Entomological News PROCEEDINGS AND OK THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. VOLUME XVI, EDITOR : HENRY SKINNER, M. D. PHILIP P. CALVERT, Ph.D., Associate Editor. ADVISORY COMMITTEE : K/,RA T. CRKSSON IIKNRV I.. VIERECK J. A. G. RUIN PHILIP LAURKNT WILLIAM I. FOX CHAKLKS U loHNSON PHILADELPHIA : ENTOMOLOGICAL ROOMS UK THE ACADEMY OF NATIKAI. SCIENCES, LOGAN SQUARE. 1905. P. C. STOCKHAUSEN PRINTER 53-55 N. ?TH ST., PHILADELPHIA INDEX TO VOLUME XVI. (Notes and articles on geographical distribution are indexed under tin- names "i thu States or countries concerned, and wo/ undei th listrii th. ni nr\\ in re-described species. .NVv .... Newark Kntoiuolo^. S 25, 93, 203, 204. 11 INDEX. North Carolina Dep't. of Agric., Div. of Entom 308 Obituary: Brauer, F. M 160 Brenske, E 160 von Hopffgarten, G. M. 160 Landois, H 160 Packard, A. S. . . . 88, 97 de Saussure, H. L. F. . 160 Tallant, W. N. . .. 96 Wright, A. A. . . . 160 Pacific Coast Entom. Society. 95 Parasitic insects (see Hymen- optera, Parasitic). Personals : Aldrich, J. M 310 Barber, H. G. . ... 275 Barrett, O. W. . . 121, 263 Bentley, G. M. ... 308 Bergroth, E 310 Beyer, G 275 Castle, D. M 275 Cockerell, T. D. A. . . 333 Daecke, E 201 Grinnell, F., Jr 274 Hardenberg, C. B. . . 280 Hebard, M 274 Hine, J. S 167 Junk, W. . ... 183 Kearfott, W. D 121 Morgan, H. A 156 Rehn, J. A. G. . . . . 274 Schaeffer, C 275 Sherman, F. , Jr. . . 280, 308 Skinner, H 201, 275 Slosson, Mrs. A. T. . 201 Snow, F. H 277 Torre Bueno, J. R. de la 53 Tower, W. L 137 Van Dyke, E. C. . . . 275 Viereck, H. L 275 Wen/el, H. A. . . 201, 275 Wenzel, H. W. . . . 201 Williamson, E. B. . 51, 299 Woglum, R. S. . 308 Plants attacked by Insects. Achillea 231 Acorns . 24 Actcea . .... 65 Arabis 132 Artemisia . .... 231 Baneberry 66 Bayberry 55 Birch 55 Blueberry 55 Bursera 67 Cardamine 132 Catalpa . 280 Centaurea 231 Cerastiuin 231 Cerasus 153 Chusquea 161 Cirsium 231 Cotton bolls 18, 246 Currants 62 Date . . 18 Dendrium 13 Diospyros 254 Eriophyllum 20 Ground Cherry 69 Gumbo-limbo 67 Helenium 20 Huckleberry 12 Lime 18 Lupine 20 Maples . . .124, 159, 248 Maytenus ? 163 Oaks . . . . 55, 124, 248 Orange 18 Persea 70 Persimmon 254 Physalis 69 Pine . . .248 Red bay 70 Scilix 162 Sand myrtle 73 Scabiosa 231 Sweetfern 55 Sycamore 78 Taraxacum ... 231 Water melon . 18 INDEX. in Protective coloration 327 Review of a Review ... . 316 Say's types 60 Selys entomological collections 240 Sporadic publications . . . 239, 264 Staining of wood by beetles . .124 Texas, Snow collecting in ... 277 Trays for phials . 343 Types .... .54 Types, Kinds of 196 Unisexual classifications . . . .273 Utah, Engelhardt and Doll col- lecting in 91 Utah, Skinner, Laurent and Snyder collecting in 99 Variation in frequency of spe- cies 207 ARACHNIDA. California, A. of . 233 Cteniza californica 233 Cyptobunus* . .' .251 " cavicolus* . . . 252 Montana, A. of ... . . 251 Phalangids, Classification of . . 253 Trap door spider, Enemy of . . 233 COLEOPTERA. Acanthocinus linearis * .... 290 Adirondack Mts., C. of . 50 Ambrosia beetles .... 124, 248 AnthonomuSt Egg-parasites of . 288 Aphodius . 95, 129 ' ' blaisdelli * 1 29 " /cuausii 130 Arizona, C. of 289, 311 Balaninus 24, 245 California, C. of . . . . /', 95. I3° Canada, C. of 35 Ceracis sallci 25 Cerambycidae 35 Cicindela 128, 202, 344 Clerus bimaculatuS* 291 Connecticut, C. of 53 Conotrachelus, Egg-parasite of 220 Cytnatodera tricolor . . 292 Delaware, C. of 210 District of Columbia, C. of . . .90 Dysta.via 72, 73 ' ' elegans * 71 s of C., Number of 62 Florida, C. of 68, 69, 70 Galeruca pomonce 230 " tanaceti 230 Glyptoscelimorpha 72, 73 Hawaii, C. of 123 Hypomolyx pineti 340 Illinois, C. of . . . . 53, 125, 230 Indiana, C. of 125, 230 Iowa, C. of 126 Kansas, C. of 131 Light, C. attracted by 210 Lina, Inheritance in 200 Lycus fernandezi 23 Lvfisiniena tigrina* 291 Massachusetts, C. of 53 McCracken on Inheritance of colors 200 \i;/ii abdoniina/is, Parasite of 123 New Jersey, C. of . 25, 26, 93, 159, 204, 245, 248, 311, 342. New York, C. of . ... 50, 344 Ohio, C. of 230 Oncideres quo-cits* . . . . 291 Orientation of Cicindela . 202 /'at iti riridicyaneu 26 Pennsylvania, C. of . . i-t P/usiotis beycri'" . . 289 Pu/yci-sta .... -73 Prioitns /afico/lis 62 Ptinus 26, So. Sraralui'ida- wanted 280 Sc/iir-cf>ns '73 Sifratiux snrhiaiiicusis 62 Spliu-ridinin St at Texas, C. of . . 290, Tiger beetles, Variation in Utah, C. Of. 93 Water 1 ••imTging fnun water . . . Winter C IV INDEX. DIPTERA. Aldrich's catalogue of North Amer. D .......... 241 American dipterology ..... 63 Arizona, D. of ....... 139 Australia, D. of ........ 116 Chlorops pulvera ....... 62 Chrysops amazon* ..... 250 bistellatus * ..... 249 eye maculation of . . 341 Connecticut, D. of .... 24, 80 Culex brittoni * ....... 79 labeculosus * .116 Culicidae . . .24, 79, 116, 281, 312 District of Columbia, D. of . . 333 Eristalis ......... 140, 141 Fleas and disease ....... 143 Florida, D. of ..... 69, 70, 312 Georgia, D. of ...... no, in Helophilns . . . 141. 142 Leskia thecata .... ..... 62 Louisiana, D. of . . . no, in, 333 Megarhinus portoricensis . . . 281 Melanoconion ........ 283 Mexican D. in U. S ...... 333 Milesia ........... 139 mida* . : ..... 138 Mississippi, Mosquitoes of . . .281 Mixogaster breviventris . . . .83 Mosquito extermination . 278, 306 New Jersey, D. of 62, 159, 201, 249, 310, 341, 342. New York, D. of .... .83 Oscinis I08 four new spp. . no, 111 Pennsylvania, D. of . . 62, 311, 341 Syrphus .......... I42 Wyoming, D. of . HEMIPTERA. Aleyrodes acteas * . . .65 Aradidae ....... Arizona, H. of ........ 7^ Aspidiotus river cs* . .161 Australia, H. of ...... 263 Ceroplastes sanguiiu us : . .162 schroitkyi * . . . .162 Ceylon, H. of 262 Cicada grossa 76 townsendi* 74 Connecticut, H. of 65 Icerya purchasi 1 8 Ido/of /trips tibialis * 20 Lac insects 52 Leptoglossus zonatus 18 Margarode?, 96 Mexico, H. of . . 18 Micr onecta 260 nn. spp* 260 New Jersey, H. of .... 159, 247 New Mexico, H. of 52, 75 North Carolina, H. of 7 Pergande on Phylloxerinas . . 336 Philippines, H. of . . . , . 20, 262 Pnlvinaria 52 innumerabilis . 159, 247 South American Coccidae . . . 161 Tachardia glouierella* . . . . 52 Water bugs, Swimming of . 53, 88 Woolly vs. Wooly Aphis . . .22 HYMENOPTERA. Anagrus hydrophilus * . . . 21^, Anaphes conotracheli* .... 220 Anomalous H 14 Anthophora corvicolor * . . .81 curia peritoituc* .272 Ants and caterpillar associated . 12 Apanteles pergandei * .... 133 Arizona, H. of 10 Botnbomelecta joluisoiri* . . . 270 Bombus rufosuffusus * . ..271 California, H. of . . Si, 82, 83, 233 Ceratina dupla 4^ Colorado, H. of 270 Coloration in J'a/isfi-s, Ente- man on 89 Cryptohalictoid.es spin if er us . .21 Development of parasitic H. . 243 Emphoropsis nuiriliirta *. . . . Si INDEX. Exotnalopsis 10 Gonatoceros anthonomi* . . .288 Grotea anguina 44 Habrocryptus grccnicheri ... 46 Ha/ictus armaticeps var. y * . . .9 Hibernating H 95 Illinois, H. of. . . 126, 145, 168, 293 Marchal on parasitic H 243 Megachile agustini* 82 Monidia* 9 Nest of Vespa germanica . . . 207 New Jersey, H. of 25, 133 New York, H. of . . . . .18, 207 New Mexico, H. of . . .9, 83, 272 Odynerus 10 Paracentrobiaflavipes* .... 287 Parapompilus planatus .... 233 Parasitic H. . 43, 133, 145, 168, 213, 220, 243, 287, 293. Peckhams on Solitary wasps . . 200 Perdita 331 xanthismcz* 331 Polisies 89 Polynema bergi* 214 Prenolepis parvula 12 Proterosphex* 165 Ropronia 14 ashmeadii* 17 Roproniidae 17 Russian Turkestan, H. of . . . 213 Sphex, Type of genus 163 Swarming hive bees 344 Synhalonia astragalina* . . .271 Texas, H. of 331 Venation of H 60 Vespa 25, 95 LEPIDOPTERA. Anisota rubicunda 91 Anthocharis 28 genutia 131 Arctia virgo 128 Argynnis 342 Arizona, L. of 209, 232 Beinbecia inarginata 117 California, L. of, 20, 29, 33, 86, 96, 116, 134, 153. 235, 257, 283, 336. Callimorpha 154, pi. vii Callithea optima 33 Callosune zoe 33 Calosaturnia mendocino . . . .153 Catagramma atacama 33 cynosura . . . i, 33 Caterpillar and ants associated . 12 hairs causing disease 203 Catocala double-brooded . . . 344 Evolution in 30 Catopsilia statira 334 Cecropia 144 Ceratoinia catalpa: 280 Cingilia catenaria 55 Cocoons of Telea polyphcinus 275, 3io, 333. Colorado, L. of 278 Crinodes biedermani* 209 Cyrestis elegans i , 33 Cystineura amymone 12 Desmia 121, 159, 2^S Dimorphism in Papilio, Cause of in District of Columbia, L. of . . .90 Dyamine dionis 1 1 Eggs of L., Number of . . . 167 Elachistidae . 326 Eronia phoccea i, 33 Erycinidae 200 Eubagis dionis 1 1 Eureina albula 335 Fall web worm .... Florida, L. of . . 7° Gelechidse 326 Generic fantasies -17 Habrosyiit' rcctau^ida 94 Harrisimemna trisignata . 254,311' Heincrocainpa leucostigma . .167 Hesperid genera . 317 Hepialus sequoiolus . .19.153. : I Irtt'ropia nit'/on ari:t»n->i^!^~ . 232 Hibernation of L. . . . 90. Holland's Moth P,o..k VI INDEX. Hyphantria, English names of 238 Illice fauslinula 257 Illinois, L. of i, 31, 126 Indiana, L. of 31, 126, 280 Lemonias virg ulii 86 Lyccena emigdionis * 115 Mabille on Hesperidae . . . 199 Mamestra anguina 94 Maryland, L. of 91 Megathymuspolingi* . . . .232 Jlfelicleptria fanbria* 237 Memythrus spp 94 Mengel's Catalogue of Erycini- dae 200 Mestra amymone 12 Microlepidoptera . . . . i, 323, 340 Migrations of L 334 Mounting L 245 Mt. Diablo, L. of . . . 235 New Hampshire, L. of .... 323 New Jersey, L. of . . 26, 83, 90, 91, 94, 131, 159, 2°i. 207, 248, 311, 340. New York, L. of ...... 90, 207 Nomenia * 343 North Carolina, L. of . . 254 Oecophoridae 2, 326 Panthea fur cilia 94 Papilio 91, in, 312, 328 Pennsylvania, L. of . 248, 311, 340 Preparing wings to show vena- tion 28 Prionapteryx nebulifera . ... 12 Pseudotamila cartninatra . . . .88 Pterophoridae 324 Pyralidae 2 Rhodophora florida 329 Sainia gloveri . 156 Satyrus beJirii* 33 Sciapteron sinmlans 27 Sphinx luscHiosa 83 sequoia: 153 Swarming of L 90, 334 Temperature changing colors of L 340 Terias mexicana 31 Texas, L. of u Thanaos pernigra * 34 Tineidae 326 Tortricidae 2, 324 Triprocris constant 23 Utah, L. of 92 Vanessa antiopa 340 Varina ornata 144 Vemtsia 342 Virginia, L. of 90 Washington, L. of 117 Week's Illustrations of Diur- nal L 274 West coast of U. S., Butterflies of 336 West Virginia, L. of 85 Winter L 95, 245 Wisconsin, L. of 31, 126 Wright's Butterflies of West coast U. S 336 Xylorictidae 326 Yponomeutidae 326 Zerene catenaria 55 NEUROPTERA. British Columbia, Odonata of . 184 Central America, Collecting dragonflies in 299 Color variation in Hesperag- rion 312 Cordulegaster obliquus 3 Decoying dragonflies . . . . . 209 Illinois, Odonata of 3 Indiana, Odonata of 255 Ischnura erratica i ss New Jersey, N. of . . 201, 248, 311 Oviposition of Odonata . .113, 255 Somatochlora linearis 6 Synipetrum spp 194, 195 Termites 29 ORTHOPTERA. Antilles, O. of 173 Atlanticus 201 Brachypterism 22 INDEX. VII Costa Rica, O. of . .... 313 Destructiveness of Australian roach 183 Florida, O. of 70, 216 Georgia, O. of 28 Melanophts itnpudicus 23 Mestobregma 259 Montreal, Blattidae of ...... 98 Morse on N. Amer. Acrididae . . 22 New Jersey, O. of .... 247, 312 New York, O. of 201 Orpliulella 341 balloui* 178 punctata . . . . 177, 178 Paraguay, O. of 37, 215 Pcriplaneta australasia: . . . .183 Plectrotettix varipes* 214 Radinotatum brevipennis . . . .28 Scolocephalus * 315 mirabilis * . . .315 Taxiarchus septentrionalis* . .314 Tenodera sinensis . . 247, 292, 311, 312, 341- Tropinotus 215 " gracilis* 216 regularis* . . . .215 Utah, O. of . . 92 Zygoclistron* 39 trachystictum * . . .39 THYSANURA. Entomobrya albicollis * Massachusetts, T. of . . 77 73 AUTHORS. Adams, C. F. . 108 Ashmead, W. H 20, 213 Baker, C. F. . . 143, 264 Banks, N 251, 333 Billson, J. E 55 Blaisdell, F. E. . . 96 Bradley, J. C. . . . . 14, 6t Brimley, C. S. . . 88 Britton, W. S 65,336 Brooks, F. E. . . 85 Brues, C. T 11, 89 Bruner, L 214,259,313 Buchholz, 0 27, 94, 204 Calvert, P. P., 318 and Index. Caudell, A. N 216 Chagnon, G 35 Cockerel!, T. D. A., 9, 18, 52, 81, 88, 161, 270, 308, 331. Coverdale, G., 154 and PI. vii. Daecke, E 12, 249 Davidson, A 233 Dyar, H. G 310 Fall, H. C 71, 129 Felt, E. P 79 Fernald, H. T 163, 196 Fox, W. J 25, 62, 95 Franklin, H. J 77 Girault,A. A., 105, 167, 220, 221, 287. Graenicher, S 43 Grinnell, F., Jr., 33, 115, 134, 235, 340- Grossbeck, J. A. . . . . 131 Haimbach, F., 121, 124, 245, 248 3u, 341- Harbeck, H. S 310 Hardenberg, C. B 276 Herrick, G. W. . . . 281 Holland, W. J 278, 280 Houghton, C. 0 50, 210 Howard, L. 0 156 Jeheber, E in Johnson, S. A 156 Kearfott, W. D 238 Kirkaldy, G. \V. 260 Knab, F 53, 230 Kolinsky, J 123 Kwiat, A 32, 64, 128 Laurent, P 89, 99 Lawrence, W. H 117 Lutz, F. E 202 Lyman, H. H 238 Melander, A. L 243 Moodie, R. L. . 138 Moore, R. M 203 Morrill, A. W. . 247 Vlll INDEX. Nason, W. A. . . i, 145, 168, 293 Needham, J. G 3 Osburn, R 184 Paxson, 0 327 Pilate, G. R So Rehn, J. A. G. . . 23, 37, 173, 206 Riley, W. A 244 Ris, F 113 Sherman, F., Jr 7, 254 Skinner, H., 21, 24, 27, 28, 54, 55, 57, 63, 84, 87, 97, 120, 183, 199, 206, 209, 232, 239, 272, 274, 289, 312, 316, 336, 338, 342. Slosson, A. T 67 Smith, E. J 88, 277 Smith. J. B 202, 308 Soule, C. G. . . 275, 333 Stevenson, C 94, 98 Summers, H. E 157, 333 Torre Bueno, J. R. de la . . 53, 83 Uhler, P. R 74 Van Duzee, E. P 263 Viereck, H. L 155 Weeks, A. C. . . . 31, 93, 208, 344 Weeks, H. C 279 Westcott, O. S 209 Wild, W 144 Wormsbacher 83 Williams, F. X., 19, 153, 235, 257, 283. Williamson, E. B. . . . 255, 299 JANUARY, 1905". ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS Vol. XVI. No. 1. Cryptohalictoides spiniferus Viereck. EDITOR : HENRY SKINNER, M. D. PHILIP P. CALVE RT, Ph.D., Associate Editor. ADVISORY COMMITTEE: F.ZKA T. CRESSON. HENRY L. VIKRKCK. J. A. G. REHN. PHILIP LAURENT. WILLIAM ]. FOX. CHARLES W. JOHNSON. PHILADELPHIA: ENTOMOLOGICAL ROOMS OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, LOGAN SQUARE. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as Second-Class Matter. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS Published monthly, excepting July and August, in charge of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and the American Entomological Society. ANNUAL, SUBSCRIPTION, $1.OO IN ADVANCE. Outside of the United States and Canada, $1.20. Advertising Rates: 30 cents per square inch, single insertion ; a liberal discount on longer insertions. No advertisement taken for less than 60 cents — Cash in advance. All remittances should be addressed to ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS, Academy of Natural Sciences, 19th and Race Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA. ERNEST SWINHOE, Cat. No. 13 for 1904 free. 37 Addison Gardens, London W , England The only dealers' list giving authors' name throughout. As the varrous species are arranged under their generic names, this list affords an excellent reference for museums and collectors. Explanatory catalogue with over 300 descriptions and many interesting notes, 12 cents. Fine series, illustrating "Mimicry" and "Seasonal Dimorphism," 100 named specimens, ist qua!., ex. Assam., 40 different species in papers, includ- ing P. bootes, gyas, etc., mailed free on receipt of Post Office Order, $4.00 QOIC _Noctuidae collected during UnLL October and November in lots of 25 specimens, including 2 each of Scopelosoma mof- fatiana, tristigmata, walkeri, morrisoni, Xylina grotei, etc., $2.00, prepaid by mail. HENRY ENGEL, Box 35, Oak Station P. P., Allegheny Co., Pa. SUPPLEMENT TO ENTOMOLOGISTS' DIRECTORY OK MARCH, 19OO has now been published. It contains Changes in Ad- dresses, Special Study, etc., New Names, with addresses, etc., and other information. A copy will be sent gratis to those who have subscribed to the Directory, copies of which can still be had at 50 cents each. Address E T. CRESSON, Treasurer, American Entomological Society, P. O. Box 248, Philadelphia, Pa. When Writing Please Mention " Entomological News." NEWS, Vol. XVI. PI. I. EXOTIC BUTTERFLIES. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. VOL. XVI. JANUARY, 1905. No. i. CONTENTS: Frontispiece i Nason — Micro-lepicloptera from Algon- quin, Illinois... i Needham — Two Elusive Dragonflies. .. 3 Sh-rman— The Flat-bugs (Aradidse) of North Carolina 7 Cockerell — Some Amer. Hymenoptera 9 Brues — The Occurrence of a Tropical Butterfly in the United Sta'es 11 Daecke — Notes on Prionapteryx nebuli- fera Steph 12 Bradley — Ropronia, an Anomalous Hy- menopteron 14 . Williams — The larva of Hepialussequo- iolus Behrens 19 Ashrnead — A new Thrips from the Phil- ippine Islands 20 Editorial 21 Entomological Literature 22 Doings of Societies 23 Our frontispiece this month was made direct from specimens in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- delphia, by the Photo-chromotype Company of Philadelphia. This is one of the largest companies in America doing this line of work. The specimens represented are as follows : Rronia phocfca Felder, from the Philippines. Cyrestis elegans Bois- duval, from Madagascar. Catagramma cynosura Doubl.-Hew., from Brazil. Micro-Lepidoptera of Algonquin, Illinois. By \VILLIAI\I A. XASON, M.D. - The following list includes species of Lepidoptera of the families of Pyralidte, TortricicUe and other '• micros' ar- ranged in the order given in Dyar's " List of North American Lepidoptera." The list is interesting from the fact that it adds to our knowledge of the geographical distribution of species; and also from the fact that the place of capture is peculiar in its faunal relations. The town of Algonquin is situated fifty miles northwest, of the city of Chicago, and less than thirty miles, in a direct line, ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 west of the shores of L/ake Michigan. It is located on the Fox River, which flows south, through the Illinois River, into the Mississippi. Hence the fauna partakes in charac- ter more of that of the Mississippi Basin than that of the Great Lake region— a fact which is proven by comparing the list as given below with the localities as given by Dyar in the work quoted above. Mr. W. D. Kearfott kindly determined the species. PYRALID^E. Glaphria glaphryalis Guenee. Pyralis farinalis Limucus. Desmia funeralis Hubner. Herculia cohortalis Grote. Evergestis straminalis Hiibner. olinalis Guenee. Crocidophora serratissimalis Zeller himonialis Zeller. Nomophila noc\.u&\\a.Denis&Schiff Schcenobius tripunctellusfiobinson. Phlyctaenia ferrugalis Hubner. Crambus laqueatellus Clemens. Pyrausta aeglealis Walker. alboclavellus Zeller. thestealis Walker. albellus Clemens. penitalis Grote. \\ori\ie\\usHnbner. borealis Packard. vulgivagellus Clemens. Nymphula badiusalis Walker. ruricolellus Zeller. obscuralis Grote. interminellus Walker. obliteralis Walker. caliginosellus Clemens. Elophila magnificalis Hubner. Argyria nivalis Dntry. fulicalis Clemens. Plodia interpunctella Hiibner. Scoparia basalis Walker. TORTRICID^. Exartema fascia tanum Clemens. Epagoge sulfureana Clemens. Olethreutes nimbatana Clemens. Capua furcatana }}7alker. hebesana Walker. Coelostathma discopunctana Clem- coruscana Clemens. ens. constellatana Zeller. Archips rosaceana Harris. instrutana Clemens. cerasivorana Fitch. Eucosma strenuana Walker. obsoletana Walker. illotana Walsingham. fervidana Clemens. otiosana Clemens. clemensiana Fernald. Thiodia signatana Clemens. Platynota sentana Clemens. Proteopteryx deludana Clemens. Pandemis limitata-J?odinson. spoliana Clemens. Tortrix pallorana Robinson. Ancylis comptana Fr lich. albicomana Clemens. Cydia pomonella Linnceus. fumiferana Clemens. CECOPHORIDyE. Depressaria heracliana De Geer. Semioscopsis packardellaCtemens. Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Two Elusive Dragon-flies. BY JAMES G. NEEDHAM. During three summers spent in Lake Forest I have been much afield, and have always kept a sharp lookout for dragon- flies, which, after the first of June, are very common. Each year I have seen the shadowy form of one I could not capture. Sometimes I would flush it beside a woodland path, and it would disappear at single sweep among the treetops. Some- times it would be seen speeding along high over head, appar- ently coursing for insect prey, but I never saw it at rest, and I could not distinguish its type of coloration. From its size and manner of flight I concluded it must be either a Cordnlc- gastcr or a Afacroniia, and there the matter rested for five years, with often a flash of wings and a vanishing shadow among the trees to remind me of a task of observation incom- pleted. During the past spring I have collected from a number of the puny streams that enter Lake Michigan along the ' ' North Shore," and in all of them have found nymphs of Cordnlc- gaster. Grow^n specimens were repeatedly taken during May in a seine drawn for minnows, and on May 24th, while seining out a small pool in a stream, a single newly transformed adult was found upon the bank. It was Cord nlc^ aster obliquus Say. On June 26th I was surprised to see one sitting on a reed close to the ground in a w^ood in front of my house ; I was still more surprised at being able to capture it /;/ my hat. A careful bit of stalking and a good stroke did it. This was a a female that had wrandered at least two miles from any stream suitable for the abode of its offspring. As this specimen was fully mature I thought that perhaps, by visiting the stream in which I had found the nymphs most abundant, I might be able to make some observations on the habits of the adult. Such observations are much needed. So good an observer of dragonflies as the late Professor Kelli- cott wrote of the Cordulegasterinae in his Odonata of Ohio, p. 74, " I have seen so few specimens on the wing that I do not feel justified in giving anything of their habits in the field," and among the few notes concerning C. obliyitHs, there are 4 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 chance remarks indicating that others have likewise found it elusive (see Williamson: ENT. NEWS, Vol. XIII. p. no). So on the afternoon of the following day, June ayth, I betook myself to the largest of our north-shore streamlets, called by courtesy Pettibone Creek, whose south branch flows through a fine bit of native oak woods. In this south branch are many deep and shadowy pools overhung with spreading clumps of witch hazel, and the connecting streamlet is hardly more than a rivulet, winding among small moss-grown boulders or cut- ting under green banks of grass and sedge. The pools are the home of the Cordulegaster nymphs. They lie on the bottom covered by the silt. They do not bur- row, but descend into the silt by raking it out from beneath with their legs. Then when deep enough they kick it up over their backs and hide themselves absolutely against observation, having only the sharp upper angles of the eyes, the sensitive antennae and frontal fringe, and the respiratory aperture at the tip of the abdomen exposed. Thus they lie in ambush, wholly inactive, unless the wandering near of some mayfly nymph (here Leptophlebia p&pcdita Etn.) or gnat larva in- vites a thrust of the enormous grasping labium. They have competitors for this food, also dwelling in the pools, chiefly the red-bellied minnow, and the black-nosed dace. I hoped this afternoon to discover cast nymph skins beside the stream, to find the male which had as yet escaped me, and to observe the female ovipositing, as well as to attend to another matter to be mentioned further on. On first approach I saw a fine male sitting upon a stout reed over the stream, at once he dashed off into the woods. Soon I saw another coursing low over the narrow part of the stream, here almost blocked with overgrown clumps of cowslip and water plantain. His beat was the narrow and sinuous lane which the stream cuts through the deep and bottom land herbage. I let him pass once and then took my place beside this lane ; presently back he came, after the manner of his kind, directly over the water. A quick sweep of the net brought lip from behind just as he was pas^ ing, and I had my first male specimen fluttering inside. I caught another on another beat, but the half dozen or more Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 5 that I flushed from sunny openings in the bottomland gave me no chance whatever of capture. I found cast skins, also, half a dozen of them in all ; but these were unusually hard to find, being heavily covered with bottom silt, which matches well the trash in which they lie. All were within a foot of the water's edge, and all but one lay flat upon the ground. The nymph of C. obliquus is in general appearance very like those of half a dozen other species of the genus. It agrees with the brief description given by Dr. Hagen for a Texas specimen (from the collection of the late lamented Mr. Me- Lachlan) which he referred to "this species (Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., XI, 291, 1885), except in size. The largest female nymph I found measures in total length 39 mm., abdomen 25 mm., hind femur 6 mm. ; width of head 8 mm., of abdomen 10 mm. The whole body is densely clothed with stiff hairs, and these hold a complete investment of silt. When one cleans a nymph carefully with a soft brush (it is a prolonged and tedi- ous operation), he finds beneath the silt quite as much of color pattern as is usually shown by dragonfly nymphs. The frontal fringe of stiff radiately arranged bristles comes out more clearly also, and a tuft of black bristles above each lateral ocellus. The " epaulets" of the prothorax are large, obliquely oval, and are fringed on their external margins with stiff bristles. The legs are short, yellowish, with interrupted apical and subapical rings of fuscous appearing on all the femora. The wing tips reach the base of the fifth abdominal segment. The abdomen is without dorsal hooks, but there are stout straight lateral spines on segments eight and nine, the one on the ninth segment slightly larger and equaling in length half the length of the segment. Dr. Hagen mentiom-d these spines, but he omitted to notice the other diagnostic characters, which are in the armature of the labium. There are six lateral seta?, and about thirteen seta- on the mentum each side, the outermost eight stronger and in a close set series. The bifid middle tooth of the labium is much as in C. dia stii top*. I did not observe the female ovipositing, as 1 had hoped to do. 6 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 But I had another errand dragonfly at Pettibone Creek this afternoon. In May I had found a single nymph of a species of Somatochlora in the rapid portion of the stream between two pools. I took it home alive, and a visitor to my labora- tory (who meant well), fed it to the fishes in the aquarium. I went again to the creek, and with considerable searching, found three more. All were clinging to matted sedge roots in the edge of the current, and were obtained by stripping the mats upward with a little sieve dipper. I had never seen a live imago of Somatochlora in Illinois and I thought this after- noon I might find one, or, more probably, find some empty nymph skins to supplement my scanty supply of the nymphs. Dame fortune was kind. On the very bank that trailed in the undercutting stream the root mats from which I had taken the nymphs, there sat a fine male of Somatochlora lincaris beside its recently abandoned skin ; a few feet distant sat sim- ilarly an equally fine female, and I took them both in out of the weather. Within ten feet of the two images I found a dozen nymph skins of the same species, clinging to the grass up which they had climbed none of them more than a foot above the surface of the water. These proved to be the same species as the nymph I have already described (in Bull. 68, N. Y. State Museum, p. 269), as Somatochlora sp. No. 2, a live specimen of which came into my possession at Ithaca eight years ago, and was lost through my own ignorance. They are older, and dirtier, and do not show the color pattern I there described ; but they are no doubt the same species ; no other images were seen. But I had enough for one afternoon. Any naturalist who has been long baffled in seeking acquaintance with some little resident of his own neighborhood will understand my feeling of satisfaction at having made some progress knowing these two shy favorites of mine. How delightful had been this afternoon. It had yielded me new life history material ; it had furnished the keys to long standing puzzles, and it had provided me choice specimens to be shared with my friends who love them, and who have generously shared their own treasures with me. Are not these the abiding pleasures of a naturalist ? Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 7 The Flat-bugs (Aradidae) of North Carolina. BY FRANKLIN SHERMAN, JR. (Entomologist Dept. Agr., Raleigh, N. C.) Although the following list is no doubt incomplete it is thought well to publish it at this time, as it represents consider- able work that has been done in collecting the Aradidae of this State. Two species are included on the authority of Bergroth ; all the others have been collected in the last two or three years, the identifications having been made by Mr. Otto Heidemann, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. W. F. Fiske, of the Bureau of Entomology, has col- lected this family to a considerable extent in the vicinity of of Tryon, N. C., and Heidemann has recently described several new species from his material (in Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash- ington). The author has collected considerably at Raleigh and on Cape Hatteras, and these three localities represent, respectively, the mountain, middle, and sandy coast regions of the State, and should make a good exhibit of the diversity of forms found. I regret that I am not able to present this list entirely in the order of their natural sequence. The signs (W), (C), and (E), immediately after the name of the locality denote whether it is in the west, central, or eastern portions of the State. 1. Aradus robustus Uhl. Cape Hatteras (E), January, 1903, F. Sherman. 2. Aradus similis Say. Goldsboro (E), May 2, 1901, Sherman. Tryon (W), April 9, December 14, 1903, under bark of gir- dled elm, \V. F. Fiske. 3. Aradus quadrilineatus Say North Carolina (E) Bergroth (see Proc. Ent. Soc. of YVush'n, Vol. II., p. 335). 4- Aradus rectns Say. Raleigh (C), June 30, 1902, F. Sherman. 5. Aradus fallen! Stal. Raleigh (C), June 28, 1903, May, r, 7, 1904, F. Sherman. Tryon (\Vj, May 30, 1903, at light, YV. F. Fiske. 8 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 6. Aradus niger Stal. Southern Pines (S. E. >, January, 1904, F. Sliennan. 7. Aradus acutus Say. Southern Pines (S. E.), March, 1904, very dark specimens, F. Sherman. Tryon (W), April 17, 1903, beneath bark of rotten oak, W. F. Fiske. 8. Aradus crenatus Say. Tryon (W), April 4, 7, 17, 1903, under bark of dead tulip tree, W. F. Fiske. 9. Aradus cinnamomeus Panzer. Tryon ( W), 1903, common in spring and early summer, on large pine tree. Many caught in pitch from wound, W. F. Fiske. 10. Brachyrhynchus lobatus Say. Raleigh (C), April 6, 1902, dead when taken, F. Sherman. 1 1 . Brachyrhynchus granulatus Say. Cape Hatteras (E), January, 1903, F. Sherman. Littleton (N. E.), April 2, 1902, F. Sherman. Tryon (W), March 6, April 9, 1903, numerous on yellow pine, dead some years, and under bark of dead maples. No- vember 17, 1903, under bark of chestnut felled last spring, \Y. F. Fiske. 12. Brachyrhynchus simplex Uhler. Cape Hatteras (E), January, 1903, many under bark of fallen log, F. Sherman. Raleigh (C), March 17, 1902, under bark of fence post, F. Sherman. 13. Brachyrhynchus moestus Stal. Cape Hatteras (E), January, 1903, abundant under bark of fallen log, F. Sherman. 14. Brachyrhynchus ovatus Stal. North Carolina (E) Bergroth (see Proc. Em. Soc. of \Vush' n, Vol. II., p. 336), Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 9 15. Neuroctenus pseudonymus Bergroth. Mr. Heideman states that this species was originally de- scribed from North Carolina. Saluda ( W), May 20, 1903, beneath bark of decaying chest- nut, W. F. Fiske. 1 6. Neuroctenus elongatus Osborn Try on (W), April 3, 1903, beneath bark of decaying chest- nut, W. F. Fiske. 17. Neuroctenus hopkinsi Heidemann. Hendersonville (W), May 26, 1903, under bark of fallen white pine, W. F. Fiske. 1 8. Neuroctenus simplex Uhler. Tryon(W), March 9, November 17, 18, 1903, beneath oak bark, \V. F. Fiske. Saluda (W\ March 25, 1903, W. F. Fiske. 19. Aneurus fiskei Heidemann. Tryon, May 21, 1903, W. F. Fiske. Some American Hymenoptera. By T. I). A. COCKERELL. Halictus armaticeps Cresson, var. 7. Smaller than usual, and more or less reddened ; sometimes the first two abdominal segments of the female bright ferruginous ; head of the female large, broader than thorax. Because of the large head, this cannot well be referred to var. /e.ran/is (Cresson). It has rather a distinct aspect, but I find no satisfactory characters for specific separation. Ilab. — La Cueva, Organ Mts., New Mexico, about 5300 feet, Sept. 3 and 4, both sexes (C. H. T. To^nsend} ; Mesilla, New Mexico, June 24, one 9 (Cockerell). Monidia, n. n. (!