming obsolete on the middle;
tip very slightly emarginate: hemelytra on the
coriaceous portion marked by the same minute
lines as the scutel : tergum margined with alter-
nating black, quadrate spots: beneath yellow:
feet simple, rufous: venter with two almost
obsolete black lines gradually approaching each
other to the penultimate segment, where they
terminate in a common black spot.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species inhabits the middle states, but it
does not occur very frequently.

The lower left figure of the plate.

PLATE 43.

fjrnwn h T. K.I',,,/^

44

T'^ruyraved M' C. TutciU .

PHRYGANEA.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Antennae as long as the body, with numerous
joints; stemmata two; mandibles none; palpi
rather long; inferior wings larger than the
others, longitudinally folded; feet elongated,
spinous; tarsi elongated, five-jointed, terminal
joint with two small nails; abdomen destitute
of filaments at tip of the tail.

OBSERVATIONS.

The greater number of these insects venture
forth upon the wing during the evening and
night, and when disturbed in their resting place
in the day, they fly a short distance, and again
seek a place of concealment and safety. They
frequently enter our houses in the evening,
attracted by the light of a candle, around which
they fly. The larva lives in the water, and the
parents are therefore generally in its vicinity.
Some species swarm in large flocks, whilst others
are solitary. They are light and active, and run

PLATE 44.

with much swiftness. When the female is about
to deposite her eggs, she ejects a considerable
number of them, which remain attached together
at the extremity of her abdomen; these she
places in a favourable situation, on the stalk or
leaf of a water-plant, or other object, from
which the young larva may readily pass into
the water. Here it soon begins to fabricate a
tubular, portable dwelling, which, as respects
form, may be compared to that of the clothes-
moth. This domicil consists of a silky matter,
with various objects attached to the exterior,
such as sand, gravel, small pieces of wood or
reed, &c.. so proportioned that its weight exceeds
but little that of the water. As the inhabitant
increases in bulk, the tube at length becomes
too small, and is necessarily abandoned. Another,
of suitable dimensions, is, however, soon con-
structed, and the little animal is again in a state
of security. This artisan, is of a cylindrical,
somewhat elongated form, consisting of twelve
joints or segments ; on the fourth joint is gene-
rally a conic tubercle on each side, and on the
ultimate segment are two moveable hooks ; these
projections from the body, appear to be useful
as points of support against the sides of the
tube. The head is of a firm consistence, fur-

PT^ATE 44.

nished with strong mandibles, and two eyes.
The feet are six in number, and are not natatory,
the anterior pair being shorter and thicker than
the others, which are considerably elongated,
and not dilated, nor deeply ciliated. Thus consti-
tuted, the animal crawls at the bottom of the
water, with the feet and the anterior part of
the body protruded from the tube, in search of
food.

When about to undergo the change into the
nymph state, the larva affixes its tube to some
permanent object. It then proceeds to close the
ends of its dwelling by a silky net, the meshes
of which are so small as to prevent the ingress
of depredating insects, and yet sufficiently large
to admit of a free circulation of water for the
purpose of respiration. The head of the nymph
is provided with a kind of beak, consisting of
two hooks, which are used to force a passage
through the net-work. At this period, which
occurs in fifteen or twenty days after the change
from the larva state, its period of immobility
ceases: it departs from its tube, and walks or
swims with activity, the feet being fringed for
the latter purpose. The young animal now for
the first time emerges from the water, and seeks
a dry, secure position for its ultimate change

PLATE 44. H

here, after remaining at rest for some minutes,
to permit the superfluous moisture to evaporate,
it throws off its covering, and soon takes w^ing
in search of a mate. Many species of a smaller
size proceed in a different manner; the nymph
ascends to the surface of the w^ater, w^here it is
emancipated from its exuvia, w^hich serves as a
boat to support the perfected insect, until its
wrings are sufficiently developed, dried, and pre-
pared for flight.

The word Phryganea is derived from 0pt;y«v«y,
a bundle or fagot of sticks.

PHRYGANEA SUBFASCIATA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Pale honey-yellow; superior wings a little
dusky, with two transverse blackish spots on
each.

PLATE 44.

SYNONYM.

P. suBFAsciATA. Nohls, Lotig's sBCond Expe-
dition^ vol. ii. p. 308.

DESCRIPTION.

Body honey-yellow : head a little more tinged
with rufous, paler beneath: antennse blackish;
first joint yellowish on the inner and inferior
irides: superior wings dull-ochreous, covered
with bullae, or minute raised points, with a
dusky inner and terminal margin ; on each are
two subequal, transverse, dusky spots, the ante-
rior one near the middle, and connected with
the inner margin; the posterior one a little
undulated, placed nearer the anterior spot, than
to the tip of the wing.

Variety a. Spots of the superior wings obso-
lete, or wanting.

OBSERVATIONS.

Rather smaller than the preceding species,
and very distinct from it. It is easily known
PLATE 44.

by the two striking dusky spots on each superior
wing. I obtained two or three specimens during
a recent excursion with Mr. Maclure, into the
interior of Pennsylvania.

The left middle figure of the plate.

PHRYGANEA DOSSUARIA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Wings with the nervures, and dilated trans-
verse irregular lines, blackish.

DESCRIPTION.

Body pale yellowish-ochreous : antmnse, dark-
brown: stemmata brown on the inner side,
white on the exterior side: superior icings
yellowish-white, with blackish nervures, and
transverse somewhat dilated, connecting blackish
lines, hardly forming bands ; of these, one forms
a quadrate spot on the costal margin, and one is
common near the inner posterior angle ; inferior

PLATE 44.

wings with two costal spots and terminal mar-
gin : tergum dusky, segments paler towards their
tips.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species was sent to me, with several
other interesting insects, by Mr. Charles Pick-
ering, of Salem.

Lowest figure of the plate.

PHRYGANEA SEMIFASCIATA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Superior wings dull ferruginous, with irregular
black lines ; a distinct black point near the inner
basal angle ; inferior wings light ferruginous.

SYNONYM.

P. SEMIFASCIATA. NoMs. Westem Quarterly
Reporter, vol. ii. p. 161.

PLATE 44.

DESCRIPTION.

Body when recent, light olivaceous-green:
head dark ferruginous above: eyes dark-brown,
with a moveable black pupil : mouth pale : neck
light-green, with a brown, transverse, hirsute
collar on the middle: thorax dark ferruginous,
hairy, blackish each side: feet pale: superior
wings dull ferruginous, with numerous opake,
transverse, abbreviated, black lines; a small
black point at the inner basal angle, and a small
transverse, abbreviated dusky line on the inner
margin, a little beyond the middle; inferior
wings light honey-yellow, a blackish, dilated,
angulated, semifasciate line near the tip, and a
black, anterior spot near the inner margin :^ec/MS
pale-brownish.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species frequently occurs in various parts
of the United States. It is an inhabitant of
Pennsylvania and New-Jersey, and I also found
specimens near the falls of the Ohio river; and
another was sent to me by Dr. T. W. Harris,
of Massachusetts. A variety in my cabinet, is

PLATE 44.

altogether destitute of the semifascia on the
inferior wings.

The two upper figures.

PHRYGANEA INTERRUPTA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Grayish ; superior wings with a longitudinal
black line, and a smaller one near the tip.

DESCRIPTION.

Body with grayish hair : eyes fuscous : palpi
and antennsR black: superior wings gray, disk
tinged with dusky, a black line extending from
the base to near the middle of the terminal
edge, and slightly interrupted in its middle;
nearer the costal margin, and beyond the middle,
is an abbreviated black line ; inner margin hoary,
immaculate; inferior wings duU-ochreous, with
a broad blackish tip : tibise dusky : tarsi dusky,
the joints pale at their bases.

