•> PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Volume XIII, 1911. PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, QUARTERLY CARLISLE, PA. WASHINGTON, D. C, IQI I. CONTENTS OF VOLUME XIII. Page The Diffusion of Insects in North America F. M. WEBSTER... 2 A Preoccupied Name in Wasps S. A. ROHWER... 4 Notes on the Grass-feeding Hemileucas and their Allies. HARRISON G. DYAR... 5 A Note on Halisidota cinctipes Grote HARRISON G. DYAR... 10 A New Dianthidium from Paraguay CURT SCHROTTKY... 14 An Arctian New to Our Fauna HARRISON G. DYAR... 15 Notes on the American Species of Olene Hiibner. HARRISON G. DYAR... 16 Two Noctuids New to Our Fauna HARRISON G. DYAR... 20 Facts in The Life History of Goniops chrysocoma. W. L. McATEE... 21 Two Species of Phycitinee New to Our Fauna. HARRISON G. DYAR... 30 A Synonymic Note HARRISON G. DYAR... 30 A Preoccupied Name in Saw flies S. A. ROHWER... 31 Ecdysis in the Diptera FREDERIJK KNAB... 32 Descriptions of Six New American Heterocera. WILLIAM SCHAUS... 42 The Weevils of Victoria County, Texas. J. D. MITCHELL and W. D WIGHT PIERCE... 45 Notes on Pterostichus johnsoni Ulke C. V. PIPER... 62 A New Basilodes from Texas HARRISON G. DYAR... 64 Two New North American Species of Eustrotia. HARRISON G. DYAR... 68 A New Genus for Cirrhophanus duplicatus. HARRISON G. DYAR... 69 Note on an Arizona Notodontian HARRISON G. DYAR... 69 Paranthaclisis hageni in Texas N. BANKS... 71 A Simple Trap-Light Device H. S. BARBER... 72 An Epidemic of Fungous Disease among Soldier Beetles. C. H. POPENOE and E. G. SMYTH... 7o Rediscovery of Rare Spiders N. BANKS... 76 Brief Notes of Two Recent Trips L. O. HOWARD .. 77 A New Cactus-frequenting Orthopteron from Texas. A. N. CAUDELL... 79 A New Species of Dioryctria HARRISON G. DYAR... 81 Xiphidion Stridulations H. A. ALLARD... 84 A New Coloradia HARRISON G. DYAR... 89 iii CONTENTS. The Attack of a Larval Hemipter upon a Caterpillar. F. ALEX. MCDERMOTT... 90 Hymenoptera in Smith's Insects of New Jersey, Third Edition 1910 H. L. VIERECK... 93 Notes on Indian Neuropteroid Insects NATHAN BANKS... 99 Some Factors Influencing the Development of the Boll Weevil. W. DWIGHT PIERCE... Ill A Note on the Occurrence of Chrysomyza demandata Fabricius. C. N. AINSLIE... 118 The Occurrence of the Myrnarid Genus Stethynium Enok in West Australia A. A. GIRAULT... 120 A New Pelecinus-like Genus and Species of Platygasteridae. J. C. CRAWFORD and J. C. BRADLEY... 124 A New Species of the Genus Cheiloneurus... .J. C. CRAWFORD... 126 Some Remarks on the Eggs of North American Species of Hemiptera Heteroptera OTTO HEIDEMANN.. 128 Studying the Stridulations of Orthoptera H. A. ALLARD... 141 Corrections H. L. VIERECK... 148 A Note on Ascodipteron NATHAN BANKS.. 149 Review of Work by Pantel and Portchinski on Reproductive and Early Stage Characters of Muscoid Flies. CHARLES H. T. TOWNSEND... 151 How Emphor Drinks FREDERICK KNAB... 170 Dr. A. Lutz's Studies of Brazilian Simuliidse. FREDERICK KNAB... 172 A New Species of North American Tingitida3...0. HEIDEMANN.. 180 On the Parasitism of the Larvae of Pollenia rudis Fab. in Allolobophora chlorotica Savingy D. KEILIN... 182 A New Mymarid Genus and Species from North America Allied , with Anthemus Howard A. A. GIRAULT... 185 Frederick C. Pratt, Obituary W. D. HUNTER... 189 Daniel William Coquillette, Obituary 196 Description of the Larva of Monoleuca semifascia Walker. C. V. RILEY... 210 A Curious Habit of One of Our Phorid Flies NATHAN BANKS... 212 Notes on Apantesis figurata Drury S. D. NIXON... 232 Two New Hymenoptera J. C. CRAWFORD... A Preoccupied Name in Sphecoidea S. A. ROHWER.. 234 A True Internal Parasite of Thysanoptera H. M. RUSSELL... 235 A Tendency Towards Posterior Erythrization in the Psammo- charidse NATHAN BANKS... 238 Zwei neue Afrikanische arten des Genus Triatoma (oder Conor - hinus) Laporte ARTHUR NEIVA.. 239 The Synonymy of a Thynnid genus S. A. RoHWER... 240 IV , PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Volume XIII, 1911. (MEETINGS OF MARCH 3, 1910, AND APRIL 7, 1910) PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, QUARTERLY CARLISLF., PA. WASHINGTON, D.W/ IQI I. Entered as (sworul-class mailer July 28, 1P09, at the post office at Carlisle, Pennsvlvania, under the Act of July 16, 1894. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday in each month, from October to June, inclusive, at 8 P. M., at the residences of members. Annual dues of active members, $3.00; of corresponding members, $2.00; initia- tion fee (for active members qiily), $1.00. OFFICERS FOR THE ?EAR 1911. President F. M. WEBSTER. First Vice-President A. L. QUAINT ANCE. Second Vice President E. F. PHILLIPS. Recording Secretary .' H. S. BARBER. Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROHWER. U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Sciences A. D. HOPKINS. Executive Committee. THE OFFICERS, L. O. HOWAUD, E. A. SCHWARZ, HARRISON G. DYAR. Publication Committee. HARRISON G. DYAR, A. L. Q.UAINTANCE, J. C. CRAWFORD. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published quarterly by the Society at No. 1 N. Pitt street, Carlisle, Pa., and Washington, D. C. Terms for subscription: Domestic, $2.00 per annum; foreign, $2.25 per annum; single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS shall be entitled to 25 sepa- rates of each contribution, free of charge. Additional copies may be had at cost by notifying the Publication Commiit.ee before the final page proof is returned tn the prlnter. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. VOL. XIII JANUARY MARCH, 1911 No. 1 MEETING OF MARCH 3, 1910. The 238th meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. Marlatt at his home, 1521 Sixteenth Street, NW., on the evening of March 3, 1910, and there were present Messrs. Barber, Burke, Caudell, Crawford, Crumb, Dyar, Gahan, Gill, Hatnmar, Heidemann, Hopkins, Howard, Knab, Mar- latt, Morgan, Peairs, Popenoe, Rohwer, Runner, Sasscer, Schwarz, Walford, Webb, and Webster, members, and Messrs. N. Kourdumoff, P. R, Myers, W. Postiff, and E. W. Wall, visitors. The minutes of the previous regular meeting. and of the special meeting of February 19 were read and approved. Mr. C. B. Hardenburg, of Pretoria, Transvaal, was pro- posed for corresponding membership and the name referred to the Executive Committee. The President announced that he had appointed as a com- mittee to draw up a biography of Mr. Ulke, Messrs. Howard, Schwarz, and Banks. A letter from Mr. Titus Ulke expressing thanks for the action of the Society was read. The first paper of the evening was "Trends of Diffusion in Insects," by Professor Webster. The second paper was "Notes on the Grass-feeding Hemi- leucas and their Allies," by Dr. Dyar. The last paper, "The Stridulations of some Cone-headed Grasshoppers," by Mr. Allard, was read by title.1 Already published, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., xn, 121, 1910. 2 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY THE DIFFUSION OF INSECTS IN NORTH AMERICA. [Author's Abstract.] BY F. M. WEBSTER. It does not appear necessary to at this time go into minute details with reference to the possible general trend of insect diffusion in North America, as this matter has been previously covered in a paper published by myself in Psyche tor April, 1903. Possibly it might, however, be well to call attention to some facts, notably the occurrence of European species on the northwest Pacific Coast, and the greater similarity between specimens found there and those taken in Europe than speci- mens of the same species taken in the Eastern United States. Also, to the well-known fact of a temperate or even tropical climate having once existed in what are now the cold and barren sections of the North. And, in the light of Lieutenant Shackleton's recent discoveries in the south polar regions, we may assume an almost parallel condition to have once obtained within the Antartic Circle, thus tending to prove what has previously been suspected, namely, a land connection between Australia, South America, and South Africa. What followed this period of warm temperature in the southern Antartic re- gions we do not know, but in the north we know that the ice sheets of the Glacial period crowded their way southward in many cases far into what is now the United States. Just what the effect of these immense ice sheets was beyond the southern extremities of the glaciers themselves we can only suspect, but judging from the fossil remains of insects found in the Tertiar}' rocks of Colorado, Wyoming, and British Columbia, we have every reason to suppose that northern species were driven far to the southward, and that, with the disappearance of the ice sheet and the recovering of the gla- ciated area with vegetation, these species, perhaps more or less modified in habits and appearance, would gradually drift back and reinhabit the glaciated territory. This appears to be sufficient basis for assuming a post- Glacial trend of insect diffusion from the tropical regions northward. And it would seem that the species working their way northward from Central America through Mexico might in some cases become greatly changed both in appearance and habits, There seems, however, to be a factor in insect diffusion from the south northward that has heretofore escaped notice. Ordinarily, insects accidentally imported into the United States or Canada from foreign countries become established along the OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 3 Atlantic coast and gradually diffuse themselves inland, fol- lowing, as I have indicated in the paper to which 1 have pre- viously alluded, certain regular lines of progress. There are, however, a number of a species which occur inland that give no indication whatever of having been introduced through any of the seaports of eastern or, indeed, western United States. One of these is the now well-known To. \optera grain in nm, which has spread generally over the United States west of a line drawn from northeastern Ohio approximately to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We have almost been able to trace the dispersion of this species in the Red River Valley of the North. While it occurs along the Mexican border from Brownsville, Texas, to the Imperial Valley of Southern Cali- fornia, in only one instance has it been reported throughout the territory northeast of the line to which I have just alluded. Mr. Hay hurst reports its occurrence in the vicinity of Bos- ton, but no one else, with the most careful search, has been able to find it either in New York, New England, or New Jersey; only in southern Pennsylvania. It has not yet be- come destructive in the East to any extent north of the Caro- linas, while in the West its ravages have extended as far north as Chicago and Omaha. Besides this, although Texas was one of the later States to be brought under cultivation, this pest began its ravages as early in that State as elsewhere in the country. With the present information we have there is far more probability of its having been introduced into and made its way northward through Mexico into the southwestern por- tion of the country than there is of its having been imported into any of the coastal seaports. Another case in point is that of Meromyza praloruni, a European species which during the last few years has been discovered in the mountainous regions from Mexico north- ward into northern Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and it now turns out that what has been going under the name of Meromyza americana is only a lowland form of the European species. As we find this also all along the Mexican border, it affords another illustration of a probable Mexican or Cen- tral American origin. When we call to mind the more recent natural diffusions of two Mexican species, whose spread has been actually observed, viz, Murgtintia histrionica and Anthonomus grandist we find a great similarity between their known diffusion over the country and the apparent diffusion of the two species Toxap- tera graminum and Meromvza pratorutn. 4 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY All of this leads me call attention to a possible means of in- troduction and diffusion of insects imported from Europe, not into the United States direct, but into Mexico and Central America, possibly also into northern South America, at the time of or soon after the Spanish conquests. It is well known that the Catholic priests as they pushed their way outward among the natives established not only their churches among the aborigines, but also the fruits, vegetables, and grains of their native country. It appears to me that we are now get- ting the first intimation of an early introduction of destructive insects, either among these imported grains or plants them- selves, or else in the material with which these were packed for their long voyage across the Atlantic. Possibly the re- cent introduction and spread of the alfalfa weevil {Phytono- mus mnrinns} so far inland as about Salt Lake, Utah, may offer an lliustration of what might have occurred in the earlier days following the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the country to the southward. Within the last year or two we have found insects in the grain fields of the Indians in southern New Mexico and Ari- zona, especially the latter, where these grains have been grown for hundreds of 3^ears, but surrounded by a desert country over which it would be impossible for these insects, unaided, to make their way. Only last year (June, 1909) Mr. C. N. Ainslie, on the Pima Indian Reservation at Saca- ton, Arizona, discovered a gall fly whose larva attacks the seed pods of alfalfa and which can only be separated from Asphondylia miki Wacht., described as attacking alfalfa in Europe, by the shape of the galled pods. The list of the species that might have been brought over and established in southern Mexico and Central and northern South America is not large, but the present indications are that as we become more intimately acquainted with the insect fauna of the country west of the one hundredth meridan, we shall find more foreign species, that, like those given in illus- tration, offer no possible explanation of their existence there on the score of having been imported into and spread inland from the seaports of the United States. A PREOCCUPIED NAME IN WASPS. Didineis vierecki, new name . Didineis crassicornis Viereck, Tr. Am. Ent. Soc., vol. 32, 1906; p. 204; non Didineis crassicornis Handlirsch, Sitzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien., vol. 46, 1887, p. 267. S. A. ROHWER. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911 NOTES ON THE GRASS-FEEDING HEMILEUCAS AND THEIR ALLIES. [Lepidoptera; Saturniidae.] BY HARRISON G. DYAR. The discovery by Professor Cockerell that a species of Hcitii- lenca feeds upon grass in the larval state (Psyche, vin, 298, 1898) was an interesting addition to our knowledge of the food- plants of species of this genus. Recently it has transpired that the species is of economic importance by destroying the pastures and so injuring the cattle industry. Considerable interest in the matter has therefore developed, and I have been asked by Mr. Webster to look into the specific identity of the form con- cerned. This has been described by Professor Cockerell as Hemileuca sororia race olii'i\\. () specimens are received from thfs region, which accounts for the paucity of our knowledge of this form. It may be, and probably is, locally abundant. Hemileuca marillia, new species. Rosy brown to dull rone-color. Thorax rosy brown with whitish overcast. Fore wing with the costa more or less marked with whitish, but no ocherou.s; lines broad, distinct, whitish; discal mark narrow, whitish, obscure. Hind wing rosy brownish in both sexes, with an outer whitish diffused line. Beneath the lines faintly reproduced, the basal part of the fore wing red. Abdomen dark rose-rod. Expanse: Male 50 mm.; female 60 mm. Two males, two females, Tehuacan, State of Puebla. Mex- ico (R. Miiller, No. 1753;. Type: No. 12932, L". S. National Museum. This is closely allied to the following species, and may prove to be not specifically distinct therefrom. The present species comes from the southern end of the Mexican plateau, whereas Lex has been found some (>W) miles farther north. Specimens from intermediate points are needed to show the relationship of these forms. Hemileuca lex Druce. Euleucoph&us le.r Druce, Biol. Cent. -Am., Lep. Het., II, 42n, 1897. Described from a single male from Durango City at the foot of the Sierra Madre. The species is not before me, but it is interesting to note the similarity in location with that of the allied oliiicr. 'Both species inhabit high, arid land on the eastern slope of a mountain range. . Of the above twelve nominal species not including the aberrant dukinficldi Schaus; , eight are from the Mexican plateau ('two without exact localities), six (two doubtful; from the lower and best known part of that region, two from the central portion in State of Durango. Of the outlying forms, one is known from the peninsula of Lower California, one from southwestern Arizona, and one from New Mexico, while but a single species occurs outside of the high arid regions, namely, mcDiia Druce, from the State of Yera Crux. In the center of distribution several species may occur in the same general region, whether actually associated or not is not known; but in the outlying portions of the general area of distribution the species occur singly. Kvidently the ancestor of these species was an inhabitant of the Mexican plateau, where the larva.- fed upon grass in the absence, practically, of 10 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY all other vegetation. The group has in general confined itself to regions of the same general character Full data are not at hand concerning the single species known from the lower moist region in the State of Vera Cruz. Such data could not fail to be of interest. Hemileuca mexicana Druce. Metanastria mexicana Druce, Biol. Cent.-Am., Lep. Het. , I, 201, 1887. Dendrolimus mexicana Kirby, Cat. Lep. Het., I, 816, 1892. This species was described as a lasiocampid, but, although no specimens are before me, it is evident from Druce's appar- ently excellent figures that it is a saturnian and a member of this genus. The species was described from two specimens in the collection of the late Dr. Staudinger, and are without exact locality. I have therefore left them out of considera- tion in the above, especially as it seems doubtful whether the two sexes are correctly associated. The male is represented with a dark discal mark, the female with a pale one, and there are other differences that would not be expected in sexes of one species. It is certainly regrettable that so many of the specimens in collections of this interesting group of Hemileuca should be without exact localities, as it so much increases the difficulty of the study of the geographical distribution of the forms. A NOTE ON HALISIDOTA CINCTIPES GROTE. Some years ago I placed Halisidota dcrcisii of Henry Edwards from Arizona as a synonym of H. ciuctipes, Grote from Cuba, and in this course Sir G. F. Hampson followed me in the British Museum catalogue. Very recently, how- ever, the Hon. Walter Rothschild has separated davisii and cinctipes as species and has further proposed the name under- woodi for the dominant continental form. Certain differences between these forms are apparent, and it may be a matter of opinion whether they should be treated as species or sub- species. Cinctipes occurs in Cuba and southern Florida. As compared with the continental underwoodi, the markings are thin and poorly contrasted, the black edgings powdery and with whitish edges. The discal markings have a tendency to obsolescence, breaking from the costal marks in the Cuban specimens and absent in some Florida specimens. In darisii from Arizona the markings that are present are well contrasted, but all those beyond the disk are obsolete or absent. HARRISON G. DYAK. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 11 In discussion of the first two papers on the regular program, Dr. Dyar said: In the fauna of North America there are two very distinct elements, one a descendant of the early circum- polar fauna and not introduced and the second coming up from the south. In the Noctuidse, the Agrotinse are domi- nant in America, but also well represented in Europe. This element of the fauna probably arose in pre-Glacial times and then was driven southward. In the Lepidoptera the species in temperate North America coming from the south are in the minority. Arctia caja is almost the same in Europe and North America, and the form on the Pacific coast is most like the European form. In Asia there is a form like that in the Rocky Mountains. Halisidota comes from the south and is not in Europe. The ancestors of //. maciilata probably came up the west coast into California from Mexico, giving rise to another variety in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and from this the Eastern typical maciilata. The Limacodidse are both from the north and the south, but the latter dominant. Mr. Rohwer said that in the Sphecoidea there are many ex- amples. In Trypoxvlon the frigidnm group is found in both Europe and America and is a northern element, while the rn foci net n m group found on both continents is apparently a southern element. The excavation group found only in America is a southern element, and comes as far north as New York. Dr. Howard remarked that Professor Webster was discus- sing a modern diffusion, while Messrs. Dyar and Rohwer were discussing the ancient lines. It must be remembered that insect diffusion depends to a large extent on food plants. The diffusion in the United States has followed the life zones and the insects have tended toward their normal zones. Horticulturists trying to broaden the habitat of plants have not been encouraged. Meromyza is one of a class of insects carried in packing and so easily introduced. Insects intro- duced into the United States from Europe spread to their nor- mal life zone. Dr. Hopkins said that we have to consider two factors very different — one influencing insects introduced and one influ- 12 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY encing native species. Professor Webster is referring to intro- duced species. In that case a trend is to be considered. Too much stress has been laid on circumpolar faunae. It is more natural to consider that insects have come up to us through geologic periods and palaeontology gives us some knowledge of this. We must consider rather that it was similar climates producing similar species both in Europe and America due to this similar climate causing parallel development. Mr. Knab said that climate was of more importance than plant distribution in considering the distribution of insects, and cited as an example the species of the genus Melasoma in North America which have gone under the name of M. lap- ponica. There are three distinct forms related to lapponica in the United States, the first occupying the region from Alaska to California, the second the Great Lakes region to New England, and the third the South Atlantic States and Middle West, northward to the lakes. Their food plants, the willows, however, go south to Patagonia, but the species of this group fade out to the south and do not occur in Mex- ico. They are closely related to forms occurring in Europe and Siberia and are clearly of circumpolar origin. In order to understand our own Southwest we must know more of the pla- teau region of Mexico, which is a flat, dismal region. The only part of Mexico that is well explored is the slope and the low coast region in the state of Vera Cruz, but the table-land is not -touched. Dr. Howard stated that the grasses were unimportant on the table-land. Mr. Schwarz said that on the table-lands of Mexico there are three itnpoitant factors in the flora: the cacti, the mesquite, and the grasses. In the state of Durango grass is important. The fauna and flora of the table-lands was found by Mr. Schwarz to extend almost to the City of Mexico and probably goes further. The fauna of the plateau region is separated from the tropical fauna by a sharply defined line. Under the name Tropics are mixed up a lot of elements. The forest region of Tampico is similar to that of Florida and Cuba, but not like that of eastern Guatemala. OF WASHINGTON. VOLUME XIII, 1911. 13 Mr. Schwarz remarked that tropical appearance does not al- ways depend on moisture, for in eastern Guatemala there is a large reg-iou with the appearance of the Potomac River region, but where it rains every day. -Under the heading "Short Notes and Exhibition of Speci- mens" Dr. Dyar showed a copy of the first part of Lord Wal- singham's portion of the Biologia Centrali-Americana, which is to comprise the Tineina. He said: The part shown has 24 pages with one plate, embracing the Lavernidse and part of the Gelechiidae. Though but a small part of the work, it exhibits the general style and make- up to be expected of the whole. The general plan of treat- ment employed in the previous parts on the Lepidoptera Heterocera is continued, perhaps unavoidably. This excludes all tables of families, genera, and species, as well as all diag- noses of old species, leaving the descriptive matter confined to the characterization of new genera and species. The treat- ment is accidentally much more largely monographic than in previous sections of the Lepidoptera Heterocera, owing to the circumstance that a large majority of the forms treated are here first described. Each new genus is accompanied by a text- figure of venation and head structure, a most useful and com- mendable innovation. We wish these had been given for the type species of the old genera as well. Such figures would have largely replaced the missing synoptic tables. There are in the part 36 species treated in 20 genera. Of these over 80 per cent of the species and 30 per cent of the genera are "new." The colored figures on the plate are given much en- larged. The names of the authors and works quoted in the bibliography are too greatly abbreviated. The less familiar ones are quite unintelligible. The work on the whole is ad- mirable, and in several important respects is an improvement on the previous volumes of the Lepidoptera. We desire to congratulate the eminent author on the appearance of the first part of this monumental work, which has been so long expected. —Dr. Dyar read a communication1 from Mr. R. Shelford, of the University Museum, Oxford, England, which was a reply to Mr. A. N. Caudell for certain criticisms of Mr. Shel- ford's work. Mr. Shelford objected to Mr. Caudell's quota- 'Not accepted for publication.