\Ionia, Westwood, Tr. Knt. Soc. London, 1875; not Gray, 1849). Type Monidia g-risca {Mouia ^risea, Westwood). Mexico. Length about 8 mm. Dianthidium parvum (Cresson). A cell found at Las Vegas, N. M., consisting of resin and small stones, contained an immature but quite recognisable 10 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 D. parritin. This affords further support to the opinion that all species of Dianthidium make resin nests. Exomalopsis verbesinae Ckll. Tempe, Arizona, one 9 at flowers of Hctcrothcca , in October (Cockerell). This species is certainly not an Anthophorida ; it is allied to E. solani, but smaller and narrower, with redder tegulae and more brightly-colored antennae. It is new to Arizona. Exomalopsis solidaginis Ckll. La Cueva, Organ Mountains, New Mexico, about 5300 feet, September 5, at flowers of Lippia u>rightii, 3 £ (C. H. T. Toivnscnd}. These are a little larger than the type, with the hair averaging paler. It is not impossible that they represent the male of E. solani . The three forms of Exomalopsis s. str. found in the United vStates may be separated thus : Abdomen thinly but copiously hairy, the bases of the segments not contrasting, nor the hind margins with white bands ; flagellum not brightly colored beneath ; males solidaginis Ckll. Abdomen with narrow white marginal hair-bands ; females. . . . . i i. Larger and broader; tegulae piceous solani Ckll. Smaller and narrower ; tegulae dark brown or reddish , antenna; more brightly colored verbesiiur Ckll. All the others (sides Ckll., coquillctti Ashm., tcxana Friese, bruncti Crawf., coinpactulus Ckll.,) have in the male the light clypeus of the group Anthophorula. Odynerus rufinodus Cresson. I took this at Mesilla Park. New Mexico, June 14. The insect is closely allied to O. bellulus Cresson, and has been confused with it. The females of the two are easily separated as follows, the notes on bellulus being derived from Cresson' s type in the U. S. National Museum. O. ruji nodus Cr. Second abdominal segment without the lateral yellow spots of bellulus ; post scutellum black ; meso- thorax with a median black line ; front without a yellow mark ; rlvpeus black ; head and thorax larger. New Mexico. O. bellulus Cr. Second abdominal segment with a yellow spot on each side; post-scutellum ferruginous; mesothorax Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. II without a median black line ; front with a yellow mark ; cly- peus rufous, upper margin broadly yellow. Texas. Both have ferruginous legs, a yellow patch on pleura just below tegula, and four-dentate mandibles, the innermost tooth rudimentary. «•» The Occurrence of a Tropical Butterfly in the United States. By C. T. BRUES. During the month of October, 1899, while collecting insects along the bed of a dried up creek near Austin, Texas, I noticed among the large numbers of butterflies which frequent such places a peculiar species which later proved to be AWw;>7.v {Dynamine) dionis Hubn.** ** (I have examined specimens of the species in the American Museum of Natural History, and there can be no doubt of its identity). This was the first and last time that I have observed it, although the three following years were spent collecting in the same vicinity. At the time there wrere numbers of them flying about the mud holes still remaining along the course of the stream, which annually dries up during the summer months. All were in fresh condition, and there can be no doubt that they had been breeding in the locality. What may have been their larval food plant I can- not suggest, as their normal one seems to be unknown. The genus Eubagis is strictly neotropical and is represented by some thirty species from Mexico, Central America and South America. According to a note under the species in question in the Biologia Centrali Americana, this form is re- stricted to Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and the opinion is held that it is peculiar to Central America. Whence came the numerous specimens in central Texas would be hard to say, especially since they seemed to be breed- ing there. Apparently the summer had been very favorable for the development of insects as Hymenoptera and Diptera were more abundant than I have ever seen them in that part of the country. Among the butterflies, another southern spe- 12 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan. , '05 cies Jllestra (^Cysthicura) amymonc which is usually restricted in its northern distribution to the extreme southern portion of Texas was very common about Austin. In fact dozens of them could be captured hovering about the bushes of Eisenhardtia on the University campus. In former years they were much less numerous although an occasional specimen could be found.' So far as I could ascertain no especially severe or protracted southerly winds had been experienced there during the summer, such as.those which sometimes serve to carry large L/epidoptera for great distances. Whether the Enbagis will ever establish itself as a perma- nent inhabitant of this locality remains to be seen. Notes on Prionapteryx nebulifera Steph. By ERICH D.-ECKE, Phila., Pa. (See Plate II.) The stunted growth of an isolated patch of huckleberry bushes attracted my attention while collecting at lona, N. J., May 26, 1902. The bushes were hardly eight inches high growing on a stretch of white sand so commonly found on the pine barrens of southern New Jersey. The partial absence of leaves on the bushes evidently indicated the work of some insects, and looking closer I found that almost every stem was thickened by a tube of white sand loosely spun together, lead- ing from the ground and diverging to the various branches. Whenever a branch was defoliated the sand tubes were rather dilapidated and partly missing, but the sand tubes leading to fresh clusters of leaves looked as if they were of recent con- struction. I opened one of these tubes, searched downward, and reached a nest of minute black ants Prcnolcpis parvula Mayr., about three inches below the surface of the ground. It did not seem probable that these little ants could consume the leaves of huckleberry, and the fact that the sand of these tubes was put together by fine silken threads, left no doubt that some Lepidopterous caterpillar was responsible for the con- struction of these tubes, but I could not find a trace of a raU-rpillar that day. I visited the place again, and after searching diligently, found a very active and evasive cater- ENT. \K\VS. Vol. XVI. PI. II. ON PRIONAPTERYX NEBULIFERA STEPH. DAECKE. Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 13 pillar eagerly trying to conceal itself under the sand. Search- ing further I found one sand tube leading underground and terminating into a bag-shaped cocoon which contained a healthy Lepidopterous pupa, and from which emerged a fine specimen of Prionaptery.\' ncbulifera, June 26, 1902. The identity of the moth was established, but there re- mained one physiological question unsolved. Why do the ants and caterpillars live together in these sand tunnels ? The caterpillars undoubtedly do the spinning, but it does not seem to be the nature of a caterpillar to carry sand, especially as it had to be done seven or eight inches in a ver- tical direction. An ant cannot spin, but is particularly adapted to carry- ing grains of sand. Here I was con- fronted with a strange and interest- ing proposition, namely : do these ants and caterpillars co- operate in the building of this structure ? To ascertain this I visited the place once more, but every trace of the colony had disappeared. I searched in vain for specimens all summer of 1903. At last, it was May 21, 1904, one more specimen was found at Brown's Mill Junction, N. J. This time the food plant was sand myrtle, Dcndrimn bn. \ifo- liitm Desv. The caterpillar was there and the ants were there. I carefully opened the burrow and found as before that it lead to a small cavity underground inhabited by ants, but close examination proved it to be nothing else but a chamber in which the caterpillar deposited its excreta and the ants act- ing as some sort of scavenger. This cavity is built on an angle, while the cocoon is built vertically from the tube as soon as the caterpillar is ready to pupate. For further observation I secured the caterpillar and dug out a small bush of sand myrtle, which, reaching home, I planted in a flower pot, released the caterpillar thereon and covered the pot with a glass closely fitting to the edge of the pot. The caterpillar began to work immediately, and in two days had built a tube along the stem of the myrtle high enough to reach the nearest leaves for food. This proved 14 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 conclusively that the auts had nothing to do with the tube building. I observed the caterpillar for two weeks. The tube being added to only in the forenoon at the rate of one to two inches per day. At no time was the caterpillar visible, and it would build all around the leaves before feeding. One inter- esting fact seemed to me worthy of note, that when no twig was available to the nearest cluster of leaves, it would erect the tube free in a straight line towards it, though the sense of sight must be out of question. By some instinct the direction of the nearest food is known though the caterpillar is encased. Ropronia, an anomalous Hymenopteron. By J. CHESTER BRADLEY, Ithaca, N. Y. In every natural scheme of classification in zoology one must expect to find intermediate forms between the groups that tend to link them together. Were all such forms that have existed still in existence, classification would be impossible. It is only by the loss of connecting links that we are able to define groups at all. This loss may occur in two ways, either by total extinction, or the link although in main preserved to us may itself have specialized at least along certain lines during the ages, so that the resulting form to-day may be very far different from what the original link was. Let us consider a diagram in which A represents a type of B c animal in past ages. At D suppose a divergence in descent which by multiplication along success- ful lines of specialization has formed two large families, B and C. Then D represents a form which is a connecting link between these families. This may in rare cases be preserved to us at E without change, in which case the determination of 'its true relations becomes a comparatively simple matter. But suppose the link D has continued to specialize along unsuccessful lines so that it has not flourished as B and C have. Many characters of B, and many of C, may be retained, and others once characteristic of A, may be retained, but lost in B and C. These latter may Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 15 still be preserved in far distant groups. Other characteristics may be acquired different from either B or C. L,et us suppose that the old form D and most of the line D-E has been so un- successful as to be entirely lost, and we find two large families, B and C, but along D-E only a single form left. Such a rem- nant is termed aberrant or anomalous, and it becomes a great problem to systematists to understand its peculiar relations. Such forms are found in every large group, and it is with one such that we have here to deal. The older systematists gen- erally threw all such occurring in a group together, thus form- ing an unnatural heterogeneous sub-group, which is unques- tionably the easiest way to treat them, although admittedly a temporary makeshift. This treatment has also been induced by the fact that such forms are apt to retain certain ancient characteristics in common which may have become lost by the groups to which they are really most nearly related. Another almost equally great, although less artificial mistake, is to in- clude them as aberrant members of some family with which they have some character in common, or which they seem most nearly to approximate. It is far more apt to be the case that these so called aberrants, as in the case of E in the diagram, are the sole remnants of a perhaps never large or successful group, but equally distinct from B and C. To the objection that to recognize all such groups as distinct would multiply to un wieldly proportions our classification, we answer that the purpose of classification is not merely to act as a convenience for students in determining species, but to express conceptions of natural relationship. The true relations of such anomalies as we have been dis- cussing can only be determined, if, at all, by exhaustive study of the taxonomic value of all, or at least the most important characters of the animals forming the groups in question. Only in this way can a conclusion fairly be drawn. In the Hymen- optera it is probable that no character would shed such light as the wing venation. But so great is the complex in the Parasitica that it means years of labor before their classifica- tion can be properly worked out from that basis and correlated with other characters. l6 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 Some years ago Mr. W. Hague Harrington collected near Ottawa, Canada, a strange Hymenopteron which somewhat resembled an Evania with a red abdomen. This he sent to L/Abbe Provancher who described it as generically and speci- fically new to science under the name Ropronia pcdiculata. It was very evidently an anomaly, and Provancher in an attempt to account for it placed it in a group of Braconidae which he called Flexitiventres. He considered it allied with the Ichneu- mons from its general appearance, and on account of the ab- sence of the second recurrent nervure he placed it as a Braconid. But there is no known member of the Ichneumonoidea that has the costa and radius separate, thus forming a distinct costal cell, except Stephanidee, and the small and peculiar family Evaniidse, which has been generally used as a dumping ground for almost any anomalous Hymenopteron that would not fit elsewhere. Provancher felt that Braconidae was not the right group, for a little later he changed its position to the Helorinse in the Proctotrypidae. This explained the presence of a costal cell. In fact the whole wing venation bears a superficial resemblance to Helorus. But when Dr. Ashmead seven or eight years later came to write his monograph of the Proctotrypidae, he gave voice to the belief that it was a Bra- conid of the subfamily Pachylomatinse. This conclusion was based on Provancher's description and figure of the wing. L,ater Dr. Ashmead described from males two new species and erected the family Heloridae in the Proctotrypoidea, containing two subfamilies and three genera. The second subfamily, Monomachinae, contained Ropronia, and also the highly anoma- lous South American Monomachus. That is what has been done with Ropronia to date, and that is where it is apt to stay for a while. But we all have a right to our own opinion, and I must confess to inability to agree with Dr. Ashmead. My attention was first called to the insect in 1903 while col- lecting near Philadelphia. I was so fortunate as to take a 9 of garmani Ashin. The description and figure of this appeared in the June, 1904, number of the " NEWS," the first figure of the genus ever published except Provancher's cut of the wing. Last July while collecting near Ithaca, N. Y. , Dr. Mac Gilli- Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 1 7 vray took a 9 of a species new to science which he has kindly permitted me to describe below. There remains for Ropronia only a choice of the Ichneumo- noidea or Proctotrypoidea or of a new superfamily between them. In the Aculeates and Proctotrypoidea the arrangement of the abdominal segments is such as to make the sting-like ovipositor arise from the apex of the abdomen ; in the Ichneu- monoidea it arises apparently from the ventral surface anterior to the apex, caused by a modification of the ventral segments. A study of the two 9 's of Ropronia proves to my satisfaction, although not beyond the limits of doubt, that the arrange- ment in Ropronia is of the Ichneumonoid type, but other char- acters, such as the chitiuization of the ventral segments, the nature and insertion of the petiole, the head and the wing venation are not like those of Ichneumonids, excepting per- haps Evaniidse. It is evident to me that we have an old type perhaps greatly modified, as in the hypothetical case of E in the diagram. Its true relations will continue a matter of doubt until some one works out from exhaustive and system- atic study the phylogeny of the parasitic Hymenoptera. Until this be done, I shall personally consider it as representing a distinct family, — ROPRONIIDAE between Ichneumonidae and Evaniidae. Of one thing I am certain, that it has no close affinities with Monomackus in which the type of abdomen is Proctotrypoid, and the shape utterly different ; in fact there are no characters in common except a superficial similarity in wing venation, which may mean, so far as we know, perhaps much, perhaps nothing at all. Ropronia ashmeadii n. sp. 9 Dull black, abdomen except petiole, front femora except basal third, front tibia and base of tarsi bright red. / Head seen from above transverse quadrate, the eyes prominent, the distance behind them considerable ; occiput rather sharply angled ; man- dibles black, bidentate, clypeus evenly rounded ; face in front slightly swollen mesally below the antenna-, very irregularly roughened by sharp irregular wrinkles, interspersed with shallow punctures i>l var i<>u> sixes, in a row around the edge of the rather small eyes and on the temples and cheeks sub-regularly quadro-reticulate ; above the antenna- the wrinkles are less irregular, drawn out into long reticulations, again shallow l8 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 and irregular on the occiput, with a tendency toward radiation from the ocelli ; antennae filiform, fonrteen-jointed, scape shorter than fourth joint, second joint about half the length of the third joint, latter longer, than fourth. Collar rather broad, pronotum extending back to tegulse ; humeral angels rounded ; mesonotum with large roundish punctures, almost reti- culate with broad meshes, a small area in the middle of the front mar- ginal portion with numerous very fine elongate punctures ; parapsidal lines distinct ; pleura rather similarly sculptured to dorsum, a hollowed area above the middle legs which is nearly devoid of punctures and smoothly polished ; venter minutely and shallowly punctate ; rest of dor- sum and propodeum punctured about as mesonotum ; post-scutellum mesally raised into a distinct peg-like vertical short spine, sides of post- scutellum more or less smooth polished ; propodeum very convex, over- hanging the insertion of the petiole ; legs short, claws without more than one or two fine bristle-like pectinations, which are perhaps mere bristles. Wings tinged slightly smoky, a darker spot beneath the stigma, vena- tion as normal in the genus. Abdomen polished, ovipositor not exserted. Length 6.5 mm. One female, taken 'by Dr. A. D. Mac Gillivray while collect- ing in company with the author along the side of a wooded road, in the Larch Meadow, just south of Ithaca, New York, July 9, 1904. I am much indebted to Dr. Mac Gillivray for permitting me to study this interesting specimen. I take pleasure in dedicating this species to Dr. Ashmead, who has already made known to science two species of the genus. The species differs from pediculata Prov. most dis- tinctly in the process of the post-scutellum. Type in the collection of Cornell University. It is possible that this species and calif arnica Ashm. with elevated post-scutellum and non-pectinated claws are generi- cally distinct f rom garmani and pediculata. LEPTOGLOSSUS X.ONATUS Dallas. — Professor R. H. Forbes has sent me a number of specimens of this species (kindly identified by Mr. Heidemann) which he collected at San Ignacio, Lower California. He also reports the insect from Santa Agneda, and concludes from his obser- vations that it is a very dangerous pest. Its habits appear to be similar to those of the closely allied L. phyllopus ; Prof. Forbes observed it to attack limes, oranges, watermelons, dates, and in one instance a green cotton boll. At the same time Prof. Forbes sent some insects which were said to be killing the orange trees at Hermosillo, Sonora. They are Iccrya f>nrchasi Maskell. — T. D. A. COCKERELL. Jan., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 19 The Larva of Hepialus sequoiolus Behrens. By FRANCIS X. WILLIAMS, San Francisco, Cal. The larva of this interesting moth has, so far as I know, never been found or described, so I give herewith the result of my observations upon the species. Mature larva — Head slightly bilobed, rounded, partly retracted under segment i, shining reddish-brown black towards mouth-parts; antenna' normal, spinneret slender. Ocelli 6 in two parallel rows. Width of head 4 mm. A few hairs arising from head. Body cylindrical, much wrinkled, slender ; segments 2 and 3 somewhat swollen, 12 and 13 tapering. Larger abdominal segments subdivided into four distinct wrinkles, other seg- ments subdivided less distinctly. Thoracic segments, first wrinkle of first abdominal and last half of segment 12, segment 13 and prolegs of a dirty white color, rest of body wood-brown. Body adorned with plates and tubercles, all bearing brownish hairs, and regularly arranged. The substigmatal tubercles are smaller than the superstigmatal. Thoracic legs yellowish, darker towards tips, and bearing a few hairs. A small hair caudad of each leg ; prolegs normal. A large amber-colored dorsal plate on each thoracic segment, that of 2 and 3 smaller and darker on edges. Segment i. — Dorsal plate roughly trapezoidal, extending laterad almost to stigma, stigma black, oval, larger than following. Above stigma on plate a large black piliferous spot. Directly between spot and stigma on plate, a small hair. On anterior portion of plate extending laterad a transverse row of five superstigmatal hairs, the two lowest close together. One substigmatal tubercle bearing two hairs. Segment 2.— Dorsal plate on wrinkle 2, oblong, pointed, bearing two hairs ; behind dorsal plate two large bilobed subdorsal plates each bearing four hairs. Extending laterad, two rows of tubercles of two tubercles each ; one, large and conical on fold, one on fold 2 and other two on fold 3. Segment 3. — Dorsal and subdorsal plates smaller than in segment 2, and two large tubercles be- tween subdorsal plates ; lateral arrangement same as in segment 2. Ab- dominal segments. — On each side of segments, except 13, four super- stigmatal tubercles in two transverse rows on fold 2 and 3 respectively. On segments 6-9, two oblique rows of substigmatal tubercles of two and four tubercles each, the first row beginning almost on the stigmatal line, found also on segments 4, 5, 10 and u ; the second row encircling the outer base of prolegs. Between prolegs two hairs. One larger dorso- lateral two-haired tubercle on segments 4, 5, 10, n and 12. Between tubercles, a transverse row of small ventral tubercles four on segments 4 and 5, two on 10, 1 1 and 12. On segments 5 and 10 an additional row of two very small flat tubercles. On segment 12 three lateral tubercK-x .1 continuation of second superstigmatal row. Segment 13 : anal plate roughly triangular bearing two pairs of subdorsal hairs and two ant' ones; a few ventral hairs, some on prolegs. Length of body 44 mm. 26 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 Width 5.90 mm. Described from one- living larva and several alcoholic specimens. Measurements taken from a large specimen, some larvse being only 34 mm. long when fully grown ; this is not surprising, how- ever, as the imagos also vary greatly in size. Have found the larva in the stems of Eriophyllum- stffdifo- linm and in the root of Helenium pubernhon but most fre- quently in the large yellow lupine. The larva bores longitu- dinal passages just above ground or a little under, turning its burrow at right angles and usually closing its opening with excrement. I have taken from the same plant, Hepialns larvae some about one-third and others full grown ; I should judge therefore that the larval life is about two years. Have found larvae in last stage from June to this date, December. They are very active, moving backwards easily. They should be put in separate vials or receptacles when collected other- wise they will invariably bite off each other's thoracic legs, and otherwise mutilate each other. H. sequoiolus is not rare in the vicinity of San Francisco where I collected larvae of the same ; it is also taken in Alameda and Mendicino counties. A New Thrips from the Philippine Islands. By WILLIAM H. ASHMEAD, M. A., D. Sc. Among some parasitic Hymenoptera sent me by Father Robert E. Brown, of Manila, I found a single specimen of a Thrips, and, since these insects are still unknown in the Philip- pines, there being none recorded in Uzel's Monographic der OrdungThysanoptera, I submit below a brief description of it. Genus IDOLOTHRIPS Haliday. Idolothrips tibialis n. sp. 9. — Length 2.4 mm. Coal-black, smooth and shining, but with all tibiae and tarsi, except the pulvilli, yellowish-white ; the basal four joints of the antennae are black, the three following joints whitish towards the base, but brownish at apex, the small terminal joint wholly brown. The head is very nearly three times as long as wide, the sides parallel ; eyes pale. The thorax laterally, in front of the insertion. The wings have a row of four or five short, spine-like bristles. The abdomen is elongate, pointed at apex, and has numerous long, bristly hairs above. Type.— No. 8,132, U. S. N. M. Manila, (Father Robert Brown). ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [The Conductors of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS solicit and will thankfully receive items of news likely to interest its readers from any source. The author's name will be given in each case, for the information of cataloguers and bibliographers.] To Contributors. — All contributions will be considered and passed upon at our earliest convenience, and, as far as may be, will be published according to date of recep- tion. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS has reached a circulation, both in numbers and circumfer- ence, as to make it necessary to put " copy " into the hands of the printer, for each num- ber, three weeks before date of issue. This should be remembered in sending special or important matter for a certain issue. Twenty-five "extras," without change in form, will be given free, when they are wanted ; and this should be so stated on the MS., along with the number desired. The receipt of all papers will be acknowledged. — ED. PHILADELPHIA, PA., JANUARY, 1905. Cryptohalictoides spiniferus* 1 is remarkable for the peculiar and elaborate production of the legs into processes and spines fairly well show in the illustration. It is on this account possibly farther removed from the usual than any other insect de- scribed during the past year. The structures are symmetrical and cer- tainly serve some special purpose which it remains for some energetic biologist and physiologist to dis- cover. There was almost no inter- est shown in the selection of an insect for the cover of the NEWS by our subscribers and we made the selection. In the January, 1904, NEWS we stated that the most remarkable insect described during the preceding year would be placed on the cover of each January NEWS and asked for suggestions from our readers. A subscription blank has been placed in each number of this issue of the NKXVS. It does not mean that you have not paid for 1905, but is a gentle reminder if you have not paid, and affords you an opportunity of promptly doing so if you have failed to attend to this very important matter. — TREASURER. >; Yiereck, KNT. NEWS, xv, 261, 1904. 21 22 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '05 NEW TREATMENT FOR THE WOOLY APHIS. — Simply use Christian Science. There is no such insect ; it is an invention of mortal mind. This is readily demonstrated by consulting Webster's or the Century. The proper spelling is woolly, and there is no word wooly, — hence no wooly aphis, and no need of bulletins on the subject. Missouri and Georgia entomologists, and all agricultural editors, please take notice.— MRS. EDDY (I don't think). Entomological Literature. RESEARCHES ON NORTH AMERICAN ACRIDIID.E. By Albert Pitts Morse. Publication No. icS, Carnegie Institution of Washington. 53 pp., 8 pis., 13 text figures. In the presentation of this paper to the entomological world Prof. Morse has given us one of the most interesting and important papers pub- lished in recent years on American Orthoptera. The subject matter has been gleaned from a large series of specimens collected in the south- eastern states by the author on a trip made in the summer of 1903, under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution. The territory covered extended from Norfolk, Virginia, to the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida, special attention being paid to the mountainous region of western North Carolina. The paper is divided into a number of sections, the most interesting and important of which are "Zonal Distribution, Locust Societies and Habitats, a Comparison of Campestral and Sylvan Locusts, Macropter- ous and Brachypterous Species of Locusts, Brachypterism in other Or- thoptera," and finally an annotated list of species and localities for each. Under " Zonal Distribution" (p. 13) by a rather peculiar lapse Eritet- tix is omitted from a list of genera of austral origin not restricted to the eastern states, and Scirtetica is said to be confined to the east while the reverse is true. The section on locust societies is worthy of special note as it furnishes a basis for future work in this intensely interesting field. The table of societies presented on page 14, while preliminary and ten- tative, is evidently the product of considerable study, and, while a con- sideration of these divisions is unnecessary, it may be remarked that to the few hygrophilous phytophiles given there should be added Linoce- p/ia/us e/egans, which species is typically halophilous in New Jersey. After a discussion of the relation of brachypterous and macropterous species to their habitats, the author sums up his evidence in the statement that : " Brachypterism in locusts is a more complete adaptation to a K ap- ing mode of progression brought about by life in situations where flight is difficult or impracticable, and consequently disadvantageous." While this appears to be more plausible than any theory hitherto advanced on the subject, it has numerous exceptions, one of the most striking of which Prof. Morse's limited stay in the south did not permit him to observe, namely the great abundance of the macropterous Ainblytro- occidentalis in typical sylvan surroundings. Under the list of species the records of ( 7i/tr v. Criocephalus agrestis Krby. Montreal, vii, viii. They are generally taken at the electric lights. Desinoccnis pat/iatus For'st. Montreal, 48 specimens on Elder ; 28, vi. Euderces picipcs F. St. Hilaire, Que., i, vii. Graphisurus fasciatus DeG. Montreal, A few chrysalids from beech. Hoplosia nubila Lee. Montreal 18, vii. This species breeds in Linden. Hyperplatys aspersus Say. Montreal, vi and vii. Taken several spe- cimens on dead branches of willow, in which it must breed. Leptura nitcns Forst. Montreal, 27, vi. Leptura exigua Newm. Common from 24, v to 15, vi. Leptura htnnatites Newm. Montreal, 12, vi. Leptura biforis Newm. St. John's, Que. 8, vii. Leptura canadensis F. Common, vii. Leptura villain Germ. Common, vi, vii. 36 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 Leptura lineola Say. Common, vi, vii. Leptnra pubera Say. Common, vi, vii. Leptura proximo, Say. St. Hilaire, Que., St. John's, Que. vi, vii. Leplit>-a niutabilis Newm. Montreal, 10, vi. Leptura chrysoconia Kirby. Val Morin, Que., common 19, vi. Lepturges querci Fitch. Montreal, 25, vii. Monohammus conf/isor Kirby. Montreal, 23, viii. Neo clytus muricatulus Kirby. Le"vis, Que., 12, viii. On spruce logs. Oberea bimaculata Ol. Common on raspberry, 8, vii. Obt'iiini riibnnn Newm. Montreal, 25, vii. Parandra brunnea F. Montreal, 25, vii. Pogonocherusmixtus Hald. Montreal, 14, vii, on dead branch of willow. Pachyta mon/icola Rand. Val Morin, One., 17, vi. Psenocerus supernotatus Say. Common on wild grape vine, 12, vi. Phymatodes amcenus Say. Montreal, 12, vi. On wild grape vine. Stenosphemis notatns Ol. Montreal, 12, vi. Saperda puncticollis Say. Montreal. On woodbine 12, vi. Saperda mulica Say. Montreal ; several specimens on willow, 14, vii. Saperda lateralis F. Montreal, 12, vi. Saperda vestita Say. Montreal, chrysalids from linden. Tragosoma harrisii Lee. Montreal. One specimen at electric lights, 17, vii. Typocerus velutinus Ol, Common, vii. Tetraopes tetraophthalmus Forst. Common, vii. Toxotus trivittatus Say. Montreal. Common, 12, vi. Xylotrechus undiilatus Say. L6vis, Que., 12, viii, on spruce logs. The above species, which number 44, were all taken during the past summer. I was at Quebec in August last and took advantage of my trip to examine the material in some local collections there. Amongst the most important species I saw, were the following : Rhopalopus sangiiinicollis Horn. This species seems to occur frequently at Quebec and Levis. Phymatodes maculicollis Lee? There is a specimen of Phv- matodcs in the collection of Abbe Roy, Levis, which I think can be referred to maculicollis. I regret that I did not have the opportunity of studying it more fully. Piodes coriacea Lee. This species is in the Provancher col- lection without locality label. I have seen specimens from Rigaud, Que. Monohammus marmorator Kirby. I saw several specimens of this species in collections at Quebec and at Levis. I noticed, in the Laval University collection, specimens of this species labelled iitillator F. Sapi rda cretata Newm. Two specimens in the Laval Uni- versity collection without locality label. Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 37 Records of some Paraguayan Orthoptera with the Description of a New Genus and Species. I5y JAMKS A. G. REHN. The following records have been made from a small collec- tion of Orthoptera taken at Sapucay, Paraguay. The mate- rial is the property of Mr. Morgan Hebard of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Family Ischnoptera marginata Brunner. One female (December 20, 1901). Giglio-Tos has recorded this species from northern Argen- tina and the Bolivian Chaco. Ischnoptera vilis Saussure. Two males (one November 30, igoi). Family Brunneria brasiliensis Saussure. One male. Family ACRIDIIXK. Ossa bimaculata Giglio-Tos. One male and one female. October 31, 1902 and January 27, 1903. This species was described from Resistencia nel Chaco, Argentina. Tropinotus discoideus Serville. Two females. These specimens agree with a female individual from Para- guay referred to discoidi'ns by Giglio-Tos, and a male and female from Brax.il and Rio Grande do Sul received from Dr. Saussure. One of the Sapucay specimens is blackish brown in color with the maculations rather faint, the other is wood brown, the anal area of the tegmina pale, the maculations of the tegmina barely visible. Originally described from " Bresil," this speeie^ lias >inre been recorded from Hueiios Ay res and the province of Jujuy, Argentina, Cai/a in the Cham of Bolivia and Asuncion, Paraguay. 