PLATE 44.

OBSERVATIONS.

For this pretty species, I am indebted to my
brother, who caught two specimens at Pleasant
Mills, New-Jersey.

The right middle figure of the plate.

PLATE 44.

JJrnwn /v 7. /i I'r.it.-

4 5

F.„..

v.;/ /-.■ (.Tnluuif.

CYCHRUS.

■ ' '-; = t ' -'^■•'

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Head narrower than the thorax; external
maxillary and labial palpi dilated, compressed,
securiform ; labrum elongated, very profoundly
emarginate; labium very large, profoundly
emarginate, not wilder at base than at tip;
mandibles narrovsr, elongated, bidentate near
the tip; thorax cordate, slightly, or not at all
elevated each side, and not extended behind;
abdomen robust, convex; elytra entire, not
divided at the suture, carinate each side, and
embracing the sides of the abdomen ; tarsi alike
in the sexes.

OBSERVATIONS.

This is a limited genus, consisting in the
time of Fabricius, vy^ho constructed it, of only
five species. As it nov^r stands, under the
reforming hand of Latreille and Dejean, it is
certainly more rigidly natural. The latter
author, in his " Species general des Coleop-

PLATE 45. I

teres," describes nine species, and observes,
that they are limited, in their geographical
distribution, to Europe, Asiatic Russia, and
North America ; that although they are, strictly
speaking, Carabici, yet they have so much the
habit of the Heteromerae, that Linne placed
them in his genus Tenebrio.

They are of a blackish colour, glossed v\dth
a handsome metallic tint, chiefly of a purplish
cast. They inhabit beneath stones, and under
prostrate logs.

The vs^ord Cychrus, is derived from viv^^^g, the
Greek name for a bird.

CYCHRUS vmuus.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black; elytra cupreous-violaceous, polished,
humeral edge, and lateral margins of the thorax
reflected, the latter contracted behind.

PLATE 45.

SYNONYMS.

Cychrus UNICOL.OR. Knoch neue beytrdge, p.

187, tab. 8, fig. 1.
Nobis. Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. vol. ii. new

series, p. 71.
Cychrus viduus. Dejean, Spec. Gen. Coleop.

vol. ii. p. 12, No. 9.

description.

Head black, vv^ith a slight blue tinge: antennx
brown at tip : thorax blackish-blue, disk a little
convex, and with an impressed line; lateral
margins reflected; widest rather before the
middle, and narrowed behind; posterior angles
rounded: elytra bright coppery-violaceous, or
dark purplish, with numerous striae, in which
are dilated, confluent punctures: beneath black.

OBSERVATIONS.

Probably the largest species of the genus,
and is by no means common. The specimen
from which the above description, and the
annexed figure were taken, was presented to
me by Mr. William Hyde of Philadelphia, who

PLATE 45.

obtained it near the Susquehanna river. Two
other specimens have since come into my
possession.

This species vv^as first described by Knoch,
under the name of unicolor; supposing it to be
the same w^ith that of Fabricius, and on his
authority, I retained the appellation in my
" Descriptions of the Carabici and Hydrocan-
thari ;" but after the publication of that paper,
being induced to examine the descriptions of
Fabricius, and Olivier, I perceived at once that
the unicolor of Knoch, was not that of those
authors. Under this impression, I sent the
insect to Count Dejean, under a new name,
which he adopted. ''? " "■•^ -^rr >:

I have been thus particular in this statement,
in order to record an opinion which I have
always entertained, and which every observation
tends to confirm. That it is of no consequence
whatever, who gives a new name, either in a
catalogue or letter, or attached to the insect in
his cabinet, or elsewhere; but as it is the
describer that incurs the responsibility, his
name only ought to be quoted with that of
the insect, or other object described by subse-
quent naturalists.

PI.ATE 45.

Under the operation of this principle, the
present species is the C. viduus, Dejean.

The upper figure of the plate.

SPH^RODERUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Head narrower than the thorax; external
maxillary and labial palpi, with the last joint
dilated, securiform, compressed; labrum elon-
gated, profoundly emarginate; labium very
large, profoundly emarginate, not wider at base
than at tip; mandibles elongated, narrow, bi-
dentate near the tip; the thorax rounded, not
elevated on the sides, nor extended behind;
abdomen robust, convex ; elytra entire, not
divided at the suture, carinate each side, em-
bracing the sides of the abdomen; tarsi with
the three basal joints, in the male, dilated.

PLATE 45.

OBSERVATIONS.

The present group was separated from Cy-
CHRus, by Count Dejean, who remarks, that at
first view, they resemble some small species of
Carabus, and particularly the convexus; that in
comparison with the true species of the genus
Cychrus, the head is a little less elongated, the
antennae a little shorter, and the thorax, instead
of being cordate, is rounded, oval or orbicular,
convex, not elevated on the sides, nor behind;
the first and second joints of the anterior tarsi
in the male, are much dilated, the first, truncate-
triangular; the second, quadrate broader than
long; the third is less dilated, cordate.

The word SpHiERODERus, is derived from the
Greek words :zcpx7px, sphere, and Aepov, neck, in
allusion to the form of the thorax.

PLATE 45.

SPH^RODERUS STENOSTOMUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black; elytra dark cupreous, basal thoracic
lines distinct.

SYNONYMS.

Cychrus STENOSTOMUS. Weber. Obs.Ent. p. 43.
Knoch^ neue Beytr. p. 190, pi. 8, f. 13.
Schonh. Syn. p. 166.
Nobis. Trans. *Stmer. Philos. Soc. (new
series) vol. ii. p. 72.
Sph^roderus STENOSTOMUS. Dejeau, Spec.
CoUopt. vol. ii. p. 15.

DESCRIPTION.

Head black, glabrous, impunctured : antennae,
brownish towards their tips : thorax black, tinged
with blue, rounded, widest in the middle, con-
tracted behind; base narrower than the elytra,
punctured; basal edge rectilinear; dorsal line
very distinct; basal lines profoundly impressed,
obtuse, punctured: elytra dark cupreous, striae
numerous, obtuse; interstitial lines narrower

PLATE 45.

than the striae, obtuse ; edge dark blue ; humeral
edge not dilated nor reflected : epipleura punc-
tured : pectus punctured at base : postpedus and
venter each side at base, punctured.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species is not uncommon in Penn-
sylvania. I have also received a specimen from
Mr. Charles Pickering, taken in Massachusetts.

The left figure of the plate.

SPH^RODERUS BILOBUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Violaceous; beneath black; margins not re-
flected ; basal thoracic lines obsolete.

PLATE 45.

SYNONYMS.

Cychrus bilobus. Nob. Trans, dmer. Phil.

Soe. (new series) vol. ii. p. 73.
SpHiERODERus BILOBUS. Dejeon, Spec, Gen.

Coleopt. vol. ii. p. 16.

DESCRIPTION.

Body beneath black : head black, vs^ith a slight
violaceous tint : antennae and palpi pale piceous :
thorax cupreous-violaceous, polished, broadest
rather before the middle, much narrovred be-
hind; lateral margin not dilated nor reflected;
base depressed and much punctured ; basal lines
obsolete ; basal edge rectilinear, not wider than
the pedicle of the postpectus; disk somev\rhat
bilobated, being convex each side, and gradually
indented in the middle by the dorsal line;
anterior margin depressed, and rugose in the
middle : elytra cupreous-violaceous, striae nume-
rous, punctured: pectus beneath, postpectus and
abdomen each side, punctured.

PLATE 45.

OBSERVATIONS.