— EDITOR. 14 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY tious from his letters on the ground that the letters were pri- vate ones. He said that his reasons for not using the new name Blatclla instead of the preoccupied one Phyllodromia (for which he has been criticized) were that the genus con- tained a large number of heterogeneous species and needed re- vision, when the names would have to be greatly changed, while to change the generic name in the mean time would, he thought, only tend to increase the confusion. Mr. Shelford pointed out that his preoccupied name Ceratinoptera castauea, for which Mr. Caudell had proposed the new name shelf ordi, had been already renamed by himself Ceratinoptera usambar- ensis (Genera Insectorum, fasc. 73, Blattida}, Phyllodromiiuae, p. 19.) Mr. Caudell said that he had not regarded Mr. Shelford's letter as private but as a scientific communication from a rec- ognized authority, whose opinion would be a matter of gen- eral interest. The following papers were accepted for publication : A NEW DIANTHIDIUM FROM PARAGUAY. [Hymenoptera; Apoidea.] BY CURT SCHROTTKY. Dianthidium vernoniae, new species. Female. Black with a few yellow marks on the head and the three terminal segments of abdomen with broad yellow bands. Head a trifle broader than thorax, almost nude, only with a few very short yellowish bristles, all over -coarsely and deeply punctured. Eyes a little convergent at base, their inner orbits with a narrow yellow line. Mandibles longitudinally striate, clypeus broader than long, with a shallow transverse depression before its apical margin. Scutum nasale trapesiform ; malar space practically none. Two small yellow spots between the insertion of antennae. Distance of hinder ocelli about one and a half diameters, distance from the eyes more than two dia- meters. A yellow line along the hinder margin of the head, this sharply truncate and deeply emarginate. Antennae 'fuscous, scape black, stained apically with a little ferruginous. Thorax robust, throughout covered with deep coarse punctures, except the vertical part of the median segment, which is minutely punctured above and smooth below. Pronotum very short, only its blunt lateral angles being visible. Mesonotum a little broader than long, with its lateral margin deeply depressed, the depression forming OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 15 a narrow line, minutely punctured. Scutellum about four times broader than long, separated from the mesonotum by a very deep suture, its hinder margin sharp, overlapping considerably the median segment. Metanotum scarcely visible at the sides under the scutellum. Median segment coarsely punctured only at its base. Mesopleura anteriorly truncate, punctured like the rest. Abdomen short, not longer than head + thorax, with large punctures on the sides of the first two body segments, decressing in size rapidly towards the middle and the apex. An indistinct ferruginous stain at the sides of first and second segments. A small linear yellow spot at each side of the third; the basal half of the fourth yellow and its apical half fuscous; the fifth with basal two-thirds yellow and the apical third ferruginous; the sixth segment yellow, with a very small fuscous apical spot. The pollen brush is yellowish white. Wings dark, especially at the apex of the median cell and in the cubital cells, the radial cell almost black; the nervures and stigma deep fuscous; the transverse discoidal veins terminating behind the angles of the second cubital cell at equal distance. Legs entirely dark, clothed with a thin griseous pubescence; that on the metatarsi dense, stouter, and reddish brown. Pulvilli short but distinct. Length a little over 7 mm. ; width of abdomen '2.5 mm. A second specimen has no yellow line along the hinder margin of the head and the yellow spots between the insertion of the antennae are scarcely distinguishable ; it has, however, an additional small yellow spot at each side of the clypeus; its length is 7.5 mm. Paraguay, Tacuru-pucu, April 29, 1909 (type), and Puerto Bertoui, Alto Parana. Taken in flowers of Vernotiia sp. (Compositae). I considered this as Dianthidium megachiloides (Holrubg ) (=Anthodioctes megachiloides} but the description, imperfect as it is, does not agree with my specimens in some important points. It is also near D. indescriptum (D. T.) (=Anthidium cogiiatttm F. Smith nee Cresson), but the abdomen of the atter is "pubescent, giving it a velvety blackness" and " the scutellum is orange-yellow," while D. reniouicr has the abdomen nude and the scutellum black. AN ARCTIAN NEW TO OUR FAUNA. Mr. R. A. Vickery has collected Halisidota aiitiulofa Walker at Brownville, Texas. The moth is common in Mexico and it is not surprising that it should appear at Browns- ville, where so many southern forms occur. HAKRISON G. DYAK. 16 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY NOTES ON THE AMERICAN SPECIES OF OLENE HUBNER. [Lepidoptera; Liparidse. ] BY HARRISON G. DYAR. I have been asked for an exact determination of the pine- feeding species of Olene {Parorgyia) of northern distribution. It appears that the material before me is insufficient for a full comprehension of the subject. Especially material is needed from the Southern States, while a certain well-marked type of larva has never been associated with its proper adult. I have formerly reduced the number of species considerably, admit- ting but three in Bulletin 52, U. S. National Museum. I think that the number will have to be somewhat increased. I will consider the names in the order of Bulletin 52. FEEDING ON DECIDUOUS TREES. Olene achatina Smith and Abbot. I have no material before me agreeing exactly with Abbot's figure. The form shown is like obliquata, with more of white, the brown markings distinct and broken into spots. It may be a southern race of obliquata, or distinct. The larva fig- ured may be wrongly associated. It is very unlike the larva of obliquata as determined by Seifert and others. A larva agreeing with Abbot's figure has been bred by me, producing the form basiflava. Olene obliquata Grote and Robinson. This form, with its variety parallela G. & R., has been well worked out by Seifert. The adult is characterized by the subterminal markings of the fore wing, while the larva is very distinct, its long, dense hairs showing no contrast in the tufts of joints 5 to 8, only a single pair of hair pencils in front, none behind, and none accompanying the tuft on joint 12. The distribution of the material before me is from Maine to Maryland. I have placed this form as a synonym to achatina, which can only be maintained if Abbot's larva is wrongly associated. New material from Georgia is needed to settle the point. Olene tephra Hiibner. I have no material agreeing certainly with Hiibner's figure. In the male 'no white is shown, in the female only a little around the discal mark. The resemblance is toward obhquata, but the inner line is too distinct and its parts too well marked and separate, besides the distinct markings on the hind wing OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, lilll. 17 of the male, which occur in no obliquata before me. I have formerly referred the form as a variety of achatina, but fresh material from the Southern States is needed to positively identify this name. Olene cinnamomea Grote and Robinson. This is possibly only a variety of obliquata. It differs in the lines being brown, not black. It was described from a single female. I have males from Racine, Wisconsin; Pough- keepsie, New York, and Weekapaug, Rhode Island; females from Denster, Wisconsin, and Cocoanut Grove, Florida. The form is widely distributed, but rare, and has never been bred from larvae. Olene leucophaea Smith and Abbot. In Bulletin 52 I gave three varieties of this species, but I believe now that they are all wrongly referred here. Basiflava is a form of plaoiata; atrivenosa is a distinct species, and man to is referable to the pine-feeding forms more fully treated below. Concerning the true leucophcea, Abbot's figures are puzzling. I have some adults similar to them from Florida, though the base of the wing of the female is less invaded by white and the black horizontal bar is absent. The larvae, however, are entirely dissimilar. Abbot's figure may be very faulty, but it shows a long hair pencil on joint 12 (shown double, which never occurs to my knowledge). In the Florida larvae, however, there is only a short, square tuft on joint 12, besides other numerous minor differences. I possess larvae with a long, single hair pencil on joint 12, from deciduous trees, but they have not been bred. These are 'the nearest to Abbot's figure of anything known to me, but that is not saying they are very near. They are darkly colored and have plumed lateral hairs and only four dorsal tufts (Abbot's shows seven, another anomaly). These larva? agree entirely with the pine- feeding ones and it may be that they have only accidentally been taken on deciduous trees. Olene plagiata Walker. I have no fresh notes on Walker's types of plagiata and alomaria, so let the s}'nonymy stand as it is. The third syn- onym, clintonii G. & R., is well known. This is the only form extending its range into the West. I have specimens which I regard from present evidence as belonging to this species from Bellingham, Washington (R. H. Stretch), Seat- tle, Washington CO. B. Johnson), Winnipeg, Manitoba (A. W. Hanham), Colorado (D. Bruce), Glen wood Springs, Colo- 18 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY rado (W. Barnes), besides an eastern distribution from Maine to Texas. The form basiflava Packard is referable here. It differs by the yellow infusion at the base of fore wings. It is the domi- nant form in the southern part of the range of the species, my specimens being from New York to Florida and Texas. The larva agrees with Abbot's figure of achatina, and it may be that that name should be associated here rather than where I have attempted to place it. However the base of the wing is distinctly infiltrated with yellow, not white as in Abbot's fig- ure of achatina, so I let the names stand as above until fuller material is forthcoming from Georgia. Also, the subterminal markings forbid this reference. Olene atrivenosa Palm. This form is really entirely distinct. Mr. Palm kindly al- lowed me to examine the male and female specimens in his collection. The published figure does not do justice to the black longitudinal lines, which are very distinct. There is no white on the wings. FEEDING ON CONIFERS. These forms are distinguishable in a general way from those feeding on deciduous trees by the more mottled character of the maculation and the predominance of brown in the ground- color. The species are in general smaller and there is less difference in size between the sexes. Olene manto Strecker. I have recently examined the unique male type now in the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago. It is closely allied to the following form, but less suffused with brown. Olene interposita, new variety. Similar \Q manto Streck., but more uniformly brown. Fore wing suffused with brown, the lines black, distinct, irregularly crenulate and rather broad. A white cloud in the discal area, defining the brown-filled oblique reniform; subterminal line pale, waved, followed by a grayer terminal area. In the fe- male the median space is largely gray. One male, one female, Tryon, North Carolina, August 1, 1903 (W. F. Fiske). Type: No. 13465, U. S. National Museum. In manto the terminal spece is nearly clear grav to the margin and a narrow, wavy white line crosses the basal space. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 11)11. 19 The discal region, lines, and brown ground are very similar in the two forms. Olene montana Beutenmiiller. Mr. Beutenrniiller has kindly shown me his types of this form. The specimens are entirely suffused with brown, with- out white, except at the discal area and tornus. The larva has four black pencils, a pencil accompanying the tuft of joint 12, the other tufts black. The specimens were bred from larvse on balsam. I am inclined to the view that the above three forms repre- sent local races of one species, in which the tendency to brown suffusion is increased with the altitude. Manto was described from Stewart County, Georgia, which is in the western edge of the State at a low altitude; interposita comes from Tryon, North Carolina, which is at a considerable altitude in the foothills; montana is from the true mountain region of North Carolina. Olene pini, new species. Fore wing gray, dusted with black and lightened by white mark- ings, shaded with brown in basal space and between the outer and subterminal lines; a small black line at the base; median lines black, distinct, crenulate, the outer angulated inward on vein 1; discal mark a black reniform, open and more or less broken into two black bars, lightened by white edgings; subterminal line white, waved, with a white spot above tornus; terminal line black, crenulate, somewhat drawn back from the margin; narrow white edgings to both the h'nes. Hind wings brown-gray, with discal mark and outer narrow line more or less well defined. Expanse: Male 30 mm.; female 35 mm. Seven males and seven females, North Saugus, Massachu- setts, bred from larvae on pine by Mr. W. F. Fiske, Mr. H. M. Russell, and myself (Gipsy Moth Laboratory No. 1471). Also a male that I take to be the same species labeled "Corn- ing's farm, Gray," that is probably from near Albany, New York. This specimen has a black submedian bar. Also a male and female, labeled "Sharon, August 1, 1873;- July 20, 1874," which are brown and faded looking and without the sharp contrasts of the fresh specimens. Type: No. 13466, U. S. National Museum. The larva is red-brown or blackish gray, with many plumed white tufts and lateral plumed black hairs; a pair of pencils in front, a pair behind, and a single one accompanying the tuft of joint 12; tufts gray, intermixed with plumed white hairs. 20 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Olene pinicola, new variety. This form is similar \.o pini, but all the specimens are larger and darker. The brown shadings are weak or suppressed, being replaced by blackish. The hind wings show this ten- dency, being distinctly of a less brownish tint than \npini. The white markings are broader and more suffused, being at the same time more restricted, the median space showing white only about the reniform. Eight males, fifteen females, Douglas County, Wisconsin (Hopkins, U. S. No. 8389; Gipsy Moth Laboratory Nos. 4657 and 4660) . Type: No. 13467, U. S. National Museum. Olene grisefacta, new species. Light gray, coarsely dusted with black on a nearly white ground, that is irregularly shaded with luteous; lines broad, black, the inner coarsely waved, the outer crenulate; discal mark broad, black-outlined, reniform, broken above; subterminal line lost in the general diffusion of the markings or indicated by black inner markings; white spot above tornus distinct but not contrasted, resembling the white about the discal mark; terminal line black, crenulated, receding from the margin. Hind wings rather light gray, with faint discal spot and outer line. Expanse: Male 40 mm.; female 45 mm. Two males, three females, Glenwood Springs, Colorado (W. Barnes), and Colorado (D. Bruce). Type: No. 13468, U. S. National Museum. This is similar to pinicola, but larger and paler. TWO NOCTUIDS NEW TO OUR FAUNA. The peculiar noctuid Peosina pandrosa Cramer must be added to our list, as I have before me a specimen labeled "Miami, Florida." The moth has a geometriform appear- ance and the median vein is trifid on the forewings, although typically quadrifid on the hind wings. The very peculiar palpi with long slender end-joint and the large eyes are also characteristic. Prodenia latifascia Walker also occurs with us. I have a specimen recently collected by R. A. Vickery at Brownsville, Texas. The moth resembles cudiopta Guenee of our lists (-- ornithogalli Gueu.) but may be distinguished by the ocherous median space, the color involving the stigmata. HARRISON G. DYAR. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, I'.lll. 21 FACTS IN THE LIFE HISTORY OF GONIOPS CHRYSOCOMA. [Diptera; Tabanidse.] BY W. L. McATEE. Interesting features of the behavior of the tabauid (ion/ops chrysocoma (Osteu-Sacken) were observed on Plummer's Island, Maryland, during the season of 1910. While assem- bling this and other data for an article embodying all avail- able information on this fly in the District of Columbia faunal region, it was found that Mr. Theodore Pergande had col- lected, years ago, two full-grown larvae, which stage of Goniops, as well as the pupa, remain undescribed. One of these larvae was preserved, the other allowed to pupate. The pupa was bred and preserved with the female imago which emerged. The instance adds but another to the long list of contributions to life histories made during a lifetime of en- thusiastic collecting and careful breeding of insects by Mr. Pergande. Great credit is due him for valuable work in this much-neglected field. Through the courtesy of Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, I am enabled to describe and figure this larva and pupa. The eggs and first-stage larvae of Goniops were described and figured by W. R. Walton in the Entomological News for December, 1908 (vol. xix, No. 10, pp. 464-465; pi. xxn), He concludes that the incubation period is from seven to ten days, although according to the dates g-iven (July a mis- print?) it would be much longer. The eggs of Gon/ops have been seen during each of the last three years on Plummer's Island, Maryland. On June 26, 1908, H. S. Barber collected a female and a large, greenish-white egg-mass which was laid on the underside of an oak leaf about 8 feet above the ground (See PI. I, figs. 3, 4, 5). The larvae hatched June 28. In 1910 the writer found four egg-masses on July 3 and two on July 10. One of the first four egg-masses was collected. The larvae hatched July 7. Another had been deserted by the female by July 10. The outer layers of eggs were black, and from them issued, on July 11, numerous proctrotrypids, which J. C. Crawford says are Telenomus, probably an unde- scribed species. The two remaining egg-masses of the lot found July 3 were covered by the females until July 10, a period of a week, during which time manv eggs were added. These eggs, and the two masses discovered July 10 as well, were hatched by July 17. They were deposited on the undersides 22 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY of Eupatorium, Benzoin, and Hamamelis leaves. Some of the empty egg-cases (PI. I, fig. 6) usually clung to the leaf after hatching, but in one instance not the slightest trace re- mained of an eg-g-mass on a witch hazel leaf. A fly heard by E. A. Schwarz giving its peculiar buzz on July 13, and which undoubtedly was ovipositing then, was located by the writer on July 17. On July 24 the female was absent and the eggs were hatching. The larva?, dropping to the ground, im- mediately burrowed in. These observations show that the female Goniops guards the egg-mass sometimes for a week at least; that this precau- tion does not always prevent parasitism; that the period of incubation varies, and that the larva? are fitted for a subter- ranean life, upon which they enter as soon as hatched. Eggs have hatched in from 2 to 11 days from the date of collection. But from the fact that eggs are added to the mass for several days, and that all hatch at the same time, it must be inferred that the eggs within the body of the female keep pace in de- velopment with those laid. To determine the true period of incubation, observations must cover the process from the lay- ing of the first egg to hatching. All of the egg-masses found on Plummet's Island in 1910 were on the steep north slope of the principal elevation of the island, which is a well-shaded, cool, and damp locality. The finding of seven egg- masses in this area of less than an acre in one season shows that Goniops chrysocoma is not uncom- mon locally, even though little is known of it and recorded captures are not numerous. The buzzing noise made by the female Goniops is very characteristic and once learned will not be mistaken. The fly makes the sound periodically when ovipositing and guard- ing the egg-mass, and also usually makes it when disturbed by motion nearby. Hence the insect almost always betrays its presence to the passing collector. The sound is made fre- quently if one remains near. In describing the method of mak- ing the sound, Hine says1 the wings "striking the leaf at each downward stroke make a rattling noise which could be heard plainly several feet away." According to the writer's obser- vations, the sound is a true "buzz" and is made with the wings lifted up and forward, from which position thev are rapidly vibrated, but not to such an extent as to touch the leaf. Hine speaks of finding the flies on the upper sides of leaves; we have always found them on the under sides. 1 Ent. News, XI, 1900, p. 392. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 23 The capture of Goniops chrysocoma has been recorded from the following localities: Trenton Falls, New York;1 Del- aware,1 Dunfield and Delaware Water Gap, New Jersey;2 Pittsburg,3 Jeannette (type locality),4 and Highspire,5 Pennsyl- vania; and Hinckley and Vinton,6 Ohio. A specimen in the National Museum collection was taken on the Peaks of Otter, Virginia, July 16, 1906, by William Palmer. On Plummer's Island, Maryland, the fly has been taken at the following dates, besides those previously mentioned: June 28, 1905; July 14, 1907; June 27 and July 11, 1909. Single males were taken on the first two dates; all other captures noted relate to females. The remainder of this article will be devoted to descriptions of the newly hatched and full-grown larvae and the pupa of Goniops. They are illustrated by figures 1 and 2, and by Plates I-III. An explanation of the plates will be found on page 29. In the descriptions of the larvae the segments are numbered from the head backward. The writer is fully aware of the general use of the terms pro-, meso-, and meta- thorax for the three anterior segments, but they are here spoken of as the first, second, and third body-segments, which .they really are. In the newly hatched larvae they are scarcely differentiated from the following segments. In the full- grown larvae, w-hile distinguishable by the surface markings, their exterior features are homologous with those of more posterior body-rings. In comparing and describing them, therefore, it is more natural to use numerical designations. FIRST-STAGE LARVx£. The average length of first-stage larvae of Goniops chrysoco- ma which have been preserved in alcohol is about 1 mm. In life they are about twice as long. The larvae are not tuberculate, but the margins of each segment from the third to the tenth, especially the front margins, are more or less raised into low rounded rings. On a larva with arched body definite .trans- verse impressions behind the anterior fleshy annulus of each 'Osten-Sacken, C. R. Mem. Bos. Soc. Nat. Hist., II, 1875, p. 368. 2 Smith, J. B. Suppl. 27th Ann. Rep. N. J. State Bd. Agr. (1899), 1900, p. 640. 3Hine, J. S. Ent. News, XI, WOO, p. 192. 4Aldrich, J. M. Psyche, VI, 1892, pp. 23(i-237. 5 Walton, W. R. Ent. News, xix, 1908, p. 464. 6Hine, J. S. Ohio Nat, II, 1901, p. 16!>. 24 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY segment are apparent under magnification. They render the anuuli conspicuous enough, in fact, to give an impression as of false feet to the naked eye observing the larvae crawling. The mouth-parts are exceedingly minute and hard to ob- serve. In arrangement they suggest those of the full-grown larva (described below), and the homologies have been made out accordingly, and. it is hoped successfully. The drawing (fig. 1) is strictly diagrammatic and is made up from a num- ber of studies of larval heads, none of which showed all the parts in the position used in the drawing. Labrum (Ibr. ) short, pointed, black-tipped, and slightly curved down- ward. Labiurri triangular, not bifid as in full-grown larva. Maxilla? (mx.) fleshy, truncate-conical, with a short down- wardly projecting lobe on inner side of distal end; palpus (mx.p.) arising from end of maxilla, first joint long, somewhat enlarged distally, tipped by a number of short rods or spines, one of which is larger and blunt. It may be considered a second palpal joint surrounded at the base by a group of spines. Mandibles (md. ) fleshy, blunt-tipped, crenulate on lower edge, lying just inside of maxillas. Antenna? (an.) straight, tapering, directed forward; basal joint as long as first palpal joint, somewhat expanded distally, second joint double, one of its divisions longer and apparently tipped with a seta. First segment of body slightly inflated; first and second segments convex above, flattened beneath, lower lateral edge rather prominent. Second and third segments with two or three longitudinal furrows on each side. Second segment with two conspicuous, well-separated, elongate brownish spots visible (apparently somewhat under the sur- face) on the dorsal aspect. Hind margins of segments becoming more undulate posteriorly, markedly so on ninth and tenth segments. Last segment with two round black spots (spiracles) set close together on median dorsal surface; this segment with two more prominent ventral tubercles, two similar lateral ones, and other minute tubercles. FULL-GROWN LARVA. The full-grown larva here described is one of two collected by Theodore Pergande, near Cabin John Bridge, Maryland, April 13, 1899. They were found under stones covering the openings of mouse burrows. The color in life was gray. The general color of the preserved specimen is dark brown; the head is black. The total length, when the head is re- tracted, is 17 mm., the greatest diameter 7.5 mm. With the head fully drawn out the larva measures 21 mm. long. PROC. ENT. SOC» WASHINGTON VOLUME xiii, PLATE . •- LIFE HISTORY OF GONIOPS CHRYSOCOMA. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, lull. 25 Head convex above, flattened beneath, the lower lateral edge a well-marked ridge made by the stretching of the skin over the pro- longed basal supports of mouth-parts. Anterior part of head marked off from posterior part by a band of very thin wrinkled skin; anterior fold of this band beginning dorsally just in front of two large lateral smooth areas containing the indefinite bluish-white eyespots; fold de- scending obliquely over side of head, ending ventrally between bases of maxillae. Anterior part of head and areas surrounding eye-spots with glassy surface, remainder covered with thin, wrinkled skin. Epistoma and labrum (Ibr.) forming a thin, lance-like projection be- tween upper paired parts of oral apparatus. Upper edge of labrum anf m x p FIG. 2. grooved from opposite middle of an- tennal flap (an. f. ) to base of the mandibles (md.); provided with an unequally two-lobed caruncle just back of the upturned tip (Ibr.). Higher lobe of caruncle and tip of labrum each bearing a solitary an- teriorly directed seta. (See fig. 2.) Lower edge of labrum applied to labium (/&.). Latter flat; thin lateral strips diverging from a distinct ramus behind being chitinized, the remain- der flexible. Labium ending in a pair of rounded, conical, fleshy lips; flexible portions closely set with short yellow hairs. Mandibles (md.) black, claw-like, blunt, sheathed at base by lobes of maxillae (mx.). The latter thin, flexible, following the curve of the mandibles, their slightly forward curved tips surpassing mandibles. Their lower edge and inner side provided with numerous yellow hairs. Palpi (mx. p.) arising from external basal flaps of maxillae. First palpal joint inwardly and downwardly curved, second setiform, slightly curved downward and overlapping mandible. Arising in the arch between epistoma and side of head is a flap (an. f.) which seems to be part of theantennal apparatus. It follows edge of epistoma nearly to base of mandibles, and curving down is at- tached to the posterior third of first antennal joint. From this point clear around the curve to where it parallels the epistoma the flap is fringed with long yellow hairs. First joint of antenna (an.) slightly incurved (thus being directed outward), nearly three times as long as the two terminal joints together; second joint conical, tapering grad- nally, directed forward and downward; third setiform and directed downward. Anterior part of first segment very finely tesselated, the granules being arranged in irregular longitudinal rows. The head retracts into the posterior part of this segment, whose exterior is a longitudinally striate thin membrane inflated to gibbous barrel-shape. (PL I, fig. 7.) 26 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The line of separation between the parts of this segment is marked by a ring of fine fleshy crenulations. Second and third segments surrounded about the middle by undulate, crinkly, thin-edged folds (PI. II, figs. 1-3) with five symmetrically placed backward angulations in each fold on each side. Parts of these two segments posterior to the folds with as many longitudinal sulci as there are angles in the fold, and longitudinally striate with fine, ir- regular wavy ridges. Anterior third of second segment finely striate lengthwise. Part of second segment just in front of fold and anterior portion of third segment granular. On fourth and following segments these folds broken up into series of fleshy tubercles, on both sides of which surface of segments is raised into low ridges, which on the anterior segments have few but on the posterior segments several low protuberances. Fourth and fol- lowing segments more prominently ridged transversely on dorsal area and longitudinally on ventral area. A trace of longitudinal stria- tion remains on posterior of the three ridges (on each segment as just described) or protuberances representing it. The fleshy teeth derived from the median segmental folds largest and most numerous on middle of lateral area of each segment, where they are heaped up into irreg- ular elevations, with two more prominent points forming a series alongside; these elevations marked off by deep impressions both above and below and becoming more prominent posteriorly. There are three tubercles above (supralateral series) lateral prominences and about five below (infralateral series) on each segment behind fourth. The fleshy fold continuous across the dorsal area of fourth segment; (PI. II, fig. 2) ; back of this, dorsum of each segment marked by a de- pressed, comparatively smooth elliptical area. These areas bounded in front by a varying number of thin, fleshy teeth and posteriorly by a series of low, broad, longitudinally striate protuberances. Two of the latter fall into a series down the median line of the segments, on the ninth and tenth of which they become closely approximate, much more prominent, and round pointed. The first of the series (supra- lateral) of three tubercles above the prominent lateral elevations bound the dorsal depressions at the sides and stand in a series along the back. Ventral series (PI. II, fig. 3) of protuberances marked off" from infra- lateral series by a hiatus, by lower and thinner teeth, and by the for- ward arching of the series. It consists essentially of two stronger lateral teeth with a varying number of less prominent ones between. On tenth segment the series is shortened and the middle elements are almost lacking. Between these arched series of teeth and posterior ridges on ventral surface of the segments (which are represented by about four low, round protuberances) are depressed areas similar to those of dorsal surface. These are bounded at sides by first protuber- ances of infralateral series. Each segment from fourth to tenth has a PROC. ENT, SOC. WASHINGTON VOLUME XIII, PLATE H LIFE HISTORY OF GONIOPS CHRYSOCOMA. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASHINGTON VOLUME XIII, PLATE III LIFE HISTORY OF GONIOPS CHRYSOCOMA. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, HH1. 27 pair of impressed dots on inner pair of elevations of the posterior longi- tudinally striate ridge. Segments 6 to 9 have four of these impres- sions, one outside of each of the median pair. On the last or eleventh segment the anus is a semicircle with the convex side downward, overhung by four prominent tubercles in bilaterally symmetrical pairs. Mouth of the air-tube a smooth, oval surface just above the anal tubercles. It has a vertical slit and is sur- rounded by a projecting crenulate frill. PUPA. One of the two full-grown larva? collected by Mr. Pergande pupated and female imago issued May 29, 1899. Length of the pupa shell 19 mm. ; greatest diameter 6.5 mm. Head and thorax of the pupa a lighter, abdomen a darker ferruginous- Head and thorax finely and irregularly wrinkled; anterior half of each abdominal segment (1-7) finely wrinkled transversely, posterior half with wrinkles less distinct or absent (especially on ventral surface), but very finely and closely punctuate. This makes the color appear more intense, in places almost orange. Middle of the segments, except 1, surrounded by an interrupted fringe of definitely grouped, sharp- pointed spines, the larger of which tend to be serrate (PI. III). Vertex of head marked by a narrow, rounded, longitudinally wrin- kled, transverse ridge. In the depression between this ridge and the antennal prominences and in front of the extremities of the ridge are two outwardly-directed setse. Antennal sheaths short, appressed, downwardly curved, conical, arising from two low wrinkly protuber- ances (the antennal prominences above mentioned), these prominences separated by a deep fold, and from them curved and diverging im- pressed lines run down the face. Below each antennal sheath is a widely separated vertical pair of seta;. Prothorax longitudinally wrinkled, except for a smooth area behind and below each antennal sheath. A setiferous tubercle stands above each of these smooth areas. Prothorax angulate in the median line behind. Mesothorax three times as long as the prothorax, bearing two spiracular tubercles near anterior lateral angles (about opposite the middle of each lateral half of the prothorax). These tubercles similar to those described below, but complicated by flexures of the walls. They bear at the summit upwardly-arched, crescent-shaped rimae or air-slits. The only setae I can find on the mesothorax are one on each side directly back of these spiracular tubercles. Metathorax very short in the median line, but somewhat longer at the sides, which have two rounded angles anteriorly. Wing pads and leg sheaths, the latter slightly the longer, almost covering ventral surface of the first abdominal segment. Middle of each side of first to seventh abdominal segments with 28 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY * elevated, round, polished knobs bearing on the posterior portion of their summits the posteriorly arched crescentic spiracles. Second to seventh segments with a sharp-pointed, backwardly-curved spine di- rectly posterior to each spiracular tubercle. A short distance above this spine is a similar one, and between these two from one to four shorter ones. Some shorter teeth occur also both ventrally and dor- sally from the stout spinas. These lateral spines become stronger posteriorly. There is a definite break between the groups of lateral spines and the weak spines forming the lateral elements of the dorsal series. This break is marked by sharply impressed lines on segments 2 to 7 (PI. Ill, fig. 1). Dorsal series of spines on second to seventh seg- ments consisting of a pair of stout spines on each side of the median line (PI. Ill, fig. 2), the pair on the seventh segment being most widely separated. On each side of the mid-dorsal pair are about three other symmetrically placed strong spines. Between the larger spines are varying numbers of shorter ones and gradually diminishing small ones terminate the series on each side. All spines sharp pointed and curved backward. Ventral surface of the second to seventh segments with smaller spines, having median pairs of stronger teeth, most widely separated on the third segment and nearest together on the seventh. There is a tendency for one of the minor spines on each side of the median pair to be larger than its fellows. These smaller spines of varying number, but maintaining their series across venter of the segments, interrupted only by the stronger ones and diminish- ing gradually on each side. A wide hiatus exists between the last of the ventral series on each segment and the group of spines near the spiracular tubercle. Eighth or terminal segment with three strong spines on each side, connected by series of weaker points (PI. Ill, fig. 1). The pair made by the uppermost of these strong lateral teeth is more widely sepa- rated than the corresponding ventral pair. In each case the inter- space (that is, the dorsal and the ventral area of the segment) is de- void of points, except for small ones immediately adjacent to the large spines. The location of the larval anus is marked by a rounded, trans- versely wrinkled knob, and the spiracular eminence consists of two conspicuous tuberculate projections surmounted by sharp-pointed downwardly curved spurs. It will be of value, in concluding, to compare briefly the larva and pupa of Goniops, which so far as I know is the only native pangoniid these stages of which have been described, with the comparatively well-studied immature forms of the true tabanids, such as Tabaniis and Chrysops. C. A. Hart says:1 'Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., IV, Art. vi, 1895, p. 221. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, I'.Hl. 29 All the larvae of Tabanidag studied agree in the following general characters: Body tapering at both ends, which are somewhat pointed; skin shining and glassy, with opaque markings of a microscopic felted pubescence. The palpi have short, thick joints; the basal joint of the antenna is quite short, and there is a bunch of stiff, diverging, re- curved hairs between each antenna and the median line above. The full-grown Goniops larva, on the other hand, is pyriform and not at all pointed at the ends. Its skin, except on the head and prothorax, is not shining, but everywhere opaque and wrinkled or tuberculate. The palpi have long, slender joints; the basal joint of the antenna is very long, much exceeding the two terminal joints, and the hairs on antennal flap are flexible and applied to the surface of the head. The double second joint of the antenna of first-stage larvae is noteworthy. Of the tabanid pupa Hart says: The mesothorax is one-half longer than the prothorax, and the sec- ond to seventh abdominal segments are encircled by continuous fringes of slender spines. In Goniops the pupal mesothorax is three times longer than the prothorax, and the fringes of spines on the abdominal segments are not continuous, but interrupted and definitely grouped. EXPLANATION OP PLATES. PLATE I. — 1, Goniops imago male; 2, female; 3, female ovipositing; 4, egg-mass from above; 5, egg-mass from side; <>, egg-mass after hatching; 7, silhouette of full-grown larva, with head retracted, showing inflated mem- branous portion of first segment. Figs. 1 and 2, nearly three times natural size; 3, twice natural size; 4, one and a half times natural size; 5 nearly four times nat- ural size; 6 and 7 nearly three times natural size. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 from photos by H. S. Barber. PLATE II. — Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are lateral, dorsal, and ventral views, respectively, of the full-grown Goniops larva. All about five times natural size. PLATE III. — Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are lateral, dorsal, and ventral views, respectively, of the female pupa shell of Goniops. All about five and a half times natural size. ADDENDA — Messrs. E. A. Schwarz and H. S. Barber obtained two larva? of Goniops by sifting old leaves from a hollow in the ground on Plummer's Island, Maryland, November 1, 1910. Mr. Barber states that he has collected larvae in the same manner at Rosslyn and other localities in .Fairfax County, Virginia. He notes the habit of throw- ing out the mandibles with great rapidity and force, making a sharp sound on striking a hard object. Larvae as usually found are much more contracted than is shown in Plate I, fig. 7. 30 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY TWO SPECIES OF PHYCITINJE NEW TO OUR FAUNA. [Lepidoptera; Pyralidee.] BY HARRISON G. DYAR. Myelois oporedestella, new species. Bluish gray, a little irregularly shaded with fuscous, especially at base and beyond inner line; inner line straight, oblique, whitish, with a slight point or projection outwardly at its middle; discal marks slightly indicated by several cloudy points; outer line crenulate, excurved mesi- ally, whitish, slender, situated near the margin. Hind wing whitish, smoky along the veins and in a double marginal line. Expanse 16 to 22mm. One male, 10 females, bred from dried loquat fruits, Miami, Florida, by Mr. August Busck, who received the infested fruits from the Subtropical Garden of the Bureau of Plant Industry Department of Agriculture, through Mr. E. R. Sasscer. Type: No. 13450, U. S. National Museum. Ozamia lucidalis Walker. Irachonitis lucidalis Walker, Cat. Lep. Het. B. M., XXVII, 39, 1863. Ozamia lucidalis Hampson, in Ragonot, Romanoff Mem. Lep., Vlll, 34, 1901. This species was described from Santo Domingo, and occurs also in Jamaica and Mexico, according to labeled specimens before me. I have received two specimens from Texas, taken respectively by F. G. Schaupp and F. C. Pratt. The genus and species must therefore be added to our list. The Texas specimens, as would be expected, agree with the Mexican form rather than with the Antillean one. The species probably feeds on cactus in the larval state. A SYNONYMIC NOTE. The noctuid described by J. B. Smith as Isogona reni- formis, from Texas, proves to have an earlier name and should be known as Isogona agilaria Druce. Metalectra agilaria Druce, Biol. Cent. -Am., Lep. Het., I, 405, 1890. Isogona reniformis Smith, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc., xxix, 214, 1903. HARRISON G. DYAR. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 31 MEETING OF APRIL 7, 1910. The 239th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by the bachelor members of the Society at the Saengerbtind Hall, 314 C Street, on the evening of April 7, 1910, and there were present Messrs. Barber, Busck, Dyar, Ely, Gill, Ham- mar, Hopkins, Knab, Piper, Popenoe, Sasscer, Schwarz, Viereck, Webb, Webster, and Zimmer, members, and Dr. Mann, a visitor. In the absence of the President, Vice-President Webster presided, and the Secretary being absent, Mr. Barber was made secretary pro tern. The reading of the minutes of the pre- ceeding meeting was dispensed with. Mr. Schwarz announced the death of Mr. D. H. demons, a member of the Society, at Riverside, California, on March 22, and on motion of the Society a committee consisting of Messrs. Schwarz, Busck, and Barber was appointed by the chair to draw up a formal notice for insertion in the Pro- ceedings. The first paper of the evening, entitled "New Hawaiian Microlepidoptera," by Mr. Busck, was then presented.1 The next paper, " Ecdysis in the Diptera," by Mr. Knab, was discussed by Messrs. Schwarz, Busck, Webster, Piper, Hopkins, and Gill. Shorter notes were presented by Messrs. Busck, Dyar, Piper, Hammar, Knab, and Webster. A PREOCCUPIED NAME IN SAW-FLIES. Pteronus wrighti, new name. Amauronematus californicus Marlatt, Tech. Ser. 3, U. S. D. A., Div. Entom., 1896, p. 85, not Pteronus californicus Marlatt, p. 61. Amauronematus californicus Marlatt belongs to Pteronus. The above new name is given as californicus had before been used in Pteronus. Named for Mr. W. G. Wright who has sent the species from Southern California. S. A. ROHWER. 'Already published, Proc. Ent. Soc., Wash., XII, 132, 1910. 32 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY ECDYSIS IN THE DIPTERA. BY FREDERICK KNAB. In a previous paper1 I discussed the application of pressure by means of imprisoned air by insects to effect their escape from the egg aud from their exuviae. I showed that the em- ployment of air in these processes is very general among in- sects aud perhaps common to the entire class. Since then other observations bearing on this subject have come to my notice and I have seen several publications which were not available to me at that time. There are a number of careful observations on the process of eclosion of the imago in differ- ent Diptera. These are of especial interest, as they bring out striking differences in the two great groups of Diptera. Be- sides most interesting differences of detail appear in the lesser groups and in individual genera, and as the process itself is not generally understood, it seems worth while to bring the data together. In the paper referred to I already touched upon the fact that there are two different modes of eclosion in the two main groups of Diptera, the Orthorrhapha and the Cyclorrhapha. The presence in the higher flies of a protrusile bladder, the ptilinum, on the front of the head, and its function in bursting the puparium, have been known since the time of Reaumur. No such special organ exists in the Orthorrhapha, and I have already shown that in the case of the mosquito escape from the pupal skin is effected by inflation of the imprisoned imago's entire body. However, I had not made a detailed study of the process, or the manner in which the air is taken in and where it is stored. I have since found that the process has been well understood and carefully described by Dr. Adolph Eysell.2 A translation of Dr. Eysell's description will be given elsewhere, so here it will only be necessary to indicate the essential features. Some time before emergence a layer of air is deposited be- tween the pupal skin and the enclosed imago. This layer of air gives the pupa the peculiar silvery appearance which is so characteristic of the end of the pupal period. Eysell states that the air forming this layer is pressed out through the stigmata of the imago; this is most probably true, as at the time of ecdysis the tracheae contain no air. As the result of 1 The R61e of Air in the Ecdysis of Insects. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. , XI, 1909, pp. 68-72. 2 Mense, C. Handbuch der Tropenkrankheiten, vol. 2, pp. 58-59. (1905). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, lull. the pressure from within the pupal skin bursts and the thorax of the imago begins to appear through a longitudinal slit. Now the imago is in direct communication with the outer air and at once begins to swallow great quantities of air. Eysell remarks that this can be distinctly observed by watching, through the at that time unpigmented clypeus, the movements of the pharynx pump. Hereby the volume of the mosquito is considerably increased; the pupal case can no longer hold it, and, at a time when the hind end of the body still remains exactly in the same position as during the pupal stage, the greatly lengthened body is already forced a considerable dis- tance forward through the slit in the thorax. Through the ingorged air the abdomen loses its limpness, it is stiffened Hk6 an air-inflated bladder, and continues to increase in volume proximally. The conical form of the body thus brought about causes it to glide forward in the apically narrowed pupal skin, and under normal conditions this motion needs hardly any assistance from the abdominal muscles. The specific weight of the animal is greatly diminished by the taking in of great quantities of air, a circumstance which is equally important for the imago when issuing and immediately after. The air swallowed by the insect is, of course, taken into the digestive tract. In the mosquito there are three large cesophageal diverticula, concerning the function of which there has been much conjecture. One of these diverticula is much the largest and extends ventrally far backward into the abdomen; the other two are dorsal in position. It is clear from the observations of Eysell that the diverticula receive the swallowed air. Christophers' already stated that the di- verticula are generally found to be filled with air, although he erred in the statement that they are undistended 'in the newly emerged mosquito. Giles2 was misled so far by this presence of air in the diverticula that, in his discussion of the anatomy of mosquitoes, he denies that they belong to the di- gestive system and in consequence calls them "aspiratory vesicle" and "pneumatic sacs." He defends this view at some length and claims that these organs are not connected with the digestive but with the tracheal system. Eysell calls the two dorsal diverticula "Flugblasen" (flight-bladders) and the large ventral one "Vorratsmagen" (reservoir-stomach). Christophers was of the opinion that no food is taken into this latter organ. 'The Anatomy and Histology of the Adult Female Mosquito. Royal Society (London), Reports to the Malaria Committee, 4th ser. , 1901. 2 A Handbook of the Gnats or Mosquitoes, 2d ed., 1902, pp'. 103-106. 34 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The large oesophageal diverticulum probably acts, not only as an air chamber to specifically lighten the body of the mosquito, but also as an air pad to distribute the pressure of the large coagulum formed in the mid-gut after feeding. In a fed mosquito a transparent area is generally to be seen in front of the opaque mass of blood in the abdo- men. This transparent area is the abdominal portion of the air-con- taining oesophageal diverticulum.1 Christophers' view, however, that food isuot taken into the large diverticulum, is incorrect. Eysell has carefully studied the functions of the three diverticula and his terminology is based upon the results. He states that the two dorsal diver- ticula are always filled with air. The third diverticulum, or reservoir stomach, is generally also filled with air. However, after the insect has fed, the large diverticulum is found filled with nectar, fruit juice, or blood, which may be retained there for hours, and with low temperature even for days. A solution of litmus with sugar and water is readily taken by mos- quitoes. As long as it remains in the reservoir-stomach it retains its beautiful blue color. Taken into the mid-gut it reddens at once and also remains red in the hind-gut. Only when the blue color has com- pletely given way to the red has the reservoir-stomach given up to the mid-gut the last vestiges of the solution. When the nourishing liquids have been given up by the reservoir-stomach, which is fur- nished with longitudinal and circular muscles and furthermore assisted by ventral pressure, to the mid-gut, air again takes its place. Christophers examined his mosquitoes in this last condition when the blood had been transferred from the reservoir stom- ach to the mid-gut and again replaced by air in the former. The process of ecdysis of the imago appears to be practi- cally the same in all the Nemocera. Miall '"' mentions the se- cretion, through the spiracles of the enclosed imago, of a layer of air beneath the pupal skin in Chironomiis and Simu- lium. In the case of Simulium the air accumulated inside the pupal skin performs still another function, namely, to carry the emerging imago uninjured from the submerged pupa to the surface of the water. When the pupal skin is ruptured the air and the fly escape together and the fly is carried rap- idly to the surface within a ball of air. The escape of Simu- lium from the pupa, according to Osten Sacken,3 seems to have been first described by Verdat in 1821. 'L. c., pp. 6-7. 3 The Natural History of Aquatic Insects, 1895, p. 133, 187-188. :tOn the Transformations of Simulium. Amer. Entom. and Bota- nist, vol. 2, pp. 229-231 (1870). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, l!»ll. 35 The escape from the pupa of the mosquitoes of the genus Mansonia has apparently never been observed, but it must occur in a manner similar to Simuliuin. The pupa of Mansunia lives submerged, attached to the roots of aquatic plants by its thor- acic respiratory appendages and by their means extracting its supply of air from the plant, it would seem that the pupa does not even rise to the surface to free the imago, for the pupal exuvia? are not found floating on the surface in swamps where the larvae abound. According to the observations of Comstock'and Kellogg2 the emergence of the Blepharoceridae from their submerged pupas is a far more imperfect process and indicates the primitive condition of the group. Similarly to the Simu- liidae, the pupa? are attached to the rocks in swiftly flowing streams. It would seem that the images only succeed in mak- ing their escape when the water is very shallow (from one- fourth to one-half inch in depth), and Comstock states that in the deeper water they are swept away by the current. He states that the fly forces its way out slowly, requiring from three to five minutes to free itself, and that its body is held vertically in spite of the swift current. This last fact points to the rigidity of an air-inflated condition. Kellogg states that he "has often watched the emergence of adults, and has been struck by the great loss (apparently) of life in the pro- cess. So many are swept away by the swift water before the wings can be unfolded or before the legs can be loosened from the pupal sheath that it seems no wonder that the family is a disappearing one. It is a case of the dangers of an extreme specialization. If the fixed pupae lie in water too deep (easily occasioned by a sudden rise in the stream at the time for emergence), or, on the other hand, become wholly bereft of the life-giving water by a falling of the stream, there is no hope for the fly. The first contingency seems indeed to be somewhat provided for (as explained in the account, poslca, of the life-history of the flies) by the apparent power of the insect of postponing for some time, if necessary, its emer- gence. Thus, in the event of a heavy rain and consequent rise of the stream, the too deeply submerged pupa may lie unchanged until the water has run off (a matter which hap- pens speedily in swift streams) to a safe shallowness." More careful observations on the emergence of these re- markable flies would be well worth while. Thus the ques- tion whether the flies that are swept away by the current are 'A manual for the study of insects, 1895, pp. 435-436. 2Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., 3d Ser., Zool., vol. 3, pp. 213-215 (1903). 36 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY really lost or not should be investigated further. Kellogg points out that in this group the very unusual condition ob- tains of the wings becoming fully developed within the pupa. The fully developed wings lie in the pupal case folded both longi- tudinally and transversely, and only need to unfold to be ready to carry the fly into the safe air. It is this folding which produces the secondary veining of the wings characteristic of the family, this vein- ing being simply the persisting creases and lines of the folding. As already stated, in the Cyclorrhapha the escape of the imago is effected by means of the ptilinum or frontal bladder. This bladder is situated above the roots of the antenna? and is only inflatable in the immature fly. Later it is permanently retracted or disappears altogether. When the fly is ready to leave the puparium the bladder is alternately inflated and re- tracted until the front portion of the puparium, which has lines of weakness for this purpose, is forced off. Some indi- cation of the pressure thus exerted is obtained from some ex- periments made by Michl with pupae of Muscina stabulans Fallen.1 When the fly which was about to emerge had burst off the lid of the puparium its escape was prevented by fast- ening a strip of paper across the opening, the puparium being fixed immovably. The fly would then endeavor, by inflating its ptilinum, to remove or perforate the obstacle. So great was the pressure exerted that in one case out of eleven the frontal bladder was ruptured. The earlier authors supposed that the ptilinum is inflated with air, but Joly,2 and independently Reissig,3 showed that it is filled with blood forced from the body into the head. Reissig aptly compares the action to that of an hydraulic press. Through what channels the blood is forced forward has not been determined. Reissig suggested that special vessels, sup- plied with valves, existed. Weismann thought that it was accomplished by the dorsal vessel, as this is the main channel through which the blood is carried forward from the body- cavity.4 Joly already showed that the ptilinum was inflated by violent contraction of the abdomen, thus forcing forward 1 Einiges iiber das sogenannte Ptilinum der schizophoren Dipteren. Mitt, naturwiss. Ver. Univ. Wien., vol. 8, pp. 85-89 (1910). "Recherches . . . sur les oestrides, etc. Ann. Sci. phys. et nat., agric. et indust. de Lyon, vol. 9 (1846), p. 204. 3 Ueber das Herauskommen der Tachinen aus ihren Tonnchen und aus dicht verschlossenen Orten, an welchen diese oft sich befinden. Archiv f. Naturgesch., Jahrg. 21, vol. 1 (1855), pp. 189-196. 'Die Entwicklung der Dipteren, p. 227 (1864), reprint from Zeitschr. wiss, Zool., vols. 13 and 14. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 37 the body fluids. The important part played by the abdominal and thoracic muscles in this process has been repeatedly pointed out, but no one seems to have suspected that air, ingested at this time, acts as an auxiliary. I have opened a newly emerged flesh-fly (Calliphora) and found that the paunch or food reservoir was filled with air. But it appears that in the Cyclorrhapha the presence of air plays but a very subordinate part in effecting the escape of the imago from the puparium; indeed, it is to be doubted if in those forms in which the food-reservoir is lacking (Hippoboscidae) air is em- ployed at all. The process of emergence in the Cyclorrhapha is very fully described by Kiinckel d'Herculais in his great work on the Volucellas.1 He points out that the action of the frontal bladder has been observed bv Reaumur in Calliphora vomi- toria; -by Von Gleichen in Musca domestica, figuring the head in two different phases of the process; by Reissig in the Tachinidae; by Weissman and by Lowne in several Muscidae; and by himself in the Syrphidae (VolnccUa, Eristulis, Svr- p/ius] and the higher flies (Anthomyia, Pegomyia, Calli- phora, Litcilia). To these must be added the observations of Joly on the emergence of the Oestridae. Kiinckel d'Herculais brings out the fact that, while the frontal bladder is present in all the Cyclorrhapha at the time of emergence, there are important differences between the lower forms, such as the Syrphidae, and the higher or mus- coidean forms. Upon these differences, although he under- stood them but imperfectly, Becher founded his two groups, the Aschiza and the Schizophora, groups which appear to be well founded, both on biological and structural char- acters.2 The difference in the two groups consists in the disappearance of the frontal bladder with the hardening of the integument in the first group, while in the second the bladder persists in a retracted condition. Consequently a frontal su- ture is present in the Schizophora and absent in the Aschiza. Kiinckel d'Herculais describes the emergence of Volnrclla as follows: Carefully enclosed in its nymphal envelope the fly is incapable of the least movement; its legs, its wings, the mouth-parts, the antennae, are folded down upon the inferior region of the body in such a manner that the front protrudes as the most prominent part. If one opens a 'Recherches sur 1'organisation et le developpement des Volucelles, Paris, 1875, (atlas) 1881. 2Zur Kenntniss der Kopfbildung der Dipteren. Wiener entom. Zei- tung, vol. 1, pp. 49-54 (1882). 38 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY pupa a little before its maturity one perceives that the front is still entirely soft; one even sees that the animal, disturbed in its repose and wishing to escape, strongly inflates its frontal region and causes a small bladder to come forth. By a violent effort the bladder be- comes inflated, and, pressing upon the anterior part of the pupa, a faint, sharp report can be heard. A small anterior piece, correspond- ing to the upper part of the head and the two upper dorsal segments, is propelled forward, often several centimeters, the upper zonite bearing the [stigmatal] horns is raised, and the Volucella appears.1 Kiiuckel d'Herculais points out that the ptilinuin has a fur- ther function. After the front of the puparium has been forced off, the fly, in order to pass the narrow orifice of its prison, diminishes the volume of its thorax and abdomen by forcing the blood into the head. Reissig, much before this, had already shown that newly emerged Tachinidee use the ptilinum to push obstacles out of their way. L/ovvne makes the remarkable assertion that "Kiiuckel d'Her- culais says there is no frontal sac in Volucella or the Syr- phidse," which leads us to the assumption that he did not know the French investigator's remarkable work at first hand.2 Becher, on the other hand, disputes Kiinckel d'Herculais on the opposite grounds. He asserts that Kiinckel d'Hercu- lais is in error and that there is no frontal bladder in the Syr- phidse, nor in Platypezidse and Pipunculidse. In fact, on this basis, he indicates a group for these families and the Phoridse, calling them Aschiza, and designating the remaining Cyclor- rhapha as the Schizophora. Before Kiinckel d'Herculais, Gerstaecker had already announced the presence of a frontal bladder in Eristalis, and he is quoted to that effect and dis- puted by Becher. The passage is from Gerstaecker's review of Brauer's "Monographic der Oestriden," and, translated, reads as follows: That the Syrphidae, in which the author has up to now missed the frontal bladder, possess such, maybe frequently and easily established in the autumn on newly emerged specimens of Eristalis tenax.3 Becher based his assertions virtually on a study of the mature imago, as is apparent from the following statement: Because the frontal bladder never disappears without leaving a trace in the mature insect, but remains within the frontal suture as 'L. c., p. 77. '-'The Anatomy, Physiology, Morphology, and Development of the Blow-fly, vol. 1, pp. 125-126 (1892). 3Bericht iiber die wissensch. Leistungen im Gebiete d. En torn., 1863-18<>4, p. 395 (1867). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 39 an invaginated and shrunken bladder, one can determine by the exam- ination of the head of the imago whether the fly does or does not burst open the puparium by means of a frontal bladder without it being necessary to directly observe the emergence. One can best de- termine the conditions by longitudinal sections carried medianly through the head.1 He then makes comparison, accompanied by figures, of the structure in Cattiphora on the one side and of various Syrphi- dae on the other. He shows that while the invaginated ptili- num is present in Calliphora it is absent in the Syrphidae, Pipunculidae, Platypezidae, and Phoridae. He points out that the frontal lunule, which is still present and well marked in the Syrphidae, is only indicated in the Pipunculidae and Platy- pezidae by somewhat heavier chitinization and darker color- ing, while in Phora there is no indication whatever. It appears, however that Becher, in criticizing the work of Kunckel d'Herculais, had but a superficial knowledge of it. Kiinckel d'Herculais enters particularly into the transient character of the frontal bladder in the Syrphidae and contrasts this with its persistence in the higher flies. When the bladder is entirely inflated a well-marked circular ridge indicates the line which separates it from the vertex and the cheeks; when, on the contrary, it is completely withdrawn into the interior of the head, the fly having reached its full development and the antennae having taken their normal position, there does not remain more than a slightly evident trace of this ridge. The outward projection of the frontal bladder is accompanied by a general dilation of the entire head, which at this time possesses a remarkable elasticity; the eyes themselves are alternately moved nearer together or farther apart, and, what is more incredible, undergo modifications in their curvature as they approach each other towards the median line in consequence of the tension or the relaxation of the vertex. The parts which sup- port the base of the proboscis inflate also, and on each side one sees come forth from the interior of the mouth-frame (mouth-opening) a very small bladder; the inflation and retraction of these bladders is accompanied by the extension of the proboscis and by movements of the maxillary palpi. The inflation of the frontal bladder and the buccal bladders sometimes reaches such a volume in certain Volucella and some Mu.sca, when an obstacle opposes their emergence, that the 1 L. c., p. 50. The opinion that the frontal bladder is absent in the Syrphidae is reaffirmed by Brauer, who evidently had inspired Becher. He states of the Syrphidae: "Die Fliege sprengt die Tonne durch Ausdehnung und Entwicklung des meist langen Untergesichtes und hat keine Stirnblase (Brauer, Becher)." (Denkschr. d. math.-natur- wiss. Classe d. kais. Akad. d. Wiss., Wien, vol. 47, 1883, p. 31.) 40 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY anterior region of the head surpasses the posterior in width and re- sembles a small bladder ready to burst, so much is it distended by the violent efforts of the insect.1 ***** In Volucella, Eristalis, and Syrphus not a trace of the frontal blad- der remains when the insect is ready to begin its flight; but in Musca, Calliphora, Lucilia, and Sarcophaga the bladder is found in the in- terior of the head as a fold of the skin having the form of a bag with a wrinkled and rumpled envelope; its structure, aside from its trans- parency and coloration, is identical with that of the surrounding in- tegument: one sees the same lozenge-shaped scales.2 Kiinckel d'Herculais touches upon the transient character of the frontal bladder in the Syrphidae again in criticizing Lowne, who attributed to the frontal bladder the seat of the olfactory sense and the faculty of producing the humming noise. Kiinckel d'Herculais points out that the integument of the sac is identical with that of the front of the head and that the Syrphidae, while they have no frontal sac in the ma- ture state, are nevertheless noted for their powers of sone- faction. Becher, in addition to his studies on mature specimens, also observed some live pupae and recently emerged Syrphidae. While his conviction, gained from mature specimens, that there is no frontal bladder in the Syrphidae and related fam- ilies, led him into error, his observations nevertheless reveal some interesting peculiarities in the condition of the head at the time of emergence. After the lid of the puparium is burst off the head of the fly appears and one can now see that, different from the remaining Cyclorrhapha, it is completely developed and closed in the region of the front and vertex, therefore above the antennae. On the contrary, the lower face, which in the Eumyids remains unchanged, is here soft and trans- lucent and, while in the developed animal it shows a convex, often face-like, profile, immediately after emergence it is concave and transversely split. On well-advanced pupae the concavity and trans- verse folding can.be seen very plainly. The lower face and the later- al parts of the head appear here by their expansion to assume the function of the frontal bladder, to burst off the lid of the puparium, and one also sees the lower face pulsate in a similar manner with the frontal bladder, but without ever swelling to such a degree as this. Only after the wings are expanded and hardened, and the proboscis, which in the beginning lies folded back upon the breast, is withdrawn JL. c., p. 78. 2L. c., p. 80. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 41 into the mouth-cavity, does the lower face finally harden and take on color and form . If one compares pupae of Muscidae and Syrphidse in an equally ad- vanced state of development the difference is also very obvious, for in the former the head is conically inflated between the base of the an- tennae and the vertex, which inflation represents the frontal bladder, while in the latter these parts already have the position which per- tains to them in the emerged insect1. Thus it is seen that the Aschiza, in their mechanism for escaping from the puparitim as in other respects, represent a less specialized type than do the Schizophora with their highly developed and persistent frontal bladder. This is sup- ported by the fact, brought out in the anatomical investiga- tions of Dufour,2 that, as one follows tue evolutional lines, there is a reduction in the size of the food-reservoir until finally, in the Hippoboscida?, it is lost altogether; accompany- ing this there is a lengthening of the digestive tract itself. Dufour touches this point in discussing the conditions in the Hippoboscidse. The alimentary tube in them is the longest of all the Diptera, since it is from eight to nine times the length of the insect. That of the last genera of the acalypterates has already prepared us for the pro- gressive increase in the length of this canal, together with a progress- ive reduction in its organization.3 A consideration of these conditions in the Phoridae seems to throw some light on the position of the family, for after con- siderable discussion this seems to be still unsettled. The adult characters give opportunity for wide divergence of opinion and apparently present nothing that is decisive. Becher, as already stated, placed the Phoridae in the Aschiza, in spite of the fact that there is no trace of a frontal lunule, and in this he is followed by the majority of dipterists. Osten Sacken, on the other hand, has shown that, if the larval and pupal con- ditions are properly understood, the family should be grouped in the Orthorrhapha, and a few authors have followed him.4 Brues, in his Monograph of the North American Phoridae5 and in more recent papers, considers the systematic position of the 1L. c., pp. 51-52. 2 Recherches anatomiques et physiologiques sur les dipteres. Mem. Acad. Sci., vol. 11, pp. 171-360, pis. 1-11 (1851). 3L. c., p. 341. 4 The position of Phora in the system of Diptera. Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. 38, pp. 204-205 (1902). 5 Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 29, pp. 331-404, pis. 5-9 (1903). 42 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY family problematical.1 In such a case a study of the early stages, biology and internal anatomy should help to solve the problem. Perhaps the following data will stimulate someone to investigate the group more carefully from this side. Dufour calls special attention to the large size of the food-reservoir in Phora and states that he knows few Diptera in which it is proportionally larger; from his figure it is also evident that the digestive tract is short as compared with the higher flies.2 Both these circumstances support the views of Osten Sacken. However, that the family is anomalous is well brought out in the anatomical studies of Dufour. The following papers were accepted for publication: DESCRIPTIONS OF SIX NEW AMERICAN HETEROCERA. [Lepidoptera; Noctuidae.] BY WILLIAM SCHAUS. Casandria purpurascens, new species. Female.— Palpi fuscous fringed with grayish white. Head mottled dark and light brown. Collar and thorax fuscous gray, the collar posteriorly and patagia shaded with opalescent scales. Abdomen fuscous gray above, with a large terminal light-brown space. Fore wings leaden black; the base brownish; a faint dark-brown an temedial line from subcostal, somewhat wavy and inwardly oblique, and in- wardly shaded with brown from subcostal to submedian; reniform large, pointed towards base, brown edged by a fine dark velvety line; a brownish spot on costa above reniform edged with dark brown; postmedial remote from cell, wavy, inwardly oblique from vein 6, vel- vety fuscous brown, outwardly shaded with brown, and also broadly so shaded inwardly from vein 4 to inner margin; some small subter- minal brownish spots; the veins terminally brown; a fine terminal black streak between 6 and 7, and 7 and 8; indistinct terminal dark spots between the veins; cilia spotted with brown at veins. Hind wings dull brown black; cilia tipped with white. Expanse 33 mm. Habitat: Sixola River, Costa Rica. Casandria steniptera, new species. Male. — Palpi light brown. Head, collar, and thorax grayish brown. Fore wings grayish, shaded with brown along costa, in cell, and on 1 Thh systematic affinities of the dipterous family Phoridas, Biol. Bull., vol. 12, pp. 349-359 (1907); Some further remarks on the syste- matic affinities of the Phoridse, with descriptions of two new North American species. Bull. Wise. Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. 7, pp. 103-108 (1909). 2L. c., pp. 322-M23, S41, pi. 11, fig. 134. OP WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 43 outer margin, irrorated with brown on inner margin; an antemedial fine dark shade, almost straight; a medial fine line, wavy, outset on inner margin; a dark point at end of cell, followed by a faint fuscous line along fold to subterminal; a fine postmedial line outcurved from middle of costa around cell followed by a faint line from costa, par- allel with outer margin, the space between the two lines thickly irro- rated with brown; a broad dentate subterminal fuscous gray shade; terminal dark spots. Hind wings dirty white at base shading to fus- cous gray on outer margin; cilia white. Expanse 23 mm. Habitat: St. Jean, French Guiana. Paectes phaeoplaga, new species. Male. — Antennae shortly pectinated on basal half. Palpi fuscous shaded with brown above. Head and collar velvety black tinged with brown, the collar posteriorly edged with lilacine; thorax lilacine gray, edged in front and behind with dark brown. Abdomen brownish irro- rated with black; a geminate transverse white band at base. Fore wings light brown mottled with gray at base of cell, medially in cell and on inner margin, and on outer margin; a fine fuscous antemedial line curved from subcostal to submedian; a fine medial line curved below cell and on inner margin; orbicular round, brown; reniform oval longitudinally, pointed between 5 and 6, gray, edged with fuscous brown; postmedial fine, geminate, oblique from costa to vein 6, inbent to vein 2 and then straight to inner margin, dark brown, becoming velvety black-brown below 2; a subterminal brown shade followed by a fuscous line from costa to vein 7; marginal brown spots, and a ter- minal brown line; cilia grayish spotted with fuscous at veins. Hind wings: the veins and outer half black; the base shaded with light brown; the inner margin whitish crossed by four black lines; cilia whitish with large fuscous spots. Expanse 25 mm. Habitat: St. Jean, French Guiana. Paectes haematosema, new species. Male. — Palpi white. Head white with a few brown irrorations. Collar dark brown, shaded and irrorated with lilacine. Thorax fuscous gray tinged with brown and lilacine. Abdomen above mottled brown and white. Fore wings: The basal area dark brown, limited by the antemedial, which is angled just below median, white from costa to that point, then velvety black-brown to inner margin, and with a wavy white basal line from costa to submedian; medial space leaden black; orbicu- lar a white point; reniform light brown edged with white, medially con- stricted followed by a cluster of white scales; postmedial finely dentate, geminate, black, filled in and narrowly edged outwardly with white, followed by some light brown and then a steel-gray shade; a broad sub- terminal light-brown shade edged with white, widest on costa, termi- 44 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY nating on inner margin in a bright red spot; apex to vein 6 leaden black: outer margin below vein 6 whitish buff crossed by an interrupted black line; cilia fuscous gray and brown. Hind wings white on basal half; the veins and outer half fuscous; inner margin white with some opales- cent scales; a medial and a postmedial geminate dark streak; cilia buff and brown tipped with white. Expanse 26 mm. Habitat : St. Jean, French Guiana. Paectes eumicta, new species. Female. — Antennae with long curly and pubescent pectinations on basal half. Palpi light brown, tinged with lilacine and irrorated with black. Head and collar lilacine irrorated with black, the latter crossed by a transverse black and brown shade. Thorax mottled lilacine and brown. Abdomen fuscous gray; a geminate transverse buff line at base. Fore wing.- : Basal area olive-brown, with a fuscous gray spot on costa, a similar line in cell, one below cell, and suffusions on inner margin; medial fuscous gray shades, the costa olive-brown, also the orbicular, which is large, round, containing a darker point, and a large space at end of cell; a whitish shade across costa and before reniform, and a dark irregular line from cell to inner margin ; reniform space fus- cous gray edged with fuscous brown; the postmedial geminate, angled above vein 6, inwardly oblique, wavy, olive-brown, becoming dark vel- vety black-brown below submedian fold; from vein 4 to inner margin the postmedial is followed by a fuscous gray shade; a broad subter- minal olive-brown shade, partly shaded with light gray, and followed by a fuscous gray line; outer margin grayish with a row of black in- tervenal spots, from which dark shades extend obliquely on cilia. Hind wings black shaded with dark brown; cilia whitish mottled with dark brown. Expanse 23 mm. Habitat: St. Jean, French Guiana. Paectes endochlora, new species. Female. — Palpi outwardly bronze-brown irrorated with fuscous gray and white. Head, collar, and thorax fuscous gray, shaded with lila- cine. Abdomen fuscous gray, irrorated with white laterally. Fore wings fuscous gray; some dark green at base, and along inner margin to postmedial; orbicular small, dark green; antemedial geminate, fus- cous, forming four short curves; a medial line followed by a few whitish scales on median; postmedial geminate, excurved, filled in and preceded by some green and light gray scaling and followed to sub- terminal by a broad dull fuscous-brown space; the subterminal whitish gray, indistinct except at costa; marginal dark brown, transverse spots between the veins. Hind wings blackish brown; the cilia dark brown, tipped with white. Expanse 18 mm. Habitat: Cayenne, French Guiana. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, l!Ul. 45 THE WEEVILS OF VICTORIA COUNTY, TEXAS. BY J. D. MITCHELL AND W. DWIGHT PIERCE, U. S. Bureau of Entomology . Since the advent of the boll weevil {Anthoiwmns grundi* Boheman) into Victoria County in 1894 many records have been made upon the weevils of the county. This county is very interesting from an entomological standpoint because of its great diversity of floral regions and the blending of eastern and western faunas. In addition to being able to present herewith an interestingly large list of weevils from a limited region, we are able to give Biological notes on most of the species. Many of these records are here for the first time published and some have an important bearing upon the knowledge of our economic weevils. We believe that the pos- session of this useful knowledge warrants us in presenting a seemingly local list of insects. The senior writer, who has been a resident of Victoria for many years, is responsible for most of the original observations on the weevils. The junior writer has been familiarizing himself more or less with Victoria conditions since 1904 and is responsible for the deter- minations, arrangement, and description of the new species, as well as for the authenticity of the parasite records. The records have been made by the following agents of the De- partment of Agriculture: R. A. Cushrnan, W. E Hinds, C. E. Hood, W. D. Hunter, C. R. Jones, A. McLachlan, J. D. Mitchell, A. C. Morgan, F. C. Pratt, W. D. Pierce, E, A. Schwarz, C. M. Walker, W. W. Yothers. Victoria County is situated in central southern Texas, about 25 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, on the dividing line between the Austroriparian or humid division and the Lower Sonoran or semi-arid division of the Lower Austral life zone. It has an altitude of 90 to 200 feet above sea level. The Guadalupe River divides the county into nearly equal parts, eastern and western. The northwestern quarter of the county is sandy and well timbered with oaks; the northeastern quarter is a rolling sandy prairie with the Arenosa for its eastern border; the southeastern quarter is a level black prairie; and the southwestern quarter is a rolling black prairie bordered on the south and west by the San Antonio River. The county is drained by many creeks and branches, principal among which are the Garcitas, Placedo, and Colletto. The rich valley of the Guadalupe extends through the county and is about half a mile wide at the northern end and 2 miles at the southern end. Many bayous and sloughs, old beds of the 46 PKOCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY river, traverse the valley, especially iu its southern part, and are margined with a large variety of water and marsh vegeta- tion. The Austroriparian flora of the county is of three types— the oak belt, the river woodlands, and the marsh lands. In other words, it contains both mesophytes and hydrophytes. The Lower Souoran flora is all xerophytic and either prairie or chaparral brush. Of course there are many transition areas where the timber of the two floras is intermingled. The trees of the river valleys include Populus deltoidcs, Salix, Hicoria pecan, Qiicrcus breriloba, Q. marilandica, Q. mac- rocarpa, Q. minor, Q. vitginiana, Ulmus, Celtis, Alorus, Cratcegus mollis, Primus, Gleditsia triucanthos, Bnmelia lanuginosa. Tillandsia iisneoides, the Spanish moss, and mistletoe {Phoradendron flavescens) are common on the bot- tom-land timber. Among the mesophytic weeds and shrubs are to be included Rnbits, Cassia occidentalis, Cardiosper- rtium halicacabum, CalUnhoe involucrata, C. lineanloba, Iponuva sinuata, Convolvulus, Cuscuta, Solanum rostratum, Iva ciliata, Ambrosia psilostachya, A. trifida, Xanthium, Rudbeckia amplexicauhs, Helianthus, Verbesina virginica. Of the hydrophytes the following require mention: Wild rice, joint-grass, C\perus virens, Rynchospora cornicnlata, Poly- gonum, Lud-wigia natans, Pluchea camphorata. The commonest crops are cotton {Gossypium hirsuticm}, corn(Zea mays} ,canteloupes( Cncumis meld} , and sweet potato (Ipomaa batatas}. Pecans (Hicoria pecaji} are grown very extensively, as are also figs (Ficns}, and peaches (Amygdalis perscia}. The chinaberry tree (Me/id azedarach} is very common in yards, and the palma christi bean {Ricinus com- munis}, is also an introduced plant. The L/ower Sonoran flora comprises the following chaparral timber: Rhretia elliptica, Acacia rccmeriana, Vachellia farne- siana, Prosopis glandulosa, Zanthoxylum clavaherculis (planted along fences), Guajacum angusiifolium, with the characteristic bunch mosses, Tillandsia bailey i and T. ?ectir- vata. The prairie vegetation comprises 1'ucca, Cassia cham- (pchrista, Croton capitains, C. eiigelmanni, Opitntia spp., Euphorbia marginata, Solanum cleagnifolinm, S. rostratum, Amphiachyris dracunculoides, Leucosyris spinosa, Carduus spinosissimiis. On the following pages we present a list of the weevil records for the county. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 47 ANTHRIBIM;. Ormiscus fissunguis Le Conte (?) (Gonops). A species of Onniscits very close to jissnngnis has been taken April 16, 1908 on Xanthium sp. (Mitchell); April 23, 1907 (Hinds); July 15, 1907 (Mitchell) bred from Xnuthium stem April 7, 1908. Euparius lunatus Fabricius (Cratoparis). By river bottom near town, October, 1904; November 4, 1908 (Hunter) ; under bark, November 27 (Mitchell) ; Novem- ber 19 (Pratt). It generally breeds in white tree-fungus. Brachytarsus sp. Breeding in beans of Guajacum angustifolium, February 14, 1907, Mission Valley (Mitchell). Brachytarsus limbatus Say. On Rudbeckia amplexicaulis April 23, 1907 (Cushman). Toxotropis fasciatus Le Conte. On dead branches of Celt is, March and April (Schwarz). Araecerus fasciculatus De Geer. The ubiquitous coffee-bean weevil breeds abundantly in china berries (Melia azedarach) May 13, 1907 (Cushman); in palma christi beans (Ricinns commums); in corn (Zea mays}; stalks and stems of various weeds; and in pods of huisache (Vachellia farnesiaiia), July 22 (Mitchell). Bred from old cotton bolls October 22, 1910 (Mitchell). The weevils in china berries are abundantly parasitized by Ce ram- by cabins cns/unani Crawford, and Enrytoma tylodermatis Ashmead (Pierce). CURCULIONIM; (SENSU LATIORE). CYLADINJE. Cylas f ormicarius Fabricius . The sweet potato weevil is found commonly in Victoria County and is the great pest of the sweet potato (Jpouura batatas) crops. It breeds natively in the roots of a Convol- Tulvus sp., commonly known as "tie-vine," in which it has been taken in all three stages in January. The weevil breeds in the sweet potato tubers in the field and continues its work all winter in the stored roots, until every potato is honey- combed with its cells. The larvae give the potatoes a bitter flavor, rendering them unfit for food, even for hogs. The dult is a slow insect and is dependent largely upon the assist- ance of man for transportation to new territory. 48 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY APIONINjE. Apion aculeatum Fall. Bred from flower-head of huisache (Vachellia farnestana), March 17, 1908 (Mitchell). Apion aeneipennis Smith. Ou Hclianthns, October 16, 1907 (Mitchell). Apion impunctistriatum Smith. On Rudbeckia amplexicaulis, April 8, 29, 1907 (Mitchell); May 13 (Morgan). Apion occidentale Fall. On Helianthus, April 8, 1907; April 12 (Mitchell). Apion subornation Fall. Feeding on black chaparral {Acacia rcemeriana) , and breed- ing in the pods, March 26, 1908 (Mitchell). Apion subcinctum Fall. vSeptember 16, 1907; November 15, 1906 (Mitchell). TANYMECINJE. Tanymecus confertus Gyllenhal. On Ambrosia psilostachya, April 30, May 13 (Morgan). BRACHYDERIN^E. Compsus auricephalus Say. On Phoradendron jtavescens, March 8, 1909 (Mitchell); April 15, 1903; on Ambrosia, April 30 (Morgan); on cotton (Gossypium), May 10, November 24 (Hinds); on Ambrosia, June 4, 1905; on Acacia, July 8, 1907 (Mitchell); July 16, 1906 (McLachlan); November 15, 1903. Mitostylus tenuis Horn. Feeding in large numbers on Amphiachyris dracunculoides, October 14; November 14, 1906 (Mitchell). Epicaerus sulcatus Casey (.?). Feeding on bloom of Acacia nvincn'ana, March 26, 1908 (Mitchell). Epicasrus texanus Casey. On I-ca ciliata, March 14, 1908; March 15, 1907 (Mitch- ell); on Ambrosia, April 30, May 13 (Morgan); June 4, 1905, July 22, 1907 (Mitchell); on cotton (Gossvphim') November 1, 1902 (Hinds). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 49 Artipus texanus, n. sp., Pierce. Light gray with brown vittee on median line and sides, of the size and shape of floridanus; surf ace covered with rounded ochreous, and trun- cate white scales. Lengths to 6.5 mm. Beak quadrate, slightly nar- rowed to tip, shallowly emarginate at tip, with median impressed line, surface flat continuous with front; scrobes narrow and deep, passing beneath in front of eyes. Funicular joints elongate, the first and second subequal and twice as long as any of the following joints. Eyes con- vex, prominent. Prothorax cylindrical, a little wider than long, base and apex truncate, sides very feebly convex, forming with the head and beak almost a straight line from middle of prothorax to tip of beak; disk very minutely punctate; scaly vestiture even darker on median line. Elytra oval, without humeri; striae barely indicated, punctures fine, bearing slender squamules; scaly vestiture even, with the ochreous and white scales evenly mixed, with brown scales on the median line and on the sides forming three narrow vittaa, edges of elytra ochreous. Undersides clothed as above, but with the white scales more elongate. Second abdominal segment barely as long as the two following segments. Described from two specimens collected at Victoria, Texas, October 14, 1906, and November 10, 1907, by J. D. Mitchell. Type: In U. S. National Museum, Cat. No. 13546. The two species of Artipus may be distinguished by the following characters: 1. Scrobes broad; beak deeply triangularly emarginate, with an apical lunular scaly area inclosed by a transverse ridge; second abdominal plainly longer than the two following seg- ments floridanus Horn 2. Scrobes narrow; beak shallowly emarginate, without trans- verse apical ridge; second abdominal barely as long as the two following segments texanus n. sp. Pierce Aramigus tesselatus Say. On weeds, July 15, 1905 (Mitchell). Phacepholis elegans Horn. On cotton (Gossypium} April 27, 1904 (Walker). PACHYRHYNCHTI^e. Pandeleteius cavirostris Schaeffer. On anachua tree {Ehretia elliptica), April, 1905 (Mitchell); on Cratagus, April 22, 1907 (Cushman); April 23, 1907; June 19, 1907 (Mitchell). 50 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Pandeleteius ovipennis Schaeffer. October 25, 1907 (Mitchell and Jones). OTIORHYNCHIN^:. Achrastenus griseus Horn. On Quercus, March 26, 1908 (Mitchell). PROMECOPIKE. Eudiagogus pulcher Fahraeus. Eudiagogus rosenschoeldi Fahrseus. These two species are always found in this county in abundance upon senna (Cassia occidentals), which grows abundantly in the lowlands and on the prairies. They appear in such great abundance that they quickly defoliate the senna. Have also observed them defoliating prickly ash (Xdnthoxylum clavaherculis} . They hibernate around the roots, and some- times just under the ground around the senna plants; also under bark of live oak trees (Quercus virginiand), and in hollow twigs of dead Xanthoxylum (Mitchell). RHYTIRHININ^E. Thecesternus albidus Pierce. Crawling on margin of ditch at Point Comfort, Calhoun County, June, 1902; crawling on ground at margin of water hole November, 1902, Victoria (Mitchell). HYPERIN^E. Listronotus callosus LeConte. June 18, 1904 (Walker). Listronotus obliquus LeConte. Caught at light, City Hall, September, 1904 (Mitchell). Listronotus rotundicollis Le Conte. On cotton (Gossypiuni) May 23, 1904 (Walker); (Mitchell). Hyperodes echinatus Dietz (Macrops). September 16, 1907 (Mitchell); on Ludivigia tia/ans, June 29, 1909 (Mitchell). Hyperodes humilis Gyllenhal (Macrops) . At trap lantern in cotton field, October 1, 1897 (Mitchell); November 15, 1906 (Mitchell). Hyperodes obscurellus Dietz (Macrops). Seven specimens at trap lanterns in cotton field, October 1, 1897 (Mitchell). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 51 Hyperodes vittaticollis Kirby (Macrops). On cotton (Gossypium} April 8, 1904 (Walker). Hyperodes ulkei Dietz (Macrops). April 23, 1907 (Mitchell). CLEONIKE. Lixus musculus Say. November 1, 1907 (Mitchell). Bred from Polygonum punctdtuva. and P. portoricense stems. September 20, 1910 (Mitchell). Lixus scrobicollis Boheman. Breeds abundantly in the stems of Ambrosia trifida, mating in July, breeding from thence on, and hibernating in the cells in the stems (Mitchell). Breeding in stems of Verbesina vir- ginica, June 11, 1907 (Cushman); December 29, 1908 (Mit- chell). On April 1, 1905, Dr. W. E. Hinds, isolated 15 para- sites of this weevil found in stems of Ambrosia psiloslachy a, which proved to be Glyptomorpha rugatorS&y and Horismenus lixivorus Crawford. From a lot of stems collected December 12, 1908 (Mitchell and Cushman), 154 parasites were isolated and bred out during the following spring. These parasites were Horismenus lixivorus Crawford, Glyptomorpha rugator Say, Cerambycobius cyaniceps Ashmead, Neocatolaccus tylo- dernuz Ashmead, Eurytomd lylodermatis Ashmead, and Sigalphus curculionis Fitch. During the winter of 1909- 1910, 439 parasites were isolated (Mitchell), which belonged to these same species, and also a few specimens of Ptinobius magnificus Ashmead (Pierce). Dorytomus parvicollis Le Conte. Bred from willow (Salix} catkin, March 6, 1908; at light May 4, 1905 (Mitchell). Bred Sigalphus curculionis Fitch, April 11 (Pierce). Lissorhoptrus simplex Say. The rice weevil has been taken on Baptism, March 30, 1905 (Hinds); breeds in the roots of rice {Oryza saliva) and other water vegetation; flies to light (Mitchell). Endalus aeratus Le Conte. At trap lantern in cotton field, October 1, 1897 (Mitchell); May 30, 1905 (Yothers). 52 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Endalus setosus Le Conte. Four specimens at trap lantern in cotton field, October 1, 1897 (Mitchell). Pachyphanes discoideus Le Conte. At trap lantern in cotton field, October, 1, 1897 (Mitchell). Pachyphanes corpulentus Le Conte. On Helenium sp., October 28, 1907 (Mitchell). Pachyphanes triangularis Dietz. On Rudbeckia amplexicaidis, April 23, 29, 1907; May 19, 1907 (Mitchell). Pachyphanes amoenus Say. On weeds, August 1905 (Mitchell). Desmoris constrictus Say. August 31, 1907; on Helianthus, September 8, 1907 (Mitchell). Smicronyx corniculatus Fabricius. August 19 (Hinds). Smicronyx spretus Dietz. On cotton (Gossypium} April 26, 1904 (Hinds). Smicronyx tychoides Le Conte. On Cuscuta, July 21, 1910 (Mitchell and Pierce); breeding in stern galls on Cuscuta, August 1, 1906 (Morgan) and par- asited by Eutrichosomq albipes Crawford (Pierce). OTID O CEPHALIN^: . Otidocephalus carinicollis Horn. On Calhrrhoc involucrata, March 27, 1908 (Mitchell). Otidocephalus chevrolatii Horn. Breeding in walls of twig galls formed by Amphibolies on live oak (Qiicrcus virginiana) March 15-17, 1907, Jackson County; also found in Victoria (Mitchell). MAGDALININAE. Magdalis barbita Say. In dry bark of elm ( Ulmns} log, February 12, 1907, Steam's Pasture (Mitchell and Yothers). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 53 BALANININ^E. Balaninus pardalis Chittenden. September 29, (auth. Chittenden). Balaninus parvidens Chittenden. September, October (auth. Chittenden). Balaninus victoriensis Chittenden. Took 1,129 specimens at trap lantern in cotton field, October 1, 1897. Caught in large numbers in fire traps set for cotton boll weevil in July, 1903. On October 2, 1904, gathered 167 acorns of live oak (Quercus mrginiana}. The larvae began to come out October 7 and continued emerging until October 14, when 266 larvas had issued. They were placed in jars in loose earth and immediately began to burrow, going down 3 to 5 inches. Seven- teen larvae formed cells against the glass, where they could be observed. Half of the jars were kept indoors and half outdoors. On March 7, 1905, the larvae were noticed moving, and exhibited the first signs of pupation. On March 15, the first pupa was ob- served. The pupae formed almost simultaneously in the jars indoors and outdoors; they moved around a great deal in their cells. Adults began to be observed April 2. On April 22 put in leaves of white elm, ash, rose; the weevils fed heartily on the elm leaves and then went to sleep. They sleep with the bill and feet curled up as if dead. From another lot of acorns collected in October, 1904, the larvae emerged in November, were pupat- ing between June 23 and 30, 1905, and first became adult July 1. Specimens from black jack (Quercus mar Handle a) acorns col- lected October 29, 1905, matured in June, 1906. Specimens from live oak (Quercus mrginiana} acorns collected November 5, 1906, were pupae April 29, 1907, and adult May 26. This weevil has been found breeding also in post oak (Quercus minor} and pin oak (Quercus breviloba). As many as three larvae have been found in a single acorn. While the larvae usually leave the acorns in October and November, some will emerge in Septem- ber and some in December. The pupal cell is not formed until spring after the winter sleep is over. They pupate in April and May, and become adult in May and June. They feed once in every four or six days, preferring oak leaves. Between meals they curl up and sleep in some hiding place. Active life begins in August (Mitchell). ANTHONOMINjE. Tachypterellus quadrigibbus Say. The apple weevil larva1 are found in fruit of red haw ((><;- tcegus mollis); found larva* April 23, 1907, pupated April 30, and 54 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY matured May 7, passing all stages in the haw (Mitchell). This lot was parasitized by Catolaccus incertus Ash mead, and two unknown parasites (Pierce). Macrorhoptus estriatus Le Conte. On blooming anachua tree (Ehretia ellipfica), April 19, 1905; feeding on Callirrhoe, April 30, 1905; it has since been found to breed in the pods of Callirrhoe (Mitchell). Coccotorus scutellaris Le Conte. Breeding in plums (Prunus), June 11, 1907 (Hood). Anthonomus aeneolus Dietz. Breeds in the buds of Solanum spp. Anthonomus albopilosus Dietz. Larvae in seeds of Croton capitatus, May 5, 1907, pupae May 10, adults May 24 (Mitchell); on cotton (Gossypium) June 5, 1904 (Goes) ; breeding in seed of Croton capitatus and C. engel- manni, September 6, 1906 (Mitchell), and parasitized by Bracon mellitor Say (Pierce). Anthonomus callirrhoe Pierce. Breeding in the small buds of Callirrhoe involucrata, March 16, 1908 (Mitchell); on Carduus spinosissimus, April 17, 1907 (Hinds); on cotton (Gossypium), May 2, 1905 (Yothers). Anthonomus fulvus Le Conte. Larvae in buds of Callirrhoe involucrata, March 4, 1907, pupae March 17, adult April 1; April 23, 1907 (Mitchell); April 28 to May 15, 1906, on Callirrhoe involucrata (Morgan) ; in flowers of Callirrhoe lineariloba, May 21, 1905 (Mitchell). Anthonomus grandis Boheman. The cotton boll weevil first made its appearance in Victoria County in 1894, and has seriously injured cotton (Gossypium) culture ever since. In the winter of 1903-04 larvae were found alive u^til February 7, 1904, and pupae as late as February 14 (Mitchell). The following insects have been found to be ene- mies of the boll weevil at Victoria: Bracon mellitor Say, the most important parasite in south Texas; Catolaccus hunter i Crawford, also a good parasite; Catolaccus incertus Ashmead, equally good; Cerambycobius cushmani Crawford, attacking the weevil in great quantities some years; Cerambycobius cyaniceps Ashmead, less common; Ectatomma tuber culata Olivier, the Guatemalan kelep, which was unsuccessfully introduced as a predatory enemy, was first brought to Victoria; Eurytoma, new species, rare; Eurytoma tylodermatis Ashmead, a valuable parasite; Ilydnocera pubescens Le Conte, a rather common OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 55 predator on the immature stages; Lariophagus texanus Crawford, rather rare parasite; Microdontomerus anthonomi Crawford, not very common parasite; Pediculoides ventricosus Newport, a parasitic mite; Spilochalcis sp., rare; Stagmomantis limbata Hahn, a predator on the adult weevil; Tyroglyphus breviceps Banks, a parasitic mite (Pierce). Anthonomus ligatus Dietz. Breeding in stem galls on Leucosyris spinosus, a very common weed in this county, October 14, 1906 (Mitchell). Anthonomus rufipennis Le Conte. Bred from Cassia chamcscrista, August 9, 11, 1909 (Mitchell). Anthonomus signatus Say. The strawberry weevil breeds in buds of blackberry and dew- berry (Rubus sp.) (Mitchell). Anthonomus texanus Dietz. November 6, 1906 (Mitchell). Tachyerges niger Horn (Orchestes). On willow (Salix) (Mitchell). Elleschus ephippiatus Say. Common under fallen willow leaves during winter (Schwarz). TYCHIIN.E. Tychius species. Breeding in flower-heads of huisache (Vachellia farnesiana) , March 17, 1908 (Mitchell). Tychius sordidus Le Conte. March 25, 1904 (Walker); from flowers of Baptisia cuncata, March 29, 1905 (Mitchell); breeding in seed-pods of Baptisia, May 23, 1905; larvae emerged from pods until June 1, pupate in ground. CRYPTORHYNCHINJE. Conotrachelus anaglypticus Fahrseus. June 11, 1903 (Hinds). Conotrachelus affinis Boheman. Larva? in fallen pecans (Hicoria pecan), July 12, 1909; adults August 19-22, parasitized by Sigalphus curculionis Fitch (Mit- chell). Conotrachelus cratsegi Walsh. Larva? in fruit of Crat&gus mollis October 15, 1907; adults April 18, 1908 (Mitchell). 56 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Conotrachelus elegans Boheman. The pecan gall weevil was found on Verbesina virginica, April 5, 1907 (Cushman); deposits eggs in galls of Phylloxera devas- tatrix on leaves of pecan (Hicoria pecan); found larvae in the galls April 23, 1907; larvae entered ground April 30; adults May 7; also bred adults as late as May 24 from other lots; found larvae in young green blasted pecans; entered ground July 11; adult July 14 (Mitchell). From the weevils in galls, Sigalphus cur- culionis Fitch, Myiophasia anea Wiedemann, and Eurytoma tylodermatis Ashmead, were bred (Pierce). Conotrachelus erinaceus Le Conte. On cotton, September 14, 1907 (Mitchell). x Conotrachelus leucophaeatus Fahraeus. On cotton (Gossypium) May 2, 1904 (Hinds); on a ripe rig (Ficus), July 20, 1905 (Mitchell); it normally breeds in the stems of Euphorbia marginata, a common weed in the Guadalupe bottoms (Pierce). • Conotrachelus naso Le Conte. At trap lantern in cotton field, October 1, 1897; gathered a pint of acorns of pin oak (Quercus breviloba) at Pridham's Lake, October 15, 1904, larvae issued November 1, began to change to pupa March 13, 1905, first perfect pupa March 21, adults April 4; gathered 167 acorns of live oak (Quercus virginiana) at Sutton Mott, October 2, 1904, from which up to October 14, 266 larvae issued; in ground 150 to 200 days; taken at light at City Hall, September, 1904; larvae in acorns of post oak (Quercus minor'), November 11, 1905, adult June, 1906; have also found the species breeding in black jack (Quercus marilandica) acorns; it works side by side with Balininus mctoriensis, and has sub- stantially the same developmental periods; as many as 7 larvae have been found in a single acorn; the summer sleeping and feeding habits are the same as those described for Balaninus mctoriensis (Mitchell) . Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst. Gathered a dozen wild plums (Prunus) stung by this weevil, May 18, 1905,; six larvae emerged May 26 to June 2, first larva began to pupate June 13; five pupae became adult June 20 (Mit- chell); September 1, 1903 (Hinds). It breeds at Victoria in both wild and cultivated plums and in peaches. It is sometimes a very serious pest. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 57 Conotrachelus posticatus Boheman. July 14, 1905. Conotrachelus similis Boheman. Breeds in the fruit of Bumelia lanuginosa, August 6, 1907 (Mitchell). Bred one male braconid from this lot. Rhyssematus palmacollis Say. Three specimens on sweet potato (I pomcea batatas] on Mitchell farm, May 27, 1903; larvae in seed of I pomcea sinuata, July 12, 1907, entered ground July 21, adults August 13 (Mitchell). Chalcodermus collaris Horn. On cotton, May 9, 1904 (Walker); on Cassia chamcechrista flowers, banks Dry Creek, July 8, 1905, October 25, 1907 (Mitchell). Chalcodermus vittatus Champion. Breeding in the seed of balloon vine (Cardiospermum halica- cabum), September 17, 1907 (Mitchell); larvae October 8, 1907, adults December 2 (Mitchell and Cushman). Gerstaeckeria nobilis Le Conte (Acalles). On Opuntia, April 17, 1908; breeds in flat cells in the joints of broad-leafed species of Opuntia (Mitchell). Tyloderma baridium Le Conte. April 10, June 1, 1907 (Mitchell). Tyloderma foveolatum Say. On flowers, Voit's pasture, May 28, 1905 (Mitchell). Tyloderma subpubescens Casey. November 19, (Pratt); bred from Polygonum punctatum, Sep- tember 24, 1910 (Mitchell). Cryptorhynchus fal!ax Le Conte. Breeding in dry stems and stumps of Cassia occnlcntalis, in all stages, March 17, 1909 (Mitchell). Cryptorhynchus obtentus Herbst. Not rare in winter time under loose bark of felled trees (Schwarz). Acamptus rigidus Le Conte. In red-rotten wood of Populus, March 15 (Schwarz). 