38 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 Tropinotus regularis Bruner. One male. This specimen was examined by Prof. Bruner, who pro- nounced it a representative of a species at present undescribed and which he proposed to call regularis. In appearance it is quite distinct from the other forms of the genus, but I prefer to leave all remarks, however desirable, aside pending the description. Elaeoclilora viridicata (Serville). One female. This is inseparable from females from Carcarana, Argentina, except that the caudal tibiae and tarsi are not washed with pinkish red, but are uniform dull greenish in color. Chromacris stolli (Pictet and Saussure). One male, one female. While this species has been recorded from a number of localities in northern Argentina, this is apparently the first record from Paraguay. Zoniopoda omnicolor (Blanchard). One male (February 18, 1902), one female. This beautiful species is here recorded from Paraguay for the first time. The Sapucay specimens are inseparable from individuals from Carcarana, Argentina. Zoniopoda iheringi Pictet and Saussure. One male (October 29, 1902), one female. These specimens have been compared with an authentic female specimen from Rio Grande do Sul collected by Dr. Ihering and presented by Dr. Saussure. Except that the Paraguayan female is of smaller size, no important difference can be detected. In the male the caudal femora are obscurely bi-annulate with blackish fuscous. Stenopola puncticeps (Stal). One female (December 19, 1902). This species has been recorded from Caiza and San Fran- cisco in the Bolivian Chaco ; San Lorenzo in Jujuy, Argen- tina ; Resistencia in the Argentina Chaco and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 39 Aleuas vitticollis Stal. One male (March 7, 1903). This species was described from Sao Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and Montevideo, Uruguay. Aleuas gracilis Stal. One male (March 7, 1903). The difference between this species and .1. vitticollis is very apparent on comparing them, the slenderer build, more pro- duced and acute fastigium and the form of the pronotum are the principal characters which readily distinguish gracilis from vitticollis. The original locality was Brazil. ZYGOCLISTRON- n. gen. Allied to the. Alciue and Vilermv, partaking of characters of both, but probably more closely related to the former and the genus Paralcuas Giglio-Tos in particular. Form elongate, slender. Head with the fastigium acute, sharply cariuate, excavated ; frontal costa regularly expand- ing from the base of the antennae to the clypeus ; facial carinae diverging to the same extent and parallel to the costa. Pro- notum rugoso-tuberculate ; median carina distinct, intersected thrice ; ventral margin of the lateral lobes very slightly emar- ginate. Intervals between the mesosternal and metasternal lobes exceedingly narrow. Tegmina reaching the apex of the abdomen ; area between the discoidal and ulnar veins with numerous transverse veins mesad. Posterior femora witli very slight dentate points on the dorsal carina ; tibiae with eight spines on the external margin ; second tarsal joint not quite half as long as the metatarsus. Subgenital plate com- pressed, produced into a moderately recurved process ; supra- anal subequal proximad, acuminate distad ; cerci long, slender, parallel in the proximal half, sharply incurved at the middle, the apex directed caudad and acute. Zygoclistron trachystictumt n. sp. Type : $ ; Sapucay. Paraguay. March 20, 1902. Hebard collection. * Zvyov void, TrXtLTo-pov bat'. ^/i, O-TIKTOI' punctured . 40 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 2 ZYGOLISTRON TRACHYSTICTUM n. gen. and sp. Type, fig. i, lateral view; fig. 2, cephalic view of head; fig. 3, dorsal view of abdominal appendages. Head rather large, occiput rounded and slightly elevated above the pronotum ; vertex slightly descending, interspace between the eyes dis- tinctly exceeding the greatest width of the frontal costa ; fastigium slightly descending, acute, the marginal carina? sharp, shallowly and broadly excavated, foveolse large, trigonal, facing dorsad ; frontal costa a simple sharp carina immediately below the fastigium, dividing at a line with the upper base of the antennae, carince regularly and very distinctly diverging to the clypeal margin, shallowly but wholly sulcate ; accessory facial carime distinct and diverging at the same angle as the margins of the frontal costa ; eye ovate in outline, quite prominent, very slightly shorter than the infra-ocular portion of the genae ; antennae slightly ex- ceeding the head and pronotum in length, slightly depressed. Pronotum narrow, subequal, rugoso-tuberculate except the ventral portions of the lateral lobes which are rugose ; cephalic margin rotundato-angulate, caudal margin obtuse-angulate, the angle narrowly rounded and the margin slightly sinuate ; median carina distinctly sub-cristate on the pro- zona and severed by each sulcus ; no lateral carina present, a moderately marked shoulder present on the metazona ; inferior margin of the lateral lobes slightly sinuate cephalad and caudad. Prosternal spine short, com- pressed, blunt, directed caudad. Interspace between the mesosternal lobes very narrow, the lobes sub-contiguous ; interval between the me- tosternal lobes cuneiform, the lobes sub-contiguous at the narrowest (caudal) point. Tegmina not exceeding the apex of the abdomen, rotundato-truncate apically, discoidal field proximatl irregularly reticu- late, mesad with the portion between the discoidal and ulnar veins occu- pied by numerous parallel cross veins, those of the medio-discoidal area more numerous than those in the medio-ulnar section ; no intercalate- vein present. Wings equal to the tegmina in length. Last segment of the abdomen dorsal with triangular branches of the furcula ; supra-anal plate equal proximad, acute and produced distad ; subgenital plate pro- duced, compressed, apical process recurved and exceeding the apical margin by a distance equal to half the length of the entire plate ; cerci Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 41 elongate, narrow-, straight and parallel proximad, at the middle with a short mesad curve, and near the apex with a distinct caudad bend, the apex acute and slightly depressed. Cephalic and median femora short, inflated, the tibia? of the same limbs not exceeding the femora in length. Caudal femora slightly exceeding half the tegmina in length, tapering evenly but not gracefully to the genicular region, dorsal carina with several sub-obsolete dentiform serrations ; tibia3 with eight spines on the external margin, ten or eleven spines on the internal margin, external apical spine present on one tibia and absent on the other ; metatarsi over twice the length of the second tarsal joint. General color ochraceous, the gence, ventral part of the pronotum and the pleura gamboge yellow, a post-ocular streak, which is indistinct on the head and well marked on the pronotum and pleura, blackish ; eyes and dorsal surface of pronotum tawny ; antenna; with the apical half in- fuscate. Tegmina hyaline with a faint greenish yellow tinge, the costal region with the veins obscurely yellowish, the base of the discoidal field with several distinct quadrate spots of blackish, and the axillary field saffron yellow. Abdomen with the lateral face of each segment with a diagonal blackish marking, which in form is crudely oval. Limbs of the general color, the caudal femora with blackish blotches along the carina? ; tibiae saffron yellow, washed with blackish at the very apex, spines blackish apically, those of the internal margin with the whole internal face blackish. MEASUREMENTS : Length of body, 39. mm. Length of pronotum 75 " Greatest width of pronotum, 4-5 '' Length of tegmina, 28. '' Greatest width of tegmina, 4.5 " Length of caudal femora 16.5 " The type only has been examined. Schistocerca infumata Scudder. One male (January 15, 1903), one female. This species has only been recorded from Montevideo, Uruguay and Bra/.il. This species is closely related to .5*. flavofasciata, of which a pair from Demerara have been ex- amined, and with it possesses a pale flavous bar of the proxi- mal portion of the costal margin of the tegmina. The form of the cerci of this species is quite different from that seen in 6*. flavofasciata. Dichroplus bergii St.il One female 'January 27, 1903 i. This specimen was compared with females from Rosario and 42 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 Carcarana, Argentina, received from Prof. Bruner, and one female (Resistencia nel Chaco, Argentina), received from Dr. Borelli. Dichroplus exilis Giglio-Tos ? Two males (January 16, 1903, and March 9, 1902). These specimens do not wholly agree with the original description of exilis, the caudal femora being greenish, above and without any black except in the genicular regions,* while the cerci are subequal in the incurved apical portion. They are readily separated from D. elongatus Giglio-Tos by the shorter and less produced subgenital plate, the broader fas- tigium and vertex as well as the coloration. Scopas obesus Giglio-Tos. One female. This individual fully agrees with the original description. This species is only known from Paraguay, Asuncion being the type locality. Osmilia violacea (Thunberg). Two males (December 20, 1901 and February 20, 1903), and one female. Recorded from Asuncion and Colonia Risso in Paraguay by Giglio-Tos. Osmilia obliqua (Thunberg). One female (July 26, 1901). Recorded from Asuncion by Giglio-Tos, and also from Re- sistencia nel Chaco, Tala and San L/orenzo,in Argentina, and San Francisco and Caiza in the Bolivian Chaco. Thunberg's original specimen was from Brazil, and the Stockholm Museum contains Rio Janeiro material mentioned by Stal. Family TETTlGONlDJB. Isophya borellii Giglio-Tos. One male (January 18, 1903). This species has previously been recorded from Asuncion, Paraguay, and Santa Rosa, Salta, Argentina. Hyperophora aiigustipennis Brunner. One male (March 19, 1903), one female (March 20, 1902), This species has been recorded from Salta and Cordoba provinces, Argentina. Family GRYLJJD^. Eneoptera surinamensis ( He Geer). One male (March 4, 1903 i, two females \ Muy 9 and Novem- ber 8, 1903). Previously recorded from Guiana, Brazil and Peru. Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 43 On the Habits of Two Ichneumonid Parasites of the Bee Ceratina Dupla Say. BY S. GRAENICHER, Milwaukee, Wis. During the summer of 1903 eggs and larvae of an Ichneu- monid were noticed in several nests of Ceratina dupla, a rather common bee in our region. I was thus enabled to study the life history of this parasite, and to obtain a number of mature insects, the latter emerging in the spring of the following year. L/ast summer while examining some nests of Ceratina dupla in search of additional material, a second Ichneumonid was found passing its larval stage in the nest of the bee, and of this spec- ies also mature insects were bred. These two Ichneumonids were sent to Mr. Henry L,. Viereck, of Philadelphia, for identifi- cation, with the result that one of them was recognized as Grotea angiiiua Cress., while the other proved to be a new species, which Mr. Yiereck has named and described as Hab- rocrvptns gm-nichcri (ENT. NEWS, Vol. XV, p. 333.) My sincere thanks are due to Mr. Viereck for his kind assistance in this matter. To my knowledge no Ichneumonida- have as yet been reported from the nests of bees. Besides, one of the parasites under consideration, Grotea anguina, is still the more remark- able from the fact that its larva, during a certain period of its development, leads the life of a vegetarian, subsisting for a few days on the mixture of pollen and nectar, the so-called bee- bread stored away by the bee. In regard to the habits of the Ichneumonidse, Sharp (The Cambridge Natural History, Vol. V, p. 557, 1895) makes the following statement : 'Although the Ichneumonidae are perhaps the most purely carnivorous of all the great families 'of Hymenoptera, there is nevertheless reason for supposing that some of them can be nourished with vegetable substances during a part at any rate of the larval existence, Giraud & Cameron (Ent. Month. Mag. XIII, 1879, p. 200) having recorded observations that lead to the conclu- sion that sonic species of the genus Pinipla may inhabit galls and live on the substance, or juices thereof." It is interesting to note that our species Grotca au^iihia, whose larva during a 44 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 part of its life feeds on vegetable matter, is also a representa- tive of the Ichneumonid subfamily Pimplinae, while Habro- cryptus grcniicheri, the second parasite to be considered in this paper, belongs to the subfamily Cryptinae. Before dealing with the habits of these parasites, I prefer to briefly consider the habits of the bee Ceratina dupla, as observed in our surroundings. Both sexes pass the winter together in hollow stems, and copulate in the spring, but not very early. L/ast season (1904), which was an exceedingly late one, they were seen copulating on the flowers of the dandelion on May igth and 2oth, although some bees of other genera (An- drcna and Halidns} were preparing their nests already at the end of April. In this same locality the Ceratina bees did not take up the work with their nests until about June i4th. The pithy stems of various plants are hollowed out, sometimes to a considerable depth, and cell after cell is furnished with the food supply and an egg, each cell being separated from its neigh- bors by a partition of its particles. Around the beginning of August the first young bees appear in the cells at the bottom of the nest, and these have to wait, as Comstock has observed, until all the others above them (sometimes 15 or more) have emerged, whereupon the whole f amity is led out of the nest by the mother bee. This does not take place before the second half of August or even the beginning of September. Coin- stock witnessed two broods in his surroundings, but in our region I have never seen these bees produce more than one brood . Grotea amjuina Cress. Altogether 16 nests of Ceratina dnpla containing either the eggs or the recently hatched larvae of the parasite Grotea anguina were obtained. The eggs of parasitic insects are often remarkable on account of their small size, and in this particular case the difference in size between the egg of the parasite and that of the bee is at once noticeable. The egg of the latter is about 21.- mm. long and i mm. broad, while that of (.irotca aiiguina hardly reaches more than one-half of the length and one-fourth of the breadth of the bee's egg. As a rule the egg of the parasite is placed Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 45 lengthwise on top of the egg of the bee. The larva of the parasite may emerge earlier or a trifle later than the bee larva, but in either case it proceeds to suck the contents of the egg or of the young larva of the bee, mostly securing a hold on the anterior part. Within a short time a shrivelling of the egg or larva may be observed, and at the end of about 24 hours the anterior portion has been emptied of its contents. Thereupon the parasite turns around, and empties the remaining portion, so that at the expiration of 2 days on the average only the dry remains of the egg or larva of the bee are visible. The para- sitic larva now takes up a position on the bee-bread and feeds on this for the next 3 or 4 days as eagerly as if it were a bee larva. It thereby increases considerably in size, and then forces its way through the partition into a neighboring cell, sooner or later killing and eating up the bee larva of this cell. It usually invades a third cell, also destroying the resident of the latter, and sometimes even a fourth cell is entered with the same result. At the age of 13 or 14 days the parasitic larva is full grown, measuring from 12 to 14 mm. in length, and it then begins to spin a cocoon. At first the pith particles, remains of destroyed bee larvae, pieces of bee-bread, etc., are cleared out of the way for a length of 3 or 4 cm. so as to make room for the future cocoon, This having been done, a solid, hard partition is spun at the upper end of the canal, and one placed at the lower end. These are very resistent, and protect the larvae from attacks coming from above or below. The chamber between these two plug-like partitions is furnished with a lining of a thin white membrane, the larva finally deposits its excreta at the lower end of the chamber, and lives throughout the winter as a "resting larva." In the spring pupation takes place, and the mature insect comes out in time to deposit its eggs in the nests of Ceratina dtipla. From the larvae kept in a heated room throughout the winter 5 $ and 6 9 specimens of Grotca aiigidna were obtained, the earliest one, a $ , emerging on March gth, and the latest one, a 9 , on May 23rd. These insects appeared for good reasons earlier than those hibernating under natural conditions. As a rule the egg of this parasite is deposited in the lowest 46 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 cell of the nest, less frequently in the next lowest, but occa- sionally also higher up. In the majority of the nests one cell only contains a parasitic egg, although in 4 out of the 16 nests 2 cells were infested. One nest, collected July 2jth, 1903, was kept under observation with especial interest, as it contained 2 parasitic eggs on the egg of the bee in the lowest cell, and in addition to this a parasitic egg on the bee's egg in the adjoin- ing cell. One of the parasitic larvae in the lowest cell killed the other one, it then pursued the usual course of eating up the bee's egg and feeding on bee-bread, and then entered the next cell and there destroyed the somewhat smaller parasitic larva. This occurrence shows that the larva of this parasite instinctively attacks any other larva it may come in contact with inside of the nest. The normal position of the egg of the parasite is on top of the bee's egg, but in two instances it was placed some distance from the latter on the bee-bread. This, however, did not interfere with the development of the parasite in either case, as the young larva crawled around until it reached the egg of the bee. Habrocryptus graenicheri Vier. On June 23, 1904, a Ceratina nest was found with a cell containing the small eggs of a parasite on the top of the bee's egg. This egg resembled rather closely that of Grotea angui.ua, and it was thought to belong to that species until the larva made its appearance. The form of the latter, as also its habits made it clear that we were dealing with some other parasite. Later on 5 additional nests with the eggs of this parasite, ffabrocryptusgrtsnicheri, were obtained, the last one on July 4th. In size and form the egg of this species agrees with that of Grotea anguina, although it is a trifle smaller and somewhat more pointed behind. It produces a cylindrical larva with a large head and distinctly constricted segments, quite different from the more elliptical larva of Grotea anguina with a small head and without constricted segments. The feeding habits of the larva of this Habrocryptus are peculiar. It moves around on the egg and later on the young larva of the bee, now and then sucking superficially, but without inflicting any damage Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 47 to the egg or the larva, and evidently obtaining a small amount of food, as is shown by its very slow growth. These sucking movements are performed in a characteristic manner. The parasite brings its mouth-parts in contact with the surface of the egg or the young larva, and sucks for a few moments, whereupon it releases its hold with a jerky upward movement of the head and crawls forward a short distance to repeat the same performance. As already stated, the bee's egg shows no ill effects whatever, it produces a normal bee larva, and the latter partakes of its food-supply, and thrives as well as any other bee larva. A remarkable feature is the tolerance displayed by the bee larva towards the small parasite crawling around on its body and sapping its juices. The bee larva keeps on feeding and does not seem to be inconvenienced in the least by the pres- ence of the parasite. On one occasion the latter was observed to take up a position on the side and within easy reach of the mandibles of the bee larva. It might have been destroyed with but little effort on the part of the bee larva, but nothing of the kind happened. The parasitic larva increases very gradually in size, especi- ally during the first 4 or 5 days of its life, but at the age of about 8 days it makes a serious attack on the half grown Cera- tina larva, killing it, and sucking its contents. This brings about a rapid growth of the parasite. It soon invades a neighboring cell, destroys the bee larva therein, and occasion- ally raids 3 or 4 cells in the same wray. At the age of about 13 days it is ready to spin its cocoon, and for this purpose it makes use of the space occupied by 2 or 3 of the broken up cells. The cocoon is hurriedly and lightly constructed, and is not protected by any plug-like partitions as in the case of (h <>/«i anguina. About 6 days later pupation takes place, and at the end of ii more days the perfect insect emerges. So that the entire development from the appearance of the larva to that of the imago is accomplished within 30 days on the average. From the 6 nests under observation 4 perfect insects were bred. REVIEW. Although these two parasites represent two distinct types of Ichneumonidse, one being a Pituplinc and the other a Crvpfii/c, 48 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 they both adopt the same method of depositing their eggs on the egg of their host Ccratina dnpla. But in the development of the larva at the expense of the egg or larva of the bee, each of them pursues a different course. The larva of Grotea anguina first increases its size by taking up the contents of the egg or young larva of the bee, but it is still rather small and feeds for several days on pollen and nectar before undertaking the task of breaking through the partition into a neighboring cell in search of a bee larva for food. It starts out as a carni- vorous larva, thereupon it passes over to the diet of a vege- tarian, and finally returns to carnivorous habits. Habrocyptus gfu-nicJieri, on the other hand, does not destroy the egg of the bee, and furthermore it spares the life of the bee larva until the latter has reached a considerable size. During more than one- half of its larval existence it partakes of a very small amount of food, derived superficially from the egg or the larva of the host, and it grows extremely slowly. But finally, by killing the bee larva and feeding on its contents it enters a period of rapid growth, and later on it invades one or more of the bee cells in pursuit of prey in exactly the same manner as does the larva of Grotea anguina. The time necessary to complete the growth of the larva is about the same in either of the species, being 12 or 13 days, but in the later development there is a great differ- ence between the tw^o. After completing its cocoon, the larva of Grotea anguina remains as a so-called resting larva in a state of inactivity until the spring of the following year, when it pupates, and appears as a mature insect at about the time the Ceratlna bees start to build their nests. During this entire period, lasting at least 10 months, the resting larva might suffer injury from different sources (attacks of parasites, inclemency of the weather, etc.) if not properly protected, and we understand the importance of the strong defensive parti- tions erected at the upper and lower end of the cocoon cham- ber. Furthermore, the parasite does not always deposit its egg in the lowest cell, but sometimes as high up as the jth cell, as observed in one of the nests. In such a case there may be several young bees emerging from the lower cells in late summer. These, in order to leave the nest would have to break Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 49 through the cocoon of the parasite, and thus endanger the life of the latter, if not held back by the very effective barrier of a defense partition. I have come across two old nests of Cera/ in a with an empty cocoon-chamber of the emerged parasite, and several dead Ceratina bees below the lower partition. The parasite is able to gnaw its wray through the partition but the bees can not overcome such an obstacle. There is no period of a "resting larva' in Habrocryptus grccnirheri. Very shortly after the spinning of a cocoon a pupa is formed, and u or 12 days later the imago makes its appearance in advance of the young Ceratina bees, necessity exists for the construction of defense partitions at the ends of the cocoon-chamber, the later being protected by the still occupied bee-cells, and the cocoon is a simple affair, as compared with that of Grotea anguina. It takes Grotea anguina about a year to pass through its entire development, and of its habits throughout the year we are pretty well informed. Not so with Habrocryptus gr&nicheri. This parasite goes through the different stages within a month, but as to its doings and whereabouts during the remainder of the year we know nothing. The mode of oviposition has not been observed in either of the species, although I have repeatedly seen Grotea anguina flying around in the neighborhood of the nests of Ceratina dupla. The ovipositor of Habrocryptus gramichcri is 3 mm. in length, and that of Grotea anguina over 4 mm., and in both species it is strong and well developed. In the Eastern States several small Hymenopterous parasites have been bred from the nests of Ceratina dupla, but in our region the two Ichneumonids considered above are the only para- sites of this bee so far observed. It has been shown that the larva of either of these Ichneumonids is a very destructive inhabitant of the bee's nests, always killing more than one of the bee larvae. Such a parasitic larva when full grown is longer than a cell of the Ceratina nest, and consequently it has to occupy at least two of the cells. But notwithstanding tin- destructive tendency of the parasites, they do not seem to occur in sufficient number to interfere materially with the frequency of Ceratina dupla. 50 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 A List of Coleoptera. Taken on the Summit of Mt. Stward, N. Y. BY C. O. HOUGHTON. On June 22, 1901, the writer, accompanied by Dr. A. D. MacGillivray of Cornell University, spent a short time in col- lecting insects upon the summit of Mr. Seward, one of the highest peaks in the Adirondack Mountains.* This mountain lies ten or twelve miles to the east of Axton and rises to a height of about 4500 feet above the sea level. The sides are quite heavily wooded and in places very precipi- tous and the top is thickly studded with dwarfed spruce and balsam trees, so small that one can almost walk over the tops of them although they have attained a considerable age. The trip to this mountain was made from Axton, on the last day of our outing at that place f and owing to the roughness of the road and the difficulties in the ascent only about a half hour was available for collecting purposes at the summit ; and this was about all we could endure, for the black flies (Siiini- liinn sp.) simply swarmed there and rendered collecting well nigh impossible. In all of our collecting in the low lauds about Axton, although tormented a great deal by the black flies and mosquitoes, we had experienced nothing like it and I think that fully as much time was expended in trying to fight off these pests as in our collecting operations. Near the point where we reached the top and from which we did not venture far, as the trail ended there and the walk- ing was very difficult, there was an old signal station which had been made use of some time before. This was simply a tower-like frame built up to a height of perhaps 15-20 feet with poles cut from the sides of the mountain, and upon this we secured a number of the beetles listed below. Our atten- tion was chiefly directed to the collection of Coleoptera and indeed, with the exception of the black flies, but few other insects were seen. *Mt. Marcy, the highest, has an elevation of 5379 feet. fSee " A List of Insects Taken in the Adirondack Mountains, New York — I." By Alex. MacGillivray and C. O. Houghton — HN TOMOLOGI- CAL NEWS, Vol. XIII, 1902, p. 247. Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. The following list embraces only those species taken on the summit, some of which were also taken at Axton ;:;: when taken at both places it is so designated. The number follow- ing the name indicates the number of specimens taken on Mt. Seward. Most of the material was determined by Mr. Chas. Liebeck ; the writer is responsible for the remainder. STAPHYLINID/E. Hoinalota sp. , i. Alceocharid, undetermined, i. Xantholinus cepalus Say, i. COCCINELLID.E. Harmoiiia picta Rand., I. Hyperaspis bigeminata Rand., 60- 75-t CUCUJID.E. Lcemophlteus convexulus Lee., i. CRYPTOPHAGIDyE. Cryptophagussp., 3. ELATERID^E. Elater socer Lee., 2. nigricans Germ., i. Agriotes limosus Lee., i.J Limonius pectoralis Lee., 9. Corymbites spinosus Lee., i. appressus Rand., i. BUPRESTID^E. Dicerca divaricata Say, i.J MALACHITE. Attains iiigrellus Lee., i. CLERID^E. Thanasinius dubius Fab., i. CERAMBYCID.E. Asemum moestiun Hald., 4. Tetropium cinnamopterum Kirby, i Pachyta monticola Rand., 2.J AcTHfgops pratensis Laich, i. CHRYSOMELID.E. Galerucella decora Say, i.j Disonycha pennsylvanica 111., i. MELANDRYID^E. Xylita l/zvigata Hellw., i. OEDEMERID^E. Asclera puncticollis Say, 2. CEPHALOID.E. Cephaloon lepturides Newm., i.J CURCULIONID.E. Apion walshii Smith, i. SCOLYTID^E. Pityophthorus materiariusY'ilch, i. " sparsus Lee., i. Xyleborus ccclatus Eich., i. Polygraphus rnfipennis Kirby, 6. Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Williamson, of Bluffton, Indiana, left home on Deeember 31 for Guatemala, where they will collect insects. Mr. Will- iamson, who is favorably known for his papers on dragon flies, will pay special attention to that group. * By an oversight, all of the species taken on Mt. Seward were included in the list of Coleoptera taken at Axton and vicinity. t These were all taken on, or close to, the old signal tower; many others could have been secured. J Taken also at Axton. 52 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 A New Lac -Insect. By T. D. A. COCKERELL. The lac-insects ( Tachardia) are for the most part members of the tropical fauna, and only a few species occur within the boundaries of the United States. In New Mexico T. cornuta Ckll. has long remained unique, and I did not expect to see a second species from that region. However, one has come to hand, and from a locality in which I have collected many times, without finding it. It must be extremely local ; the explanation of this fact is sufficiently evident when on boiling up the material received, I find it severely attacked both by a fungus and a chalcidid. Tachardia glomerella n. sp. Crowded on the sterns of Gutierrexia gloim~rclla Greene the indivi- duals coalescing in large numbers, but not (in the material received) en- tirely surrounding the stems ; color very dark, with translucent shining orange-red rounded bosses, suggestive of guava jelly ; scales smooth and roundec, without (even when young) any distinct projection such as is seen in T. cornuia ; female when boiled and mounted colorless, about 3 mm. long ; the crimson pigment produced on boiling very abundant, making the liquid extremely dark ; caudal process yellowish-brown, only moderately chitinized, very broad basally, emitting no hairs from its apex ; dorsal excretory processes cylindrically slightly broadened to the base, colorless. Larva with antennae 6-jointed, joints 3 and 6 long (6 longest), the others short, 4 and 5 with a stout spine subapically, 6 with a similar but larger spine at about the beginning of its last third ; apex of 5 with two ex- tremely long hairs, nearly twice as long as the sixth joint. • Found on the mesa near Little Mountain, Mesilla Valley, Ne\v Mexico, Oct. 6, 1904, by Dr. David Griffiths. Commu- nicated by Professor E. O. Wooton. Larger and darker than T. cornuta, and without the protu- berance. Much darker and otherwise different from T. fi/l- gcns Ckll. ; without the stripes and lateral foot-like processes of T. fulvaradiata Ckll. The Guticrrc.ia is very abundant in the Mesilla Valley. — -i <»> i — PUI.YIXAIUA KICUS Hempel. — Thiscoccid was recorded from the \\Vst Indies by Maxwell-Lefroy, who gave measurements of the antenna- and legs. An examination of the data presented shows that the species was not P. ficns at all, but /'. inf>a)iia- Ckll. The true /'. Jicus is known only from Brazil. — T. D. A. COCKKKKU.. Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 53 The Spreading of Sphaeridium Scarabaeotdes L. BY FREDERICK KNAB. This beetle is not only spreading through the Eastern States, as shown by Mr. C. O. Houghton, in the last volume of ENT. NEWS, p. 310, but also to the westward. Upon a recent visit to Chicago I was suprised to see a fine series of this insect among the local captures in the collection of Mr. A. B. \Vol- cott. Although Mr. Wolcotthascollectedindustriouslyabout Chicago for a number of years, he had never seen this species until he met it on October 9, 1904. Upon that date he captured 23 specimens and could have taken many more. The speci- mens were all found on the lake-shore embankment in the northern part of the city where they doubtless crawled after being washed ashore. They were very active and would readily take flight after running a distance of one or two inches. Mr. Wolcott also captured a single specimen on November 2. 