This is somewhat smaller than the slenos-
tomus, from which it is very distinct, and is
the most brilliant species we have. I have not
vet met w^ith it in the Atlantic states. The
first specimen was obtained in Missouri, and I
caught another in the North- Western Territory,
when travelling over that region with Major
Long's party.

The right figure of the plate.

SCAPHINOTUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Head narrower than the thorax; external
maxillary, and labial palpi, with the last joint
dilated, compressed, securiform; labrum elon-
gated, profoundly emarginate; labium very large,
profoundly emarginate, not wider at base than
at tip; mandibles elongated, narrow, bidentate
near the tip; thorax with the lateral margins
reflected, posterior angles extended ; elytra entire.

PLATE 45.

not divided at the suture, prominently carinate
each side, and embracing the sides of the abdo-
men; tarsi with the three basal joints of the
anterior feet a little dilated in the male.

OBSERVATIONS.

Separated by Latreille, from the genus Cy-
€HRus, and consisting as yet, of a single species
only, though Dejean supposes that the Cychrus
unicolor of Fabricius, vs^ill constitute a second
species, but the latter does not appear to be at
present known to entomologists. This genus is
most closely allied to Cychrus and SpHiERo-
DERUS, but particularly to the former; the
thorax, however, is of a different form, and
the anterior tarsi of the male are a little
dilated.

We remarked in our Preface, p. vi. that
" care has been taken that species of different
genera be not represented in the same plate."
It seems therefore proper, that we should state
the reason why w^e have not complied with this
intention in the annexed plate, where three
genera are introduced. That plate w^as engraved
before the author left Philadelphia, on a visit
to New-Harmony, Indiana, his present residence.

PliATE 45.

and it was only a few months since, that he
received the second volume of Dejean's Species
General des Coleopteres, published last year, in
which the distinguished author has reformed
the genus Cychrus. But as the object of that
intention was, that the work might be " bound
up, when completed, agreeably to systematic
order in the succession of genera," the author
conceives that no disadvantage can ever arise
from this circumstance, as these genera are so
closely allied, that it seems hardly possible, any
future discovery shall disturb their proximity.

SCAPHINOTUS ELEVATUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Blackish; elytra violaceous-cupreous, polished;
hardly narrower behind.

PLATE 45.

SYNONYMS.

Carabus elevatus. Fahr. Ent. Syst. i. p. 132.

Oliv. Ins, vol. iii. p. 46, pi. 7, fig. 82.

Oliv. Em. Meth. (Carabe) p. 334.

Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. 1967.
Cychrus elevatus. Fabr. Syst. Eleuth. i. p.
166.

Knoch^ neue Beytr. p. 188, pi. 8, fig. 12.

Latr. Hist. Nat. 8, p. 289.

Nob. Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. vol. ii.
(new series) p. 71.

Schonh. Syn. p. 166.
ScAPHiNOTus elevatus. Dejean^ Spec. Gen*

vol. ii. p. 17.

DESCRIPTION.

Head black, very slightly tinted with violet,
impunctured: mitennm brow^nish tov^^ards the
tips: thorax black, slightly tinted with viola-
ceous, the sides gradually more reflected to the
hind angles, hardly contractly behind; disk
concave, with small, numerous, irregular, punc-
tures; base nearly as broad as the base of the
elytra; basal angles prominent, acute: elytra
violaceous-cupreous, brilliant; striae numerous,

PLATE 45.

obtuse; intervening lines narrower than the
striae, obtuse; humeral edge dilated, reflected,
elevated, and rounded: epipleura confluently
punctured: pectus with a few punctures at
base; lateral margin with minute punctures:
postpedus and venter^ each side at base, with
large punctures.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species was supposed, by all the authors,
previous to Knoch, to be a native of South
America, but that entomologist determined its
native country, by receiving specimens from
the late Dr. F. V. Melsheimer, of Hanover,
Pennsylvania.

The lowest figure of the plate.

PLATE 45.

v7mitv( A' r 7iJ',\i/f

7:'/nrnrVf<r/ M- ("JYc/uHit .

MELIT^.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Antennae with a short, somewhat broad,
compressed terminal club; palpi divaricating,
hairy, second joint compressed, terminal joint
acicular, half the length of the preceding joint ,*
inferior wings suborbicular, somewhat check-
ered beneath ; anterior feet short, feeble ; tarsi
with double nails.

OBSERVATIONS.

The distinction between this genus and
Argynnis, is very slight, too much so, we think,
to justify the continuation of it, except perhaps
as a subgenus. We have set down the characters
pretty much as w^e find them in the authors,
and, although it is obvious, that they do not
agree very well with the species we have placed
under it, yet there cannot be the slightest doubt
of the correctness of the reference. Perhaps
the only striking character by which the species
may be separated from those of the above

PLATE 46.

mentioned genus, is that of the somewhat
checkered appearance of the inferior page of
the posterior wings. A more remarkable dis-
tinction may be observed in the larvae, which
are not armed with spines as in Argynnis, but
are pubescent, with small fleshy tubercles on
the body; the pupa is suspended by the tail.

The genus under the present name, was
separated from the Linnaean Papilio, by Fa-
bricius.

MELIT^ MYRINA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Wings slightly indented, fulvous, with black
spots and undulated lines; beneath with more
than thirty silvery spots, and an ocellate spot
near the base of the inferior ones.

PLATE 46.

SYNONYMS.

Papilio myrina. Cramer^ ii. p. 141, pi. 189,
fig. B. C.
Fahr. Ent. Emend, p. 145.
Herhst. Natursyst. ix. p. 178, pi. 255^
fig. 3, 4.

DESCRIPTION.

Wings fulvous, slightly indented on the
exterior edges ; superior wings with black, trans-
verse, undulated, and interrupted lines, occupy-
ing the basal portion to a considerable distance
beyond the middle, the first sublunate, the
second double; towards the tip, a transverse
series of black dots, then of black angles,
confluent with the black nodose edging ; inferior
surface paler, the series of black dots obsolete ;
immediately before this series, and near the
anterior margin, are two somewhat silvery spots ;
a somewhat silvery spot within each of the black
submarginal angles, the margin destitute of
black; inferior wings with two, much undulated,
nearly parallel lines, from the middle of the
anterior margin curve round and terminate

PLATE 46. L.

near the base, near which they become con-
fused, they enclose a black spot ; a series of black
dots, angles, and margin, as in the superior
wings; beneath tinged with ferruginous, and
varied with ochreous spots, with four transverse
series of silvery spots; the second series inter-
rupted by ochreous spots, between the first and
second series is a small silvery ocellate spot
with a black pupil ; beyond the third series, is
a series of obsolete brown dots.

OBSERVATIONS.

This pretty little species is common in various
parts of the United States, extending as far
south as Florida, and north at least to Massa-
chusetts, from whence Dr. T. W. Harris sent
me a specimen. It resembles several foreign
species, and particularly the A. selene, for which
it may be easily mistaken, but on comparison,
that species will be found to have the third
series of silvery spots widely interrupted in the
middle, and the small ocellate spot near the
base is not silvery, but black, with a pale pupil ;
still, however, they arc so very closely allied,
that in considering them as distinct species, I

PLATE 46.

rely on the authors whose synonyms are quoted
above.

The plant is the Claytonia virginica.

PLATE 46.

JJm\yn fv I. KJ'tVt/r

47

F.nijraved fiv C.IuictU.

PLOIARIA.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Body elongated, filiform; feet ambulatory,
very long, with distinct nails; anterior pair
shortest, raptatory, with elongated coxae; eyes
moderate; labrum very short; antennae elon-
gated, setaceous, four-jointed; beak inflected.

OBSERVATIONS.