58 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY ZYGOPIN.E. Cylindrocopturus adspersus Le Conte. Bred from stems of Xanthium March 30, 1908; bred from stems of flelianthus, May 3, 1908; July 31, 1907 (Mitchell). Breeding in the stems of Ambrosia trifida, December 12, 1908 (Mitchell) and parasitized by Cerambycobius cyaniceps Ash- mead, Horismenus lixivorus Crawford, and an undetermined braconid (Pierce). Breeding in the stems of Xanthium, Decem- ber 12, 1909 (Mitchell) and parasitized by Cerambycobius cush- mani Crawford and a braconid (Pierce). Cylindrocopturus longulus Le Conte. Bred from the stems of ID a ciliata May 3, 1908 (Mitchell), October 9, 1907 (Mitchell and Cushman). Parasitized during winter by Cerambycobius cyaniceps Ashmead, Cerambycobius cushmani Crawford, Eurytoma tylodermatis Ashmead, Neoca- tolaccus tylodermcB Ashmead, and a braconid (Pierce). Cylindrocopturus mammillatus Le Conte. Bred from the stems of Verbesina virginica, June 11, 1907 (Mitchell). Bred from stems of Eupatorium alternifolium, Sep- tember 17, 1910 (Mitchell). CEUTORHYNCHINJE. Acanthoscelis griseus Dietz. May 3, 1907 (Mitchell). Craponius inaequalis Say. Beaten from grape-vines, April 4 (E. A. Schwarz). Auleutes nebulosus Le Conte. On seed of joint-grass in marshy place July 11, 1905; August 1905 (Mitchell). Auleutes tenuipes Le Conte. August, 1905 (Mitchell). Rhinoncus pyrrhopus Boheman. Breeds in Polygonum, Miracle Mud Marsh, larvae June 21, 1909, adults July 1 (Mitchell). Parasitized by Cerambycobius (Pierce). Rhinoncus longulus Le Conte. August, 1905 (Mitchell). Perigaster cretura Herbst. Breeds on the leaves of water purslane (Ludwigia natans). The larvae are first noticed near the bud; they feed externally on OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 59 the foliage, exuding a sticky substance which holds them to the leaf; as they grow they work down the stem; when grown a dark shell grows over their back and finally covers them; they pupate in this cell (Mitchell). BARIDIIN^E. Baris aerea Boheman. November 15, 1906 (Mitchell); November 18 (Pratt). Baris subovalis Le Conte. August 2, 1906 (Crawford). Baris transversa Say. On Ambrosia May 29, 1905 (Mitchell); May 30, 1905 (Yoth- ers). Onychobaris subtonsa Le Conte. On Ambrosia, May 29, 1905 (Mitchell). Madarellus undulatus Say. November 3 (Schwarz). Trichobaris texana Le Conte. On cotton (Gossypium) April 20, 1904 (Walker); July 22, 1905 (Mitchell); breeds very commonly in the stems of Solatium rostratum. From a lot of infested stems of Solarium rostratum collected December 15, 1908 (Mitchell) there were bred during January, February, and March, 1909, many Cerambycobius cushmani Crawford, Neocatolaccus tylodermce Ashmead, Ceram- bycobius cvaniceps Ashmead, Eurytoma tylodermatis Ashmead. During the winter of 1909-10, Mr. Mitchell isolated 424 para- sites belonging to these four species (Pierce). Stethobaris species. September, 1905 (Mitchell). Geraeus albotectus Casey (Centrinus). July 8, 1907, on Acacia (Mitchell). Geraeus penicellus Herbst (Centrinus). On seed heads of joint-grass July 15, 1905 (Mitchell). Geraeus picumnus Herbst (Centrinus). August, 1905 (Mitchell). Odontocorynus denticornis Casey (Centrinus). On seed heads of joint-grass, July 11, 1905 (Mitchell). 60 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Odontocorynus scutellum-album Say (Centrums). Feeding on trailing mallow (Callirrhoe lineariloba) , May 21, 1905, Stern's Pasture (Mitchell). Limnobaris punctigera Le Conte. In cotton field, September 1, 1902 (Hinds). Barinus albescens Le Conte. Breeds in stems of Cvperus virens, near the roots, July 19, 1909 (Mitchell). Barinus squamolineatus Casey. Breeding in the roots of Rvnchospora corniculata, April 24, 1909 (Mitchell). Zygobaris xanthoxyli Pierce. Breeding in the seed of Xanthoxylum clava-herculis, July, 1910 (Mitchell and Pierce). CALANDRIN^E. Rhodobaenus tredecimpunctatus Illiger. On Ambrosia, April 30 (Morgan); May 13 (Morgan); breed- ing in Helianthus stalks, May 25; on Ambrosia, May 29 (Mit- chell). Sphenophorus compressirostris Say. Found seven crawling on edge of ditch at Point Comfort, Calhoun County, June, 1902; they were mating when taken (Mitchell). Sphenophorus ludovicianus Chittenden. March 28, 1907 (Jones); April 8, 1907 (Mitchell); August 10, 1906 (Cushman); makes cells under logs in winter; is known as the chicken weevil because it is thought to kill chickens which try to eat it by getting stuck in their throats (Mitchell). Sphenophorus pertinax Olivier, Caught in cotton fields, rare (Mitchell). Calandra oryza Linnaeus. Besides stored grain have found it breeding in overcup or bur oak acorns (Quercus macrocarpa). also found breeding in live oak acorns, November 12, 1909. Have found as many as 27 larva; and pupae in one acorn. Have also found them feeding on ripe peaches (Amygdalis persica), figs (Ficus), cantaloupes (Cucumis), and the pollen of many wild flowers. It is liable to be anywhere. Have collected them from oaks (Quercus}, cot- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 61 tonwood (Populus deltoides), hackberry (Celtis), pecan (Hicoria pecan), locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), and mulberry (Morus) trees. In October and November, 1907, while collecting boll weevils for hibernation, large numbers of this weevil were found in cotton fields near Victoria. They were in the cotton (Gos- sypium) squares and often associated with the boll weevil. In 1860 on the plantation in Lavaca County, Texas, we built a crib 8 feet in the ground, walled up with rock, and 8 feet above ground of logs. When this crib was opened in the spring, it was found that the weevil had severely injured the corn (Zea mays) above the ground, while that which was below the sur- face was entirely free of weevil. In 1859, Mr. B. Q. Ward, of Jackson County, piled 100 bushels of corn on the ground, cov- ered it with hay, then put 1 foot of earth over all, heaping it to a point for drainage. When opened in the spring not a sound grain was to be found. In the winter of 1895, when the tempera- ture went to 10 degrees above zero, and again in 1899, when it went to 6 degrees above zero, all the weevils in my barn at Victoria were killed. The corn was in the second story of a wooden building. As a rule weevils get into corn in the field before it is gathered. Mild winters and wet summers are con- ducive to the increase of the weevil, while cold winters and dry summers hinder it. Have seen corn gathered in September and October so heavily infested that by January it was unfit to feed to stock. It is seldom that corn can be kept in cribs in southern Texas later than May on account of the damage of weevils (Mitchell). Bred from stems of Ambrosia trifida March 24, 1909 (Mitchell). COSSONIN^E. Parahornia quercicola Horn. Found in large numbers in decayed willow (Salix) log, on bank of Guadalupe River near town, February 12, 1910. They were in cells, tunnels, and chambers made by large wood beetles; some had just matured. They did not leave the log until after March 2 (Mitchell),. Pseudopentarthrum robustum Casey. In cell of dead limb of mulberry (Morus), March 3, 1910 (Mit- chell). IPID.E. Ips pini Say. At trap lantern in cotton field, October 1, 1897 (Mitchell). (Undoubtedly carried in by the railroads.) Hypothenemus, new species, Hopkins. In old corn (Zea mays) stalks, March 6, 1909 (Mitchell). 62 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Hypothenemus species. In huisache ( Vachellia farnesiana) pods, April 22, 1907 (Mit- chell); on Cratagus, April 22, 1907 (Cushman). Stephanoderes, new species, Hopkins. In corn (Zea mays} stalks, March 6, 1909 (Mitchell). NOTES ON PTEROSTICHUS JOHNSONI ULKE. BY C. V. PIPER. Pterostichus johnsoni was first collected in July, 1878, by Prof. O. B. Johnson, on Mill Creek, near Mehama, Oregon. He found but three specimens, crawling over wet moss on boulders in a cool, shady canyon. Though he searched for it many times again in likely places, he never found the insect again until August, 1888, when he collected seven specimens on Rock Creek, which flows into the Santiam 12 miles above Mill Creek. With this additional material Ulke described the species in the March, 1889, number of Entomologica Americana. The beetle had never been collected at any other place ex- cepting Horsetail Falls, Oregon, where I collected a single specimen in August, 1904. This individual was crawling over the wet moss in the spray of the fall. I recognized it at once, and knowing its rarity spent more than an hour in searching for others, but without success. Two years later I visited these falls again and searched assiduously for the beetle, but found none. Last summer, while visiting Professor Johnson, he told me that he was exceedingly anxious to obtain additional speci- mens, as he had given all his away. He explained to me minutely the places where he had found the insects — on Mill Creek, one of which was at the falls about 3 miles up the creek, and the other on mossy rocks in the canyon of the creek, a half mile below the falls, where one could no longer follow its bed but had to clamber around. As I had to spend several days in the Willamette Valley, I promised Professor Johnson to visit the spot if I possibly could and try to find his name- sake again. Mehama is easily reached, being only 1 mile dis- tant from the railroad station of L,yons. I reached Mehama on a hot August day with no other equipment than the suit I was traveling in and a pair of leggings bought for the occa- sion. There was no trail up the creek, so that one had the choice of wading up the creek or crawling through brush so thick that the creek was usually the preferable path. Before OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 19H. 63 reaching the creek, where I would have but five hours' time at most to spend, I decided to begin my search on the gravel bars of the creek, as it occurred to me that the beetle might be an ordinary gravel-bar insect like Patrobus calif ornicus. This was really a reflection upon the collecting ability of "Bug" Johnson, and proved an unfortunate digression on my part. As it happened, the first pebble I turned over concealed a P. johnsoni. Immediately I had visions of collecting a quart or so. Of course, I searched at once for the mate of my specimen and immediately found it, but alas of another very common species. During the next fifteen minutes I scratched over every inch of that gravel bar, without success. Then I searched the adjacent woods — in every sort of place I could imagine a Plerostichus to live — but no luck. During the next two hours I trudged up the creek, scratching the gravel on every bar, looking under drift of various sorts, un- der the bark of logs in the creek, in wet moss, and in general defacing the landscape. It was now after noon ana half of my five hours were gone. I estimated I was still a mile from the falls, so I went into the woods back from the creek, where the valley was less difficult, and tramped for half an hour, when I reached my objective point. The beetles I was told would be found on the moss in the spray. The spray was there and the moss, but no beetles; and when I got through there was no moss left. Just before leaving the falls I espied a little patch of gravel in between the logs of drift — and here I found my second P. johnsoni. Three hours of hard work and two beetles! I was discouraged and started back, following the creek. On a particularly promising gravel bar I found two more specimens— total four. But the next half hour's work of scratching gravel gave no further results, and I decided to quit. In trudging through the woods I tried to solve the difficulty, wondering whether the beetles really were very rare like certain species of Cyc/irns, or whether I had not found their real habitat. Professor Johnson said he found his specimens on the wet mossy rocks while fishing up the creek. I thought it might have been a dull day and the beetles, therefore, out hunting, while on a bright day they would hide. With this idea I again went to the creek and reached it at the spot where Professor Johnson described it as impassable and with the bed filled with large, mossy boulders. If my theory was correct I should find the beetles hiding near the mossy rocks — as my previous work proved they did not hide in the moss. Such a place I found in a little patch of gravel not a foot square between two large, mossy boulders — and there I found a pair of P. johnsoni in 64 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. XIII, 1911. coition. In the next fifteen minutes I found about ten more specimens, and think that there can be no further question about the natural habitat of this species. They probably feed on various larvae that live in the wet moss. As is well known, the insect life of the deep woods in Oregon is notoriously poor, and few entomologists would think of searching for beetles in the sort of places P. johnsoni prefers -wet, mossy boulders on a shady creek. The two streams from which this beetle is known are about 50 miles apart, and I have no doubt that it occurs in suitable places on most of the intermediate creeks. Unless one is searching particularly for this beetle he is not apt to find it — and I might add that if he finds it he need not expect to find other beetles — as this insect loves an environment that most others avoid. Professor Johnson collected in his two trips ten specimens. Two of these are in the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, two in the Ulke collection at Pittsburg, two at the University of California, and the remaining two Professor Johnson had in his own collection, but I believe gave them away a few years ago. A NEW BASILODES FROM TEXAS. [Lepidoptera; Noctuidas.] BY HARRISON G. DYAR. Basilodes catharops, new species. Basal area, terminal area towards apex, tornus, orbicular, and reniform shaded with golden; rest of fore wing light sandy brown; lines light brown, the inner limiting the basal golden area, angled subcostally, roundedly produced [in submedian space, angled below vein 1; reniform and orbicular edged with brown lines; outer line angled at veins, but continued to near apex by a shade, oblique and rearly rugular to inner margin, inflexed a little on submedian fold; subterminal line brown, scarcely waved. Hind wings pale clay color, a little shaded with brown outwardly. Expanse 40 mm. Three males, San Diego, Texas, May 24, 1895 (E. A. Schwarz); Brownsville, Texas, May 17, 1904 (H. S. Barber). Type: No. 13555, U. S. National Museum. In appearance the species resembles B. chrysopis Grote. It lacks, however, the powdery appearance of that species, the golden areas being solid and the stigmata sharply limited by lines; the black point is absent from the reniform and the frontal prominence is somewhat more distinct. Actual date of issue, March 31, 1911. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Page DYAR, H. G. : Notes on the Grass-feeding Hemileucas and their allies 5 A Note on Halisidota cinctipes Grote 10 An Arctian New to Our Fauna 15 Notes on the American Species of Olene Hiibner 16 Two Noctuids New to Our Fauna 20 Two Species of Phycitinse New to Our Fauna 30 A Synonomic Note 30 A New Basilodes from Texas 64 KNAB, F.: Ecdysis in the Diptera 32 McATEE, W. L. : Facts in the Life History of Goniops chrysocoma 21 MITCHELL, J. D., and W. D. PIERCE: The Weevils of Victoria County, Texas 45 PIERCE, W. D. (see MITCHELL). PIPER, C. V. : Notes on Pterostichus johnsoni Ulke 62 ROHWER, S. A. : A* Preoccupied Name in Wasps 4 A Preoccupied Name in Saw-flies 31 SCHAUS, W. : Descriptions of Six New American Heterocera 42 SCHROTTKY, C. : A New Dianthidium from Paraguay 14 WEBSTER, F. M.: The Diffusion of Insects in North America 2 THE CORNMAN PRINTING Co., Carlisle, Pa. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Volume XIII, No. 2. APRIL-JUNE, 1911. (MEETINGS OF MAY 5, 1910, TO MARCH 2, 1911) PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, QUARTERLY CARLISLE, PA. WASHINGTON, D. C. 1911. p'd os sivoml-olass niiiUer July '-'(.i, 1009, at the post office at Uirlixlr, Pennsylvania, under the Act of July Hi, IS'.M. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday in each month, from October to June, inclusive, at 8 P. M., at the residences of members. Annual dues of active members, $3.00; of corresponding members, $2.00; initia- tion fee (for active members onlv), $1 00. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1911. President • P. M. WEBSTER. First Vice-President A. L. QUAINT ANCE. Second Vice-President E. F. PHILLTfS. Recording Secretary. H. S. BARBER. Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROH \\~ER. U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Sciences A. D. HOPKINS. Executive Committee. THE OFFICERS, L. O. HOWAKD, E. A. SCHWARZ, HARBISON G. DYAR. Publication Committee. HARBISON G. DYAR, A. L. QUAINTANCE, J. C. CRAWFORD. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published quarterly by the Society at No. 1 N. Pitt street, Carlisle, Pa., and Washington, D. C. Terms for subscription: Domestic, $2.00 per annum; foreign, $2.25 per annum; single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Authors of leading articles in the PROCKI:I>IN<;.S sliall bo entitled to 25 sepa- rates of each contribution, free of charge. Additional copies maybe had at cost by notifying the Publication Committee bo >n tlio final page proof Is returned to the printer. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. VOL. XIII APRIL - JUNE, 1911 No. 2 MEETING OF MAY 5, 1910. The 240th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. Quaintance at the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C Street, on the evening of May 5, 1910, and there were present Messrs. Barber, Bourne, Caudell, Crawford, Gahan, Gill, Heidemann, W. A. Hooker, Hopkins, T. H. Jones, McAtee, Peairs, Pope- noe, Quaintance, Rohwer, Sasscer, Schwarz, Viereck, and Zimmer, members, and Messrs. Cory, Myers, Snodgrass, and Wall, visitors. The minutes of the preceding meeting were read and approved. Mr. C. B. Hardenburg, of Pretoria, Transvaal, was elected a corresponding member. The first paper of the evening, entitled "Literature on Ichneumonoidea and Apoidea in 1909," was given by Mr. Viereck.1 Under the title of "The Thorax of Hymenoptera, with Exhibition of Drawings," Mr. Snodgrass gave a synopsis of his recent work, which is to be published elsewhere. The last paper of the evening, by Mr. Sasscer, was entitled "The Tea Scale, Fiorinia thece Green."3 1 Withdrawn. 'Withdrawn for publication elsewhere. 66 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The committee appointed at the last meeting to prepare a notice of the late D. H. demons reported as follows : Douglas Harrison Clemous was born in southern California, but while he was still an infant his parents moved east, where both died, leaving him to the care of his older sister, whose limited means of support prevented his acquiring more than an elementary education. While still quite small he sought to earn his living as errand or cash boy in various stores in Washington, and even under these trying circumstances showed a very keen interest in nature, especially birds and insects, whenever he could get away from the city streets. It was during this period that one of the younger members of this Society made his acquaintance and was struck with the pity of such unusual interest in natural history being smoth- ered from lack of opportunity to develop. It happened at the time that there was great need of a preparator of insects in the National Museum, and through the interest of his new- found friends Clemons was given a temporary appointment there. His unusual keenness in the observation of life his- tories of insects and his natural bend for systematic entomo- logy soon became evident to all with whom he came in con- tact and his work gave universal satisfaction. Dr. Howard took an interest in the boy and sent him to the Gipsy Moth Parasite Laboratory at Melrose Highlands, Massachusetts, where he proved to be of most valuable assistance in the intri- cate observations of the life histories of the imported Tachinid flies. His accuracy and ability in this work is attested to in the bulletin by Prof. C. H. T. Townsend, who was in charge of this branch of the work. Returning to Washington in the fall of 1908, Clemons was appointed aid in the Division of Insects of the National Museum, but already in the spring of the following year he showed signs of failing health and in the early summer he broke completely down. In spite of all the efforts made by his Washington friends, the progress of the dreadful disease could not be arrested and after a vain effort to regain his health at a sanatorium in Colorado he died at the home of his sister in Riverside, California, on March 22, 1910. Clemons did not know his exact birthday nor birth year, but was not much over twenty-one years old at the time of his death. He obviously could not have accomplished much in actual science, and he left nothing in published form as a record of his numerous observations of insect life; but to the small circle of entomologists with whom he came in contact he proved himself a true lover of the science, a thoroughly OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 67 honest and cheerful companion, an unusually keen and capa- ble worker, with a very special practical ability in devising means for observing insects or for preparing them for the Museum, and we feel his death a serious loss to ourselves and to our Society. E. A. SCHWARZ, A. BUSCK, H. S. BARBER, Committee. MEETING OF JUNE 2, 1910. The 241st regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Dr. Hopkins at the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C Street, on the evening of June 2, 1910, and there were present Messrs. Barber, Busck, Dyar, Ely, Gahan, Gill, Heidemann, Hopkins, Jones, Knab, Peairs, Quaintance, Rohwer, Schwarz, Viereck, and Zimmer, members, and Messrs. P. R. Myers and H. W. Wall, visitors. In the absence of the Secretary, Mr. Barber was appointed secretary pro tern., and the reading of minutes of the previous meeting was dispensed with. Dr. Hopkins reported on the recent activities of the Wash- ington Academy of Sciences. The first paper of the evening, " Literature on the Tenth- redinoidea, Siricoidea, Vespoidea, and Sphecoidea in 1909," by Mr. Rohwer, was discussed by Messrs. Busck and Hopkins.1 The next paper, "Some Synonomy and Other Notes on Aphidiiuse," by Mr. Gahan, was discussed by Messrs. Quain- tance, Hopkins, Viereck, Schwarz, and Rohwer.2 The last paper on the program, "Three New Species of L/eptoglossus (Coreidae) Occurring in the United States," by Mr. Heidemann, was discussed by Messrs. Busck, Hopkins, Schwarz, and Quaintance.8 Mr. Ely presented the descriptions of some new L/epidop- tera/ 1 Withdrawn. a Already published, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., XII, 179, 1910. 3 Already published, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., xii, 191, 1910. 4 Already published, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., xii, 202, 1910. 68 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The following papers were accepted or publication: TWO NEW NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF EUSTROTIA. [Lepidoptera; Noetuidse.] BY HARRISON G. DYAR. According to Sir G. F. Hampson's admirable Volume X of the "Catalogue Lepidoptera Phalsenae," our genus Tripudia is composed of two dissimilar groups, which he separates. The species allied to quadrifera Zeller remain in Tripudia Grote, which, however, becomes a synonym of Cobitbatha Walker. The species allied to basicinerea Grote fall into the old genus Eustrotia Hiibner. Of this particular group Hamp- son recognizes three species, all from the southwest. Two others before me appear distinct. Eustrotia antonita, new species. Basal part of fore wing clear gray with narrow blackish markings on the costa; medial band black, narrow, excavated in the cell apd again below, the latter cutting through the black but not through the dull yellow outer border; space beyond this band reddish brown with a faint lighter annulus at reniform; three narrow blackish marks on costa; subterminal line irregular, whitish, waved, bent inward below cell, with a brown inner border; a black terminal line, broken below apex and near middle; fringe blackish. Hind wing fuscous brown, darker on the veins. San Antonio, Texas (through Dr. W. Barnes), one speci- men. Type: No. 13676, U. S. National Museum. Allied to E. orthozona Hampson, but with the outer part of the wing of a different color, the black baud narrower and broken below. Eustrotia santarita, new species. Basal part of fore wing clear gray with black streaks on the costa; median black band rather broad, broadening below, straight, slightly bent on its narrower upper half, edged with bright silvery; outer space ocherous, with more or less reddish suffusion, especially over mesial area; reniform a broad diffused paler ringlet; subterminal line gray, twice excurved and arising from a dark wedged-shaped mark on costa; a terminal dark line twice interrupted by pale, the fringe dark except the pale spaces of terminal line. Hind wing brownish fuscous, the veins darker. San Diego, Texas, May 28, 1896 (E. A. Schwarz); Alice, Texas, June 15, 1894 (H. S. Barber); Catalina Springs, Ari- zona, May 8, 1898 (E. A. Schwarz); Santa Rita, Mountains, OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 69 * Arizona, May 25 and June 14, 1898 (E. A. Schwarz); five specimens. Type: No. 13677, U. S. National Museum. Also allied to E. orthozona, but the mesial baud is broad and straight, without excavations on the inner side. A NEW GENUS FOR CIRRHOPHANUS DUPLICATUS. [Lepidoptera; Noctuidae.] BY HARRISON G. DYAR. In his last volume, Sir G. F. Hampson includes Cirrhopha- nus duplicatns Smith with a mark of doubt, and quotes characters that contradict the generic diagnosis. No speci- mens of this species appear to be known except the original female type, which is before me. This is clearly not referable to Cirrhophanns, and a new genus is required. Phaioecia, new genus. Fore wing with an areole; fore tibiae and tarsi unarmed, the tibiae short and stout; frons with a rounded prominence with slight trans- verse ridge at its middle, where it is truncated, with a corneous plate below; abdomen with small dorsal crest at base only. Type: Cirrhophanus duplicates Smith. The genus is allied to Chalccecia Hampson (Cat. Lep. Phal., ix, 182, 1910), but the front is more prominent and distinctly truncated below at the ridge, while the abdominal tufting differs. Sole species, Phaicccia duplicatus Smith. NOTE ON AN ARIZONA NOTODONTIAN. [Lepidoptera; Notodontidse.] Notela angustiora Barnes and McDunnough. Eunotela angustiora B. & McD., Can. Ent., XLII, 212, 1910. This species was described from a single female. A male and female are before me, through the kindness of Mr. Doll. The male has the antennae pectinated to the tips, and shows that the species is referable to the genus A7otchi rather than to I^nnotchi. The male is marked like the female, but the collar is entirely dark brown, not ocherous as in the female. HARKISON G. DYAR. 70 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING OP JULY 7, 1910. The 242d regular meeting of the Washington Entomologi- cal Society was held at the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C Street, N. W. The following members were present: Messrs. Allard, Barber, Gill, Heidemann, Hopkins, Knab, McAtee, Phillips, Popenoe, Quaintance, Rohwer, Schwarz, and Dr. Arthur Neiva, of Brazil, a visitor. In the absence of the Secretary, Mr. Popenoe was appointed secretary pro tempore, and the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting was dispensed with. The evening was spent with short notes, in the absence of papers. Mr. McAtee presented notes on the oviposition and other habits of Goniops chrysocoma observed on Plummer's Island, Maryland, and exhibited photographs and specimens of the fly and its egg masses.1 He referred to his previous communication concerning the habit of Empidae in carrying prey while in copulation, and noted that the asilid Promachns ruiipes sometimes does the same. The male of a pair captured near Afton, Virginia, September 19, 1909, was feeding on the large hymenopteron Anoplitis relativus. Mr. McAtee recorded a dragon fly {Rrythemis simplicicollis) as a mosquito enemy. On Church's Island, North Carolina, September, 1909, this species was seen to pick Anopheles qnad- rimaculatns off the weatherboarding of a house. The same dragon fly was captured feeding on another dragon fly {Enall- gama durum} which was almost its equal in bulk. Mr. McAtee observed the jassid Ccelidia subfasciata oviposit- ing in a chestnut-rail fence in Rockfish Valley, Virginia, Sep- tember 23, 1909. Each oviposition required from ten seconds to one minute and the intervals varied between the same limits. Specimens of all insects mentioned were shown. Mr. McA tee's communications were discussed by Messrs. Knab, Barber, Schwarz, and Heidemann. Mr. Barber men- tioned other observations regarding Goniops. Mr. Knab spoke of the habits of the Empidse. He stated that the fact that, in certain species at least, the female feeds during copulation has been repeatedly recorded. The statement has also been made 1 Already published, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., xm, 21, 1911. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 71 that in some cases mating only takes place while the female is feeding and that the male captures the prey for the female on these occasions. Mr. Heidemann presented brief notes on the collection of some unusual Hemiptera in the vicinity of Washington. He exhibited specimens of an emesid (Btircc /ratermis Say) col- lected in a marsh near Chesapeake Beach, a reduviid (Fitch ia spinosiila Stal.), and a pentatomid (Podops cinctipes Say), likewise collected near the District of Columbia. —Mr. Knab introduced Dr. Neiva, of the Institute Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro, and spoke of his investigations of a blood-sucking reduviid, Conorhinus mcgistiis Burmeister. This insect has been found to transmit a trypanosome disease of man which nearly always terminates fatally. This bug lives only in association with man and is never found out-of-doors, all the stages being passed in human habitations. The eggs are laid in crevices in the walls and the young bugs suck blood from the beginning. A remarkable degree of adaptation is shown in the fact that the bite of this large bug, even when mature, is practically painless, so that a fairly sound sleeper is not awakened by its attack. It is well known that, as a rule, the bite of the Reduviidae is very painful. The parasite transmitted by this bug is a flagellate which has been described by Dr. Carlos Chagas, of the same insti- tution, as Schizotrypamim crtiziand carefully studied by him. It is of special interest, as it is intermediate between the try- panosomes, which live free in the blood-plasm, and the malarial plasmodiee, which are entirely intracorpuscular. Schizotry- pamim has a free flagellate stage in the blood and another in- tracorpuscular one. These facts have shown that the trypan- osornes and plasmodise are closely related and have led to a com- plete readjustment of the classification of the protozoa. PARANTHACLISIS HAGENI IN TEXAS. In examining recently a collection of Myrmeleonidae from the Brooklyn Museum I found a specimen of this species taken at Brownsville, Texas. As it was previously only known from a few places in Arizona this indicates a considerable extension of its range. N. BANKS. 72 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING OF OCTOBER 6, 1910. The 243d regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. Banks at the Saengerbtmd Hall, 314 C Street, N. W., on the evening of October 6, 1910, and there were present Messrs. Banks, Barber, Bourne, Busck, Caudell, Crawford, Dyar, Gahan, Gill, Hall, Heidemann, T. H. Jones, Knab, McAtee, Quaintance, Rohwer, Sasscer, Schwarz, and Zimmer, members, and Messrs. A. H. Jennings, of Ancon, Panama, Parks, and Timberlake, visitors. The minutes of the 240th and 241st meetings were read and approved. Dr. Dyar reported that owing to the fact that the dues of the members for the present year had not been collected it would not be possible for the Publication Committee to con- tinue publishing unless arrangements were made for the pay- ment of the printers. The matter was referred to the Execu- tive Committee with power to act. Mr. Barber described an apparatus for collecting insects at night: A SIMPLE TRAP-LIGHT DEVICE. [PLATE IV.] BY H. S. BARBER. Since the earliest history of entomology light-collecting has been recognized as one of the most prolific methods of securing specimens. Perhaps the commonest and most satisfac- tory method is to avail one's self of a convenient window overlooking brush or woodland, placing a lamp on a table within and watching for the desirables to come without. But in camp a very simple and much used method is to hang up a white cloth (like a sheet) and throw the light from the lantern upon it; the disadvantage, aside from the too frequent loss of specimens about the light itself, being that its efficiency is not the same in all directions. Many devices have been used to facilitate the collecting of insects by light attraction at night. Various sorts of traps for killing all specimens, or even for sorting out and saving the specimens of a single group of insects, have been devised, but so far as is known the following described arrangement has not before been mentioned. Its object is not to entrap specimens, but to provide a simple, compact, and easily ar- PROC. ENT. SOC. WASHINGTON VOLUME XIII, PLATE IV o > LLJ Q I o _] Q. CC CL 2 CO OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 73 ranged apparatus to aid the collector in selecting from the multitude of specimens that come to light such specimens as he may wish to save. It consists of a cloth base, perhaps a yard square, and a cone of cheesecloth or other light fabric of about 30 inches base and perhaps of equal height, sewed onto the base, the center of which is then cut out. The apex of the cone is supported by a stake in the ground, and the cloth base is pegged out tight with the light inside the cone. Insects coming from all direc- tions crawl about unable to reach the light itself, soon coming to rest on the cloth of the cone, and are easily secured. The light used is an acetylene mine lamp of simple, durable construction, giving a very intense light from its one- half or three-quarters inch-burner, and with this naked flame it was found expedient to use one of the so-called "fireproofing" treatments on the cloth of the cone. Very few experiments have been made on the relative attraction of portable lights, and it is probable that some other equally available illuminaut may have more attractive value. But Mr. Schwarz reports that a portable acetylene lamp was tested in western Texas in 1907 and worked admirably, except that the form of the glass globe surrounding the light was such that many speci- mens were captured with difficulty. With a naked flame he also collected successfully at Cayamas, Cuba, but many speci- mens flew through the flame and were singed. The bulk of the device, packed, is very little in excess of the lamp used; the cloth cone rolling up no larger than an or- dinary napkin. Stakes can be found anywhere, but four large wire nails for corner pegs seem enough handier to war- rant their addition to the outfit. Insects are not always the only things attracted; toads have several times been found, after a short absence from the light, to be taking advantage of the aggregation of Lachiiosterna, etc., about the base of the cone, sometimes even jumping for insects several inches up the sides. The accompanjnng plate shows the arrangement by day- light as well as its appearance while in use at night. The small view illustrates the window method, which has proven so very effective where a house in the country is available. Mr. Knab spoke of the results of Dr. Neiva's researches in malaria and of his demonstration of the production of a race of malarial parasites resistant to quinine. His work was done on the river Xerem, when water-works to supply the city of 74 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Rio de Janeiro with drinking water were being constructed. On a previous occasion the severe epidemic of malaria which attacked the laborers had compelled the abandonment of the enterprise. Under the direction of Dr. Oswaldo Cruz it was now determined to carry out prophylaxis by the rigorously enforced use of quinine among the men. For a time excellent results were obtained, but finally cases of malaria appeared that failed to yield to the heaviest doses of quinine. Recently these results have been confirmed, on a larger scale and with still heavier doses of quinine, by Dr. Cruz, on the headwaters of the Madeira River. These results are of special interest to entomologists, as they indicate that, in a tropical climate, successful malaria control can only be hoped for through mosquito extermination. MEETING OF NOVEMBER 3, 1910. The 244th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. Heidemaun at the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C Street, N. W., on the evening of November 3, 1910, and there were present Messrs. Busck, Caudell, Crawford, Ely, Foster, Hall, Heidemann, Howard, Knab, Popenoe, E. F. Phillips, Schwarz, and Webb, members, and Messrs. J. B. Gill, C. Miuot, P. R. Myers, Dr. A. Neiva, Straus, and W. R. Walton, visitors. The Treasurer announced the sending out of the bills for the current and the following years. Dr. Arthur Neiva, of the Institute Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was proposed for corresponding membership and the name referred to the Executive Committee. Dr. Neiva being called upon, gave a short talk to the mem- bers of the Society. The first paper of the evening, "Note on an Epidemic of Fungous Disease among Soldier Beetles," by C. H. Popenoe, was discussed by Messrs. Caudell, Schwarz, Howard, Phillips, Busck, and Knab. The next paper, "Brief Notes on Two Recent Trips," by Dr. L. O. Howard, was discussed by Messrs. Schwarz, Knab, and Foster. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 75 The third paper of the evening, by Mr. A. N. Caudell, was entitled "A New Cactus-frequenting Orthopteron from Texas." The last paper, "The Weevils of Victoria County, Texas," by Messrs. W. D. Pierce and J. D. Mitchell, was read by title.1 Short notes were presented by Messrs. Webb, Busck, and Heidemann. AN EPIDEMIC OF FUNGOUS DISEASES AMONG SOLDIER BEETLES. BY C. H. POPENOE AND E. G. SMYTH. Numerous adults of the soldier beetle (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus DeG.) attacked by a fungous disease were observed September 25, 1909, on the blossoms of a Enpatorium (probably perfoliatuni) at Diamond Springs, Virginia. The fungus seemed to attack first the abdomen of the adult, dis- tending it abnormally, and producing white, greenish, or grayish rings of dense mycelial growth on the thin mem- branous body-wall between the segments. Often six or more beetles had attached themselves in their death struggle to a single small head of flowers. A peculiar posture was assumed by all, the body inclined upward at an angle of 45 degrees, the wings raised as in flight, and the mandibles firmly fastened into the calyx in a last grim death-grip. A number of diseased beetles were referred to Mrs. Flora W. Patterson, Mycologist, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, for determination of the fungus. Four genera of fungi were found present, namely, Clado- spor/um, Macrosporium, Sporotn'chunt, and Fusariiun, "but no one species in sufficient quantity to be considered the probable first cause of the disease." There is little doubt that the fungus responsible for the death of these beetles is identical with that described by Roland Thaxter as Empusa {Rntomophthora) tampyridarum from diseased adults of Ch. pennsylvanicus observed by him at Collowhee, North Carolina. The species was new to him, and was described without his having seen the resting spores. 'Already published, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., xm, 45, 1911. 2Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. iv, No. 6, 1888. 76 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY In June of the previous year a similar epidemic of fungus among the related C/i. marginatus Fab. was observed, first by the senior author, and afterwards independently by F. H. Chittenden, on the experiment station farm at Norfolk, Vir- ginia. A small chinquapin tree, which was at the time in full bloom, was noticed to be covered with thousands of these beetles. On closer examination the fact was disclosed that all were either dead or dying from the attacks of a fungus. The beetles were attached by the tightly closed mandibles to the rachis of the catkin and held the wings raised as if about to fly. As many as six or seven were found on many of the catkins. Some were attached to the leaves, and like speci- mens were found on surrounding plants. Identification of the fungus could not be obtained at that time. In this connection it may be noted that, although the various species of Chauliognathus feed, as adults, almost entirely on the pollen of flowers, in the larval stage their food is com- posed of various small, soft-bodied insects, largely aphides and other forms living near the ground. The usual great abundance of these beetles no doubt acts as a check to the in- crease of several species of injurious aphides, such as the pea aphis (Macrosiphum pisi1&&\\.}, and the two species mentioned may thus be considered of distinct economic value. Epidemics of fungous disease may thus so decimate the numbers of these useful insects as to render possible such out- breaks of aphides as have been experienced in the tidewater region of Virginia in the last three years. There seems little doubt that wholesale destruction of the adults of Chauliogna- thus by fungous disease would destroy the balance maintained in insect relations and permit a great increase in the various aphides that are preyed upon by their larvae. REDISCOVERY OF RARE SPIDERS. During a recent collecting trip in the vicinity of Ithaca, New York, in conjunction with Prof. J. H. Emerton, the writer took several specimens of two spiders that were de- scribed, each from one male specimen, from this region some years ago. Erigonoplus gigas was taken in swamps at Free- ville and on South Hill. The female resembles the male in color, but lacks the enlarged white anterior metatarsi. Ha- brocestum parvulus was found among leaves in a small ra- vine (Coy Glen) near Ithaca. The female has a dull brown abdomen, but the marks of the cephalothorax are similar to the male. N. BANKS. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 77 BRIEF NOTES OF TWO RECENT TRIPS. [PLATE V.] BY L. O. HOWARD. [Author's Abstract.] The speaker mentioned a number of incidents of entomo- logical interest in recent trips to portions of Europe and to California and the southwestern United States. He stated that, sailing direct from New York to Naples the end of April, he carried with him some 200 living specimens of Chilocorus bivulnerns, and .\ficroiveisa misella, packed with extreme care by Mr. Herbert Barber in a wooden box about a foot cube. (Plate V.) This contained wooden boxes (about 1 by 3 by 4 inches) with tight-fitting, rabbeted covers. Two large holes were made in the cover of each small box, and a small cleat (about one-fourth inch thick) was nailed across one end. Pieces of branches covered with scale were cut the length of the box inside and fastened with brads through the ends. In the case of branches too large for the thickness of the box they were split and the halves fastened as were the round ones. After the coccinellids were put in, a piece of bolting cloth or organdie was put over the top and held in place by the pressure of the cover, so as to allow free circulation of air through the ventilating holes. The boxes were tied up bot- tom to bottom and cover to cover with the cleats at opposite ends, leaving a free space between the covers. To further facilitate ventilation a narrow cleat was fastened along the sides of the pile of boxes and the whole was finally wrapped up for shipment. By the courtesy of the steamer officials this package was hung by a cord to a beam in the ceiling of the cold room of the steamer and there remained until landing at Naples. It was then carried soon to Silvestri's laboratory at Portici and opened. The journey had been perfectly success- ful, and practically all of the insects were alive. He exhib- ited, photographs of Professor Silvestri and Doctor Leonardi and of the mulberry orchard in which Silvestri is liberating coccinellids imported from all parts of the world in order to feed on Diaspis pentagona. He also described the glass- cylinder method of rearing coccinellids in use in Silvestri's laboratory at Portici. He further mentioned a visit to Rome, where he called upon Celli, Grassi, and Tiraboschi, and gave his impressions of the antimalarial work done in the Roman Campagna and of the great and enormously favorable contrast between the condi- tions existing there at present and those existing on the occa- sion of a former visit in the summer of 1902. He spoke in 78 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY the highest praise of the results of the work of Celli and his associates. He also described briefly visits to Spain and Portugal, mentioning especially his conferences with Professor Ignacio Bolivar and Professor L,. Navarro at Madrid, and also with Seiior Alfredo L,e Coq, Director of Agriculture of Por- tugal, and Professor A. de Seabra, in charge of the entomo- logical work for the Ministry of Agriculture of Portugal. He then mentioned briefly a visit to the great nursery- growing regions of France, especially those around Angers, Orleans, Versailles, and Ussy, and called attention to the curi- ous fact that, although in the summer of 1909 both Porthe- tria dispar and Ruproctis chrysorrhcea had been very abund- ant in these regions, in the corresponding week in 1910 hardly a lepidopterous larva of any kind was to be found, and the two species just mentioned were conspicuously absent. From these observations he concluded that nursery stock imported during the coming winter from Europe will be found to be practically uninfested. He also mentioned visits to Belgium and Holland, illustrating nursery conditions by photographs. In September, in company with Dr. L. P. De Bussy, Biol- ogist of the Tobacco Planters' Association of Deli, Sumatra, he proceeded from Washington to Sacramento, California. There they met Messrs. Games, Compere, and Bremuer. The recent importations of Mr. George Compere from oriental regions were examined, and special mention was made of a new coccinellid of minute size which preys upon Dactylopius and which, in the opinion of Mr. Compere, will prove more valuable than Cryptolamus montrousieri. Photographs were shown illustrating the collection of Hippodamia convcrgens in enormous numbers by the agents of the State Horticultural Commission. These specimens are packed in boxes each con- taining 60,000 individuals, the number being determined by weight. A photograph was shown of a series of boxes con- taining 5,860,000 of these coccinellids packed ready for ship- ment to truck growers and orchard growers in different parts of California. The comparative ease with which this species of coccidellid is collected was indicated by a photograph taken by the speaker in the Muir valley at the base of Mount Tamalpais. There the Hippodamia was found on the after- noon of September 18. clustering in enormous numbers about the nodes of a large species of Rqnisctnm and in the slightly rolled leaves of a wild species of Riibus. Some thousands of specimens could readily have been collected from every speci- men of either of these plants. The party visited Mr. Moulton, the Deputy Horticultural PROC. ENT. SOC. WASHINGTON VOLUME xitt. PLATE v < Q O U O O U O CO LJJ x O CO L OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 79 Commissioner in San Francisco, and witnessed the inspection of a large steamer from Japan. Stanford University was visited, as well as Pomona College, at Claremont, California. Photographs were shown of Prof. V. L. Kellogg, Prof. A. J. Cook, and Prof. C. F. Baker. A visit was made to the Southern California Phytopatho- logical Laboratory of the University of California at Whit- tier. A photograph was shown of the laboratory and also of the great Leffingwell lemon orchard, where they were in- formed that the work of R. S. Woglum on the fumigation of citrus trees with hydrocyanic-acid gas had already saved the locality at least $250,000. Visits following these to Dallas, Texas; College Station, Texas; Audubon Park, Louisiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Urbana, Illinois, were briefly mentioned, entomologists and entomological laboratories being illustrated by photographs. A NEW CACTUS-FREQUENTING ORTHOPTERON FROM TEXAS. BY A. N. CAUDELL. In their investigation of the insects of the cactus Messrs. Mitchell, Hunter, and Pratt have taken a number of interest- ing representatives of the subfamily Decticinae. I have re- cently described one very distinct new species of the genus Stipator? and I now present the description of another new species of this, the dominant, genus of Decticinse. I take pleasure in naming the species pratti in honor of Mr. F. C. Pratt. Stipator pratti, new species. Male. — Allied to mitchelli in general appearance but differs from that species, as well as from haldemanii, its next nearest ally, in the shape of the cerci and that of the last abdominal segment, in which particulars it is more nearly allied to the much smaller S. stevensoni, as figured in my revision of the group.2 Head moderate, well inserted into the ponotum; fastigium of the vertex slightly more than one- third as broad as the interocular space; front very broadly rounded; eyes moderate, a little longer than broad, somewhat larger than in mitchelli; antennas as usual in the genus. Pronotum large and pro- duced posteriorly considerably over the base of the abdomen; lateral lobes well developed but scarcely so deep as long, the posterior mar- gin distinctly sinuate; lateral and median carina? wholly absent; an- terior margin of pronotum truncate, posterior margin rounded; pro- sternal spines moderate, sharp. Organs of flight not projecting from 'Can. Ent., vol. XLIII, p. 137 (1911). 2Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. xxxn, pp. 285-410 (1907). 