1904, so that it would seem that the species is established about Chicago, though evidently a very recent arrival. The above specimens show considerable variation in the color-markings of the elytra, and also in size, the specimens measuring from 4.5- 7 mm. It is an interesting feature in the spread of the species in the East that it seems to have invaded the Connecticut River valley from the southward. The writer took a single specimen near Mount Tom, Mass., in the summer of 1902. and the fol- lowing season encountered it at various points in Hamden County, Mass., while the Rev. C. Crozet had already found the species plentiful about Hartford, Conn., in 1901. 1 should be obliged to you if you would call attention in Notes and News to the fact that I shall be glad to examine and name any Crvptocc- rate Heiniptera sent to me, except Corixas. I am working on these groups for the North American fauna, and find it extremely difficult to get material. There is so very little known about them that even our accepted text books contain glaring errors. I should be glad to answer any queries regarding these insects. I see that my friend, Mr. G. W. Kirkaldy, implies that I might give you some information regarding the method of " oaring " in water bugs. Quoting offhand from casual observation, I would say that /!t-/os/onm. Cori.va and Xolonecta move the hind legs together. Ranatni I have observed several times, and that curious insect paddles through the water in a very curious way. It uses the second and third pairs of legs, which it moves alternately, first one pair and then the ether. It is a vei \ slow and awkward swimmer. — J. R. in-: LA TOKKI I'n MI, _>s I'.road St., N Y ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [The Conductors of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS solicit and will thankfully receive items of news likely to interest its readers from any source. The author's name will be given in each case, for the information of cataloguers and bibliographers.] To Contributors. — All contributions will be considered and passed upon at oui earliest convenience,. and, as far as may be, will be published according to date of recep- tion. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS has reached a circulation, both in numbers and circumfer- ence, as to make it necessary to put " copy " into the hands of the printer, for each num- ber, three weeks before date of issue. This should be remembered in sending special or important matter for a certain issue. Twenty-five "extras," without change in form, will be given free, when they are wanted ; and this should be so stated on the MS., along with the number desired. The receipt of all papers will be acknowledged. — ED. PHILADELPHIA, PA., FEBRUARY, 1905. If in the evolution of species there had been no breaks or gaps it would be impossible to differentiate species, and even now complete series would make it very difficult to draw lines and separations. Our tools, so to speak, for the identification of species may be divided into figures, word descriptions and types. Some very distinguished entomologists believed in the former two tools only, as they did not care to go beyond the failure or the possibilities of the tools. A carpenter may say feet and inches are fine but millimeters are of doubtful value and micromillimeters perfectly idiotic. . We can sympathize with that carpenter as micromillimeters are of no value to him. Figures and more particularly words may appear equally idiotic to some entomologists because they are inadequate to describe or differentiate some of the minute differences in in- sects. In other words, in some instances the study has gone beyond the standards of measurement. When we are stranded in this way recourse must be had to types, and that is why types are becoming more and more worshipped every day. Would it not be infinitely better to wait until the tools or standards of measurement become delicate enough to measure all differences and not let the mi hi itch run away with our •sound judgment? To make the thing clearer and perhaps to illustrate and ex- aggerate a tendency we cite the following : The celebrated mammologist, Dr. Coyote, discovers a peculiar beetle among 54 Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 55 some skins and is very curious to know the species and asks an entomological friend what it is. Mr. dear Dr. Coyote the genus to which that species belongs was monographed by Dr. L/ectularius, his types are in the Royal Museum at Khartoum, and it is simply impossible to identify that species from either his figures or descriptions ; you must personally examine his types. Dr. Coyote lived in New York and his father was the owner of the Metropolitan Traction Company. So the next day at 8 A. M. he started for the State of Kordofan. For the past two years I have noticed that the larvae of one of our Geometrid moths, Zerene (Cingilia] catenaria was doing considerable damage to some of our small shrubs and bushes in certain localities. On August 15, 1903, in one place within the city limits I saw quite a large area where there was scarcely anything but bayberry bushes, that had the appearance of having been swept by a fire, the leaves having been com- pletely eaten leaving nothing but the thick ribs, which had turned brown. At this time the larvae were beginning to pupate, many having already done so. On July 22, 1904, in another locality, some five miles away. I found these larvae in great abundance, being about half or two thirds grown. They had stripped many bushes and shrubs of their leaves ; in this place their food was more varied ; I noticed them on bayberry, sweet fern, low blueberry, young white birch trees, and on a few young oaks. About the same time I noticed them in still another locality about mid- way between the two last ; here also they were feeding on bayberry, sweet fern and to some extent on young white birch trees, and had stripped many of them. — JAMES E. BILLSON, Providence, R. I. Doings of Societies. A meeting of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia was held December 22, 1905. In the absence of the Director, Dr. Castle presided. Fourteen persons were present. The following were elected officers to serve for the year 1905 : Director, Philip Laurent : Vice- Director, H. W. Wenzel ; Treasurer, E. T. Cresson ; Recorder, Henry Skinner; Secretary, Frank Haimbach ; Con- servator, Henry Skinner ; Publication Committee, C. \V. Johnson, J. H. Ridings. HKN K v S K i N N K K , / ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 A joint meeting of the Association of Economic Entomolo- gists, the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the American Entomological Society and the Feldman Collecting Social was held in the Entomologi- cal rooms of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia on December 29, 1904. Dr. Philip P. Calvert was elected Chairman of the meeting and Dr. Henry Skinner acted as Secretary. Among those present were : Levi W. Mengel, Pennsylvania. J. H. Matthews, Pennsylvania. J.'A. G. Rehn, Pennsylvania. E. M. Walker, Ontario. J. G. Saunders, D. C. H. L. Viereck, Pennsylvania. F. C. Bishopp, D. C. C. S. Mead, Ohio. H. A. Surface, Pennsylvania. J. F. McClendon, Pennsylvania. C. P. Gillette, Colorado. James Fletcher, Ontario. L. O. Howard, D. C. C. O. Houghton, Delaware W. S. Huntington, Pennsylvania. M. V. Slingerland, New York. E. L. Dickerson, New Jersey. Henry C. MrCook, Pennsylvania. E. P. Felt, New York. T. H. Schmitz, Pennsylvania. D. M. Castle, Pennsylvania. H. E. Summers, Iowa G. M. Bentley, North Carolina. Frank Benton, D. C. Umekichi Nawa, Japan. H. A. Snydei, Pennsylvania. Frank Haimbach, Pennsylvania. H. W. Wenzel, Pennsylvania. F. Weigand, Pennsylvania. C. T. Greene, Pennsylvania. H. N. Poole, Pennsylvania. G. M. Greene, Pennsylvania. H. A. Wenzel, Pennsylvania. J. F. Strauss, D. C. A. A. Girault, D. C. L. Martin, D. C. J. B. Smith, New Jersey. J. J. Repp, Pennsylvania. E. S. G. Titus, D. C. W. A. Riley, New York. A. F. Satterthwait, Pennsylvania. Herbert Osborn, Ohio. W. D. Hunter, Texas. W. M. Scott, D. C. G. W. Martin, Tenn. F. D. Sanderson, New Hampshire. F. W. Rane, New Hampshire. E. Daecke, Pennsylvania. C. W. Fenninger, Pennsylvania. J. C. Bradley, New York. A. F. Burgess, Ohio. A. L. Ouaintance, D. C. H T. Fernald, Massachusetts. W. E. Britton, Connecticut. F. L. Washburn, Minnesota. C. E. Chambliss, South Carolina. Henry Skinner, Pennsylvania. P. P. Calvert, Pennsylvania. W. J. Coxey, New Jersey. Dr. Calvert gave an account of his method of work in the differentiation of the species and genera of Odonata for the Biologia Centrali- Americana. Dr. Skinner spoke of the classification of the based on the costal ?f old. Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 57 Prof. J. B. Smith discussed the value of characters used in classification and specially referred to his work on the genitalia of Lachiwstcrua. Dr. L,. O. Howard complimented Dr. Calvert on his work and referred to the value of larval characters. He also men- tioned the utility of genitalic characters in elucidating other smaller differences. Prof. Ouaintance talked of his studies in the Aleyrodidse, and said the classification of the family was based on larval characters. Dr. Felt alluded to his recent work on mosquitoes and said exact illustration by the aid of photo-micrographs was of very great importance. Prof. E.D. Sanderson said he had used a method similar to that of Dr. Calvert and found it very useful in the study of plant lice. Dr. Henry C. McCook spoke eloquently of the great value of entomological studies and contrasted the early days with present universal recognition of the value of such studies. Prof. H. E. Summers gave an account of a method of mathe- matical differentiation of species, trying to elucidate by a single character the expression of the others. Mr. H. L,. Viereck gave a resume of his studies in Andrenidse. Mr. Rehn gave an address on the extralimital species of Orthoptera. Mr. E. M. Walker commented on Mr. Rehn's communication and spoke of the Canadian species. Dr. James Fletcher spoke lovingly of Canada and referred to his studies of rare Canadian butterflies, such as Ar^. as/at'/i', Chion. alberta and Erebia "ddlcri. Prof. Ouaintance said he wished to thank the Philadelphia Entomological Societies in behalf of the visiting entomologists for their hospitality and the good time shown them. Dr. Calvert made some remarks on the value of organizing a National Entomological Society. After discussion, Mr. Bradley moved that a committee of three be appointed by the Chair to consider the matter. The committee appointed con- sisted of E. I). Sanderson, H. T. Fernald and J. C. Bradley. After the meeting some time was spent in social intercom st- over the refreshments provided by the local committee. HENRY SKINNKK, Sn- 58 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 A meeting of the Entomological Club of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was held in the rooms of the American Entomolgical Society, in the building of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, on Friday evening, December 30, 1904. The following were present : F. Benton, F. C. Bishopp, J. C. Bradley, D. M. Castle, C. E. Chambliss, M. T. Cook, E. Daecke, C. W. Fenninger, H. T. Fernald, W. J. Fox, C. P. Gillette, F. Haimbach, W. D. Hunter, L,. Martin, A. D. MacGillivray, J. H. McGregor, U. Nawa, J. L. Phillips, A. L,. Quaintance, J. A. G. Rehn, W. A. Riley, E. D. Sanderson, W. M. Scott, H. Skinner, R. M. Strong, H. E. Summers, E. S. G. Titus, H. L. Viereck, F. L. Washburn, H. A. Wenzel, H. W. Wenzel. In calling the meeting to order the President, Dr. Henry Skinner, spoke of the meeting of the Entomological Club held twenty years before in the Hotel Lafayette, in Philadelphia. In the absence of the Secretary, Mr. E. Y. AVilcox, Mr. J. C. Bradley was elected to take his place. Mr. H. A. Morgan was then elected President, and Mr. G. W. Herrick Secretary for the New Orleans meeting in 1905. Dr. Skinner was elected per- manent Secretary, whose duty it should be to notify officers of their election and see that the business of the club is attended to. At a joint meeting of the Association of Economic Ento- mologists and the American Entomological Societj^ the pre- vious evening, a committee had been appointed to report at this meeting on the advisability and means of establishing a national association of entomologists. The following report from this committee was read : Report of the Committee on a National Association of Entomologists. Your committee believes that there is room in America for • an association of entomologists wherein all divisions and all branches of entomology shall be represented ; an association which shall bring together all aspects of the science and throw its influence in favor of harmony and uniformity of practice. Such an association will be a success, however, only if it is estab- lished on a broad basis, and with a membership which shall be truly American rather than sectional. Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 59 Your committee therefore recommends the selection by this meeting of a committee of three, not members of any of the societies named below, whose duties shall be : 1. To communicate with the American Entomological Society, the New York Entomological Society, the Entomolo- gical Society of Washington, the Cambridge Entomological Club, the Entomological Society of Ontario, and the Pacific Coast Entomological Society, requesting each to select some member to represent his society on this committee. 2. As soon as four of these socities shall have elected mem- bers of the committee, the entire committee shall prepare a constitution and by-laws and plan of work for a proposed American Society of Entomologists, and report them at such time and place during 1905 as shall seem to them most likely to find the greatest number of entomologists assembled. Notice of this meeting to be first published in ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS and the Canadian Entomologist. 3. This committee shall also arrange a program of discus- sion on some entomological topic for the proposed meeting. (Signed) J. CHESTER BRADLEY, H. T. FERNALD, E. D. SANDERSON. The President and Messrs. Summers and Titus spoke their appreciation of this movement. On motion the report was adopted, and the chair instructed to appoint a committee, which was done as follows : John B. Smith, C. P. Gillette and J. G. Needham. The President spoke of the history of American entomology, especially of Thomas Say. The " Father of American Ento- mology " had lived under peculiar conditions ; it was recorded that at times he had slept under specimens in the museum and lived on eight cents per day. The speaker exhibited a book which had belonged to Say and was presented to the American Entomological Society by his wife, Lucy W. Say. In this book was the imprint of a butterfly's wing which had been made by transferring the scales on to a pasted surface. The only extant type of any of Say's species was shown. The Academy of 60 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 Natural Sciences in Philadelphia had been censured for the loss of Say's types, but in justice to the Academy it was explained that at that time there was no entomologist in Phila- delphia, and the Academy had sent the collection to T. W. Harris to be cared for, and while in his hands it was destroyed. A set of several albums belonging to the American Ento- mological Society was shown, which contained photographs of very many of the older as well as contemporary entomologists. All were invited to contribute photographs who had not already done so. Mr. Rehn exhibited some old and rare books from the library of the American Entomological Society and that of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Mr. Cook stated that the Gundlach collection of insects was in excellent state of preservation in Havana, Cuba. Mr. Cresson and others in Philadelphia had at one time worked on this collection ; twenty-three years ago it had been put in her- metically sealed boxes, only a few of which had become broken. There were over 2000 species. The speaker had the proof of a catalogue of the Coleoptera which had never been finally pub- lished. Mr. Fox stated that many of Cressou's species were in Poey's collection. Mr. Cook said that that collection was in the University of Havana where were also Poey's fishes. In speaking of the Comstock-Needham system of wing venation, Dr. MacGillivray stated that Prof. Comstock had been successful in homologising the wing veins in most of the different orders of insects. From the study of iVanoura he had derived a hypothetical primitive type of venation, which had closeh' corresponded with wings observed later. He showed by diagrams the definite way specialization by reduc- tion had taken place, as illustrated by the Radius. In the case of saw-flies the radial sector arises from the base of the stigma while in the higher Hymenoptera it appears to arise from near the apex ; but he had recently proven that in reality the base of the radial sector has been lost in all higher Hymen- optera, and the radial cross-vein has assumed its function. Mr. Daecke inquired how this system applied to such orders as Odonata, where the veins were very numerous. Dr. Mac- Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 6 1 Gillivray replied that in that case there had been another type of specialization, by addition, the definite methods of which were just as clearly demonstrable. Dr. Riley said that he had taken up the study of the system with a strong prejudice against it ; but as he studied it he had become filled with enthusiasm. He mentioned the successful work that had been done in applying the system to different orders, — by Prof. Coin- stock in Lepidoptera, by Dr. Johannsen in Chironomidse, by Dr. Needham in Odonata, by Dr. MacGillivray in Hymenop- tera, — and said that their work showed that there was a solid ground work of truth, although details had yet to be worked out in different groups. Dr. MacGillivray stated that Prof. Comstock had derived a classification of the Lepidoptera from their wing venation, which had been corroborated by Mr. Bodine from a study of the scales, Mr. Kellogg from the antennae and very closely by Dr. Dyar from a study of the tubercles of the larvee. Dr. Fernald complained of the inaccuracy and vagueness of the terms used in the question of mimicry. He placed on the board a tentative table classifying those phenomena. A simi- lar table was placed on the board by Mr. Summers. The sub- ject was discussed at length by Messrs. Skinner, Gillette, Bradley, Fox, Riley, Fernald, Summers, Rehn and Mac- Gillivray. Mr. Washburn spoke upon the attractions of Minnesota for the entomologist. It was ordered that the minutes be published in both the Canadian Entomologist and the ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. The Club then adjourned. J. CHESTER BRADLEY, Secretary pro At the meeting of the Feldman Collecting Social held Decem- ber 21, 1904, at the residence of Mr. H. \Y. \Venzel, 1523 S. Thirteenth St., Philadelphia, ten persons were present. Prof. Smith spoke of his work in connection with a glossary of entomological terms, and stated that the terms will be more than doubled as compared with the list issued by the Brooklyn Entomological Society some years ago, and will number at 62 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 least 5000. He referred to a recent work on insect variation and doubted the value of counting the spots and shape of maculation in 1000 specimens of one variable species. It simply indicated an indefinite variation which students already are aware of. Discussed by Messrs. Castle, Harbeck and Wenzel, who spoke of the variation of Cryptocephalus maculation. Prof. Smith remarked that in some seasons certain insects are more constant than usual, and that variations are very local. Mr. Wenzel referred to variation in Pterostichus , which bears out Prof. Smith's remarks as to local variation. He also showed a piece of wood from southern Arizona which was perforated by insects. A specimen of Zygops seminiveus was found inside. The incompleteness of analytical tables of species by Le Conte was referred to by Messrs. Wenzel and Smith. To use these tables properly it is necessary to have an almost complete collection of the genus in question, owing to the indefiniteness of most comparisons. Mr. Harbeck recorded the capture of Chlorops pidvera from Fern Rock, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1904, and Leskia thecatazk Clementon, N. J., September 5, 1904, both new to this region. Mr. Laurent exhibited a butterfly showing effects of cyanide on the yellow coloring. He had examined the abdomens of 10 specimens of Prionus laticollis and found that they contained an average of 383^ eggs. Mr. Daecke showed a beetle, Silvaniis snrinamensis, which was found commonly in barrels of currants imported from Greece. WM. J. Fox, Secretary. A meeting of the American Entomological Society was held December 22, 1904. Dr. Philip P. Calvert, President, in the chair. Fourteen persons were present. The following were elected to serve as officers for the year 1905 : President, P. P. Calvert ; Vice-President, H. W. Wenzel ; Treasurer, E. T. Cresson ; Recording Secretary, Henry Skinner ; Correspond- Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 63 ing Secretary, Frank Haimbach ; Curator, Henry Skinner ; Librarian, J. C. Bradley ; Publication Committee, E. T. Cres- son, C. Few Seiss, B. H. Smith ; Executive Committee, Philip Laurent, H. W. Wenzel, Frank Haimbach ; Finance Committee, J. W. McAllister, C. S. Welles, D. M. Castle. HENRY SKINNER, Secretary. A meeting of the Entomological Section of the Chicago Academy of Sciences was held November iyth, at the John Crerar Library, nine persons present. Dr. C. F. Adams, of the University of Chicago, took the floor, his subject being 'American Dipterology." His talk was of a historical nature, naming the epochs through which the study of American Diptera had passed, its principal de- votees and collections, and partly describing the work being done by present students. Thomas Say, the so-called father of American Entomology, was the first American to write of the Diptera, but nothing of great magnitude or importance was accomplished until Osten- Sacken and Loew, both Europeans, entered the field. Their work extended over many years, and has proved invaluable to later students. Walker, of the British Museum, described a large number of species, but his descriptions were poor and many of the species proved to be synonymous with others pre- viously described. The first real American Dipterist, as Dr. Adams put it, to enter this field of research was Prof. S. W. Williston in 1879. He described three new species in 1880, and published a monograph of the Syrphidae in 1886. This was the first publication by an American Dipterist of a revi- sional character and gave new impetus to the study. The first edition of Prof. Williston's " Manual of North American Dip- tera," appeared in 1888, the latest revised edition, in 1896. Since then Prof. Williston has devoted most of his time and attention to tropical Diptera, and his latest work appears in the " Biologia Centrali Americana." Present workers mentioned by Dr. Adams include : Mr. D. W. Coquillet, of the National Museum, an earnest student and prolific writer. 64 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '05 Prof. W. M. Wheeler of the American Museum, N. Y., who has done considerable work in the Dolichopodidae and Empididse. Mr. C. W. Johnson, of the Boston Society of Natural His- tory, who is interested particularly in the Stratiomyidae and Leptidse. Dr. J. B. Smith, whose work among the mosquitoes is well known. Prof. J. S. Hine, of the University of Ohio, interested prin- cipally in the Tabanidae. Prof. Aldrich, of the University of Idaho, interested in the Dolichopodidae and working on a catalog of North American Diptera. Mr. A. L,. Melander, of the Experiment Station, State of Washington, Empididse. Mr. C. T. Brues, of the American Museum, N. Y., Phoridae. Dr. O. A. Johannsen of Cornell University, Nematocera. Dr. Adams considers the collections of the United States National Museum, the University of Chicago, Harvard Uni- versity, and the University of Kansas as the best in the United States. The collection of the University of Chicago consists principally of the former Dr. Hough Collection, and is rich in Muscidae. The material on Anthomyidse is very good, having been revised by Stein, a European authority, and returned and includes numerous types. This collection is also rich in Micro- Diptera. In Chicago literature on the Diptera is very complete, as almost every book or periodical on the subject can be found at either the University of Chicago, the John Crerar Library, or in Professor Williston's private library. Dr. Adams was heartily applauded at the close of his dis- course. He was followed by Prof. Williston who added a few words, mentioning Edward Burgess, an American, who wrote on Diptera in 1878 or 1879, before Prof. Williston did and wThose collection is now in the National Museum. Prof. Wil- liston also stated that the National Museum contained over 100 types of Stegiomyia, and he considered it by far the most complete collection of American Diptera. A. KwiAT, Recorder. FOR SALE CHEAP for cash— collection of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Hemiptera. 5000 species, 25,000 specimens contained in 250 Schmitt and other boxes. All in first-class condition. Determinations by best Amer. and Europ. specialists WM. A. NASON, ALGONQUIN, ILLINOIS. HARPALUS and BRACHYNUS. Wanted North American examples of Harpalus and Brachynus (except 1083 and 1087 Henshaw). F. C. BOWDITCH, 164 Rawson Rd., Brookline, Norfolk Co., Mass. BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS WORTH $1.000 My beautiful collection of Lepidoptera representing seven years of patient collecting and purchases in the U. S. and foreign lands offered for $275 CASH. SUITABLE FOR MUSEUM, SCHOOL OR PRIVATE EXHIBITION 956 U. S. diurnals, many rare forms of which 752 are classified after Smith's check list ; 1080 nocturnals, all orders, many rare and unamed ; 464 Lepidop- tera from India, Africa, South America, Australia, very fine ; 700 in papers, U. S. and foreign, to be mounted. Total, 3200. For full information, address HENRY W. EUSTIS N. W. CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. BRITISH mm LEP1PTERH FOR SflLE. Noctuidae in 25 lots, 2 of kind, from following genera \-Xylina, Xvlomiges, T&niocampa, Stretchia, Litholomia. and Scope losoma. £2 50; Geometers. 60-30 kinds, $3.00; Micros, 100-20 kinds, $2.00, all postpaid. The lot, $6.00. THEO. BRYANT, Wellington, B. C., Canada. BREHME COMBINATION INSECT BOXES. Similar to the Schmitt box: 9x13 in. plain edge, 85 cts. ; 8X x 13, protruding edge, 90 cts. Orders filled promptly. Any size or style box made to order. Cabinets made to order of any design. H. H. BREHME, 583 18th AVENUE, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. When Writing Please Mention «• Kiitoiunloi;ical New*." AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL COMPANY 1040 DE KALB AVE., BROOKLYN, NEW YORK PRICE LIST No. 6 READY FOR DISTRIBUTION DECEMBER 1, 1904 Classification of N. Am. Lepidoptera according to Smith's List, 1904. Price List of Coleoptera, No. 2. of N. Am. species. Complete and New Catalogue of Entomological Supplies. Many new features and illustrations added. List of School Supplies: — Collections, Biological Material, Mimicry, Color Protection, Dimorphism, Polymorphism, etc. MANUFACTURERS OF THE ONLY GENUINE SCHMITT INSECT BOXES. Builders of Cabinets and Exhibition Cases. Manufacturers of the New Improved Metal Cases for Schmitt Boxes. Manufacturers of the American Entomological Go's Insect Pins. Elbow Pins are added to our line. PRICE OF LIST 1O CTS. To our patrons List will be forwarded when issued. All previous Lists cancelled. THE KNY SCHEERER CO. DEPARTMERT OF NATURAL SCIENCE. G. LAGAI, Ph.D., 225-233 Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y. PARIS EXPOSITION: gfHQlL PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION : Eight Awards and Medals ^i^K/W^S^ Gold Medal ST. LOUIS EXPOSITION : Grand Prize and Gold Medal ENTOMOLOGICAL SUPPLIES AND SPECIMENS North American and exotic insects of all orders in perfect condition. Single specimens and collections illustrating mimicry, protective coloration, dimorphism, collections of representatives of the different orders of insects, etc. Series of specimens illustrating insect life, color variation, etc. Metamorphoses of insects. We manufacture all kinds of insect boxes and cases (Schmitt insect boxes, Lepidoptera boxes, etc.), cabinets, nets, insects pins, forceps, etc.. Riker specimen mounts at reduced prices. Catalogues and special circulars free on application. Rare insects bought and sold. When Writing Please Mention "Entomological News." P. C SrOCKHHUSFN. PRINTER SB N T TH ST. PHILADELPHIA MARCH, ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS Vol. XVI. No. 3 Cryptohalictoides spiniferus Vie^eck. EDITOR : HENRY SKINNER, M. D. PHILIP P. CALVERT, Ph.D., Associate Editor. ADVISORY COMMITTEE: EZRA T. CRKSSON. HENRY L. VIERECK. J. A. G. REHN. PHILIP LAURENT. WILLIAM J. FOX. CHARLES W. JOHNSON. PHILADELPHIA: ENTOMOLOGICAL ROOMS OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, LOGAN SQUARE. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as Second-Clasi Matter. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS Published monthly, excepting July and August, in charge of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and the American Entomological Society. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $1.OO IN ADVANCE. Outside of the United States and Canada, $1.20. Advertising Rates: 30 cents per square inch, single insertion ; a liberal discount on longer insertions. No advertisement taken for less than 60 cents — Cash in advance. All remittances should be addressed to ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS, Academy of Natural Sciences, 19th and Race Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA. ERNEST SW1NHOE, Cat. No. 14 for 1905 free. 37 Addison Gardens, London W , England The only dealers' list giving authors' name throughout. As the various species are arranged under their generic names, this list affords an excellent reference for museums and collectors. Explanatory catalogue with over 300 descriptions and many interesting notes, 12 cents. Fine series, illustrating "Mimicry" and "Seasonal Dimorphism," loo named specimens, ist qual., ex. Assam., 40 different species in papers, includ- ing P. bootes, gyas, etc., mailed free on receipt of Post Office Order, $4.00. NORTH AMERICAN LEPIDOPTERA Wanted in exchange for others. Have hundreds of specimens to exchange. Send lists to JOS. H. READING 775 N. Rockwell Streets, Chicago, Illinois. A FEW COPIES LEFT OF HEN5HAWS LIST OF COLEOPTERA of America, North of Mexico, published in 1885, and Supplement to same, including all additions and correc- tions up to end of 1894. Price Of List (slightly soiled on outside) 50 cents. " Supplement 50 cents. Mailed on receipt of price. Address E T. CRESSON, Treasurer, American Entomological Society, P. O. Box 248, Philadelphia, Pa. When Writing Please Mention " Kiitomological News." ENT NEWS, VOL. XVI. ALEYRODES ACTE/E BRITTON. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. VOL. XVI. MARCH, 1905. No. 3. CONTENTS: Britton— Some New or Little Known Aleyrodidae from Connecticut — I.. 64 Slosson — Just One Log 67 Fall — Notes on some Californian Bu- prestidse 71 Cockerell— Three new bees from the Southwest 81 de la Torre Bueno — Notes on Mixogas- ter breviventris Kahl 83 Grundel — Life History of Lemonias Uhler — Recognition of two N. Ameri- virgulti ............................ 86 can species of Cicada Latr ......... 74 j Editorial .............................. 87 Franklin— A new species of Entomo- brya ............................... 77 Felt — Culex brittoni n. sp .............. 79 Pilate — Note on the finding of Ptinus fur and brunneus ................ 80 Notes and News 88 Entomological Literature 89 Doings of Societies 90 Obituary : W. N. Tallant 96 Some New or Little known Aleyrodidae from Connecticut. I. BY W. E. BRITTON, Ph. D., State Entomologist of Conn. (Plate IV.) Aleyrodes acteae sp. nov. Egg. — Unknown. Larva. — Early stages not found. Specimen examined was about 0.99 mm. by 0.66 mm. Shape oval like pupa case. Color uniform light yel- lowish green, medio-dorsal region not clouded. Yasiform orifice brownish or slightly darker than the other portion. Segmentation apparent with a median crest on each segment. Surface more or less wrinkled, with no wax rods or papillae. Larva thin and flat though slightly convex. Pupa case.