Such is the particular form and appearance
of the antennae in insects of this genus, that on
a slight inspection, a person would almost be
disposed to pronounce them ambulatory, and
that there are therefore eight feet. But no true
insect yet known, has more or less than six feet.
As respects the remarkably long and slender
form of some of the species, they have con-
siderable affinity for the genus Spectrum, and
the anterior pair of feet may be compared to
those of Mantis and Empusa, with equal
aptitude. These feet are much shorter than the
others, are used almost altogether for the pur-

plate 47.

pose of seizing and conveying the prey to their
mouth; whilst the two posterior pairs support
the body, and move it from place to place.
Their movements are rather slow and unsteady,
moving up and down upon their legs as they
proceed forwards, in the manner of the Crane-
fly (Tipula). They feed on small insects.
Scopoli, first established this genus; the species
were referred to Cimex, by Linne and others,
and Fabricius, unacquainted with what Scopoli
had done, perceived the necessity of forming a
genus for them, and this he called Emesa, of
which he describes four species ; three belonging
to America, and one to the East Indies. The
Cimex vagabundus, Linn., of Europe, is a fifth
species, which, however, Fabricius placed in his
genus Gerris.

The word Ploiaria, is of uncertain origin,
Mr. Dumeril supposes it to have been derived
from the Greek name for a small vessel, nMtdfiov.
(navicula.)

PLATE 47.

PLOIARIA BREVIPENNIS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Fuscous-rufous, glabrous; wings abbreviated;
feet near the knees annulated.

DESCRIPTION.

Body fuscousj more or less tinged with san-
guineous: antennse, very slender, with a white
annulus at the tip of the first joint: anterior
tibiae with the spines black at tip: nervures of
the wings brownish: intermediate and posterior
feet with the thighs near the tip, and tibix near
the base biannulate with whitish : tergum beneath
the wings bright sanguineous.

OBSERVATIONS.

This is a very common insect, and is often
found evenMn the city of Philadelphia. It
inhabits out-houses, where it may be observed
generally motionless on the walls. When dis-

PL.ATE 47.

turbed, it moves its body up and down on its
legs, and at the same time advances slow^ly
forwards.

The line denotes the natural size.

PLATE 47.

iJr.nsn iv (A J., ..11

48

I'ltti/rnVt-i^ /\' CTtf/viit

MALACHIUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Body furnished with cocardes ; head retracted
to the eyes within the thorax; antennae ten-
jointed, filiform, serrated ; mandibles emarginate ;
labium entire; palpi filiform; tarsi simple, nails
with a tooth beneath; elytra flexible.

OBSERVATIONS.

Linneus referred these insects to his genus
Cantharis; from which his learned successor,
Fabricius, separated them, and constituted a
group under the present name, derived from
the Greek word yxcxxMi, which means soft,
delicate, in allusion to the consistence of the
body. They differ from the genus Dasytes,
Payk. in being less elongated, and furnished with
the cocardes, their antennae also are placed nearer
together at base ; otherwise the two genera are
closely allied.

These insects are frequent in some situations
on flowers, the nectareous juices of which they

plate 48. M

appear to extract, though it has been asserted,
but we know not upon what authority, that in
addition to their liquid food they prey also upon
insects.

When alarmed for their safety, the cocardes
are suddenly protruded, and when reassured of
security, these singular organs are retracted, so
that no remnant of them remains in view. The
cocardes arc three-lobed bodies, of a vivid red
colour, and vesicular consistence, situated one
on each side near the anterior angles of the
thorax, and another on each side at the base
of the abdomen. Their uses are altogether
unknown, but we cannot suppose them to be
of primary importance, since one, and indeed
all of them have been cut off without dimi-
nishing the agility of the insect, or subjecting
it to any apparent inconvenience. Like the
retractile cervical appendage of the larvae of
Papiliones, it may possibly serve to repel their
enemies. Olivier supposes that the larvai of the
Malaciiius live in wood. Latreille informs us
that in some of the species one sex has an
appendice at the tip of each elytrum, in the
shape of a hook, which is seized by the man-
dibles of the opposite sex, in order to arrest the
fugitive.

rLATH 48.

MALACHIUS BIPUNCTATUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Thorax rufous, with two remote black spots ;
elytra blue ; abdomen sanguineous.

SYNONYM.

M, BIPUNCTATUS. Nobis. Journ, Mad. Nat
Sciences^ vol. iii. p. 185.

DESCRIPTION.

Head black, with a slight greenish tinge; all
before a line drawn between the anterior canthi
of the eyes, including the antennae, yellow;
mandibles and terminal joints of iih^ palpi black;
thorax yellowish-rufous, with two small, remote,
rounded black dots ; posterior submargin some-
what indented : elytra blue or greenish : pectus
rufous : postpectus and feet black : abdomen
sanguineous.

PLATE 48=

OBSERVATION.

This fine species is an inhabitant of the Arkan-
saw region, near the Rocky Mountains, where
I captured two specimens. In magnitude it
exceeds any other North American species yet
known. The second joint of the antennae in
the male is dilated and irregular.

The lowest figure of the plate.

MALACHIUS TRICOLOR.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Head^ postpectus, and feet black; labrum
and thorax rufous ; abdomen rufo-testaceous.

SYNONYM.

M. TRICOLOR. Nobis. Journ. *dcad. Nat. Sci-
ences, vol. iii. p. 182.

PLATE 48.

DESCRIPTION.

Head black : labrum, clypeus on its anterior
margin and palpi at base, pale rufous : antennx
pale rufous, dusky at tip: thorax transverse,
nearly oval, rather short, rufous, immaculate:
elylra dark bluish-green, or somewhat violaceous ;
middle of the lateral edge obsoletely piceous:
postpectus and feet deep black : venter testaceous.

Variety, a. Elytra blue ; venter and thorax
sanguineous.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species was taken on the Mississippi, and
specimens also occurred near the Rocky Moun-
tains. It is as large as M. 4 — maculatus, Fabr.,
and larger than M. thoracicus, Fabr., which it
much resembles. The variety was sent me from
Massachusetts by Mr. Charles Pickering.

The right figure of the plate.

PLATE 48.

MALACHIUS NIGRICEPS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Thorax rufous, with a large black spot ; elytra
blue ; venter sanguineous.

SYNONYM.

M. NIGRICEPS. Nobis. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci-
ences, vol. iii. p. 183.

DESCRIPTION.

Head deep black, pale testaceous or rufous
before : thorax rufous, with a large black spot,
sometimes composed of two, dilated, confluent
ones, and not attaining the anterior margin:
elytra violaceous, blue, or greenish : pectus rufous,
at the origin of the feet black : postpectus black :
feet black : thigfis sometimes rufous, particularly
the anterior ones : venter sanguineous.

Variety, a. Thorax entirely black.
PLATE 48.

OBSERVATIONS.

Distinguishable from the tricolor by the black
spot of the thorax, and by the proportion of
this part, which is comparatively longer than
in that insect. Its antennae present the remark-
able character of the dilatation and irregularity
of the second joint of the antennae.

The upper middle figure of the plate.

MALACHIUS VITTATUS,

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Thorax rufous, with a large black spot ; elytra
blue, margin and suture rufous.

SYNONYM.

M. viTTATUs. Nobis. Jmirn. Acad. Nat Sci-
ences, voL iii. p. 184.

PLATE 48.

DESCRIPTION.

Hecul black ; labrum and base of the antennx
rufous : thorax rufous, with a dorsal black spot
composed of two confluent ones, not reaching
the anterior margin: elytra bright greenish-blue;
exterior margin, suture, and tip rufous; this
colour is a little dilated behind the humerus :
pectus rufous ; about the base of the feet black :
postpectus and venter black, incisures of the latter
edged with testaceous : feet black ; anterior pairs
of tibiae often piceous.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species is somewhat smaller than M.
quadrimaculatus. It is closely allied to M.
tricolor. The second joint of the antennfE of
the male is dilated and irregular. Mr. Thomas
Nuttall first obtained specimens of the vittatus
in the Mississippi region, where I have since
met with it.

The upper fiiiurr of the plate.

PLATE 48.

MALACHIUS OTIOSUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Thorax rufous, with a dilated longitudinal
line ; antennae and elytra black.

SYNONYM.

Malachius NI6RIPENNIS. Nohis, Joum. Acad.
Nat. Sciences, vol. iii. p. 184.

DESCRIPTION.

Body black, inconspicuously hairy: head with.
three obtuse indentations between the eyes;
antennae, black ; labrum and clypeus before, ru-
fous : thorax rufous, with a much dilated black
line from the anterior to the posterior edge:
elytra black, with a very slight violaceous tinge :
pectus pale rufous, or testaceous ; origin of the
feet black : postpectus black : venter black, seg-
ments with more or less dilated, sanguineous
margins ; sometimes entirely sanguineous : feet
black ; anterior thighs sometimes pale.

PLATE 48. N

OBSERVATIONS.

This species is readily separable from M.
nigrkeps by its inferior size and blackish elytra
and antennae, and by the circumstance that the
black line of the thorax is continued to the
anterior edge.

Count Dejean informs me the name nigri-
pennis is preoccupied in this genus; I have
therefore been compelled to change it.

The lower middle figure.

PLATE 48.

n,a»n A- rni\:,i.-

49

J-:„,,r.n;;.' S- I'TiWuiit.

PHILANTHUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Labrum concealed; eyes not extending to
the posterior part of the head, very slightly
emarginate ; stemmata three ; antennae thicker
towards the tip, inserted in the middle of the
face ; nasus trilobate ; mandibles simple ; radial
cell one, elongated, acute at tip ; cubital cells
three, the first large, the second small, sessile,
receiving the first recurrent nervure, the third
subquadrate, elongated at its exterior inferior
angle and receiving the second recurrent ner-
vure, an imperfect fourth cellule sometimes
exists ; feet rather short.

OBSERVATIONS.

In the present order of insects called Hyme-
NOPTERA by Linne, are many species whose
manners are highly interesting ; living together
harmoniously in large communities, and labour-
ing for the attainment of a common object,
such species exhibit such eminent proofs of

PLATE 49.

intelligence, as to stagger the vain theorist in
the midst of his speculations, and to render
insecure the distinction which he has endea-
voured to establish between the blindness of
instinct and the splendid nature of reason.

But the far greater portion associate by pairs,
in their perfect state, for the important purpose
of continuing their race, and of these are the
species of the genus under consideration. It
has been long known that the PHfLANTHi are
parasitic ; the female digs a hole in the earth
for the reception of her egg, with which she
places the body of an insect that she had killed
for the nurture of her young; she then com-
pletes her task by covering the hole with earth.
Latreille gives the following interesting account
of the P. apivorus of Europe. It is a dangerous
enemy of the domestic bee. The female digs
a horizontal gallery about a foot in depth in a
sloping bank of light earth exposed to the in-
fluence of the sun; she separates the earth,
and carries it to the surface by means of her
mandibles and feet. When the nest is thus
completed, the parent visits the neighbouring
flowers for the purpose of obtaining a honey
bee; she seizes her victim, and kills it by
piercing it with her sting at the junction of the

PLATE 49.

head with the thorax, or of the thorax with the
abdomen, and transports it to the bottom of the
gallery. As each female deposites at least five
or six eggs, the consequence is that the same
number of bees must be destroyed. In an
extent of ground about one hundred and twenty
feet long, Mr. Latreille counted from fifty to
sixty females actively employed in making their
nests, these of course destroyed about three
hundred bees. Let us then suppose a surface
of country about six miles square, a fiftieth part
of which would afford a proper situation for
the operations of the females of this species of
Philanthus; these would be a sufficient num-
ber to destroy fifteen thousand of those useful
insects. The eggs are white, nearly cylindrical,
rounded at the two ends. The larvae resemble
those of the bee. The covering of the pupa is
a thin pellicle.

Fabricius first applied the name Philanthus ;
but Latreille divided the group which his pre-
decessor established under that name into two
genera, retaining the appellation for the present
group, and applying that of Cerceres to such
as have denticulated mandibles, and the second
cubital cellule petiolated. The former were

PLATE 49.

called SiMBLEPHiLus, and the latter Philan-
THUS, by Jurine.

The name of this genus is compounded of
the Greek words (pixiS, I love, and «.«««. a flower.

PHILANTHUS CANALICULATUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Pale yellow ; vertex, disk of the thorax, and
incisures of the tergum reddish-brown.

SYNONYM.

P. CANALICULATUS. NoMs. Westem Quarterly
Reporter^ vol. ii. p. 79.

DESCRIPTION.

Body pale yellow: verlcx reddish-brown;
front with two longitudinal reddish-brown lines
passing through the base of the antennae; an-
tennx rufous, black at tip: mandibles black at
tip: superior ivings with a longitudinal brownish
line on the middle from near the base to the tip ;

PLATE 49.

radial cellule rounded at tip, and at its inferior
angle descending to meet the superior angle of
the second cubital cellule, which is triangular :
tergum with a transverse groove on the middle
of each segment, and a marginal smaller one ;
incisures reddish-brown.

OBSERVATIONS.

When traversing the Arkansaw region with
Major Long's party, I obtained a single specimen
of this insect, which is a male; it is so very
similar in general appearance and colour to
Cerceris bidenlala, Nob. that but for its ge-
neric differences, I should almost have been led
to consider as a mere sexual variety of that
species. But it cannot be placed in the genus
Cerceris, as the mandibles are entirely un-
armed within, and the second cubital cellule is
not petiolated, and the eyes are not emarginated.

The upper right figure of the plate.
plate 49.

PHILANTHUS ZONATUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black; front, two lines on the thorax and
posterior submargins of the segments of the
tergum, yellow ; feet rufous.

SYNONYM.

p. ZONATUS. Nobis. Western Quarterly Re-
porter^ vol. ii. p. 79.

DESCRIPTION.

Body above black : front yellow, with two
black lines descending from the black vertex
to the origin of the antennae ; antennx and
mandibles rufous, black at tip ; base of the head
rufous : thorax^ first segment and scutel, each
with a yellow line ; a large rufous spot each
side behind the scutel : superior wings with a
dusky margin towards the tip; costal nervure
dull rufous in the middle ; radial cellule rounded
at tip, and at \is inferior edge descending in an

PLATE 49.

angle to meet the superior angle of the second
cubital cellule, which is triangular: tergum
with an obsolete transverse groove on the middle
of each segment, and a marginal slender one ;
posterior submargins yellow : feet rufous : pectus
black : venter dull rufous.

OBSERVATIONS.

The specimen which served for this descrip-
tion is a male, which was taken in the same
country as the preceding. It corresponds with
the canaliculatus in the simple form of its eyes
and mandibles, and in the shape of the radial
and second cubital cellules. These characters
justify the separation of the two species from
the foregoing, into a distinct subgenus.

The lower left figure of the plate.

PLATE 49.

PHILANTHUS VERTILABRIS

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black; thorax with a line on the interior
and posterior margins, and tergiim, with four or
five bauds of which the anterior one is broadest^
yellow.

SYNONYM.