— Size about 1.5 mm. by i mm. Broadly oval in shape, pale yellow or greenish white near the margin with a medio-longituclinal area of dark brown. Dorsum, especially the dark portion, highly con- vex, most abrupt at cephalic extremity ; marked transversely with rather deep furrows corresponding to the adult segmentation. Each segment has a median crest which is darker in color than the surrounding por- tion. Marginal area radially corrugated or wrinkled. Margin finely crenulate. A pair of setse 43// long at anal extremity, with a second pair 30/7. long situated at a distance from therfirst pair nearly twice as great as the distance between the first pair. Entire dorsal surface shiny, and wholly destitute of papillae, wax rods or secretion of any kind. A low 65 66 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 wall of wax on the underside, just inside of the margin connects it to the leaf, and remains upon the leaf as an oval ring of wax after the pupa case has disappeared. Vasiform orifice subtriangular, about 8o/j> long and nearly as broad as long, with angles rounded and sides bulging. Operculum rhomboid-ovate, half the length of orifice, two-thirds as long as broad, base nearly a straight line, sides bulging, apex concavely trun- cate. Lingula spatulate with a pair of prominent spines or setse 40^ long, one each side of distal extremity, which is not lobed but obtusely pointed or rounded. A transverse fold or carina reaches entirely across the broadest portion. Free end is densely papillose with short hairs. Aduli. — Wings white, with a two-lobed dusky spot more or less dif- fused and irregular at the extremity of median vein ; the vein is dark grey or black through this area which appears equal on the upper and under sides of front and rear wings. Legs and antennae yellow. Two rows of prominent spines on the front or under side of hind tibiae, the length of the spines being about equal to the thickness of the tibia. Eyes divided by wax secretion. Entire insect more or less covered with a mealy or granular secretion of wax. Abdomen bears two latero-ven- tral tufts of white wax. Female. — With the charactersjust mentioned. Length about 1.4 mm. ; forewing about 1.63 mm. by 0.88 mm. ; hind tibia 0.56 mm. ; thorax dark on dorsal and ventral surfaces ; abdomen with a suffused dusky spot on dorsum at base ; a large brown spot at anal extremity on dorsum, and a small brown oval spot just in front of the large one ; and a pair of small dark spots on ventral surface near anal extremity. Male. — Length about 1.3 mm. ; forewing about 1.52 mm. by o.yomm. ; hind tibia 0.48 mm. ; hind tarsus 0.27 mm. ; antennas about 0.41 mm. Spots on wings are less distinct than in 9- Thorax dark above, yellow beneath. Abdomen yellow without prominent markings, more slender than in $ and terminating in the genitalia. Latero-ventral wax tufts smaller than in $. The characters of this insect are shown on the accompanying plate. Types. — No. 8253 U. S. National Museum. Cotypes. — Collection of Connecticut Agricultural Experi- ment Station, New Haven, Conn. Described from 12 9,2 £ and hundreds of pupa cases. Habitat. — Found on the leaves of a single plant of bane- berry (Actcea) at Mount Carmel, Connecticut, September 24, 1904. Several other baneberry plants growing in the vicinity were examined but not found infested. Collected by Mrs. W. E. Britton. A striking and handsome species, not resembling any other March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 67 that I have seen in the Northern States. It occurs on the under sides of the leaves, seventy-five or eighty larvae, pupae and pupa cases being found upon a single lobe of the com- pound leaf. Named from the genus of plants upon which it was found. From a comparison of the descriptions, actece appears to be allied to aureocincta Ckll. and aninicola Bemis, but I have not examined material of those species. It differs from the former in the markings of the adult, and in the shape of the oper- culum ; it does not have the prong-shaped black markings on the pupa case like amnicola. It is also somewhat larger than either of these species. I am indebted to Prof. A. L. Quaiutance of the Bureau of Entomology, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., for examining the specimens and manuscript, and to my assistant, Mr. B. H. Walden, for making the photographs (5 and 6) shown on plate. DESCRIPTION OF PLATE. 1. Pupa case x 30. 2. Vasiform orifice x 325. 3. Margin of pupa case x 400. 4. Forewing x 46, 5. Larvae and pupa? on leaf, photographed from dried specimens x 4. 6. Adults, from photograph x 4. Just One Log. BY ANNIE TRUMBULL SLOSSOM. It was a very big log, some twelve feet in length and two feet in diameter. It was of gumbo-limbo wood — Burseragum- m if era — and had evidently been lying where I found it for many months, for the underside w^as deeply imbedded in the powdered disintegrated coral — or coral-like rock — found along Biscay ne Bay. Every new comer notices the gumbo-limbo on his arrival in southern Florida. Its bark is of a deep brownish red, or mahogany color, and the outermost layer, of very thin delicate tissue, flakes off and hangs in loose ragged strips, making the tree an odd and conspicuous object in the tropical hummock. 68 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 There was a new bridge built last year over the Miami River, more accessible than the old one and taking one directly into the rich hummock growth so delightful to a naturalist. Across this bridge I went almost daily through the winter and early spring, and one day, in a road or trail cleared through the woods, I found my log. What a treasure house it proved to an entomologist ! At first I feared it was too recently felled, the bark too fresh and hard to be easily examined. But presently I found at one end a loosened fragment of bark which, after some tugging and pulling, I succeeded in removing, and at once my efforts were rewarded. A half dozen specimens of the singular Brenthid, B. anchorage, were lying there in a sort of mass, apparently half torpid, though the weather was not cold to northern blood. On being stirred up they stretched their long awkward legs and strode away, though in no unseemly haste. This long-nosed, shining, slender fellow is very variable in size, fully as much so as the Cucujid, Catogenus rufus. I find specimens not only under bark but on flowers in the bright sunshine. Scores of Cossonus imprcssifrons mingled with the Brenthids and the Scolytid, Xyleborus piibescens, lay in characteristic galleries near by. On my knees in the warm white coral powder I gathered in my harvest till my cyanide bottles were well filled and the hour of luncheon approached. Of course I went logging again next day and many to-morrows found me hard at work. Num- ber and variety proved almost inexhaustible and the unex- pected was always happening. It was not easy work. The bark was very hard and tough. Blade after blade of my knives snapped as I tried to cut into it, and for weeks my hands were always blistered. Sitting or kneeling there for hours at a stretch I grew stiff and cramped, warm and weary, but I had a beautiful time ! A tiny Europs ran about in dozens, a little Sacium prettily marked and probably an uncle- scribed species was not uncommon and there were two or three species of Lccmophloeus ; L. tnodestus the most abundant. There were also many specimens of a Ditoma which I had collected in former seasons under the bark of various trees and March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 69 which I had supposed to be a color variety of D. j_-gnttata. Now I seemed to detect decided differences and have been since assured by good authorites that this is a distinct species, perhaps West Indian if not quite new. One clay I found that by digging away the white soil in which my log was embed- ded I could reach a portion of the underside of the wood where the bark was softer from partial decay. Here I dis- covered abundant insect life. There were scores of odd mag- got-like things which I knew must be Dipterous larvae. I carried some home to my room with plenty of the soft, moist, decomposed wood in which I found them, hoping to breed the imago and learn its identity. But they all dried up and died. However one morning in March the puzzle was apparently solved when I found several specimens of the tropical Strati- omyid, Cyp/ionu'a inarginata, crawling on the log, their wings scarcely dry. I do not know whether anything has been recorded concerning the habits or life history of this species, nor can I prove indisputably that the "maggots" of which I have spoken were the larvae of C. marginata, but I feel sure of it myself. In this same decayed wood were many small Staphylinicls, hundreds of the slender little Lispinus tencllus, and among them another seemingly allied species new to me. This proved to be, according to Mr. Frederick Blanchard, a Hypotelus, a genus not hitherto recognized, I think, in North America. Erichson described H. pu sill us from Brazil, which Mr. Blanchard considers very near the Florida species. Dr. Sharp says that the genus is found " under sappy bark." I sent some specimens of the Enrops to Mr. Blanchard who discovered among them one specimen of a Badridium sp., which I had overlooked, confusing it with the Europs. I found also among the specimens of Cossonns impressifrons a small black species of the same genus, COSSOHI/S, which appears to be undescribed, though it may possibly be West Indian. When cramped and aching from my uncomfortable position on the ground I often changed my posture and seating myself on the log rested in the sunshine. Then I sa\v many tilings I should have missed had I kept to my cortical collecting. A pretty little Pfiysalis or ground-cherry, of the nightshade- yo ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March '05 family, grew all about me. This proved to be the food-plant of a tropical Lcma, the confusa of Chevrolet, a pretty orange and black beetle, and I gathered many specimens. Deer flies— Chrysops flavida — buzzed about my head, shining golden-green Dolichopids alighted on the leaves near by, and one morning a gorgeous fly of metallic blue came to my very hand, allowing me to capture it and learn that it was Microdon scitulus Will. Even Lepidoptera sought out my log, rare species too. One hot noon as I sat resting there before starting homeward I saw an oddly shaped object of silvery white, touched with black, on the smooth red bark at my side. Bending to examine it I found it was a small moth with folded wings and placed a cyanide bottle — quickly emptied for the purpose — over it. It was a fine fresh specimen of Mieza igninix, the pretty moth of Yponomeutidse, whose curious larva I was so fortunate as to discover at Punta Gorda years ago (jour. N. Y. Ent. Soc. , Vol. IV, p. 86.) A small tree, the red bay — Persea catesby- ana— grew just within reach of my hand as I sat there and one day I pulled some of the aromatic leaves to rub between my fingers while I sniffed the spicy odor. As I did so a larva dropped into my lap, an odd looking thing, with forward por- tion near the head swollen and enlarged. Searching I found several others and carried them home. They fed well, pupa- ted, and in early April became moths of the species ' Bronchelia horfaria, a handsome Geometer. Hymeuoptera also, Hemiptera, Odonata, Orthoptera all, at one time or another, visited me at my log cabin and met with a warm soothing welcome there. That singular little Gryllid or cricket, Mogosiplistus slossoncz, ran swiftly away as I lifted the bark under which it lay hid, spiders crawled off from dark corners, hundreds of mites crowded thickly together there, and ants of two or three species seemed to have their abode in wood or bark. Among the mites were some small roundish black creatures which I at first took to be also Acarina. But on examination they proved to be beetles, and Mr. Blanchard identified them as Acritus atomus L/ec. , a Cuban species, not previously recog- nized in our fauna. March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 71 Do you wonder that day after day of the winter and early spring found me at this happy hunting ground and that when I am remembering the busy hours in far off Miami and wish- ing, now it is too late, that I had kept a fuller record of my field work there, a journal, a calender, a daily diary, I satisfy my New England conscience by saying to myself in nautical phrase, " Well, at any rate, I kept a log." Notes on some Californian Buprestidae. BY H. C. FALL. • One of the rarest and finest of the Californian Buprestides is the beautiful green Dysta.\ia murrayi. This species is rather widely dispersed in the southern part of the State, occuring on live oaks both on the desert and seaward sides of the mountains, but is not often taken by collectors. Imagine then the satisfaction of the writer when on a visit to Dr. F. E. Blaisdell of San Francisco, the Doctor in exhibiting his treasures opened a box containing a fine series of Dystaxias taken by himself at San Diego, from which he generously selected a set for my own collection. On placing the new specimens beside my single previous example I noticed that they were of a somewhat more brilliant green but made no further comparison at the time. Later 1113- attention was called by Dr. Fenyes to the fact that Blaisdell's species, of which he had just obtained specimens, did not agree with his supposed murrayi, and a very brief comparison sufficed to show that they were indeed unmistakably distinct, though superficially remarkably similar. On examining the series of Dystaxia at the National Mu- seum the past summer, the new species was found as I had anticipated, mixed with murrayi, and it is not unlikely that it stands thus in other collections. It may be briefly char- acterized by comparison with murrayi as follows : Dystaxia elegans n. sp. Very similar to murrayi in size, form, color and sculpture, but when compared more attentively the present species is seen to be slightly smaller on the average, the color a more brilliant j;iten, the elytra widest 72 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 more posteriorly, the fine, soft, erect, whitish pubescence of the upper sur- face a little longer and more evident. Antennae (cf ) fully attaining the middle of the elytra, pale at base, blackish and distinctly serrate from the fifth joint, the triangular joints strongly compressed, gradually in- creasing in width to the seventh or eighth, then decreasing in width to tip, the wider joints nearly as wide as long. In the female the antenna- are much shorter, not passing the humeral umbone, but the joints though narrower are proportioned nearly as in the male. In innrrayi the antennae are nearly filiform in both sexes, the outer joints (5-11) very feebly serrate, mutually equal in width and nearly three times as long as wide. There is the same sexual difference in length, and the outer joints are blackish as in elegans. In the 'Transactions," 1893, p. 137, Horn describes the genus Glyptoscelimorpha and takes the opportunity of present- ing the differential characters of the Schizopini to which the genus belongs. The three genera comprising the tribe are there separated as follows : Antennae slender, nearly filiform, scarcely at all serrate. Claws entire at tip, slightly thickened at base ; last joint of antennae nearly one-half shorter than the tenth . . . Glyptoscelimorpha. Claws cleft at tip, last joint of antennae very little shorter than the tenth. . Dystaxia. Antennae flattened, the joints 4-10 broader than long and distinctly ser- rate ; claws cleft at tip ; last joint of antennae oval, longer than the tenth. Schizopus. From the above table it would appear that a mistake had been made in referring elegans with its flattened serrate anten- nae to Dystaxia, and that it would more properly be placed in Schisopus. Murray i and elegans are, however, too nearly iden- tical in every feature of structure and facies, with this one ex- ception, to warrant their assignment to distinct genera. The table given by Horn must then be modified, and in so doing attention should be called to an extraordinary character, which somewhat curiously escaped both Le Conte and Horn. In Dystaxia and also in Glyptoscelimorpha the antennae are 12- jointed ; in Schisopus they are n-jointed, as indeed they are in every other known genus of the Biipresiida if we may de- pend upon Kerremans, who so describes them without naming any exceptions in his late work on the family in Wytsman's Genera Insectorum. These three genera may then be more properly characterized thus : March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 73 Antennae i2-jointed, attaining the middle of the elytra, at least in the male. Claws simple, last joint of antennae two-thirds as long as the eleventh. Glyptoscelimorpha. Claws cleft at tip ; last joint of antennas barely visibly shorter than the eleventh. ... ... Dystaxia. Antennae n-jointed, stouter, scarcely passing the hind angles of the pro- thorax in either sex ; last joint a little longer than the tenth ; claws cleft . Schizopus. The fourth and fifth joints of the antennae in Schizopus are both longer than wide in the only specimens at hand, and not wider than long as indicated by Horn. It is pertinent to say in passing that Kerremans in the work above cited has badly bungled the characters of this group, the antennal characters of Schizopus and Dvsta.via being inter- changed, while the antennae of Glyptoscelimopha are said to barely reach the middle of the pronotum. Such mistakes are especially unfortunate in a work of such (supposedly) high authority as that of the Belgian specialist. POLYCESTA. There can be no doubt that the Texan P. data, now recorded on our lists as a variety of californica, should be restored to specific standing. The former differs from the latter quite constantly in its more obviously concave front, finely carinate median thoracic impression, slightly less obtuse hind angles of the prothorax and the less densely more unequally punc- tate intercostal interspaces of the elytra. In addition to the above differences, which were given by Le Conte, the formation of the last ventral segment is conspicuously different, being angulate at tip in californica and lobed in data Our third species — tr/a^-r-differs somewhat from both the above in the sculpture of the upper surface as heretofore de- scribed, but a more important means of separation exists in the first ventral suture. Our species are separable as below : First ventral suture broadly rather strongly posteriorly arcuate ; protho- rax with a strong median and well defined lateral impressions ; elytra strongly costate. Apex of last ventral angulate at middle, the sides of the angle scarcely sinuate. californica. 74 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 Apex of last ventral produced in a nearly parallel-sided lobe which is obtusely rounded at tip elata. First ventral suture straight ; prothorax without well defined lateral im- pressions ; the alternate elytral intervals only slightly more elevated velasco. The form of the last ventral does not vary much in the sexes of calif arnica and elata, though the apical lobe is a little less prominent in the female of the latter species. In a male of velasco from Yuma, California, the last ventral is sinuate and subacuminate at apex ; while in a female from Texas it is angulate. I unfortunately have not both sexes from the same locality. In a female from Oak Creek Canon, Arizona, re- cently submitted by Prof. Snow, the last ventral is more acutely angulate and the elytral costse more pronounced. This is pos- sibly a distinct species, but more specimens of both sexes should be seen before passing judgment. It is not possible at this time to express any opinion as to the validity of P. cavata Lee. and P. obtnsa L/ec. The former, described from Alabama, has been placed as a synonym of data ; and the latter, de- scribed from Philadelphia, is referred to velasco. Recognition of two North American Species of Cicada Latr. BY P. R. UHLER. i. Cicada townsendii n. sp. An unusually robust form appearing to be closely related to C. monle- zuma Dist. Color of head and pronotum greenish (fading to pale tawny), marked with black ; the ground color of mesonotum and tergum brown- ish black, marked with reddish brown and greenish, the middle and sub- marginal curved lines being green and powdered with white bloom, as is also the surface beneath. Head stout, as wide as the front of pronotum, if the obliquely set eyes be included ; front tumidly prominent, black, having a pale line down the middle and a spot of the same color each side, superiorly, and a larger pale spot on the cheeks, sulcations of the cheeks obliquely and deeply grooved ; the rostrum extending behind the middle coxae, the eyes prominent. Pronotum greenish, or pale tawny when dried, the posterior border with a greenish band and the anterior margin more narrowly greenish, a large triangular black spot is on the middle back of the front margin, and on this a short greenish, longitudi- nal line runs back a little more than half the length, each side of the black March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 75 are two uneven pale spots, followed outwardly by larger spots between the dark sutures, and nearer the sides are two long curved pale lines ; the lateral margins are broadly curved, greenish, bluntly rounded on the anterior angles and almost rectangular on the basal angles, the posterior margin is strongly curved, the sutures mostly black. Mesonotum piceous black, sometimes tinged with rufous, the middle line pale greenish or tawny, sometimes obsolete, on each side of this are two short, pale curved lines, and still further outwards two longer pale curved lines, and the lateral border usually pale, all of these lines are commonly covered with whitish bloom ; flaps behind the crux broad luniform, pale greenish, covered with bloom. Wing-covers sometimes tinged with whitish, mod- erately ovately, but not acutely rounded at tip, costal vein flat, thick, pale green, or testaceous, veins from base to end of middle series pale green, apical series dark brown, the areoles mostly large and wide, the costal areole short and wide, widest abont one-fourth from the apex, terminating in an acute triangle, basal areole five-sided, longer than wide, com- paratively long, areoles of the discoidal series long and wide, placed very moderately oblique, slightly infuscated apieally, those of the apical series wide and not very long, mostly acutely triangular at base, the basal vein of the second areole strongly twice bent ; areoles of the wings long, not much curved, widening apieally, the second-vein forking widely towards the outer end. Underside of body greenish, tinged with piceous, or fulvous tinged with green. Exterior valves of the male white or pale greenish, sometimes dusky at base covering a little more than one-half the length of the venter, each valve obliquely narrowing on the inner border, and formed less obliquely on the outer border, overlapping a little at base. Margins of the abdominal segments pale brownish. Legs green or pale brownish, piceous at tip of tarsi, including the nails. Length to tip of abdomen 27-30 mm. Width of base of pronotum 13-14 mm. Expanse of spread wings 98-100 mm. Seven specimens, three of which were males, have been in my charge for examination. A pair of these were collected in Arizona, not far from the Mexican border, by Dr. Edward Palmer, and four others were sent to me by Mr. C. H. Tyler- Townsend, from the vicinity of Las Cruces, New Mexico. The density of white bloom upon the surface of these in- sects, particularly beneath, so hides the surface that the pat- tern of marking is almost unrecognizable. The mesonotum is particularly convex and the almost con- current high curve of the abdomen has the effect of causing the wings to appear placed at an unusually low level. Upon clearing off the bloom from one of the specimens the markings are disclosed as follows : tawny lines form two loops 76 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 arising from the fore-margin and exterior to these, each side, is a longer loop of the same color, the crux being also pale fulvous. One male from Arizona is much smaller than any other specimen, and the valves over the drums are narrower and un symmetrical. 2 C. grossa Fab. This species has recently been brought to light in the British Museum, where, through the courtesy of Dr. G. R. Water- house, I was permitted to examine the types of Fabricius in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks. They proved to be two specimens of the large form, of which I have specimens from North Carolina, Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, New York City, northern New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. These largest females have been taken in North Carolina, Arkansas, Texas and southern Missouri ; those which I have met with in the Atlantic States north of North Carolina are in varying de- grees smaller. When collected in alcohol, their green color becomes rusty or dark brown. This last is the color to which Fabricius has given the term nigcr. These types were re- ported to have come from Brazil ; but no collector has thus far found the species in South America, nor has it been met with in the West Indies or Central America. Incorrect localities for species in the collections of authors of the last century have been frequently remarked, as better knowledge has accumulated. Variations in size, color and pattern of marking are, per- haps, responsible for the exaggerated synonymy which has accumulated upon this species. The synonymy stands as follows: Tettigonia grossa Fab., Ent. Syst. iv, p. 16, Syst. Rhyng. p. 33, No. 2 ; Cicada marginata Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philada. v. iv, p. 330 ; Cicada anlctcs Germar. Silbermann, Rev. Ent. v. ii, p. 65 ; Cicada grossa Germar. Thorn, Ent. Archiv. v. ii, p. 5 ; Cicada tn/psilon Walker, Brit. Mus. List. Homopt. v. i, p. 103; C. rcsonans Walk., Brit. Mus. List, Homopt. p. 1 06 ; C. consonant Walk., Brit. Mus. List. Homopt. p. 1 06 ; C. vi brans Walk., Brit. Mus. List. Homopt. p. 107 C. The synonyms of Mr. Walker art- s^iveii on the authority of Dr. Stal, as I did not have the time to examine those speci- March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 77 metis in the British Museum. I feel much doubt as to the one which is recorded as from the West Coast of America. Cer- tainly, the Pacific coast of either America would be decidedly unsuited to the nature of this insect, which lives on the roots of our forest trees in the loam of the Piedmont licit and that of the Mississippi plateau country. A New Species of Entomobrya, BY H. J. FRANKLIN, B.Sc., (Plate V.) Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. Entomobrya albicollis sp. nov. To the unaided eye the adult insect appears to be very dark in color with a light band across the dorsum of the body just posterior to the head. This species is very variable in its coloration in different stages, and the adults also seem to vary somewhat in this respect. The anterior portion of the body, as well as the head, seems to be very constant in its coloration, there not being a single speci- men among all the adults and young as well, which I have examined which departs very far from the typical coloration seen in the adults. The long fourth segment of the abdomen, however, may appear light brown or yellow. Under the microscope, the insect has quite a different appearance, especially as regards color by reflected light from that which it has by transmitted light. By reflected light in bright sunlight the head appears light translucent brown with dark eyespots connected more or less with each other, and with the side margins by dark irregular bands. Mesothorax of same color as head but with a thick hypodermal pigmentation of pure white, anterior margin very dark. Metathorax, as well as first three segments of abdomen, with the exception of their very narrow anterior edges, dirt brown in color. Fourth segment of abdomen sordid brown with a slight tinge of blue, its anterior border marked with large, light yellow, elon- gate-oval spots the anterior ends of which coalesce more or less to form an irregular light yellow anterior margin ; fifth and sixth segments of same color as fourth, the fifth with a conspicuous light yellow spot on each side near the anterior margin — in this respect resembling I-'., hicolor Gtithrk-. Antennae very variable, as a rule, with the first three segments fernigim-- ous, a little lighter toward the tips which are rather dark ringed ; terminal segment lighter. Legs quite constant, with femora and trochanu-rs blue, tibiae very light yellow, the anterior ones occasionally spotted somewhat with blue. Manubrium of same color as femora, lighter at distal end. Denies very light yellow with a slight tinge of brown at the base, yellow fading out toward the apex. 78 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 By transmitted light, the dark band connecting the eye-patches with each other and with the margin of the head as well as the dark anterior margin of the mesothorax and all the parts of the retnaing portion of the body appearing brown by reflected light become deep blue. The termi- nal segment of each antennae appears light blue by transmitted light. Antennae about three times as long as the head or one-quarter shorter than the body without head and furcula ; relative length of the segments, on the average, as follows : -^3, -fo, &, TO- Legs slender, of about the same length as the antennae, with tibiae con- siderably longer than femora, each tibia bearing one long clavate hair near the tip. Large claw of tarsus, bearing three teeth within, all on the distal half, the one nearest the middle being much the largest, the other claw unarmed and lanceolate. Denies, as usual, in the genus, serrate beneath. Mucrones provided with three teeth, a stout middle and distal one and a very slender basal one, all acute pointed. Each mandible with four teeth at the cutting tip and a many-toothed grinding surface. On the surface of the body as a whole there are found three kinds of hairs: first, small simple hairs which are scattered over the entire surface of the body and all the prominent appendages except the dentes and mucrones ; second, spinulose hairs which are apparently the only kind borne on the dentes and mucrones, which surround the base of the manu- brium and are found mixed with the simple hairs on its surface, and which are also very sparsely scattered over the body, legs and antennae being somewhat numerous about the bases of the latter and on thefrons ; third, large hairs which appear truncate at the tip, being somewhat thickly placed on the dorsum of the body, especially of the thorax, and which are densly covered with hairs on the truncate surface and on the side of the truncation. There seems to be considerable variation, according to instar, in the relative lengths of the third and fourth segments of the abdomen. It is difficult to state the typical size of an adult of this species ; it seems, on an average, to be about 1,75 mm. in length. I have one specimen 2.25 mm. in length. Described from nine cotypes, three of which I have retained and of the remaining six deposited three in the U. S. N. M. and three in the collection of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. This species has been found in considerable numbers under the bark of the Sycamore throughout the year at Amherst, Mass. The young were always present, but seemingly more abundant during August and September. During the summer of 1903, I found a large number of ENT. NKWS, Vol. XVI. PI. V. ENTOMOBRYA ALBICOLLIS FRANKLIN. March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 79 specimens of E. ditellaria Guthrie on a pile of lumber located beneath a clump of pine trees (Pimts rigida} in Amherst. EXPLANATION OF PLATE V. (all figures greatly enlarged). Fig. i. — End of furcula. Fig. 2. — Ocelli of left side. Fig. 3. — One of the tarsi. Fig. 4. — Ventral aspect of the apex of the left mandible. Fig. 5. — Dorsal aspect of the distal half of the left mandible. Culex brittoni n. sp. BY E. P. FELT. Clllex brittoni n. sp —Female. — Probscis over half the length of the body, dark brown, minutely flecked with gray scales, apex yellowish gray. Palpi distinct, 5-segmented, basal two subglobular, the first very dark brown, the second brown, both sparsely clothed with hairs ; third to fourth thickly clothed with scales and ornamented with rather sparse, long hairs ; third joint yellowish, fourth and fifth dark brown, the latter yellowish at apex. Antennae filiform, dark brown, rather thickly clothed with short, grayish hairs and with sparse, basal whorls of long setae. Eyes dark brown or black, rather coarsely granulate. Occiput rather sparsely clothed with short, curved, yellowish scales and with numerous long, curved, black fork scales. Mesonotum with a pair of subdorsal, light brown, naked stripes extending to the posterior third, the median line and the lateral areas and posterior portions being dark brown and clothed with sparse, long, black bristles and numerous finer, golden yel- low ones. Laterally there are a few longer, yellow bristles. Scutellum grayish, sparsely clothed with light golden yellow, curved scales, a few longer ones posteriorly, and its posterior margin crowned centrally and laterally with long, black setse, those on the sides forming distinct groups ; patches of similar setae occur at the base of the wings. Metanotum yel- lowish, smooth. Halteres yellowish, transparent. Abdomen clothed with very dark brown, almost black scales with distinct basal bands of yellowish white scales, those of the second and following segments being slightly broader than the others. Ventral surface of abdomen yellowish. Wings rather large, venation distinct, scales very thick, brownish, almost black along the costal margin, fringe slaty gray. Petiole of anterior fork cell about one-half its length, that of the posterior fork cell shorter and a little over half the length of its cell. Posterior cross vein about its own length from mid cross vein. Basal third of the third longitudinal vein with most of the linear scales appressed. Outer portion of fringe com- posed of scales of several lengths, giving a distinctly uneven border. Coxae and basal portion of femora yellowish white, the posterior portion 8O ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 of apical part of femora, the apex and posterior portion of tibiae, its apex and posterior portion of the first tarsal segment, its apex and base of second and the apices of the third and fourth silvery yellowish ; other parts dark brown. Tarsal claws simple. Length of body about 5 mm., wing spread about 10 mm. Described from a single well marked specimen taken by Mr. H. L- Viereck, at Branford, Conn., June 27, 1904. This species presents a somewhat general resemblance to Culicada cantator Coq. It may be at once separated therefrom by the simple claws and the peculiar character of the wing fringe as noted above. It is also a much more distinctly marked species. — • ««» • — Note on the finding of Ptinus fur and brunneus. BY G. R. PILATE, Dayton, Ohio. On November n, 1902, I found a few small Coleoptera on a stick of wood I pulled out of a corner in my wood-shed. I am only a beginner in the collection of Coleoptera and do not know much about them, so I did not know what they were, but thought I would look and see if I could not find a few more. The corner of the wood-shed where I found them had not been disturbed for two years or more, as I had no use for the kindling that was piled there. I went to work to clean it out, and found all the sticks and boards covered with the beetles. In the far corner I found an old barrel in which the rats had made a nest. There was about half a bushel of rat dirt mixed with a lot of old paper and rags. When I dumped this out on the floor, the beetles fairly swarmed out of it. Being so many I took it for granted that they were common and not worth bothering with. So I gathered about a hun- dred and swept the rest out on the canal bank. That night there was a heavy rain, and when I came to look for them a few days after, dirt and all were washed away. Mr. Charles Dury of Cincinnati identified them for me, and told me what I had missed in not taking more of them. Without exaggera- tion, I know I would have taken two thousand or more. I was going to take up the floor of the shed and look under it, but my wife was taken sick and I had no time to think more of them. The next May I took a few stray specimens crawl- ing about the shed. March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 8l Three New Bees from the Southwest. By T. D. A. COCKERELL. Anthophora corvicolor n. sp. 9— Length 18- mm. — Coal-black, with rather short black pubesence, except that there is a little inconspicuous pallid hair just above clypeus, the hair on hind part of occiput is chocolate-brown (but that on vertex black), that on pleura and legs inclines to a sort of dark purplish brown (the color of some myxomycetes), while that on the outer surface of the hind tibiae and the base of their tarsi is a rather sordid white. The sides of the abdomen are distinctly aaneous, or greenish, as in some species of Andrena, and the hind margins of the abdominal segments are rather narrowly rufous ; the femora are dark reddish, the hind femora brighter. Facial quadrangle broader than long ; clypeus well punctured, the punc- tures of various sizes ; lab rum rugoso-punctate, with a keel on the lower half ; antennae entirely black ; mesothorax minutely roughened and dull, not obviously punctuate ; scutellum with a median longitudinal shining raised line ; upper margin of postscutellum reddish ; tegulae rufo-piceous ; wings only slightly dusky ; pygidial plate of abdomen narrow. Hab.