P. VERTILABRIS. Fohv. Syst. Phz. p. 303^.
Coqueb. III. Icon. p. 96, pi. 22, fig. 2.

DESCRIPTION.

Head black; beneath the antennae yellow;
antennse, beneath yellow : thorax with confluent
punctures black; a transverse line before and
another behind yellow : icings tinged with dull
yellowish : feel pale rufous : tibix yellowish on
the exterior side: tergum with large, deeply
impressed, confluent punctures; first segment
with a yellow spot each side ; second segment
with a broad yellow band occupying the basal

PLATE 49.

half, sometimes slightly interrupted in the
middle ; third, fourth, and fifth segments with
a band on their hind margins, broader each side ;
sixth segment with a spot each side.

OBSERVATIONS.

Coquebert gave a figure of this species, with
a magnified representation of the head, abdomen,
and a wing. It is stated to be an inhabitant of
Carolina, but it is also found in Missouri and
Pennsylvania.

The upper left figure of the plate.

PHILANTHUS POLITUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black, polished ; first segment of the tergum
with two whitish spots, the other segments with
a spot each side, connected by a whitish band.

PLATB 49.

SYNONYM.

P. poLTTus. Nobis. Long's Second Expedition^
p. 343.

DESCRIPTION.

Hypostoma, mandibles at base, and anterior
line of the orbits as high as the emargination,
whitish ; antennse beyond the third joint on the
inferior side rufous brown, a whitish spot on
the basal joint: thorax with small, irregular
punctures; collar with two transverse spots;
wing-scale, and transverse line on the scutel,
whitish : wings a little dusky towards the tip :
pleura with a double whitish spot beneath the
superior wings : thighs black ; knees and tibix,
excepting a black line on the inner side, whitish ;
tarsi dusky: tergum polished; first segment
with a transverse ovate spot each side ; remaining
segments each with a transverse quadrate spot
each side, touching the posterior margin, and
connected along this margin by a slender, un-
dulated band.

PLATE 49.

OBSERVATIONS.

An inhabitant of Pennsylvania. It may
be readily known from the preceding, by its
polished appearance.

The lower right figure of the plate.

PLATE 49.

j)n,v>n A- T n.n^/.

m

F.n<fmvec/ A' CTttiout.

HIPPARCHIA.

For Generic Characters, see Hipparchia
andromacha*

HIPPARCHIA SEMIDEA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Wings brown ; inferior pair marbled beneath.

DESCRIPTION. .

Body black, immaculate: antennae fuscous,
beneath bright rufous towards the tip, the club
very gradually formed : superior wings brown,
the costal margin with alternate transverse black
and yellow lines, exterior margin with alternate
black and white spots ; beneath dull ochreous,
with obsolete, transverse, abbreviated, blackish
lines; costal and broad tip margin alternated
with vivid black and white lines ; inferior

PLATE 50.

tvings dark brown ; towards the posterior margin
obscure ochreous, with obsolete, abbreviated,
blackish, transverse lines ; posterior margin with
a slender black line and dirty white edging ;
beneath marbled with black and white, the
black prevailing across the middle and base of
the wing.

OBSERVATIONS.

Many of the insects belonging to this genus
are decorated with beautiful colours, and with
eye-like spots upon the wings ; but the present
species is of a more simple and unassuming
character. Without any imposing attractions
to arrest the eye, it exhibits an agreeable neat-
ness in the disposition of the contrasting colours,
on the inferior surface of the wings. But its
chief title to our attention is the great altitude
of its native climate. It inhabits the bald
summits of the White Mountains of New-
Hampshire, and appears to be limited to that
inhospitable region. Mr. T. Nuttall sent me a
specimen some time since, taken by himself;
and Mr. Charles Pickering of Salem, has re-
cently presented me with an individual in an

pr.ATK 50.

excellent state of preservation, from which the
accompanying plate has been taken.

The plate exhibits two views of the insect.
PLATE 50.

*

JJrawn A- C.^. .Lr.ituttr

51

jEtu/ravtd iy C Tutpiit

BOLETOPHAGUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Body very rough, oval, convex ; head rather
large, vs^ithout a neck ; eyes almost bisected by
the prominent margin; antennae arcuated, in-
serted beneath the margin, thicker towards the
tip ; mandibles destitute of a horny nail ; palpi
filiform, terminal joint of the maxillaries cylin-
drical : thorax transverse, as broad as the elytra,
the anterior angles projected forwards : scutel
small, rounded : elytra covering the tergum.

OBSERVATIONS.

In consequence of the rough unequal character
of the surface of these insects, their appearance
is repulsive to the common observer, but in the
estimation of an entomologist, their claims to
his attention are in no respect diminished by any
supposed departure from a particular standard
of beauty. They have been referred by the
different authors to the genera Opatrum, Trox,
DiAPERis, and even Silpha and Hispa. But

plate 51.

Latreille, perceiving that their generic characters
were not conformable to any group already
existing in the system, separated them under
the name of Eledona. This name ought to
have been adopted, having the unalienable right
of priority over that of Boletophagus, subse-
quently applied by the justly celebrated Illiger.
But as the present designation is preferred by
Fabricius, Dejean, Leach, and the German
entomologists, w^e for the present acquiesce in
the use of it. The species frequent fungi,
whence the generic name boa/t.??, boletus^ and
(pccyS, I eat.

BOLETOPHAGUS CORNUTUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Thorax w^ith tvs^o slightly incurved horns,
which are hairy beneath.
PLATE 51.

SYNONYMS.

Opatrum bifurcum. Fabr. Supp. p. 40.
Opatrum cornutum. Panz, Faun. Amer. Bor.

Prodr. pi. 1, fig. 5, a 6, and fig. 6, a b.
BoLETOPHAGUs coRNUTUs. Fttbr. Syst. Eleuth.

vol. i. p. 112. Schonh. Syn. vol. i. p. 120.
Eledona cornuta. Latr. Hist. Nat. Crust.

et Ins. vol. X. p. 312.

description.

Body brown : head W\\h a fevs^ small tuber-
cles ; and on the anterior edge an elevated,
double, acute horn : thorax irregularly granu-
lated, with two prominent, porrect, incurved
horns, slightly dilated at tip, hairy beneath,
and rather longer than the head ; lateral edge
denticulated : elytra with elevated, abbreviated
lines and tubercles; at tip somewhat abruptly
deflected.

Female, destitute of the elevated double horn
on the anterior edge of the clypeus : thorax with
two elevated tubercleSj vertical and truncated.

PLATE 51.

OBSERVATIONS.

This species frequently occurs in various
parts of the United States, in fungi. It is very
distinct from any other knovs^n insect of the
genus. The thoracic processes, as well as that
of the head, afford very good and striking cha-
racters. We have never been so successful as
to obtain the above quoted work of Panzer,
and we therefore refer to it through other
authors.

The two upper figures of the plate represent
the male in different positions.

The lower right figures exhibit the female.
The lines show the natural length.

BOLETOPHAGUS CORTICOLA

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Head and thorax unarnicd : elytra with ele-
vated, abbreviated lines and tubercles.

PLATE 51.

DESCRIPTION.

Body brown: head slightly granulated; an-
terior edge a little reflected, and very slightly
emarginate at tip : thorax granulated, and some-
what canaliculate; lateral edge denticulated;
posterior angle an obtuse spire : elytra with
regular series of elevated, interrupted lines, and
alternating with series of elevated tubercles.

OBSERVATIONS.

For this species I am indebted to Dr. John
F. Melsheimer, who sent me several specimens
under the name which I have adopted. He
informs me that it was caught in Virginia, in
October, under the bark of the pine.

The lower left figures of the plate represent
the species in two positions. The line shows
the natural length.