— Laurel Canon, California, May, 1893 (Dr. A. David- son.) Quite unlike any other described American Antho- phora ; it looks like an overgrown Emphoropsis inf emails. It is worth while to record that Dr. Davidson has also collected A. gohnnanez Ckll., at Los Angeles. Emphoropsis murihirta n. sp. $ — Length about 13 mm. — Similar in appearance to E. florid ana from Florida, with the pubescence similarly arranged and of the same color ; but differing as follows : (1.) The hair of the mesothorax has black hairs intermixed. (2.) The clypeus (of about the same shade of pale yellow) has the lateral margins broadly black. The labrum and scape, as in Jioridana, are wholly black, but the former is covered with white hair. (3.) The lateral face-marks are reduced to a narrow stripe ending in a hood, thus recalling E. miserabilis, but that has the light color of clypeus subtrefoil like. (4.) The legs are brown, not black, and their pubescence is white, ex- cept on inner side of tarsi, where it is brown, and on the hind legs, where some black hairs are mixed with the white. (5.) The abdomen, beyond the first segment (which is clothed like the scutellum) has the hairs (which are erect) partly black and partly pale, the black ones mostly short ; and the ventral surface has much long white hair. The pygidial plate is surrounded with light hair. (6.) The wings are a trifle clearer; the second submarginal cell is large, broader than long. 82 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 What seems to be the female of this species is similar in appearance but much more robust, with the face wholly black, and the hair on the legs nearly all black. Hab. — Los Angeles, California, one of each sex. (Dr. A. Davidson.) Megachile agustiui n. sp. (^ — Length about 14 mm. — Appearance of M. comata Cress., with the same pale greyish greenish pubescence. It is also much like the male of M. latinianus Say, but with the banding of the abdomen rather more distinct. The distinctive characters are as follows : (i.) The entirely black antennae have the flagellum slender, not cre- nulated beneath, and the last joint is flattened and discoid. (2 ) The mandibles are normal, not broadly dilated or elbowed as in comata, and are entirely black, except an obscure dark red patch not far from the apex. The apical tooth is sharp and rather long. (3.) The spines of the anterior coxae are comparatively short and somewhat flattened, with an orange line on the outer edge"; the anterior faces of the coxae present large patches of appressed orange rufous bris- tles. (In latinianus there is a pallid spot, but no patch of bristles ; in comata the coxal spines are very long.) (4.) The anterior femora are dark rufous, with broad black stripes in front and behind ; the lower margin is dilated to a keel on the apical half, but the black curved lines seen on the lower margin of latinianus are wholly absent. (5.) The anterior tibiae are black and red, with much the pattern of comata, but the red on the inner face forms a longitudinal instead of an oblique band. (6.) The anterior tarsi resemble those of comata, but are a decided yellow, and the long posterior fringe is dark fuscous within ; seen from beneath, the first joint is not hollowed as it is in comata, and the anterior fringe is rufous, not dark. There is a conspicuous black spot on the lower side of the second joint beneath. There is no concavity of the apical part of the upper edge of the first joint, such as is seen in latinianus. (7.) The middle and hind legs are nearly normal, with the femora broad, but not greatly swollen ; middle tibiae short and thick, convex out- wardly ; middle tarsi, especially the first joint, fringed behind with long white hair ; hind tarsi with first joint flattened, the next three cordiform, hair on inner side rather pale orange-rufous, with long but not dense white hair laterally in front. (8. ) The fourth and fifth dorsal abdominal regments, viewed laterally, show some black hairs. Apex of abdomen broad, irregularly crenulate, but the emargination is very slight or obscure. Beneath, the last ventral segment is tridentate, with the middle tooth small. From l\f. fortis Cress., it is separated by not having the March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 83 anterior edge of the first joint of anterior tarsi " sharply cari- nate and blackish," the shorter coxal spines, etc. From M. nevadensis Cress. , it is separated by the color of the pubescence, the character of the last ventral segment of the abdomen, etc. Hab. — Pecos, New Mexico, Aug. 30, 1903 (Cockerell) ; L,os Angeles, California, (Davidson.) Named after Agustin Pecos, the only surviving member of the Pecos tribe of Indians. Notes on Mixogaster Breviventris Kahl. By J. R. DE LA TORRE BUENO. Mixogaster breviventris was described in the Kansas Univer- sity Quarterly for 1897 from one specimen taken in Kansas. In going over some Diptera taken by me near New York, un- friend. Mr. Charles T. Brues saw an extremely peculiar Syr- phid which he took with him for study. It turned out to be this species. In a letter to me he called attention to the pecu- liarities of the genus. Mixogaster is essentially tropical or subtropical and its appearance in Kansas, and in this more northern region is quite remarkable. My two specimens were taken at Mosholu, N. Y., one on July 25th and the other on August 8, 1903. Both individuals were flying in and out among the stems of low-growing bushes in a manner so ex- tremely like a wasp that I mistook them for one of the latter. When in the net they fluttered their wings and extruded their terminal abdominal segments in a startlingly wasp-like fashion, exactly as if they could sting. In coloration and form thej^ resemble one of the smaller black and yellow wasps. For the information of specialists I may say that Mosholu is the name of a station on the New York & Putnam R. R., and is a part of Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. I HAVE raised out of nine pupae of Sphinx luscitiosa, the var. una, 9, but only one. The eight others were of natural color. I have seen Mr. Keller's specimen and the one I have is even darker than his. This makes three specimens all together and the first one in the State of New Jersey. — PROFESSOR WORMSBACHER. 84 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 This is a Joke. The student of nomenclature is duly warned in advance that the species described herein is a fake and a hoax. If there is one thing more than another that jars the writer of this article it is to get an exchange list of some thousands of numbers which it is necessary for him to translate into Danais plcxippus, Colias philodice, Vanessa antiopa, Platysamia cecropia, Deilcphila lineata and Pamphila cernes, etc., to find out there is not one miserable thing he wishes. His good friend in the western part of the Keystone State dotes on numbers, and nothing agrees with him more than the reception of one of Prof. S— — s exchange lists. Knowing he had all the num- bers ever described, with fear and trembling, I' asked him to OD05AMIA PAPIOCALA, ME.RRICK. MS 1345763. send me a specimen of number 1,345,763, never expecting to get it. A few days after came a letter containing the follow- ing. " No doubt you have ere this concluded that I have for- gotten your request for a specimen of number 1,345,763, but such is not the case. I have been very busy getting my dupli- cates in shape, lists made out, and shipping and receiving sundry other numbers. I have found time this morning to pack and ship the above number to you, and trust it may March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 85 arrive safely and prove an acceptable addition to your collec- tion of Rhopalocera. While it is unique, your kindness to me in the past justifies my placing it in your charge, and I have no doubt you will value it more highly than I do." I never expected to get it and have thus been rewarded after all these years. It is now in a fire-proof building, and is the joy of all visiting naturalists who are privileged to gaze upon it. Its. beautiful yellow and black primaries and red seconda- ries make it an object of great beauty, and I trust no ubiqui- tous Anthrcnus will keep it from being a joy forever. WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN BUTTERFLIES. — During August 1904, in company with a party of collectors, I camped for a week on one of the higher mountain ridges of the great forest region of central West Virginia. The elevation of our camp was about thirty-five hundred feet above sea level, and from there I made frequent trips to the Cranberry River which flowed at the foot of the mountain twelve hundred feet below. This stream has its origin in, and runs its course of more than fifty miles, through an unbroken forest rarely penetrated by anyone except hunters and fisher- men. At the points where I visited the river wild flowers were growing upon the banks in abundance and swarms of butterflies were gathered about the Swamp Thistle, (Cirsium nniticnin], Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana,} OswegoTea (Monardadidyma] and Joe-Pye-Weed (Eufia- torinin pio-pureuin'} which were blooming in the greatest profusion. I have never seen Papilio philenor so abundant elsewhere, and Argynnis aphrodite and Argynnis cybele were present by hundreds. Here was a rather unusual collection of northern and southern forms. On August i5th, four species of Argynnis were taken (atlantis, aphrodite, cybele and diana). One specimen only of atlantis was secured and two of diana. All fresh males. Below is given a list of the species of butterflies collected during my stay in the woods : Anosia plexippus. Basilarchia astyanax. Argynnis diana. Basilarchia disippus. Argynnis cybele. Feniseca tarquinius. Argynnis aphrodite. Chrysophanus hypophlaeas. Argynnis atlantis. Lycaena pseudargiolus neglecta. Brenthis bellona. Lycaena comyntas. Phyciodes tharos. Pieris protodice. Grapta comma. Pieris rapae. Grapta faunus. Colias philodice. Vanessa antiopa. Papilio ajax. Pyrameis atalanta. Papilio troilus. Pyrameis huntera. Papilio philenor. F. E. BROOKS, Morgantown, Virginia. 86 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 Life History of Lemonias virgulti. BY J. G. GRUNDEL, Alma, Santa Clara Co., Calif. The female deposits its eggs on the stems and leaves of its food plant, a species of Eriogonnm, near the ground ; also on grasses and other weeds near by, singly and in groups of four and five. She doesn't seem able to fasten all the eggs as fully one-half are dropped on the ground. The egg is a flattened globe of a bluish color, with a shallow depression in the center and the whole is covered with small depressions very much like a thimble. They are not so deep in the micropyle, and the edges of all are surrounded with lancet-like projections. The egg is laid in August to September, and the larva emerges the following February. The young larva feeds on the upper side of the leaves, but when half grown, it feeds only on the outer bark of the stems, and at night only, hiding during the day among the dead leaves and roots close to the stems. When full grown it is 7/% inches long by T3g- in diameter, color dark slate ; abdomen red brown and legs red. On each side, next to legs, ten yellow spots with tufts of short black hair, mixed with long white ; the next rows have no spots, but only short tufts of black hair shorter than in the first rows ; the next rows have yellow spots with black hair and one white hair in center of each tuft. Head black, covered with short hair. The larva is a very small eater, and acts similarly to that of Chrysophanus gorgon. It fastens a number of dead leaves together with a very thin white web in which it rests when not eating, and in which it also goes into chrysalis. The fly emerges in about one month, and will feed only on the flowers of its food plant. The female pupa is as large again as the male, and is covered with a thin dowrn, the empty larval skin remaining on the anal end of the pupa. The fly is very plen- tiful, and local in the Santa Cruz mountains, and is to be found only on very hot roadsides. General Notes. — L/ast July while visiting a neighboring mountain, I saw thousands of larvae of Deilephila lineata feed- ing on all kinds of grasses and herbs, and I am very much afraid they will be a pest in our vineyards, as they were about fourteen years ago. Our San Jose scale that has been a pest in our orchards has all disappeared. The brown apricot scale is all gone (thanks to the little Coinis fusccC), and the black scale on our olives is going fast, from what I don't know ; perhaps the hot weather last summer had something to do with it. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [The Conductors of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS solicit and will thankfully receive items of news likely to interest its readers from any source. The author's name will be given in each case, for the information of cataloguers and bibliographers.] To Contributors. — All contributions will be considered and passed upon at out earliest convenience, and, as far as may be, will be published according to date of recep- tion. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS has reached a circulation, both in numbers and circumfer- ence, as to make it necessary to put " copy " into the hands of the printer, for each num- ber, three weeks before date of issue. This should be remembered in sending special or important matter for a certain issue. Twenty-five " extras," without change in form, will be given free, when they are wanted ; and this should be so stated on the MS., along with the number desired. The receipt of all papers will be acknowledged. — ED. PHILADELPHIA, PA., MARCH, 1905. Oue of our best friends, an old NEWS subscriber, a well known entomologist and an all round good fellow generally, lately informed us that the NEWS index was very incomplete, and that he had instructed his assistant to make a complete index of the volumes. This criticism was like a Thunder- bolt from a clear sky, as we were laboring under the impres- sion that we always erred on the safe side in its preparation, and that our index was a model of w7hat an index should be. A good index is the outcome of common sense and judgment ; a perfect index may be considered to be a repetition of the entire contents, and a very bad index is the almost total absence of any at all. The happy medium lies between these two extremes. Take up last month's NEWS and look over its pages with a view of indexing it, and you will notice many things that are of no importance in an index, and if put in would only impose a useless burden on the compiler, and en- tail a useless expense on the Journal. Turn to page 33 for example. The index might read Exotic Butterflies — -someone might want to know that they are in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Someone wish- ing to have specimens figured might like to know what plate makers made them. Some would probably like their names in the index. Someone wall be inquisitive about their habitat. Should the names of the authors be repeated after the specific names in the index ? Would it be necessary to reprint the names in the index that are listed on page 35 ? How would you index the article on page 39 ? Would you put more than Paraguay, Orthoptera of, and the names of the new genus and species ? Would you repeat all the other names in the article ? How would you index the notes in Doings of Societies? We think upon examination you will a^ree with us that it is as above remarked, a question of judgment, and that the XK.WS index is fairly complete. 87 88 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 Notes and Ne\vs. ENTOMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS FROM ALL QUARTERS OF THE GLOBE. CORRECTION. — Page 24, Vol. 16, lines 3 and 16, for aurifer read pretans. WE regret to announce the death of Alpheus S. Packard, M.D., Ph.D.' of Providence, Rhode Island. In Holland's Moth Book, Nos. 23 and 24, PI. xvii, should be transposed, both in reference to the plate and in the text on page 232. — EDGAR J. SMITH, Natick, Mass. PSEUDOTAMILA CARMiNATRA. — This litte Noctuid was desribed by Dr. J. B Smith in Trans-Amer. Ent. Soc., 1903, p. 207. In the check-list the name is misprinted carminala. The original account stated that the specimens were thought to have been collected by Mr. Mason, but the accurate locality (other than Colorado) was unknown. Recently Mr. John T. Mason showed me a considerable series, all collected in Den- ver. There is no doubt that he obtained the types. The species is very distinct and easily recognized. — T. D. A. COCKERELL. No POETRY IN BUGS? — Read the following verses by an unknown author, and find poetry and politics as well : The lightning bug seems brilliant But he has not any mind ; For he stumbles through existence With his head light on behind. The measuring worm is different ; When he starts out for pelf He reaches to the limit, And then he humps himself. WITH regard to Mr. Kirkaldy's query as to how the giant water bugs move their hind legs, I would say that a live Benacus griseus was brought to me to-day and I at once put him in a bottle of water to see how he acted. He invariably moved the hind legs together, not alternately ; I then took him out and placed him on a table to see him crawl, in this position he at first moved the hind legs together, but afterward alterna- tely. Several more tests resulted in the same way, in swimming the hind legs were always moved together, in crawling they were always moved together at first, and afterwards, when he got used to the situa- tion, alternately ; the alternate movement was always, however, rather half-hearted and showed a tendency to revert to the swimming move- ment. With regard to Ranatra I have a very distinct impression of having seen them move the hind legs together, not alternately when swimming, after having been thrown back in the water,— C. S, BRIMLEY. March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 89 Entomological Literature. Coloration in Polistes forms the subject of quite a lengthy paper by Miss Wilhelmine M. Enteman recently issued by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, as publication No. 19. All Hymenopterists will welcome the work as it throws considerable light on the taxonomy and variation of this interesting and extensive genus of wasps. The matter of coloration is taken up first in its relation to the ontogeny of the wasp. The develop- ment of the colors was observed to pass through much the same stages as those described by Mayer for butterflies. In the case of Polistes the hypodermal pigment forms the lighter shades of drab and yellow mark- ings where it has not been overshadowed by the darker cuticular pig- ment deposited in the chitin. A chemical examination of the pigment reveals the fact that it shows a great similarity in many of its reactions to the group of benzole derivatives known as the " azo " dyes. The color variation of large series of wasps has been examined and compared by means of statistical methods, and it is pointed out that variation in mem- bers of the genus is continuous, all of the widely different types of colora- tion shading into one another through insensible gradations. A correla- tion in color between the different parts of the body is shown and its relation worked out in detail. One of the most interesting features is the relation which is to be observed between variation and enviroment. The development of pig- ment in the wasps aside from hereditary influences seems to depend in great measure on temperature and humility. Thus the desert species of portions of Arizona and the southwest tend to be pale without the darker and warmer tones of brown and black shown in northern forms. This tendency toward melanism is evinced most strongly in the colder humid portions of the coastal region of both North America and Eurasia. A close relation between the forms inhabiting the eastern coast of Asia and of North America is pointed out and a map of the world showing distribu- tion presented. There is only one bad feature to mar the general excellence of the work, and that is the presence of a couple of very badly executed plates. Plate IV shows a number of inaccuracies in structure and wing venation and the figure purporting to be Polistes ruhi^inosiis would scarcely be mistaken for that species by any one familiar with the latter. Text figure i is also inaccurately lettered. No attempt at limiting species is made although a number of the points worked out will be of aid to the future entomologist who may undertake this difficult task. C. T. B. JERKY, a good friend of mine, has started in to form a collection of the fleas of the world. Do not send exchange lists or specimens unless asknl for. Hardly necessary to say, that Jerry is the name of my dog. — Pnii.il1 LAURENT. 90 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '05 Doings of Societies. Minutes of meetings of Brooklyn Entomological Society, held at the residence of Mr. George Franck, 1040 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. October 6, irk in the way of collecting. 104 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 July the i6th, and the last day for the Doctor and myself to do any more collecting at Silver L,ake, had every appearance of being a rainy day. It was certainly not a day for butter- flies, so leaving the Professor and the Doctor in camp waiting for the sun to appear so that they might resume their butter- fly collecting, I started off in search of Coleoptera, with the result that when night came I found I had in the neighbor- hood of 250 specimens for the day's work. The morning of the iyth found the Doctor and myself on our way back to Salt L/ake City, leaving the Professor behind to continue his entomological labors. We arrived at Salt L,ake City about four o'clock the same afternoon, and as neither of us had enjoyed such a thing as a bath or even a good wash for eight days, we concluded to stay over in Salt L/ake City until the next day and clean up. A shave, hair cut, and a bath, and once more we commenced to feel like civilized men. Our tickets and baggage looked after, and at 6.40 Tuesday even- ing we left for our homes in the East. At 8 o'clock Thursday evening we arrived at Chicago. A trip out to Ferris Wheel Park and a ride on the Ferris wheel, and at 11.30 we were again on our way. However, had it not been for two pairs of very lively legs we never would have made that 11.30 train, for the prevaricator of the truth who manipulates the Ferris wheel informed us that it would take about twenty minutes to make the trip in the wheel, instead of which it took us just exactly forty. We arrived at Pittsburg the next evening about seven o'clock and after securing accommodations and making a few small purchases we retired for the night. The next morning, Saturday, July 22d, we went in search of Dr. Holland and his collection of butterflies, but soon found out that the Doctor was out of town, and consequently did not see the Holland collection. As this was our only object in stopping off at Pittsburg, we were very much disappointed ; for aside from smoke and soot, the Carnegie Institute and the Zoological Garden we saw but little else in Pittsburg- to inter- est us. Saturday evening at 8.30 again found us on the train, our April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 105 next stopping place to be Philadelphia, providing everything went well with us. We were not disappointed, and at seven o'clock Sunday morning, July 23rd, our train arrived at Broad Street Station. And thus ended a short but interesting collect- ing trip to the Rocky Mountains. A Bibliography of Entomological Glossaries. BY ALEC. ARSENE GIRAULT. The list of glossaries following is given upon request, and comprises those consulted in the preparation of an entomolo- gical dictionary. This is to such a degree incomplete that its publication, even within three or four years, is doubtful, and hence, knowing the need now felt for works of this nature, the bibliography herewith given has been prepared. The meagreness of the list readily shows under what diffi- culties the present-day entomologist is laboring in regard to the language of his science. Vocabularies are unknown, and the glossaries now existing are very incomplete and imperfect, the largest and best being but an imperfect compilation of those preceding. No attempt has as yet been made to define terms with that accuracy, nicety and invariability so essential in scientific language. The Standard Dictionary (Funk and Wagnall's Company, N. Y.) is at present indispensable ; the entomological terms have been defined by Dr. L,. O. Howard. Its bulk is a great draw-back, but it is the authority on general entomological terms. A rather useful paper has been published in the Pro- ceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 3rd series, Zoology, I, pp. 115-143, on Scientific Names of Latin and Greek Derivation, by W. Miller. Other general zoological and physiological terms, not generally given in entomological glossaries, may be found in works on those subjects, including also works on evolution. A few of these are given in a sup- plementary list, but no attempt has been made to list anything like all of them. The Bibliography of Entomological glossaries follows. IO6 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 1826. Kirby, W. and Wm. Spence. Orismology, or explanation of terms. (Intro, to Entom., IV, pp. 257-354.) Containing an explanation of 977 terms, with useful rules for their use. Apparently the oldest glossary ; valuable. 1832. Burmeister, H. C. C. Orismology. Its Definition and Compass. (Manual of Entomology, pp. 5-113, pis.; also cf. pp. 624-632. Translation by W. E. Shuckard, London, 1836. Vol. I, Handbuch der Entomologie, Berlin, 1832.) A most complete and important review of the subject to date ; invaluable. Definitions of all of the terms then in use are given, with valuable criticisms, and also references to scattered papers containing the original definitions of many terms. These references are not included in this list, because of their nature. In order to make Burmeister's references more full, and to add to this list, mention may be made of the following, though not strictly glossaries: 1767. Linnaeus, C. Fundamenta Entomologiae. Later translated by Wm. Curtis (1772.) 1772. Curtis, Wm. Fundamenta Entomologite ; or an introduction to the knowledge of insects. London, 1772. A translation of Linnaeus. 1778. Fabricius, J. C. Philosophia entomologica sistens scientias fundamenta adjectis definitionibus, exemplis, observationibus, adumbrationibus. Hamburg, 1778. 1788. Vandelli, D. Diccionario dos termos technicos de Historia Naturel. Coimbro, 1788. 1788. Schmiedlein, G. B. Insectologische Terminologie oder Grundbegriff der Insectenlehre. Leipzig, 1788. 1790. Borkhausen, M. B. Versuch einer erklarung der Zoologi- schen Terminologie. Ein Handbuch Zum Gebrauch derer, welche die Zoologie studiren wollen. Frankfurt, 1790. 1795. Moeller, C. H. Lexicon Entomologicum oder Entomologisches Worterbuch, in welchem allediese Wissenschafteinschlagende Begriffe und die in den Linneischen und Fabrizischen Schrif- ten vorkommenden Termologien iibersetzt, erkliirt, and mit Beispielen nach beiden Systemens erlautert werden. Erfurt, 1795- 1829. Anon. Description and History of some of the principal Brit- ish Insects. Terminology. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1829, t. i., pp. 421-424, fig. 1832. Heifer, J. W. Terminologie Entomologica. Dissert, inaug. Ticini Regii, 1832. 1859. Say, Thomas. Complete Writings on the Entomology of N. A. (New York, 1859. LeConte edition, i, pp. 123-160.) Defines about 775 descriptive terms ; valuable. 1860. Mueller, Julius. Terminologia Entomologica. Briinn, 1860. April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. IOJ 1867. Anon. Glossary. (Amer. Naturalist, i, pp. 681-868.) 550 words used in natural science. 1878. Strecker, Herman. Synonym. Cat. of the Macrolepidoptera of N. A. (Reading, Pa., B. F. Owens. Pp. 35-45-) An explanation of 450 Lepidopterous terms. Good. 1879. Brooklyn Entomological Society. Explanation of Terms used in Entomology. (Bull. Brook. Entom. Soc., June 1879. Repr., Brooklyn, New York, 1883. 38 pp.) Contains 1450 definitions of descriptive terms, compiled from pre- vious glossaries. The only working glossary extant, and although very much out of date, very valuable. A revised edition is now in preparation. 1881. Ormerod, E. A. Manual of Injurious Insects. (London, Simp- kin, Marshall & Co. Pp. 315-316.) 49 general terms. iSSi. Thomas, C. Descriptive Catalogue of Larvae. (loth Rep. State Ent. 111., in Trans. Dept. Agr. III., iSSi. Appendix, pp. 60 62). 15 terms used in describing larvae. 1883. Packard, A. S. Guide to the Study of Insects. (8th edition, New York, Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 685-686.) I55 general terms. 1886. French, G. H. The Butterflies of the Eastern U. S. (Philadel- phia, J. B. Lippincott & Co. Pp. 389-396.) Good definitions of 240 Rhopalocerous terms. 1888. Fernald, C. H. The Orthoptera of New England. (Boston, Mass. Pp. 55-56. ) 48 general Orthopterous terms. 1889. Packard, A. S. Entomology for Beginners. (New York, Henry Holt & Co., 1889. Pp. 337-354. 2nd edit., 1892. ) Good definitions of 482 terms. 1890. Ormerod, E. A. Manual of Injurious Insects. 2nd edit., Lon- don, 1890, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent cv- Co Pp. 397-380. The same as edition i. 1897. Lugger, O. The Orthoptera of Minnesota. (Bull. No. 55, Minn. Agr. Exp. Sta., pp. 366-375-) Good simple definitions of 346 Orthopterous terms. igor. Dickerson, M. C. Moths and Butterflies. (Boston, Mass., Ginn & Co. Pp. 333-335.) 49 general anatomical and physiological terms. As a list supplementary to this, mention may be made of the following : Packard, A. S. Zoology. Amer. Sci. Ser. (brief course,) New York, Henry Holt &Co., 1885. Pp. 317-322. 108 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 Holder, C. F., and J. B. Holder. 'Elements of Zoology. Apple- ton's Sci. Text-books, New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1884. Pp- 373-375- Darwin's Origin of Species. 6th revised edition., London, 1889. Bailey, L. H. The Survival of the Unlike. New York, The MacMillan Co., 1896. Apgar, A. Glossary of Molluscan Terms. Jour. N. Jersey Nat. Hist. Soc., January, 1891. P. 155. Jackson's Glossary of Botanical Terms. Philadelphia, Pa. Very complete. Asa Gray's Botany, revised edition. All of these contain glossaries, which have more or less indirect bearing on general entomology. Jackson's " A Glos- sary of Botanical Terms,'-' especially, will prove useful. For definitions of terms not contained in glossaries, see Comstock and Kellogg, " Elements of Insect Anatomy " ; Packard's, "A Text-book of Entomology"; Sharp's "Insects, Cambridge Natural History " ; Comstock and Needham, " The Wings of . Insects" ; Comstock and Chujiro Kochi, "Anatomy of the Head of Insects"; Comstock's "Manual for the Study of Insects" ; Lugger's " Minnesota Reports," and L,eConte and Horn's " Classification of the Coleoptera." An enumeration of more would be useless. The monographs of the different families are very valuable, and all general works of any im- portance are essential. On the North American Species of Oscinis. BY C. F. ADAMS, University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. In addition to the table to the species I give descriptions of four new forms which I found in the Hough collection. It is difficult to give all the species their proper place in the table, but after examining material in the Hough collection, in the collection of the University of Kansas, my own collection, and that of the British Museum, I feel that there are few inac- curacies in the following table. Other new species from the West Indies are not included, as their descriptions are to appear elsewhere. April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. IOQ TABLE TO THE SPECIES. 1. Mesonotum black ... 9 Mesonotum yellow 2 2. Antennae wholly yellow . • • 3 Antenna; not wholly yellow 6 3. Mesonotum vittate 4 Mesonotum not vittate ... .... mitis Will. 4. Eyes pilose 5 Eyes bare ... nuda n. sp. 5. Scutellum triangular triangularis Will. Scutellum oval ovalis n. sp. 6. Antennae wholly black virgata Coq. Antennae not wholly black 7 7. Scutellum black dorsalis Loew. Scutellum luteous or yellow 8 8. Mesonotum with four villas quadrilineata Will. Mesonolum with three vittae dorsata Loew. Mesonotum not vittate minor n. sp. 9. Legs wholly yellow 10 Legs not wholly yellow 14 10. Abdomen wholly black n Abdomen not wholly black 12 11. Third and fourth veins moderately divergent . . . umbrosa Loew. Third and fourth veins nearly parallel atriceps Loew. 12. Base of dorsum of abdomen yellowish 13 Base of dorsum of abdomen black apicalis Will. 13. Face blackish pallipes Loew. Face yellow COllusor Town. 14. Antennae wholly yellow flaviceps Loew. Antennae not wholly yellow 15 15. Venter of abdomen yellow 16 Venter of abdomen black iS Venler of abdomen variegated minor n. sp. 1 6. Mesonotum bisv.lcate subvittata Loew. Mesonotum trisulcate trisulcata n. sp. Mesonotum without sulcae 17 17. Sides of mesonotum and pleura reddish yellow . . . pectoralis Coq. Sides of mesonotum and pleura black obscura Coq. 18. Mesonotum shining 19 Mesonotum at leasl subopaque, more or less pollinose 22 19. Antennae wholly black 20 Antenna' not wholly black 21 20. Femora wholly yellow anonyma Will. Femora not wholly yellow variabilis Loew. 21. Legs, except middle femora in part, yellow .... nudiuscula Loew. Legs, except all femora in part, testaceous decipiens Loew Legs, except all femora and front tibiae in part, yellow . concinna Will. 1 10 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 22. Face whitish or yellowish 23 Face black • 26 23. Mesonotum with four grey pollinose, posteriorly abbreviated, vittae, trigramma Loew. Mesonotum not so marked 24 24. Legs yellow, hind femora and hind tibiae somewhat brownish incipiens Will. Legs largely black or dark brown 25 25. Vertical triangle shining hirta Loew. Vertical triangle greyish pollinose fur Will. 26. Tibiae wholly yellow nana Will. Tibiae not wholly yellow 27 27. Third and fourth veins divergent longipes Loew. Third and fourth veins parallel carbonaria Loew. Oscinis minor n. sp. Head yellow. Vertical triangle reaching only half way to antennae, containing a black ocellar dot ; third antennal joint orbicular, its apex, with the arista, black. Mesonotum largely yellow, sometimes blackish posteriorly, and in one specimen, wholly black, thinly pollinose, and with a few black bristles laterally ; pleura yellow, in the dark form with a blackish spot above middle coxae ; scutellum usually wholly, sometimes only apically, yellow, with a pair of small black bristles ; halteres yellow. Abdomen black, hind, margins of segments yellow; venter variegated. Legs yellow, hind tibiae centrally, and tips of all tarsi, blackish. Wings hyaline, third section of costa two-thirds length of second, third and fourth veins nearly paralle}. Four specimens. Opelousas, La. March. Oscinis nuda n. sp. Head yellow ; vertical triangle reaching half way to antennae, contain- ing a black ocellar dot, eyes bare. Mesonotum yellow, with four, broad, brown vittae, and an additional narrow one above base of wing ; lateral bristles black. Pleura yellow, with a small black spot above middle coxae. Scutellum oval, yellow, and with an apical pair of small bristles. Metanotum black ; halteres yellow. Abdomen yellow, hind margin of segments narrowly black. Legs yellow, tips of tarsi black. Wings hyaline, third section of costa one-half as long as second, third and fourth veins nearly parallel. Length i.S mm. Four specimens. Tipton, Ga. October. Oscinis ovalis n. sp. Head yellow ; vertical triangle deep, reaching nearly to the antenna', containing a black ocellar dot ; eyes pubescent. Mesonotum yellow, lateral margins and the narrow longitudinal vittce brownish black ; lateral vittae black ; pleura yellow, with an elongate, black spot above middle April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Ill coxae; scutellum oval, yellow except basally, and with an apical pair of small bristles ; halteres yellow ; metanotum deep shining black. Abdo- men brownish yellow, blackish basally. Legs yellow. \Yings hyaline, second and third sections of costa of nearly equal length ; third and fourth veins nearly parallel. Length 1.7 mm. One specimen. Tipton, Ga. June. Close to O. triangularis Will., but is smaller, and the scutellum of entirely different shape. Oscinis trisnlcata n. sp. Head yellow ; occiput, upper part of vertical triangle, upper margin of third antennal joint, arista, and clypeus on each side, black. Mesono- tum black, sides and humeri yellowish, with three longitudinal sulci ; lateral bristles black ; pleura obscure brownish black ; Jscutellum con- colorous, flat above, and with an apical pair of small bristles ; halteres yellow. Abdomen brownish above, yellow beneath. Legs yellow ; posterior femora with a blackish ring centrally. Wings hyaline ; third section of costa about half as long as the second ; third and fourth veins nearly parallel. Length 1.5 mm. One specimen. Opelousas, L,a. March. Observations on Papilio turnus var. glaucus. By ERNST JEHEBER, Lancaster, Perina. How fascinating is the first glance at a Papilio glaucus flying in nature, and it has often occurred to me that many collectors must have wondered what the cause may be for its dimorphism. Such has been my case, and I concluded to rear this species in the hope of being able to a degree to solve this problem. My first step was to carefully go over all the literature at my com- mand which treated upon this subject, and from it I could only learn that yellow females sometimes produced black females, or that black females often produced yellow females ; that the larvae are either green, light to dark brown and blue-black. I now procured a number of eggs and larvae of turn us and reared them on their favorite food plants — namely, wild cherry, tulip poplar and ash. The larvae all progressed nicely until after the last moult, when I observed that a number of the larvae after one or two days feeding showed signs of disease, in as much as they stopped feeding and I could plainly see that through their entire body they had a spasmodic jerking, which started at the head and went in a wavelike manner until it reached 112 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 the last segment. I separated these larvse from the healthy ones, and upon the next morning I found most of them to have changed to a blue-black, some of them spotted and others very dark, and it could be plainly seen that the spots developed from within the larvse. They did not feed again until the change of color was completed, which was generally on the third day. The pupation of these specimens was delayed just the number of days which it required for this color change. Every one of these larvse developed into glaucus females, while the green and brown larvae developed into the yellow form. My next object was to try find the reason. I succeeded in obtaining eggs of the second generation and again reared a large number of the larvse with exactly the same result. After those larvse which changed their color as above had gone through their last moult I examined the foliage upon which they had fed, and I discovered that the leaves were sprinkled over with fine black spots and were complete!}* cov- ered over with a gummy substance. The nature of the phe- nomena I could not determine, but do not doubt that botanists can explain it. I now placed a number of green larvae on this diseased foliage, and after one to two days feeding they changed their color, although not so intensely, the reason for which, in my judgment, is that they were too near pupation, these latter larvse developed into specimens bearing a more or less large yellow spot in the centre of the anterior wings. To prove that my observations were well founded I reared a number of larvse of the next generation on healthy foliage and a number on dis- eased foliage — I call it diseased as it turns yellow and withers much before the other — and the result was, healthy foliage, yellow females ; spotted foliage, black females. In the pupse I could not distinguish any differences upon which to base facts, but I am convinced that the dimorphism is a diseased condi- tion, brought about by diseased food plants, and as far as I am able to judge at this time I believe the albino and melanic forms of other species, particularly of Colias pliilodicc, will be ascribed to the same cause. But why only the one sex should become so affected is a problem which must be left for a scien- tist to solve. April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 113 Oviposition in Cordulegaster. BY DR. F. Ris, Rheinau, Switzerland. Prof. Needham's very pleasant narrative in the January number of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS reminds me that I might give an account of an observation that seems not yet to have been recorded. There is, very close to Ztirich, almost within the limits of the city, a locality where, many years ago, I used to collect our two Swiss Cordulegasters, bidentatus and anmdatus, the first always about ten days earlier than the other more widely diffused and less appreciated species. The place is a small open space in the woods, rather steeply inclined, the exposure nearly due North. Notwithstanding the inclination, the ground is swampy — we are in a region of beautiful and well preserved deposits of the great Ice Age — and a small spring of clear water runs down the slope, collecting at its foot in a shal- low pond, thickly overgrown with various sedges, Mcnyanthcs trifoliata, etc. This spring and pond are rich in Neuroptera ; I mention Adicella filicornis, Cruncecia irrorata, Ber&a articn- laris, Berceodes minuta, Ptilocolcpus granulatus, Oxyctliira fal- cata, amongst the less common Trichoptera, and they are the haunt of the Cordulegasters, the only one in the neighborhood of Zurich where I found them regularly and in numbers. The quality of the water is somewhat peculiar, not for this country, but more generally speaking ; it is very rich in lime, as are all such springs in our rigion, where glacial deposits cover the rock of soft tertiary sandstone. Every branch of moss, every rootlet, every dead leaf, that hangs or falls into these waters is in a very short time covered by a soft deposit of soft, porous limestone. These deposits soon crumble and form in the rivu- lets a bottom of small, sharp-edged, angular debris, quite dif- ferent from soft mud or polished gravel as they exist in our larger waters. I think this detail is not without importance in connection with the Cordulegasters. Last summer I visited the Cordulegaster-spring again, after many year's interruption, on June nth. The season was an unusually early one ; I came just at the best of C. 114 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 which otherwise might have been a fortnight later. In a very short time I had captured a series of seven males and five females of C. bidentatus, but not a single C. annulatus was yet seen. But, still better, I had repeated an observation made seventeen years ago, only not recorded at that time, and which I did not like to record after such a long interval, unless hav- ing made it again. All the five females were caught ovipositing, and their man- ner in doing so was peculiar. They took a very nearly verti- cal position, wings, abdomen and all, and flying in this position slowly onward, dipped the points of their abdomens vertically into the crumbled limestone deposit on the bottom of the very shallow Water. It is evident, that the protruding, pointed and very hard ovipositor is wonderfully fit to protect the soft tex- ture of the terminal segments against being injured by the sharp-edged debris. I could not observe, whether the eggs were laid singly or in clumps, not finding any eggs left in the ovipositors of my captives. The operation was otherwise easily observed during some length of time, before it was put an end to by a good stroke of the net. The large and bulky insect in its awkward vertical position made a curious impres- sion of helplessness and was indeed very easily captured.* I may here add that the black-and-yellow annular pattern, with the golden green eyes, seemed to me wonderfully adapted for hiding Cordulegasters settled on lively green shrubs in full sunlight. The males often settled, but had I not seen them alighting, it was found impossible to discover them again as long as they rested motionless. A hawking Cordulegaster seen right in front at your eye-level appears as a mixture of black, yellow and golden green that will be very nearly invisible on a background of sunlit meadow or shrub. Still another observation on Cordulegaster perhaps merits a short mention. Years ago, in 1891, I caught a fine female of C, bidentatus near Alvaneu in the Orisons. It exhaled an [* Two brief records of oviposition by Cordulegaster have been pub- lished in earlier volumes of the NEWS : by Miss Mattie Wadsworth, Vol. XIII, p. 247, October, 1902, and by P. P. Calvert, Vol. XV, p. 316, November, 1904. — EDS.] April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 115 extremely strong perfume of a quite agreeable character, hav- ing something of roses and of musk together. This perfume was much alike the one observed in Cicindda and, I think, other ant-eating insects. In our special case the odor was so strong, that it remained in my net for more than a year, and it lasted long even in the cyanide bottle. I have not observed the phenomenon again in the same species nor in any other dragonfly, and suppose the specimen had fed on ants, rufa for instance being abundant in its region. Lycaena emigdionis n. sp. BY FORDYCE GRINNELL, JR., Palo Alto, Calif. Female. — Expands 22 mm. — Upperside of primaries uniformly metal- lic brown, with a few bluish scales towards base of wings ; a black discal dash ; a marginal fine black line. Fringes long and white. Secondaries : same as primaries, but with five, submargina), large, distinct, black spots surrounded by a brighter tinge of brown, the encircling brown rather broad inwardly. Underside of primaries uniformly grayish white; a large, black, distinct, reniform discal dash ; next a series of seven, very distinct, large, cuneiform spots (the first circular), extending parallel to the outer margin. Next a series of six more, obscure, smaller dashes ; next a series of four less well-defined dashes ; a fine submarginal black line. Underside of secondaries uniformly grayish white ; a rather obscure black discal streak surrounded by white ; between this and base three small, distinct black dots extending from upper to inner margin, one in middle, one near upper and the other near inner margin. Between discal streak and outer margin a series of seven distinct black spots, the first six forming a > , the other a little outward and evidently consisting of two fused spots. Submarginally a series of seven black crescents, the lower five enclosing red dashes, next these red dashes are five metallic silver circles enclosing, each, a black dot ; the first of the seven black crescents is small and in the apex, the next is more distinct -and accom- panied by a like one submarginally. A narrow, tine black marginal line. Fringes white. Body below grayish, with some long hairs. Palpi gray- ish, tipped with black. Antennae annulated black and white ; club black, above tipped with white. Male. — Upperside of primaries violet-blue; with a broad, very dark margin, one-fourth inch in width, widest at costal margin, extending from costal to inner margin. A fine, black marginal line. Secondaries : violet blue, with a broad dark brown band extending from costa t<> inner margin ; in anal angle are three black spots surrounded by a lighter brown. A marginal fine black line. Fringes long, white. The under- side is almost exactly like that o^ the female, and in the other particulars they are the same. Il6 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 Plab. — San Emigdio canon, Kern Co., Calif. Described from 2 c? , i 9 , taken June 3 and 4, 1904, by the writer, and now in his collection. This species seemed to be extremely local in San Emigdio canon, being found in only one place, and extending along the canon for about a hundred yards. It seemed to be not at all uncommon, and a good series of specimens was taken in the short time I was in this particular locality. They are very distinct, and the first one I saw I recognized to be something new to me. The color of the upperside of the male and female, and heavy markings and metallic scales of underside and a partial obliteration of the marginal red band on the upperside of secondaries are very distinctive characters. It belongs to the acmon group. A New Culex From Australia. BY D. W. COQUILLETT. Culex labeculosus new species. A rather large brown form with white bands at bases of the segments of the abdomen and tarsi. Proboscis nearly covered with white scales, those on upper half of occiput golden brown, on the remainder white. Mesonotum golden brown scaled and with several brassy yellow ones interspersed, some of which form a pair of indistinct subdorsal light col- ored lines, the scales very narrow ; bristles black, those on the scutellum chiefly yellow. Scales of abdomen black, a broad crossband of white ones at base of each segment and several white scales scattered over the sixth and seventh segments. Scales of femora, tibiae and first tarsal joint mixed black and white, not forming distinct bands or spots, those on the posterior side chiefly white, on remainder of tarsi black and with a band of white ones at base of each joint, that at base of the second joint of the hind tarsi covering nearly one-third of the joint ; front tarsal claws of female unidentate. Wings hyaline, the scales brown, the lateral ones narrow and nearly linear, petiole of second submarginal cell nearly half as long as that cell. Palpi of female chiefly black scaled except at the apex, where the scales are white ; palpi of male narrow, blackish and with two white bands. Length 4 to 5 mm. Six females and two males, labelled as having been collected on Goode Island, Victoria, Australia. Received by Dr. L> O. Howard from Mr. C. French, the government entomologist of Victoria. Type No. 8314, U. S. National Museum. April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 1 17 Some Notes on the Habits and Life History of Bembecia marginata Harris in Western Washington. BY W. H. LAWRENCE, Agricultural College, Washington. The so-called Raspberry Root Borer or Blackberry Crown Borer, Bembecia marginata Harris, has found its way into some of the berry fields in Western Washington. The habits and life history vary somewhat from those described in other sec- tions. Scattering observations made during 1901 to 1904, show that it takes a period of two years for the transformation of the insect. It has been particularly easy to trace the trans- formations, as but a single brood occurs in this section. During 1903 adults reared from pupae and adults captured in the field were confined in cages and in a large .glass jar. In the latter, raspberry slips were placed in a dish of water. Numerous eggs were deposited in these cages. The females endeavored to place each egg beneath the object upon which they were resting ; many were placed on the under surface of the leaves in the jar. In the field the moths alight on the upper surface of black- berry or raspberry leaves. When ready to deposit their eggs they begin to flutter their wings, rise on " tip-toe," move side- wise, bend the abdomen around the edge of the leaf and deposit a single egg beneath. During the season not a single egg was found on the canes at any point high or low —all were on the lower surfaces of the leaves. The eggs are oval, of a deep reddish brown color, and about j'g- of an inch long.' A single moth lays about 140 ; those con- fined in cages laid from 135 to 150. A large number of eggs were kept on dry earth in the bottom of a breeding cage ; others were kept on the wooden floor of a cage. Leaves col- lected in the field, on which eggs had been deposited, were also placed in these cages. Canes, on the leaves of which eggs had been deposited, were placed in water in jars, and kept alive as long as possible. The location of each of a large number of eggs on leaves in the field was marked. Not an egg on wood, dry earth, or dry leaves in the field, hatched. A Il8 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 considerable number of those on the leaves of canes kept in water hatched, as did a greater number in the field. These experiments indicate that the eggs need a certain amount of moisture in order to develop properly. They hatched during the third week in September. A large number of those in the field hatched on the igth to 2ist of September. When the egg is ready to hatch the larva makes a small, round hole in one end of the shell and crawls out. At this stage the larvae are about y¥ of an inch long, nearly white, and clothed with a few colorless hairs ; the head is dark brown. The larvae in the field soon disappeared. Late in December, 1903, an effort was made to locate them ; plants were dug up and the canes and roots split open, but not a single larva could be found. A number of young plants were selected on the leaves of which, in autumn, numerous eggs had hatched ; these were taken up and carefully washed, preparatory to splitting them. A number of small, blister-like elevations were noticed on the bases of these canes, on the part below the surface of the ground. On opening these spots, each of them contained a single larva. The larva had crawled down the stem, eaten a hole through the epidermis, formed a round cavity in the bark just large enough to contain it, curled up, and become inactive. Other plants were examined. The larvae had not only buried themselves in the bark of the canes, but in many instances were found several inches below the surface of the ground, under small scales on the roots, just beneath laterals, and in crevices of the roots. Many were found in these winter quarters. At this time of the year the larvae are very small, having increased about one- third in length. On December 29, 1904, the writer dug up about 15 hills of blackberry canes, washed the roots, and searched for larvct-. Four were found in winter quarters just beneath the epidermis. This observation further substantiates the one made the pre- vious year and also shows that a second brood is just beginning to appear. The writer has not had an opportunity to study the habits of the larvae after they begin active feeding in the spring. Those that hibernate in the bark of the cane during the winter un- April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 1 19 doubtedly leave their quarters and crawl down from the outside of the stem. No evidence has been found to show that they enter the canes and tunnel down into the roots. Small holes have been found in the roots, showing that some of the larvae at least enter directly into the roots. During the following season the larvae begin active feeding, and are about one-half to three-fourths of an inch in length by the time they are one year old. The body becomes much stouter. They remain at rest in the tunnels in the roots during the second winter and begin active feeding the follow- ing spring. At this time they are usually in the root, just beneath the crown ; they usually take an upward course, enter and eat out the pith of the cane for a distance of one to five inches ; then tunnel obliquely through the wood and bark, leaving only the epidermis intact. Having done this, the larvae may go down the hole some distance, but when ready to pupate they return to some part of the tunnel in the cane before transformation. When ready to pupate the larvae become somewhat shorter and darker in color. By the middle of June a few pupae were found ; by the middle of August all were in the pupal state, and some had emerged as adults. The adults continued to emerge until late in September. When the adult is ready to emerge it crawls out of the pupa- case leaving it sticking in the hole made by the larva in the side of the cane. One pupa was taken in the act of cutting out the epidermis ; this pupa was placed upon a piece of paper on a table in the laboratory. At the end of two hours the adult had emerged and was drying its wings. After emerg- ence, the adults may be found resting on the leaves of rasp- berry and blackberry plants or flying about the fieids depositing their eggs. Up to the present time infested plants in this State have sel- dom showrn any signs of the presence of the borers other than a poor growth. On one occasion a single hill of blackberry canes wnlted about the time the leaves were well out. The roots were well filled with tunnels. Seven larvre, each about an inch long, were collected. Other hills examined gave one to four borers, but none of them showed external signs of their presence. On a few7 occasions single canes in hills of black- berries died. In nearly every case a borer had eaten out the pith of the cane at the crown. In this section the. borer never girdles the cane. There is never a morbid enlargement of the canes. In fact many times thr borers never enter the canes, but remain in the roots until ready to ciiK-rgt- as adults. 1'upa-ruscs were found sticking in the sides of exposed roots. In a single instance one borer was found in an exposed lateral root 1 8 inches from the base of the cane. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [The Conductors of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS solicit and will thankfully receive items of news likely to interest its readers from any source. The author's name will be given in each case, for the information of cataloguers and bibliographers.] To Contributors. — All contributions will be considered and passed upon at out earliest convenience, and, as far as may be, will be published according to date of recep- tion. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS has reached a circulation, both in numbers and circumfer- ence, as to make it necessary to put " copy " into the hands of the printer, for each num- ber, three weeks before date of issue. This should be remembered in sending special or important matter for a certain issue. Twenty-Jive "extras," without change in form, will be given free, when they are wanted ; and this should be so stated on the MS., along with the number desired. The receipt of all papers will be acknowledged. — ED. PHILADELPHIA, PA., APRIL, 1905. We are frequently in receipt of letters from collectors and beginners lamenting the constant changes in the names of in- sects, principally generic, and we desire to say a few words to them that may be of interest. They appear to be laboring under the impression that they are obligated to turn their col- lections inside out every time a new list appears but every such idea is entirely erroneous. The species is the unit of classifi- cation and if one knows the specific name the rest is attaina- ble. Why should the beginner worry his brains about the never-ending wrangle about nomenclature ? It is bad enough for the systematist to run the risk of getting megalocephalitis over it. Don't change your collection unless it is overcrowded and needs rearranging or you have some good reason for so doing, and even then don't change the names unless it is your des'ire to do so. If a new list comes out and 3^011 don't wish to follow it, wait for the next one which may be more in conformity with 37our own ideas. In a formative study like entomology changes in nomenclature are inevitable, but that is no reason for people being on pins and needles and making changes every five minutes. It will be not less than a thousand years before the question of nomenclature will be finally settled, as it will take that long to describe all the species of insects in the world ; therefore why worry about it ? 120 March, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 121 Notes and Ne\vs. ENTOMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS FROM ALL QUARTERS OF THE GLOBE. CHANGE OF ADDRESS. — After this date correspondents will kindly address all mail matter, packages, etc., to my residence, Montclah-, N.J. -W. D. KEAKFOTT. PROF. O. W. BARRETT has for the present left Mayaguez, Porto Rico, and is at Clarendon, Vermont. A fly and a flea in a flue Were imprisoned. Now what could they do? Said the fly : "Let us flee ! " " Let us fly," said the flea— So they flew, through a flaw in the flue. -Puck. DESMIA FUNERALIS Hiibner, and variety subdivisalis Grote. — With reference to above species and variety, I have examined a large number of specimens in all the collections to which I have had access, and I find that so far as I have examined all \\\e funeralis specimens are males, and all the subdivisalis specimens are females ; if this is correct, which I have no reason to doubt, then subdivisalis will have to drop out as a variety and simply become a synonym. Shall be pleased to be corrected in this if I am in error. — FRANK HAIMBACH. Doings of Societies. Readers of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS will probably be inter- ested to know that small as is the Territory of Hawaii, it main- tains three staffs of official entomologists. The oldest of these, in reference to years of existence, is the Entomological Divis- ion of the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry, dating from the fall of 1893, when Mr. Albert Koebele, of Vedalia cardinalis fame, was engaged to carry on this work. Besides Mr. Koebele, the work of this office is now attended to by Messrs. Alexander Craw, Jacob Kolinsky and C. J. Austin. Next in order comes the U. S. Experiment Station of Hawaii with Mr. D. L,. Van Dine as its official entomologist ; and last in order of organization, but first in the number of entomolog- ists it employs, is the Entomological Department of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Experiment Station. Besides the 122 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 partial services of Messrs. Craw and Koebele, it employs Messrs. R. C. L. Perkins, G. W. Kirkaldy, F. W. Terry, O H. Swezey and Mrs. O. H. Swezey, entomologists' artist. All these offices are located in the outskirts of the city of Honolulu, on the Island of Oahu, almost within shouting distance of each other. In the order given above, the first office devotes its attention principally to inspection work for the exclusion of undesirable pests, and the introduction of beneficial insects. Mr. Van Dine iii the second office carries on work of general Economic Entomology as it is practiced in the States. The third office, superintended by Mr. Perkins, devotes its attention to ento- mological problems in sugar cane fields solely. Needless to say that much creditable work is accomplished by each of the stations, and, entomologically at least, Hawaii is well safe- guarded. For this entomological activity, much credit is due to a very energetic member of the Territory Board of Commis- sioners, Mr. W. M. Giffard, himself an enthusiastic insect collector of no mean proportions. This small but enthusiastic band of entomological workers together with others interested, met on January 26th last and organized The Hawiian Entomological Society. A constitu- tion was adopted, and the following officers chosen : Presi- dent, Mr. R. C. L. Perkins ; Vice-President, Mr. Alexander Craw; Secretary-Treasurer, Mr. Jacob Kotinsky. Mr. Albert Koebele was elected first honorary member in consideration of his valuable entomological services to this Territory. The second regular meeting of the Society was held in the L/ibrary of the Board of Agriculture and Forestry on February 9, 1905 ; eight members present, Mr. Perkins in the chair. The secretary read a communication from Mr. Kirkaldy who is convalescing at the local hospital after an operation, the result of a serious accident last spring. Brother Matthias Newell, of Hilo, was elected honorary member. Mr. Kotinsky read the prepared portion of his paper on the ' ' History of Economic Entomology in Hawaii." This paper was thor- oughly discussed by all present, and many points of local in- terest were brought out in course of this discussion. Mr. Per- April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 123 kins stated that Sphenophorus obscurus, which occurs in papias, cocoanuts and Royal palms, besides sugar cane, was known upon these Islands in 1865, and might have been introduced many years previously. He also stated that Neda abdominal is was affected by the Braconid parasite {Centistes ainoiauia Riley,) which is so destructive to Coccinella irpanda, before the latter was brought by Koebele. The next paper was " Entomological and Other Notes on a Trip to Australia," by R. C. L.. Perkins. In this Mr. Perkins recounted his and Mr. Koebele's experiences during their last entomological expedition to Australia in search of a parasite of the sugar cane leaf -hopper ( Perki nsiella saccharicida .