PLATE 51.

JJmwn iv T K 2'f,ilf

52

Kn^ravf.^ fy f/JMout.

SPHYRACEPHALA.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTER.

Head extended each side in a process which
is ocuhferous at tip ; antennae inserted on the
front, third joint rounded, compressed, setigerous
at tip.

NATURAL. CHARACTER.

Head suhtriangular ; eyes pedunculated, pe-
duncles very short, robust; stemmata approxi-
mate ; antennae distant, robust, short, nearly
parallel to the peduncles, three-jointed; first
joint very short, almost concealed ; second joint
obconic, ciliated at tip; third joint orbicular,
setigerous at tip; proboscis bilabiated; palpi
elevated, conic ; metathorax w^ith a conic spine
each side beneath the wings ; scutel two-spined ;
poisers naked; wings incumbent; feet mode-
rate; anterior thighs dilated; anterior tibiae a
little arcuated.

PLATE 52.

Q

OBSERVATIONS.

Two genera of dipterous insects have already
been constituted, in which the eyes are pedun-
culated, or situated at the extremity of elongated,
immovable processes of the head : these are
Diopsis of Linneus, and Achias of Fabricius.
The present genus differs from the former,
however, in not having the antennas situated on
the puduncles of the eyes, but on the front, as
in Achias. It agrees with the former in the
terminal origin of the seta of the antennae, and
in the rotundity of the third joint of those
organs, as well as in the armature of the scutel
and lateral part of the trunk. In the little
known genus Achias, we are informed the
terminal joint of the antennae is elongated,
cylindrical, and setigerous at base, and that its
scutel is emarginate. It is therefore obvious,
that the genus under consideration must be
placed between Diopsis and Achias ; and that
notwithstanding the brevity of the processes of
the head, and the frontal origin of the antennae,
it appears to be more intimately allied to the
preceding.

PliATE 5^.

Sphyracephala is compounded of the words
z<pv§x, malleus^ and keV^ajj, eaput^ in allusion to
the form of the head.

SPHYRACEPHALA BREVICORNIS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Dusky ; wings bifasciate, with brown ; scutel,
spines, and feet yellowish.

SYNONYM.

Diopsis BREVICORNIS. Nobis. Journ. Acad.
Nat, Sciences, vol. i. p. 23.

DESCRIPTION.

Head pale rufous, vertex and each side before
the eyes dusky; peduncles of the eyes not
longer than the distance between their bases, a
distinct seta on the superior part of the peduncle
near the tip, and another each side of the vertex
above the antennae, ratlier larger than the seta

PLATE 52.

of the antennae: stemmata situated on a very
slight elevation : trunk w^ith the lateral spines
conic, hlackish : scutel, spines cylindric, seti-
gerous at tip : wings hyaline, a band behind the
middle, and a semiband before the middle,
brown; poisei^s w^hite: abdomen black, imma-
culate : feet yellowish ; anterior thighs very
thick rufous, blackish above and beneath.

OBSERVATIONS.

This insect is very rare in Pennsylvania; a
few years since, I obtained a single individual
in the month of May ; it had alighted on a leaf
of the skunk cabbage, near the Wissahickon
creek, a few miles from this city. During my
subsequent excursions in pursuit of insects, I
had never the good fortune to meet with an-
other specimen, until the autumn of 1S19,
when with Major Long's party on the Missouri,
near the cantonment of the party, on the river
shore was a considerable body of rock, on which
I was frequently occupied in hunting for organic
reliquiai ; here, amongst other interesting objects,
I had the satisfaction to find the present insect
in considerable numbers, lodged, for protection

PLA.TE 52.

against the high winds and cool temperaturej
in small crevices of the rock.

The plate exhibits two views. The line
shows the natural length ; and a wing is figured
below.

PLATE 52.

/Jr-tiu-fi Av {'.l./.f Sum/-

'5^

J%n^f;zv<r./ /v c.7i<-/vuf

CLYTUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Body elongated, subcylindrie ; head inclined ;
antennae shorter than the body, inserted in an
emargination of the eyes, eleven-jointed ; labrum
apparent ; labial palpi with the last joint obtri-
gonate; thorax globose, unarmed; hind thighs
clavate.

OBSERVATIONS.

A genus somew^hat numerous in species,
belonging to the natural family CERAMBVciDiE,
Leach. The species were scattered in the
genera Cerambyx, Callidium, and Septura,
until Fabricius perceived the necessity of a
separation, and he embodied them under the
present designation. Many of them are very
prettily ornamented with bright yellow bands
and spots. In the larva state they live in wood,
penetrating freely through the hardest trees,
and proving very injurious to the particular
kinds of timber which they attack.

plate 53.

CLYTUS SPECIOSUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black ; thorax dilated ; elytra about five-
banded; feet yellow.

SYNONYM.

C. SPECIOSUS. Nobis. Long's Second Expe-
dition, vol. ii. p. 290.

Body deep black ; head with a band passing
from the vertex round behind the eyes, and
meeting a band which is round the mouth
above, yellow; a yellow band on the front,
immediately above the antennae, terminating in
the sinus of the eyes ; mandibles yellow ; nasus
and labrum pale yellowish, glabrous; antennse
all black: thorax subglobular, depressed; an
oblique spot each side before, and another ob-
lique, longer spot or abbreviated line each side
of the middle, yellow ; an arcuated, impressed

PLATE 53.

line each side of the middle; scutel yellow;
two small yellow spots before the scutel, under
the thorax : elytra with yellow bands ; the first
band forms a regular arch, of which the scutel
represents the key-stone ; the second band is in
the form of the letter W, each V receiving a
termination of the first band; the third band
is nearly transverse, placed upon the middle;
fourth band arcuated each side from the suture
obliquely backward, parallel and near to a large
terminal spot or band, which on each elytrum
is ovate, with a central black spot , tip with a
short obtuse tooth ; humerus with three small
spots: postpectus spotted with yellow: thighs
with a brown line on the inner side: venter
yellow.

OBSERVATIONS.

During a short repose of Major Long's party
on the bank of the Wisconsan river, preparatory
to crossing that stream, this unusually fine in-
sect attracted the eye of that officer, as it rested
on the bark of a hickory tree. Another specimen
belongs to the Philadelphia Museum, probably
taken in Pennsylvania. As these two are the

PLATE 53. R

only individuals that have yet occurred, the
species must of course be considered as rare.

The upper figure of the plate.

CLYTUS HAMATUS.

* SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Black ; thorax with a- yellow margin ; scutel,
two bands, and elytral spot, yellow.

SYNONYM.

C. HAMATUS. Nobis. Joum. Acad. Nat. Sciences,
vol. iii. p. 423.

DESCRIPTION.

Body black: antennx rufous, filiform; ter-
minal joints black ; palpi piceous : thorax hairy ;
the hairs cinereous; margin yellow, which
colour is interrupted behind : sctilel yellow :
elytra slightly hairy at base ; each with an oval,
oblique spot near the basal middle ; then a sub-

PLATE 53.

sutural line proceeding from near the basal
spots to the sutural middle, thence it curves
over the disk, and terminates in a small spot
rather before the middle on the exterior margin ;
an oblique line behind the middle passes from
the suture outward ; all these bands and spots
are yellow; disk near the tip obsoletely obscure
fuscous; the tip rounded, unarmed; beneath
spotted and banded with yellow : feet rufous :
thighs at tip dilated, compressed, black.

OBSERVATIONS.

Has some resemblance to C. arietes, Fabr.,
of Europe, but besides other points of distinction,
the elytra are not remarkably truncated as those
of that species are. It seems also to be allied
to C. ARVicoLA and auric ola, Oliv., and par-
ticularly to the latter, from which, however, it
may be distinguished by its larger size, by having
the thorax nearly surrounded by a yellow line,
and by the obliquity of the terminal band of the
elytra. I obtained it near the Illinois river.

The lower figure of the plate.
PLATE 53.

CLYTUS UNDULATUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.'

Brown ; thorax sub-bifasciate ; elytra with a
spot and three bands, yellow.

* SYNONYM.

C. UNDULATUS. NoMs. Loug's Second Expe-
dition, vol. ii. p. 291.

DESCRIPTION.

Body dark brown: head darker than the
el)i;ra ; antennae, dark ferruginous ; front, below
the antennae, bilineate with pale yellow : thorax
darker than the elytra, rough with minute
spines and hairs ; anterior and inferior margins
yellow, interrupted above ; basal margin with a
transverse yellow spot each side : elytra with a
transverse spot on each near the base ; an un-
dulated narrow band across the middle, rising
along the suture nearly to the scutel; an un-
dulated transverse band behind the middle, and

PLATE 53.

a terminal band : postpectus with the incisures
margined with yellow : venter, having the seg-
ments margined with yellow.

OBSERVATIONS.

I caught the two sexes of this species in the
Northwest Territory, when traversing that part
of the Union with Major Long's party. It
seems to have some resemblance to the C.
MucRONATUs, Fabricius, of South America; but
the elytra are not mucronate, and the markings
of the superior surface of the body are different.

The right figure of the plate.

CLYTUS CAPREA.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Fuscous; thorax with the anterior edge,
yellow ; elytra with four bands and tip, yellow.

PLATE 53.

SYNONYM.

C. cAPREA. Nobis. Joum. Acad. Nat. Sci-
ences, vol. iii. p. 424.

DESCRIPTION.

Body blackish, hairy: head immaculate;
antennse, short, dull rufous : thorax very hairy ;
a longitudinal series of transverse, abbreviated,
elevated lines, of w^hich the anterior one is much
more elevated; a yellovsr line on the anterior
edge, interrupted on the side : scutel small,
black : elytra dark browTi, blackish tow^ards the
base ; four bands and tip yellow ; the first and
second bands on each elytrum are united in the
form of a circle, only interrupted by the pro-
minent humerus; third band central, and re-
presenting a common M; fourth band drawn
obliquely backward from the suture ; tip emar-
ginate, a prominent spine at the exterior angle :
abdomen and posterior portion of the pospectus
fasciate with bright yellow sericeous hair : feet
hairy, rufous, or blackish ; posterior pair elon-
gated ; thighs dilated, mucronate at tip.

PLATE 53.

OBSERVATIONS.

A handsome species, easily distinguished from
others by the rugous thoracic line, combined
with the O O at the base of the elytra. It
inhabits this state, and Mr. T. Nuttall presented
me with many specimens which he found in
Arkansaw. The bands of the elytra are some-
times white.

The left figure of the plate.

PLATE 53.

#

#

IJr.iwn /,. 7/i.J'f„(f

^4

JSn,/r,t\Y,/ /'V (\T!,:';-i;,

DANAUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Anterior feet spurious in both sexes ; antennae
terminated by a club ; palpi distant, subcylindric,
slender, short ; inferior wings rounded, not form-
ing a groove for the reception of the abdomen ;
nalis of the tarsi simple.

OBSERVATIONS.

Latreille established this genus to comprehend
the Fabrician genera Euploea and Idea. They
w^ere included in the genus Papilio by Linneus,
and formed part of his division of Danai

FESTIVI.

plate 54.

DANAUS PLEXIPPUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Wings entire, fulvous, with dilated black
veins, margin black, w^ith white dots.

SYNONYMS.

Papilio DANAUS PLEXIPPUS. Linn. Syst. Nat.

Gmel. vol. i. part 5, p. 2278.
Papilio plexippus. Cram. vol. iii. p. 24, pi.

20(3, figs. E and F. Herbst. Natur. vol.

vii. p. 19, pi. 156, figs. 1, 2.
CaTESBY CAROLINA. Vol. ii. pi. 88.
LlNMUS FERUGINEA PLEXIPPE. Huhucr.

Papilio arciiippus. Smith, Ins. of Georgia,
vol. i. pi. 6.

DESCRIPTION.

Superior winp!;s above fulvous, anterior margin
black, with white dots ; exterior margin black,
with a double series of white dots ; the black at
the tip is very broad, and contains a dilated,

PLATE 54.

interrupted, and abbreviated fulvous band and
several pale fulvous spots ; posterior margin black,
immaculate; beneath as above, but the spots
are of a purer white; inferior wings entire,
sometimes a little crenate, fulvous, with a black
posterior, and half of the exterior margins black,
the former with a double row of white spots,
of which those of the middle are sometimes
nearly obsolete, outer margin with a single
series of three or four white spots ; neryures of
the disk margined with fuscous, with an ele-
vated spot behind the middle, on the third
nervure from the inner margin ; beneath ochre-
ous, in other respects resembling the superior
surface, but the spots are of a purer white and
larger, the nervures are more dilated, black,
edged more or less deeply with white: body
black, with numerous white dots on the trunk,
and a few on the head, and neck above : feet
blued black.

OBSERVATIONS.

The black margin of the superior surface of
the wings has an opalescent gloss in a particular
light. The larva is annulate with black and
white, with two slender processes on the ante-

PLATE 54.

rior part of the body, and two on the posterior
part. The pupa is of a delicate green colour,
with dots of burnished gold. It feeds on different
species of Asclepias, and is very abundant in
the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, on the A.
syriaca, and according to Abbot in South
Carolina, on the A. curassavica. I consider
the present as the plexippus, on the authority
of Gmelin, who, in his edition of the Systema
Naturae, states its native country to be North
America. I have of course omitted many
synonyms and references which that author
has inserted, as I consider them to be doubtful.
Catesby's figure cannot be mistaken ; he states
that the species is "common in most of the
northern colonies in America."

The plate presents two views of the insect.

PLATE 54.

INDEX.

COLEOPTERA.

Cychrus *viduus . - - plate 45

Sphaeroderus stenostomus - - - - —

*bilobus —

Scaphinotus elevatus —

Malachius *bipunctatus - - - . 48

* tricolor —

*nigriceps —

*vittatus —

*otiosus —

Enoplium *onustum 41

pilosum —

damicorne - . - . —

*quadripunctatum - - - —

Boletophagus cornutus - - - - 51

*corticola - - . - —

Clytus *speciosus - - - . - - 53

*hamatus —

*undulatus ----- —

INDEX.

Clytus *caprea - - - - plate 53

Languria bicolor 39

inozardi —

*puncticollis . - - - —
*trifasciata —

ORTHOPTERA.

Spectrum *femoratum - - - - 37

*bivittatum .... 38

HEMIPTERA.

Tetyra *fimbriata 43

*cinctipes —

*violacea —

*alternata —

Ploiaria *brevipennis - - - - 47

NEUROPTERA.

Phryganea *subfasciata - - - - 44

*dosuaria —

*scmifasciata . - - - —

*iiit(Trupta _ . - - —

INDEX.

HYMENOPTERA.

Pompilus *formosus - - - plate 42

*unifasciatus - - - - —

*terminatus - . - - —

Philanthus *canaliculatus - - - 49

*zonatus —

vertilabris - . - - —

*politus —

liEPIDOPTERA.

Papilio turnus 40

Danaus plexippus 54

Melitaea myrina 46

Hipparchia *semidea 50

DIPTERA.

Sphyracephala ^brevicornis - - - 52

END OF VOL. III.

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