*) These notes comprised observations on many insects, birds and for- ests. Mr. Giffard exhibited specimens of Chalcolcpidius ery- tlii'oloina, 44 of which were collected during Sundays of a couple of months from one Koa tree in a row of about eight or nine lining the road to Mt. Tantalus. Mr. Terry exhibited a living pair of Neda testudinaria which came here from Aus- tralia on December i3th. The female began to lay eggs on the 1 5th, and has since deposited 32 batches comprising 897 eggs. She apparently is still capable of laying a good many more. At 10 p. m. the Society adjourned. JACOB KOTINSKY, Secretary- Treasure/ . A stated meeting of the Feldman Collecting Social was held February 15, 1905, at the residence of Mr. H. W. Wenzel, No. 1523 South Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia. Twe'lve mem- bers were present. The death of Professor A. S. Packard, -of Brown University, of Providence, R. I., was announced, as was also the death of Dr. Prime, of New York City. Dr. Prime was a brother of Mrs. Slosson ; he took a great deal of interest in entomology and was identified with a number of scientific and other soceties. A letter was read from Dr. Philip P. Calvert, accepting his election to honorary membership. Mr. H. W. Wen/.el exhibited pieces of wood showing the work of Scolytidse, and one piece showing the work of . •////- 124 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 brosia beetles in swamp maple ; the species is Xyleborus pubescens of which the females, are wingless. Mr. Wenzel remarked that when the imago enters it leaves a stain which renders the wood useless for the cabinet-maker. The males of this species are predominant. Another species which was quoted is Hypo- thencmus dissimilis, found in terminal twigs of oak, where they pupate in the pith near the terminus of twigs, lying as peas in a pod. In the same galleries were found the parasites on the above species belonging to the family Proctotrypidse. Mr. Wenzel further remarked that on February i3th he took a number of specimens of Hylcsinus aculeatus under the green bark of ash in Philadelphia. Mr. Harbeck spoke of taking a number of interesting small species of Diptera by sieving. Mr. Daecke spoke of characters in the classification of aerial and pedestrian Diptera, and of color and stripes as being only a matter pertaining to the internal structure. FRANK HAIMBACH, Secretary. Meeting of the Entomological Section, Chicago Academy of Sciences, held January 19, 1905, at the John Crerar Library. Eight members present. Minutes of the November meeting were read and approved. No meeting was held in December as no quorum was present. The report of the Honorary Curator was read by the Recor- der. It included a list of acquisitions to the Entomological Collection during 1904, the totals being as follows : Lepidoptera 64 Coleoptera • . 1324 Hemiptera . 255 Orthoptera 24 Neuroptera . . .15 Diptera . . . 282 Hymenoptera . . .138 Myriopoda . . . . i Total . . .2103 The election of officers resulted as follows : Chairman, W. E. Longley ; Recorder, Alexander Kwiat ; Honorary Curator, April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 125 A. B. Wolcott ; Executive Committee, John L,. Healy Wtn. J. Gerhard and A. Kwiat. Chairman W. E. L-ongley then read his report of the past year's work of the Entomological Section and its members. This consisted largely of a list of the rarer insects captured in the so-called Chicago area. They were : COLEOPTERA. Cychrus lecontei Dej. Two specimens $ and $ were taken within loofeet of each other in early spring in deep damp timber at Bowmanville. Leptinus testaceus Mull. , One specimen of this rare blind beetle was taken from a mouse nest at Clarke, Indiana. Coccinella transversoguttata Fab. This is a rare northern species and only one specimen was taken, on the beach of Lake Michigan. Sphseridium scarabaeoides Linn. Quite a few specimens were taken near Lake Michigan on October gth. Heretofore not reported farther west than Pennsylvania. It is found in Europe. Clerus quadrisignatus Say. One example of this southern species was taken at River Forest on dead hickory. Mezium americanum. One specimen taken by Mr. Kwiat at Edge- brook. It is cosmopolitan but apparently very rare on this continent. Its peculiar appearance may account for this scarcity as it greatly resem- bles a small red Arachnid. Lema cornuta and Lema collaris. Taken at Clarke, Indiana. Chrysomela auripennis. At Hessville, Indiana. Phyllotreta armoracinse Koch. Two specimens taken on the Lake beach June 2nd. This European insect is supposed to have gained a foothold in this country during the Columbian Exposition. It has been reported from Iowa, and Mr. Wolcott took a single specimen at Bloom- ington, Illinois, several years ago. Physonota unipunctata Say. One specimen was taken at Hessville, Indiana, in early spring. It is a strikingly beautiful species and evidently very rare as it is seldom mentioned in Coleopterous literature. Zonitas atripennis Say. Is commonly found on the great plains. One specimen was taken by Mr. Kwiat at Hessville, Indiana. Mr. Liljeblad reported the following : Cincindela purpurea, from Highland Park on the North shore. lecontei, from Fort Sheridan also on the North shore. Lebia bivittata, from Fort Sheridan. Notoxus serratus, from North Evanston on the North shore. Acmaeops bivittata and numerous color varieties from Fort Sheridan, nigripennis, from Fort Sheridan and Glen Ellyn, which lies almost twenty miles west of the lake. Byrrhus americana, from Fort Sheridan Cytilus sericeus, from Fort Sheridan. Oberea bimaculata, from Fort Sheridan. 126 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 Zonitas bilineata, from Palos Park, which lies twenty miles southwest. Mycotretus sanguinipennis, Palos Park. Ceratoma caminea, from Palos Park. Phymaphora pulchella Newrn., from Highland Park. Mr. Wolcott reported the capture of : Carabus meander Fisch. ; Omo- phron nitidum Lee. ; Omophron americanum Dej. ; Badister pulchellus Lee . ; Chalaenius niger Rand. ; Chalcenius purpuricollis Rand. ; Oodes fluvialis Lee.; Agathidium oniscoides Beanv. ; Lomechusa cava Lee. , host the black carpenter ant ; Cucujus clavipes Fab. ; Languria gracilis .\" ,,'/«. / Hololepta fossularis Say. ; Dicerca asperata Lap. and Gory. ; Agrilusacutipennis Mann. ; Calopteron terminale Say ; Odontreus filicor- nis Say ; Mecynotarsus candidus Lee., found on white lake sands ; Cryp- tocephalus guttulatus Oliv. ; Blapstinus interruptus Say ; Eurymycter fas- ciatus Oliv. ; Odonota hornii Smith, an intermediate form between this species and dorsalis. Mr. Liljeblad also reported the following Coleoptera from McGregor, Iowa, at which place he attended the field meeting of the Academy of Sciences : Pyrochroa flabellata, Cistela variabilis, Cupes concolor, Penthe pimelia, Lucanus dama, a diminutive specimen only ^ of an inch long. HYMENOPTERA. Mr Gerhard reported the capture of a male Pelecinus polyturator. This is considered quite a rarity. LEPIDOPTERA. Terias mexicana. A southern butterfly ; was reported from Chicago, Hessville and Lake Geneva, Wis. LycEena lygdamus. A number of fresh specimens from Palos Park, early in May, by Messrs. Kwiat and Liljeblad. Lyccena scudderi. Only one specimen, at Hessville. Amblyscirtes samoset. One specimen taken by Mr. Liljeblad. Crocota Iseta. Several specimens taken at Edgebrook, Hessville and Palos Park. Arctia vittata. Taken at Palos Park. Charadra deridens. Two taken at light by Mr. Beer. Acronycta lithospila. One taken at light by Mr. Beer. Polygrammate hebraicum. Two or three taken at Hessville. Leptina doubledayii. One specimen taken at Hessville, by Mr. Kwiat. Ulolonche modesta. Several from Hessville and Clarke, Ind. Hydroecia purpurifascia. Quite a number were taken at Hessville. rutila. Taken at light by Mr. Beer, marginidens. Taken at light by Mr. Beer, limpida. Two taken at light by Mr. Beer. Hypocala hillii. Several were taken at lights in various parts of the city late in the fall. Anchocelis digitalis. Several taken at light by Mr. Beer. Schinia tertia. One specimen taken at light by Mr. Krueger. April, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. I2J Plusia selecta and Plusia ampla. Were taken at light by Mr. Krueger. Euherrichia mollissima. Several were taken at Hessville. Latebraria amphipyroides. One specimen of this large southern moth was taken at sugar at Edgebrook, by Mr. Vollbrecht. Thysania zenobia. A very good specimen was taken in a residence portion of the city. Nerice bidentata. Was taken at Edgebrook. Pheosia dimidiata and Lophopteryx elegans. Were taken at Hessville. Geometridas reported were : Acidalia purata. From Hessville. Aspilates coloraria. From Hessville and Palos Park. liberaria. From Hessville and Fort Hamilton. Endropia madusaria. From Clarke and Hessville. marginaria. " " " Palos Park. obtusaria. " Edgebrook. Plagodis serinaria. From Palos Park Eubyia quernaria. From Palos Park and from Edgebrook. Lozogramma detersata. From Hessville Eois demissaria. FYom Hessville. Cinglis purata. From Hessville. Cochlidion rectilinea and Kronea minuata. Were reported as new, from Hessville. Cossus centerensis. Was taken at Hessville and Clarke, Ind. Prionoxystus macmurtrei. Wras taken at Palos Park and at Edge- brook. Of Micro-Lepidoptera a large number were taken, many of them new to local collections. Most of them are unfortunately undetermined, but the following are deserving of mention. Scirpophaga perstrialis. Two specimens at Hessville. Titanio helianthialis. A number of specimens at Hessville. Perispasta cseculalis. Two at Palos Park. Cindaphia bicoloralis, Galasa rubidana, Schcenobius tripunctellus, Pseu- doschcenobius opalescalis, Eucosma giganteana, Archips semiferana, Archips fervidana. Mr. Kwiat reported the successful breeding of Crocota cornis through two broods, securing quite a number of specimens showing considerable variation. He bred two males of Crocota opclla from eggs which were sent him by Mr. Henry McElhose from St. Louis. Also Ardia vittata through two broods secur- ing fairly constant forms. He expects to continue his stud}' in these genera. Most of the above species, both Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, were exhibited at the meeting by Messrs. Wolcott, L,iljeblad, 128 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '05 Longley and Kwiat. The greater part of the L,epidoptera mentioned had not been reported from the Chicago area here- tofore, which is the more surprising, as the concensus of opin- ion was that the season had been a very poor one. No records of Coleoptera or the other orders have been kept. ALEXANDER KWIAT, Recorder. A meeting of the Entomological Section of the Chicago Academy of Sciences was held February 16, 1905, at the John Crerar Library. Ten members present. The topic for the evening was a discussion of " Variation in Tiger Beetles ' ' by Mr. V. E. Shelford of the University of Chicago. Mr. Shelford has been studying these beetles for several years and has succeeded in gathering a large number of species and specimens from all parts of the world, paying more particular attention, of course, to Boreal American forms. Referring to taxonomic characters he found that color and color patterns, which have heretofore been used by prominent entomologists, are of little value, owing to the great amount of variation. The distinction between "thorax marginate " and " thorax not niarginate " is also of little value as even this feature is variable. In his opinion, pilosity and the sculpture of the thorax are the best characters to work upon, and herein he is supported by Dr. Horn, of Berlin, who is using pilosity almost entirely in his forthcoming work on the group. Mr. Shelford exhibited a chart showing various types of maculation and a number of the beetles, which showed the variations existing among the species. These variations were often geographical, but it seems that in many cases, almost all the different forms of a species could be taken in one locality while elsewhere only one or perhaps two forms were to be had. There was some discussion among the members on this sub- ject and also about a specimen of Arctia virgo exhibited by Mr. Beer which had yellow instead of red secondaries and abdo- men. Mr. Shelford was given a vote of thanks, whereupon the meeting adjourned. A. KWIAT, Recorder. FOR SALE CHEAP for cash — collection of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Hemiptera. 5000 species, 25,000 specimens contained in 250 Schmitt and other boxes. All in first-class condition. Determinations by best Amer. and Europ. specialists WM. A. NASON, ALGONQUIN, ILLINOIS. \JLJ *k MTCf^ Will pay good price for complete sets and single vol- YYrAll LiL/. umes of Entomological News; Canadian Entomologist; Papilio ; Entomogica Americana ; Bulletin of Brooklyn Entomological Society; American Entomologist; North Amt-ricanEntomologist ; Proc. Ent. Soc.. Phila.; Trans. Amer Ent. Soc.; Proc Ent. Soc. Washington; Journal N. Y. Entom. Society, and other entomological publications WILLIAM J, GERHARD, 2209 Callowhill Street, Phila. Pa. THE CELEBRATED ORIGINAL DUST AND PEST-PROOF METAL CASES FOR SCHMITT BOXES. Described in "ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS," page 177, Vol. XV MANUKAOTURED AND FOR SALE BY BROCK BROS., Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass. PUP/E (SUMMER FORM) Pap. ajax, 9Oc. a doz. ; Pap. cresphontes, $1.OO a doz. ; Pap. turiius var. glaucus, $, $1.5O a doz. APATU11A CELTIS, $1.OO doz.; APA. CLYTON, $I.OO doz. Will mail free on receipt of P. O. M. O. List of others on application. — Exchange. ERNST JEHEBER, 118 Reservoir St., Lancaster, Pa. BREHME COMBINATION INSECT BOXES. Similar to the Schmitt box : 9x13 in. plain edge, 85 cts. ; 8^ x 13, protruding edge, 90 cts. Orders filled promptly. Any size or style box made to order. Cabinets made to order of any design. H. H. BREHME, 583 18th AVENUE, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. When Writing Please Mention " Entomological News." AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL COMPANY 1040 DE KALB AVE.. BROOKLYN, NEW YORK PRICE LIST No. 6 READY FOR DISTRIBUTION DECEMBER 1, 1904 Classification of N. Am. Lepidoptera according to Smith's List, 1904. Price List of Coleoptera, No. 2, of N. Am. species. Complete and New Catalogue of Entomological Supplies. Man}' new features and illustrations added. List of School Supplies : — Collections, Biological Material, Mimicry, Color Protection, Dimorphism, Polymorphism, etc. MANUFACTURERS OF THE ONLY GENUINE SCHMITT INSECT BOXE5. Builders of Cabinets and Exhibition Cases. Manufacturers of the New Improved Metal Cases for Schmitt Boxes. Manufacturers of the American Entomological Go's Insect Pins. Elbow Pins are added to our line. PRICE OF LIST 1O CTS. To our patrons List will be forwarded when issued. All previous Lists cancelled. THE KNY SCHEERER CO. DEPARTMERT OF NATURAL SCIENCE. G. LAGAI, Ph.D., 225-233 Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y. PARIS EXPOSITION: * V^S> PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION : Eight Awards and Medals ^PW/%\HM^ Gold Medal ST. LOUIS EXPOSITION : Grand Prize and Gold Medal ENTOMOLOGICAL SUPPLIES AND SPECIMENS North American and exotic insects of all orders in perfect condition. Single specimens and collections illustrating mimicry, protective coloration, dimorphism, collections of representatives of the different orders of insects, etc. Series of specimens illustrating insect life, color variation, etc. Metamorphoses of insects. We manufacture all kinds of insect boxes and cases (Schmitt insect boxes, Lepidoptera boxes, etc.), cabinets, nets, insects pins, forceps, etc.. Riker specimen mounts at reduced prices. Catalogues and special circulars free on application. Rare insects bought and sold. When Writing Please Mention "Entomological News." P. C STOCf MAY, ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS Vol. XVI. No. 5 Cryptohalictoides spiniferus Viereck. EDITOR : HENRY SKINNER, M. D. PHILIP P. CALVERT, Ph.D., Associate Editor. ADVISORY COMMITTEE: EZRA T. CRKSSON. HF.NRY L. VIKRECK. J. A. G. RF.HN. PHII.1P I.AURKNT. WII-I.IAM J. FOX. 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As the various species are arranged under their generic names, this list affords an excellent reference for museums and collectors. 50 named specimens, 1 qual., 20 different species ex S. America (Peru, etc.) ............... $4.00 50 " " 1 " 20 " S. Africa .............................. 4.00 100 " " 1 " 40 " " Assam ................................ 4.00 Explanatory Catalogue, 300 descriptions and notes, mailed free on receipt of P. O. Order. . 12 A COMPLETE SYNONYMIC CATALOGUE OF THE ERYCINIM OF THE WORLD by LEVI W. MENGEL, is now going through the press and will be ready for distribution on or about May i, 1905. Price for Catalogue, $2.OO Net. Address all orders, communications, etc., to I FVI W MFNPFI DePartment °* Natural Science, Boys' High School NOW READY THE RRICE LIST OF ENTOMOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE BX THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Mailed free on application Address E. T. CRESSON, Treasurer P. O. BOX 248, Philadelphia, Pa. When Writing Please Mention " Kntoinological News." ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS AND PROCEEDINGS OE THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. VOL. XVI. MAY, 1905. No. 5. CONTENTS: Fall— Two new species of Aphodius 129 Grossbeck— Notes on the Life History of Atithocharis genutia Fabr 131 Nason — Parasitic Hymenoptera of Al- gonquin, Illinois — I 145 Williams — Notes on the Larvae of Cer- Grinnell— Butterflies of Mt. Wilson, tain Lepidoptera 153 Southern California 134 Moodie— A new Milesia from Arizona, with notes on some Wyoming Syr- phidae 138 Baker— Fleas and Disease 143 Coverdale — Variation in Callimorpha. . 154 Editorial 155 Notes and News 156 Doings of Societies 157 Obituary 160 Two New Species of Aphodius. BY H. C. FALL. The two species of Aphodius described below have been taken in numbers by Dr. Blaisdell and Mr. Knaus respectively. They deserve to be more generally known, and as a prelimi- nary step to their distribution the following diagnoses have been drawn up and their relationship to previously described forms indicated. I take pleasure in dedicating each to its discoverer. Aphodius blaisdelli n. sp. Oblong, black or dark castaneous, under side slightly paler, legs castaneous. Head not tuberculate, finely punctate with intermixed coarser punctures, not at all rugose; clypeus broadly emarginate, rounded each side ; geuo.- prominent, subrectangular. Prothorax wide, only slightly narrowed toward the base, sides broadly arcuate, hind angles obtuse but rather well defined, basal margin Insinuate each side, marginal line deep and entire, disc sparsely punctate with coarse and fine punc- tures intermixed. Elytra oblong, scarcely narrowed at base, humeri slightly dentiform, stria,- rather fine, closely rather finely punctate, inter- vals nearly flat on the disc, becoming strongly convex at apex ; intersti- tial punctuation minute and sparse. Body beneath alutaceous and somewhat dull, feebly but numerously punctate, mesosternum densely 129 130 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, '05 punctate, carinate between the coxae. Hind femora finely alutaceous and sparsely punctate over the entire surface. Spur of anterior tibke stout and strongly arcuate apically in the male, more slender and nearly straight in the female ; basal joint of hind tarsus slightly longer than the next three. Length 6-7^ mm. Described from a good series of specimens communicated by Dr. F. E. Blaisdell, who took them on November 24th from a wood rat's nest in the Alhambra Valley, Contra Costo County, California. This is the species referred to by Dr. Blaisdell in the report of the proceedings of the fourteenth regular meeting of the Pacific Coast Ent. Soc. as A cribratus * The entire catch of ninety-six specimens was taken 'in a clump of earth at the bottom of the nest, wet with excrementitious fluids, and no larger than a double fist. The larvae also were taken." A careful comparison with the other members of Horn's "Group G," to which the present species belongs, shows that it is unquestionably distinct and differs from all of them more than they do from each other. By Horn's table it would fall with cribratus because of the simply emarginate clypeus, but it differs from this, and nevadensis and. gentilis as well, by the smooth front, more quadrate prothorax with better de- fined hind angles and well marked exterior basal sinuation, the alutaceous and more strongly numerously punctate hind femora, and the longer basal joint of the hind tarsus, this being subequal in length to the three following in gentilis and cribratus, and distinctly shorter than the three following in nevadensis. In the dual pronotal punctuation blaisdclli agrees with nevadensis. It is not unlikely that the present species may be found mixed with cribratus in collections; if so, the above distinguishing characters will enable it to be readily separated. Aphodius knausii n. sp. Moderately elongate, slightly broader posteriorly, pale yellowish testa- ceous, shining, disc of thorax irregularly nebulously infuscate, elytra with a short fuscous stripe on the fifth interspace near the base, a common transverse spot just before the middle reaching to the third stria, and usually extending somewhat forward on the third interspace ; markings frequently faint or nearly obsolete. Head without trace of tubercles, * ENT. NEWS, March, 1905, p. 95. May, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. smooth, shining, minutely very sparsely punctulate ; clypeal emargina- tion broad and shallow, sides rounded ; gena- slightly prominent, obtuse. Prothorax not narrowed in front, sides strongly, evenly arcuate, fimbriate anteriorly ; basal angles not defined, basal marginal line strong through- out, the median lobe moderately prominent ; surface minutely alutace- ous but strongly shining, punctuation rather sparse, intermixed. Elytra slightly wider than the prothorax, humeri not dentate, striae rather deep, very faintly or scarcely visibly punctulate ; intervals convex, each with a nearly regular series of very fine, feeble, distinct punctures. Beneath finely alutaceous and strongly shining, mesosternum not carinate, metas- ternum very sparsely punctate, ventral segments with a row of rather coarse setigerous punctures along the anterior margin of each, other- wise impunctate. Anterior tibiae smooth in front, externally tridentate, the terminal tooth normal, the upper tooth small, margin above not crenulate ; tibial spurs slender and nearly straight, not differing in the sexes. Length 3-3^ mm. Taken abundantly at Englewood in Southwestern Kansas by Mr. Warren Knaus. A rather pretty little species, allied to phalcrioides and larre&, but smaller than either and differing from both in the elytral markings, the minute or obsolete punctures of the elytral striae, the partial finibriation of the side margins of the prothorax, and the ventral punctuation. In both phalcrioides and larrccc the side margins of the prothorax are fimbriate throughout and the ventral segments are irregularly punctate. In larrecz the base of the prothorax is broadly evenly arcuate with scarcely a trace of median lobe ; there are also sexual differences in the clypeus which do not obtain in knansii. Notes on the Life History of Anthocharis genuti Fab.:| BY JOHN A. GROSSBECK. Amongst the first of our New Jersey diurnals to appear in the spring from hibernating chrysalids is the little orange-tip butterfly, Antliocharis ^oiutia. This species was considered a rarity — at least in northern New Jersey — and it is only in recent years that the collectors in this vicinity have added it to their collections. It is not at all uncommon on Gar- ret Mountain, Paterson, but seems to be confined to a \vry limited area. This, however, is accounted for by the fact, that * Read before the Newark Entomological Society. 132 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, '05 the territory inhabited by the insect is especially suitable for the development of the food plant, which is a little Crucifer thai grows in the sandy soil on the rocks. The males are the first to appear, and single specimens may be seen in the latter part of April. They do not become abundant until the 6th or yth of May, and then an occasional female (about i 9 to every 10 S 's) may be seen among them. Between the loth and iSth of May the females are almost as common — in one instance they were more common than the males ; but shortly after the latter date, all disappear suddenly. The first appearance is liable to be retarded by a cold tempera- ture and consequently the dates may be shifted backward a little. Females were observed depositing eggs May nth, and the first larvae hatched on the day following. The egg is cylindri- cal, broadest at the middle, slightly narrow at the base, and tapering rather acutely at the apex. It is orange in color, and under the power of a ^-inch objective shows about fifteen ver- tical ribs, with numerous faint cross ridges between. The eggs are laid singly on the stem of the food plant Arabis lyrata, immediately below the terminal bud of the plant and large plants may have as many as four eggs. This is slightly different from a note published by Mr. Hornig (ENTOMOLOGI- CAL NEWS, Vol. XIV, p. 252), who says : " As a rule there is only one egg on a plant, although two have been collected on large healthy specimens." The food plant in this instance was Sisymbrium thaliana. From the lot of eggs collected on May nth, nothing was bred, for as soon as they hatched the young larvae fell prey to a small black spider which spins its web on the plant. There were several such in the cage which were not noticed until the entire lot of larvae had been destroyed. On May iSth I saw an isolated female in the valley, below Garret Mountain, which had evidently wandered from its breeding grounds ; it was flitting gently about, stopping at short intervals on a white blossom which was afterwards determined as spring cress (Cardamine rhomboidea). A close examination of the blossoms revealed on each an egg tucked beneath, close to the calyx. May '05,] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 133 On the i gth I made another trip to the Garret Mountain. Judging from the abundance of eggs one week previous, I expected to reap a harvest of the larvae ; but after a half day's hard work I was glad to have eleven specimens. The rarity of the larvae was easily explained, for on almost every plant was one or more of the little black spiders. The young larvae feed on the small tender leaves, but when the seed pods appear, these seem to be preferred, the larva beginning to eat at the tip and moving backwards until it is entirely consumed. When at rest it usually lies on one of the linear leaves and is very well protected by the resemblance. The full grown larva measures about 20—24 mm. in length, is pale bluish green with white spiracles, and has a rather broad mid-dorsal stripe of a yellowish color and a white longitudinal stripe on each side. The body is scantily covered with short, black, bristle-like hairs. The first larva pupated June 5th. The chrysalis is a very peculiar looking object with the anterior part greatly prolonged and drawn to a point, extending far above the silken girdle. Most of the pupae were attached to the food plant, but a few were fastened to the sides of the breeding cage. On this same date (June 5th) I gathered on the mountain from the food plant a number of small creamy yellow cocoons of parasites, and on the following day I found two in my cage which seemed to associate the parasite with the gemitia larva. A small Braco- nid (Apanteles pcrgandci*) emerged June 8th and a number of others two days later. The determination was kindly made by Dr. Ashmead.* Adult flies from the chrysalids issued in the early part of July ; the late appearance was due to abnormal conditions, though all but one specimen out of a dozen pupae produced perfect images. In the fields the fly is usually distinguished from other Pierids by its small size, whiter color and low jerky flight. It seldom, if ever, alights and can be taken easily if .approached * The species is described only in MS. and will appear in Dr. Ash- mead's " Monograph of the Nortli American Brnconicl;r," now in pre- paration. 134 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, '05 cautiously ; but if disturbed will give the collector a long chase, alwa)^s avoiding the net. It rarely rises above four feet from the ground and may be pursued till caught without its rising overhead and soaring away. Butterflies of Mt. Wilson, Southern Calfornia. BY FORDYCE GRINNELL, JR., Palo Alto, Calfornia. Mt. Wilson is located in the front range of the San Gabriel Forest Reserve, L,os Angeles County. It is about forty miles from the Pacific Ocean — on a clear day the ocean is plainly visible from the summit, and the view over the surrounding country and the Mojave Desert to the north, is magnificent. It is reached by two picturesque winding trails about nine miles in length. The elevation is about 5886 feet above sea level, and from the floor of the valley it rises about 3000 feet. The city of Pasadena is located at its base. It is probable that more insects have been collected on Mt. Wilson than any other mountain in California. At Heninger's Flats, quarter way up the mountain, is the largest forestry sta- tion in Southern California. On the summit is being con- structed one of the largest astronomical observatories in the world. Two delightful camps are here, one on the summit, and the other a little below the top. In 1890 the Harvard telescope was here, which was later moved to South America. The vegetation is varied and interesting and of late has been quite thoroughly investigated, many new things having been discovered. This richness of vegetable life is in harmony with the profusion of insects. The whole mountain is covered with an almost impenetrable chaparral, which together with the rug- ged character of the mountain, makes collecting rather difficult. There are three zones of plant life easily traceable on the moun- tain, with interminglings. First, the Chaparral Belt, charac- terized by the abundance of chamisal or Adenostoma fascicula- tum ; second, the Big-cone Spruce Belt, characterized by the conspicuous tree, Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, Arctostaphylos , Quer- cus wislezcnii, and scrub Qucrcns chrysolepis ; third, the Pine Belt, characterized by Finns lambertiana, P. nioniico/a, May, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 135 drus decurrens, Ouercus chrysolepis, and Conothus divaricatus. The zones represented are the Lower and Upper Transition. The butterflies listed below have been mainly the results of the writer's many collecting trips to the summit, for several years past, in May, June, July and August. The list is surely not complete, but will serve as an incentive for more and better work in the future. Earlier collecting would quite surely add species. The scenery is so grand and inspiring, the air so clear and bracing, nature so joyous and absorbing, that as each summer vacation approaches, an irresistable impulse is felt for another quiet, lone intercourse with this grand old monarch of time. 1. Danais plcxippus Linn. — A few found on the summit several years ago, around the Asclepias blossoms. 2. Danais berenice Cram. — Rare. Only occasionally seen. 3. Arg-j/nmssp., probably semiramis, noted on the summit several years ago. 4. Melitfea chalccdon Db. & Hew.— Very common. Larvae found on Mimulus. 5. Melit&a gabbii Behr. — Not common in June. 6. Melitcca wrightii Edw. — Two specimens taken during the last two summers. 7. Phydodes mylitta Edw. — Frequent in Santa Anita canon. 8. Grapta satyr us Edw. Occasional. 9. Vanessa antiopa Linn. — Only occasionally seen. 10. Pyramcis carya; Hbn. — Common on all the mountains. 1 1. Pyrameis cardui Linn. — Common everywhere. 12. Junonia cccnia Hbn. — Common and very pugnacious. 13. Limcnitis lorquini Boisd. — Common especially in the canons. 14. Hetcrochroa calif ornica Butl. — Common around the Ouer- cus chrysolepis, to the summit. 15. C&nonympka calif otnica Db. & Hew. — Common and very variable. 1 6. Ceenonympha ochracca Edw. — Not rare ; especially in June-August. Recorded under the name of brenda,. 17. Satyrus sil'ccstris Edw. — Common in the chaparral belt. Variable and probably more than one specie. 136 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, '05 1 8. Lemonias virgulti Behr. — Common in the chaparral belt, especially around Eriogonmn fascicnlatum, on which it no doubt feeds. ig. Thecla grunus Boisd. — Common around Quercus chryso- lepis, upon which the larvae and pupae occur. 20. Thecla californica Kdw. — Common in the upper part of the chaparral and pine belt. 21. Thecla dryope Edw. — Common around patches of manza- nita in the pine belt. 22. Thecla spadix Hy. Edw. — Exceedingly local and confined to the lower part of the Big Cone Spruce Belt in all the moun- tains. 23. Thee/a secpium Boisd. — Common in all the mountains in June. 24. Thecla adenostomatis Hy. Edw. — Common in the chapar- ral belt. 25. Thecla iroides Boisd. — Occasionally seen but more com- mon in the valley. 26. Thecla dumetorum Boisd. — Occasionally taken in Santa Anita canon. 27. Chrysophanus arota Boisd. — Common in early July around the scrub oaks locally in the chaparral belt. 28. Chryosphanus gorgon Boisd. — Not common. 29. Lyccena icarioidcs Boisd. — Common on the summit around Lupinns sp. ; this will probably have to be separated under another name, with further study. 30. Lycccna polyphemus Boisd. — Common in May. This group is poorly understood and needs much study. More species will probably be added. 31. Lyccrna sonorensis Felder, — A few taken in May in the Santa Anita canon. 32. Lyccena battoides Behr. — Not common. 33. Lycczna pseud, piasus Boisd. — Common everywhere. 34. Lyc