80 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY beneath the pronotum. Legs long and stout; anterior tibiae armed above with three spines on the outer side, the inner side unarmed; hind femora very heavy on the basal three-fifths, the apical portion slender, armed beneath with several short, stout, sharp, triangular, backward-directed spines; plantulas of the posterior tarsi scarcely half as long as the basal segment of the tarsus, convex and black, beneath light in color and deeply concave. Abdomen large and plump, no dorsal carina evident; cerci about three times as long as broad, rounded and very slightly incurved, the inner tooth situated much beyond the middle near the tip; as compared with that portion of the cercus be- yond it the tooth is about the same width basally, a little longer and much sharper, being acute apically and there curved a little inwards and considerably downwards; tubgenital plate roundly notched apically, the styles stout, nearly four times as long as broad; last dorsal segment of the abdomen mesially projecting considerably backwards and deeply cleft, the angles long and slender, being fully four times as long as the mesial width; in the allied species mitcKelli and haldemanii these angles are no longer than broad . General color yellowish brown, probably green in life. The pronotum is margined posteriorly above with a solid deep black band nearly 2 mm. broad; the abdominal segments, except the last, are margined posteriorly with reddish brown; all the spines of the legs with the tips black. Female. — Very like the male in general structure, indeed almost ex- actly like that sex except that the pronotum is more generally infus- cated above, not only behind on the disk as in the male. This is very probably a variable character. The ovipositor is stout, less than the hind femora in length and curved strongly upward, the apex blackish. Measurements— Length, pronotum, male, 12 mm., female, 11 mm.: posterior femora, male, 31 mm., female, 31 mm; ovipositor, 19 mm.; width, hind femora at widest part, male, 7 mm., female, 7 mm. Type: Male (Cat. No. 13554, U. S. Nat. Mus.), Alice, Texas, August 28, 1908, on Opuntia. J. D. Mitchell, col- lector. Paratype: Female, same data. Mr. Busck showed specimens of the common European tineid moth, Sivamwierdamia pyrella Villers, bred and col- lected at light by him at Monaduock Lake, New Hampshire, last summer, and stated that this is the record of this genus in America. He also presented a series of the West Indian tineid moth Ereunetis minuscula Walsingham, which he had bred from mummy fruits of loquat, received through Mr. Sasscer from Miami, Florida. He stated that he had bred this species this OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 81 fall also from dry cacao pods sent him from Trinidad by Mr. W. F. Urich, and that he had bred this same species in large numbers in 1902 from the sweepings and offal in a copra warehouse near Baracoa, Cuba. Mr. Busck said that he had also specimens labeled "rotten cottonboll" from Jamaica, others "in tamarind" from Nassau, and still others labeled "from Diasp/s laiuttiis" from Barbadoes, which proves the species, the life history of which has not hitherto been re- corded, to be a very general feeder on any kind of vegetable or animal refuse. The genus has not hitherto been recorded from the United States. In repose the tips of the wings of these small yellow and brown moths are bent up sharply at right angles with the plane of the moth and produce a curious resemblance to a bit of chaff. Mr. Busck said that he looked under the floor of the warehouse in Baracoa, which was ele- vated abouf 4 feet above the ground, and thought he saw merely the rough boards until a flying moth apparently dis- appeared through a crack; he then looked closer and realized that the rough appearance of the boards was effected by thousands of these moths resting close together under the floor, and he then found the cracks of the floor filted with the galleries of the larvae. A NEW SPECIES OF DIORYCTRIA. [Lepidoptera; Pyralidae.] BY HARRISON G. DYAR. Dioryctria xanthrenobares, new species. Ferruginous yellow; fore wing with the inner line far from the baso, oblique, white, ill- defined; outer line rather near the margin, twice waved, white; a row of terminal elongated white spots; a white dash along median vein, joining the lunate discal mark: an oblique dark red shade at base and one on the inner half of terminal space. Hind wings thin, whitish, scarcely cinereous tinged. Expanse, 27 to 31 mm. One male, two females. Kaslo, British Columbia, August 20, 1905 (W. T. Cockle); Seattle, Washington (O. B. John- son); Pullman, Washington (C. V. Piper). Type: No. 13825, U. S. Nat. Mus. Allied to D. aurantiace.Ua Grote, but larger, paler, the hind wings white instead of dark gray, the fore wings with much less of red. 82 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING OF DECEMBER 1, 1910. The 245th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. Schwarz on the evening of December 1, 1910, at the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C Street, N. W. , and there were pres- ent Messrs. Barber, Bourne, Busck, Caudell, Crawford, Dyar, Ely, T. Gill, Heidemann, Jenne, T. H. Jones, Kuab, Myers, Neiva, E. F. Phillips, Popenoe, Quaintance, Rohwer, E. A. Schwarz, Walton, Webb and Webster, members, and Messrs. Beutenmiiller, J. B. Gill, C. W. Hooker, Parks, Reeves, and Sanford, visitors. The Treasurer presented his annual report, which was re- ferred to an auditing committee and accepted. The chairman of the Publication Committee reported that three numbers of the current volume of Proceedings had been issued and that the last was in the hands of the printer. Dr. Arthur Neiva, of the Institute Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was elected a corresponding member. Mr. P. R. Myers, Division of Insects, U. S. National Mu- seum, and Mr. W. R. Walton, Bureau of Entomology, De- partment of Agriculture, were elected active members. On motion the Society decided to reprint and give Professor Cockerell 100 reprints of his paper on Three New Species of Nomada. The Society voted to send to the University of Toulouse a set of the Proceedings to aid in the rebuilding of a library. The election of officers resulted as follows: F. M. WEBSTER, President. A. L,. QUAINTANCE, First Vice President. E. F. PHILLIPS, Second Vice President. S. A. ROHWER, Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer. H. S. BARBER, Recording Secretary. Members of the Executive Committee: E. A. SCHWARZ, L. O. HOWARD, H. G. DYAR. The retiring President, Mr. Heidemann, then delivered his annual address, entitled ''Remarks on the Eggs of North American Hemiptera." l This was discussed by Messrs. Cau- dell, Kuab, Rohwer, Schwarz, Dyar, and Gill. 1 To be published in the following number of this journal. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. MEETING OF JANUARY 5, 1911. The 246th regular meeting of the Entomological Society was held in the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C Street, N. W., Janu- ary 5, 1911, President Webster in the chair, and Messrs. Barber, Crawford, Dyar, Ely, Foster, Heidemann, Hunter, Jenne, Fred Johnson, T. H. Jones, Kelly, Knab, Marlatt, Meyers, Parks, Quaintance, Rohwer, Sasscer, Viereck, Walton, and Zimmer, members, and Messrs. Ballard, J. B. Gill, C. W. Hooker and VV. D. Richardson, visitors, present. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. Reports of the auditing and the publication committees were presented by Dr. Dyar and the Secretary-Treasurer made his report. The name of Mr. Allan H. Jennings, of Ancon, Canal Zone, Panama, was proposed for corresponding membership by Messrs. Knab and Viereck. The Publication Committee was named by the President, consisting of Messrs. Dyar, Quaintance, and Crawford. The Secretary was instructed to cast the affirmative ballot for Dr. Hopkins (nominated by Mr. Crawford) to represent the Society before the Washington Academy of Science. The Corresponding Secretary read letters asking exchanges of publications. He objected to the present methods of hand- ling such transactions, and requested instruction by the So- ciety. The matter was referred to the Executive Committee after some discussion. The paper of the evening entitled "Xiphidion Stridula- tions," by H. A. Allard, was read by the Secretary. A CORRECTION. In volume xri, No. 4, the explanation of plates vn and vui was omitted. The article was on new species of Lepto- glossus from North America, by Mr. Heidemann. Plate vn represents Lcptoglossus magnolia Heidm., adult, larva, and pupa. Plate vm represents L. occidentalis Heidm. above, L. dypealis Heidm. below. 84 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY XIPHIDION STRIDULATIONS. BY H. A. ALLARD. The smallest members of the Locustidae are the xiphidions, strictly terrestial in their habits, and dwelling almost ex- clusively among grasses, reeds, and other tender herbage. They are especially common in the luxuriant meadow growth along the margins of ponds and sluggish streams. Some species, however, prefer the scanty vegetation of highest, driest, upland and mountain situations. Of all the Locustidae the stridulatious of the Xiphidion are the softest and least audible. Their soft, silken lispings are quite devoid of any tone-quality or harmony, as are the notes of all the Locustidse. These insects, like the orchelimums. sing most persistently during the sunny hours of the day. Their notes, however, are too faint to add noticeably to the happy chorus of mid- summer sounds. Patience and a keen ear are essential equip- ments of the student who cares to study the song-habits of these tiny insects.1 Xiphidion fasciatum De Geer is one of the most delicate and slender-bodied insects of all the Locustidas. In general ap- pearance and in the character of its song this little Xiphidion resembles a tiny Orchelimum. Its usual habitat is among the weeds and grasses in nearly all upland and lowland situations. The stridulations of Xiphidion fasciatum are very faint and lisping. Their delivery, in nearly every respect, is ex- tremely like the usual song of the orchelimums. The song inva- riably begins with a succession of very faint notes, tse-tse-tsc, repeated very slowly and terminating with the phrase tse-c-e- e-e-e-c-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e, which continues from five to twenty seconds. McNeill says of this species: "Its song is a faint echo of that of Orchelimum vulgare, with the zip-zip omitted." I have carefully studied the song habits of this Xiphidion both in the field and by confining it in suitable boxes. In no instance have I ever found wanting the short staccato lisps. So brief and faint are these preceding notes, however, that they may readily be overlooked. A record is here given of one individ- ual and its successive stridulations: 14 staccato lisps which preceded a monotone of 20 seconds duration. K « ii « a n « "10 " " g « it « < I II it - | , | « « Q « « « « « ii < i r it ii | « a it tt it it «r a ti 71 " with no monotone. 'Mr. A. N. Caudell, of the U. S. National Museum, has kindly iden- tified all the species mentioned in this paper. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 85 Xipliidion /asciatuni is a persistent singer by day and also at night. Individuals confined in my room sang persistently throughout the night as well as by day. Even in the quiet of the room their notes were barely audible 7 or 8 feet away. The stridulations are among the faintest produced by any lo- custid known to me. Piers in Nova Scotia has very accurately described the stridulations of this Xiphidion. He says: "It frequents damp situations and numbers were observed among the rank marsh grass on Marsh Lake at Sackville, N. S., on Novembers, 1895." At another time he says: "One observed in September produced a song which may be represented thus: plee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e, tcit, tcit, tcit, tcit." This Xiphidion is a common insect at Thompson's Mills, north Georgia. Here niy first record of its notes during the summer of 1909 was on July 31. During a walk in the low grounds of East Washington, D. C., on October 31, numbers of these insects were singing in the grass. Around Washington, D. C., Xipliidion nemorale (Scudder) is a common insect. Th's form prefers the grass and weeds of fields in dry, upland situations nearly everywhere. Al- though this species usually dwells in the grass and herbage close to the ground, it is not infrequently found 5 or 6 feet from the ground in bushes bordering fields. This insect is common in the scanty grass in nearly every dry, upland, sunny spot on Plummer's Island, Maryland. Its song is strik- ingly unlike that of Xiphidion f asciatuni. It begins with a number of brief staccato lisps, succeeding each other so rapidly as to produce an almost continuous sound. These are fol- lowed by from 2 to 32 brief phrases, tseeeeee-tseeeeee-tseeeeee, rapidly repeated. In the song of Xiphidion fasciatnm, the staccato notes precede each lisping monotone, tseeeeee, which is considerably prolonged. The stridulations of Xiphidion nemorale are briefer, more hurried, and insistent than those of fascia futn. One individual of A*, nemorale sang 60 phrases in a minute; another sang persistently 145 phrases in one minute. This species is most noisy during hot, sunny days. The stridulations of Xiphidion ullardi, a new species re- cently named by Mr. Caudell, are rather strikingly different from the notes of either of the preceding species, as no stac- cato lisps precede the lisping phrases. Its song consists of weak, lisping, more or less prolonged phrases ssssss-ssssss-ssssss, in tone quality recalling the song of Orchelimum minor. I 1 "Preliminary Notes on the Orthoptera of Nova Scotia", by Harry Piers. In Proceedings and Transactions of Nova Scotia Institute of Science, vol. IX, 1895-96. 86 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY first heard and captured this insect at Indian Grave Gap, Towns County, north Georgia, in the scanty grass in sunny clearings in the woods. L,ater I captured it in similar situa- tions on Blue and Tray mountains near by. It is possibly not an uncommon species in these mountains. Xiphidion strictum (Scudder) is a rather common form in the grass and weeds around Washington, D. C. One of these insects, captured November 14, 1909, sang very persistently the lisping phrase, 5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5, which was greatly prolonged. These phrases were without any preceding stac- cato lisps. Xiphidion saltans Scudder is not uncommon at Thompson's Mills, Georgia. It prefers the luxuriant growths of weeds and grasses of moist bottom lands. It is not a very active in- sect, and for that reason may be easily captured. I have no record of its stridulations. Xiphidion brevipenne Scudder and Xiphidion ensifer Scudder occur in the meadows around Washington, D. C. I found Xiphidion ensifer rather common at Thompson's Mills, Georgia, but have no definite knowledge of its stridula- tions. In early September, 1910, I carefully studied the stridula- tions of Xiphidion brevipenne at Oxford, Massachusetts. Here I found this little insect nearly always in company with X. jasciatit-m. Its notes were so faint that I could not well distinguish them from other outdoor sounds. The notes are rather rapidly delivered, and consist of one or two brief, faint staccato lisps, tip-lip, which precede fiom one to three of the usual lisping phrases, tseeeee. The notes may be writ- ten thus: tip-tseee . . . tip-tseee-tseeee . . . tip-tip-tsee-tseee- tseee .... tip-tsee. The song reminds one more of the song of X. nemorale than of the other species. The species of Xiphidion are all very persistent in their stridulations. These notes are so faint and atteutuated, how- ever, that the}* are rarely heard, except by the keenest ob- servers. Rather dissimilar habits of stridulation prevail among the different species of Xiphidion. This is more no- ticeable for those tiny locusts than for the larger orchelimums. Among the xiphidions one species stridulates hurriedly, another very leisurely. The notes of some species are char- acterized by many short staccato lisps, tip-tip, which precede each phrase, tseeeeeeeeeeeeee. In the notes of other species one or two brief staccato notes, tip-tip, are followed by a quick succession of many short phrases, tseee-tseee-tseee-tseee. It is not easy to study the stridulations of these insects in their na- tural habitat among the grasses. Some species are very shy, OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 87 and their faint lispings do not readily indicate their position amidst the grass stems. These little insects may easily be ob- served and their song-habits carefully noted if they are con- fined in suitable boxes. Under the heading Notes and Exhibition of Specimens, Mr. Hunter mentioned the report of Dr. Darling relative to the humming of mosquitoes. Mr. Knab said that Landois has reported the sound as produced by the thoracic spiracles. Mr. Rohwer exhibited a gynandomorphic wasp. Dr. Dyar spoke of the troublesome genus Diatr&a and an- nounced his success in separating as two distinct species the forms feeding on corn and on sugar cane in the United States in characters of both the larvae and the adults. Mr. Webster said that both the spotted and the immaculate forms of larvae occur in corn. Mr. Kelly spoke of the known life history of an often troublesome chrysome'id beetle (Myochrous denticollis} of corn. The larvae found in the ground feeding on the roots of cocklebur were exhibited. Discussed by Messrs. Webster and Knab. Mr. W. D. Hunter exhibited a catalogue of the Coleoptera of Mexico which appears to have been overlooked by the compilers of the Zoological Record and other bibliographies. It is not referred to in connection with the treatment of the Coleoptera in the Biologia Centrali Americana. The full title of the paper is as follows: Cat.ilogo | de la | Coleccidn de Coledpteros Mexicanos | Del Museo Nacional, | formacla y clasificada | por el Dr. D. Eugenio Dugtfs. | (Salon de Entomologfa.) | Segunda Edicion. | Mexico | Imprenta del Museo Nacional. | 1901. | The catalogue contains 148 pages and 12 colored plates of good execution. These plates cover 101 species. In five cases species are figured which do not appear in the list. The catalogue contains a hundred or more manuscript names of Dr. Duges. These are, in the most part, noniina ntntd, but five of the species bearing Duges's name, are illus- trated in the plates and can probably be recognized. The work has a considerable number of incidental notes regarding 88 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY food plants and altitudes in addition to localities. It is one of a series of catalogues illustrating the collections in the Mexi- can National Museum. An announcement on the cover states that it is for sale at 30 cents Mexican. He also exhibited specimens of the deer botfly, reared by Pratt in Texas and identified by Mr. Coquillett as the Euro- pean species of Cephenomyia. He mentioned the resemblance of this fly to certain of the Syrphidse and remarked on the hosts of Oestridse in general. Mr. Knab stated that the family Oestridse is no longer rec- ognized as a valid family by the best systematists. Mr. Knab showed specimens of a large buprestid, Etichroum gigantea, collected at Panama by Mr. A. H. Jennings, the entomologist of the Isthmian Canal Commission. One of these specimens showed the dense waxy secretion, similar to that of the weevils of the genus Li.vus, with which the beetle is covered during life; this completely hides the metallic colors of the integument which are so familiar in cabinet speci- mens. The entire beetle is covered with this secretion, not only above and beneath, but even on the under surface of the elytra. The color of this coating on the elytra is a bright greenish yellow with an orange cast; on the head and thorax it is paler, the pronotum being broadly margined with creamy white. A similar efflorescence is present in many Buprestidse of the tribes Chalcophorini and Buprestini, but is rarely men- tioned in works on Coleoptera. In Euchroma it has been briefly mentioned by Lacordaire (Genera des Coleopteres, vol. 4, 1857, p. 21) and its nature understood. Recently it has been alluded to in some of our forms by Col. T. L. Casey, who speaks of the depressions which have remained un- abraded as "pubescent areas." A coating of this kind may be observed in species of many of our genera, although it is seldom preserved in cabinet specimens. A hasty examination of the North American Buprestidae in the National Museum collection showed traces of such a secretion in the following genera: Hippomehi*, (>\'(tscntiis, Chalcophora, Psiloptera, Dicerca, Pcecilonota. A specimen of a species of I\vci/onoUi, in the Hubbard and Schwarz collection, from Tucson, Ari- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 89 zona, is particularly striking. Nearly the entire surface of the beetle is covered with a heavy white coating and the integu- ment is only visible at a few prominences which have evi- dently been denuded. In the tribe Agrilini ornamentation of an entirely different character is often present. This consists of lines or patches of true scales, forming characteristic pat- terns in different species. This may be noted in certain spe- cies of Aorilii 5, Taplirocous., Hnichvs, and Pachyscelus. Mr. Jenue mentioned the rearing of a species of Cono- trachelns (C. anaglyptirns) in Georgia. The eggs are laid in the fuzz on the outside of peaches. The young larvae are un- able to penetrate the skin, but when an artificial or accidental puncture is made they develop successfully. The full-grown larva, on emerging, is able to jump. Mr. Parks spoke of a leaf- mining fly (Agromyza sp.) in al- falfa in southern Kansas, and of its parasites. The Secretary read a note by Mr. F. Alex. McDermott on the predaceous habits of a pentatomid larva upon caterpillars. The paper was discussed by Messrs. Webster and Heidemann. A NEW COLORADIA. [Lepidoptera; Saturniida?.] BY HARRISON G. DYAR. Coloradia lois, new species. Similar to pandora Blake and doris Barnes but smaller than either fore wing with the markings as in pandora; hind wing of a glossy, hyaline appearance in the male, with the markings largely lost; uni- formly dark in the female, with rose color along the inner margin in both sexes. Four males, one female, Miles City, Montana, June 10, 16, 1890; June 11, 1891 (C. A. Wiley). Type: Xo. 14021, U. S. National Museum. 90 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY THE ATTACK OF A LARVAL HEMIPTER UPON A CATERPILLAR. BY F. ALEX. MCDERMOTT. The following observation is not claimed as especially new or remarkable, but presents some interest as a study of insect tactics. Upon the trunk of a large poplar which was thickly beset with the tents or webs of Hyphantria cnuea, I observed a larval hemipter, probably of the genus Podisns, with his beak extended and the point penetrating the side of one of the caterpillars inhabiting the nests. The caterpillar attacked was dead and quite limp, evidently being pretty thoroughly sucked out. With some difficulty I succeeded in separating the hemipter from his prey, though he was very loath to part with it, and held on like the proverbial bulldog. When first disturbed the hemipter ejected from the anal glands three drops of clear fluid which may have had an odor, although I could not detect it in the open air. After removing the first caterpillar I secured a second fresh specimen of the same species, and placed it on the trunk near the hemipter. The latter immediately showed a fresh interest in proceedings and trailed the caterpillar up the bark, with his beak extended and close to the surface, as if following the "scent." Twice he ran alongside of the caterpillar, getting as close as the latter's hair would allow him, and inserted his beak beneath the caterpillar, evidently trying to puncture the abdomen. In both of these instances the caterpillar snapped its head around and the hemipter retreated rapidly, evidently fearing the caterpillar's jaws. On 'the third attempt he suc- ceeded in inserting his beak through the skin, and though the caterpillar squirmed and snapped back for a few seconds, he did not release his hold. The caterpillar seemed to accept its fate after a few moments, perhaps poisoned by the hem- ipter, for it ceased to wriggle and twist. When placed in a test-tube the hemipter released his hold and the caterpillar crawled off as if uninjured, but it died shortly afterward. Later a smaller larva of the same species of hemipter was found holding a smaller caterpillar of the same species. On account of the long time required for one hemipter to secure his meal from these caterpillars, it seems hardly likely that the pentatomid would prove very effective as a check to the prevalence of the webworm, though those observed were certainly doing their best to reduce the number. In captivity the hemipter shows a disinclination to feed, and the caterpillars did not show any especial dread of their enemy. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 91 One more curious observation. These caterpillars are much attracted by something about the green pulp and brownish seeds of a broken seed-pod of the "Jamestown weed" {Datura), I had broken one of these open, and the broken ends and seeds were lying near where the caterpillars were crawling. Several of them walked over and investigated the broken pod and seeds with evident interest, mouthing the seeds over and nibbling at their edges and at the broken edges of the pod. Evidently the taste was disappointing to them, as they soon ceased nibbling and hurried on their way. But uninitiated caterpillars eagerly nibbled at the pod, and one even stopped in the midst of a headlong flight from pursuit to taste the dainty. A cocoon of this moth was also found in which there was a dead pupa of a parasitic hymenopter, probably Chalcis oruta. There were also present living larvae of some dermestid beetle, of the genus Anlhrenus or Cryptorhopalum which appeared to have killed the Chalcis pupa. For the identification of these specimens, I am indebted to Mr. Barber of the U. S. National Museum. A request by Mr. Quaintance for information on the green- plant food habits of white ants, and describing a peculiar case of injury to a health}' apple nursery in Kansas, induced some discussion by Messrs. Webster, Kelly, Hunter, and Marlatt. Mr. Hunter said that T. flaz'ipcs destroys living cotton plants in Texas. Mr. Marlatt stated the species is omnivorus, eating even potatoes in the fields and often injuring orange trees extensively. MEETING OF FEBRUARY 2, 1911. The 247th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by the President February 2, 1911, in the lecture room of the Cosmos Club, with twenty-five members present (Messrs. Barber, Bishopp, Caudell, Dyar, Ely, Gahan, Gill, Hopkins, Howard, Hunter, Jenne, F. Johnson, T. H. Jones, Knab, Marlatt, A. C. Morgan, Nelson, E. F. Phillips, W. J. Phillips, Pierce, Rohwer, Sasscer, Smyth, Walton, and Webster), and fifteen visitors (Dr. K. C. Cotley, G. G. Gandara, J. B. Gill, C. E. Hood. C. W. Hooker, J. R. luda, T. H. Parks, Ruth- 92 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY erford, Strickland, Sanford, Snyder, Strauss, W. D. Turner, lv W. Wall, and Dr. G. F. White). The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The name of Mr. Allan H. Jennings, Ancou, Canal Zone, Panama, was considered for corresponding membership, and the Secretary was instructed to cast the affirmative ballot. The first paper of the evening, entitled "Bee Diseases and their Spread," was delivered by Dr. K. F. Phillips; the sec- ond was by Dr. G. F. White, and was on the "Causes of Bee Diseases." Both were illustrated with lantern slides. The President called upon some of the foreign guests and was answered by Messrs. Rutherford and Strickland, of Eng- land, and Messrs. Inda and Gandara, of Mexico, who ex- pressed their appreciation of the arrangements made for them by Dr. Howard and of their reception by the entomologists of this country. Dr. Howard replied that he appieciated the honor done this country by foreign economic entomologists in coming to study the methods here employed. He compli- mented Drs. Phillips and White for the thoroughness of their researches and their remarkable success in fixing the causes of bee diseases. The third paper, "Remarks on Forest Insects," by Dr. Hopkins, was also illustrated with lantern slides. None of the papers were presented for publication. MEETING OF MARCH 2, 1911. Mr. C. L,. Marlatt entertained the Society at his home on the evening of March 2, 1911, on the occasion of its 248th regular meeting. President Webster occupied the chair and there were pres- ent Messrs. Barber, Cushman, Dyar, Ely, Gill, Hopkins, Fred Johnson, Knab, Marlatt, Myers, Pierce, Popeuoe, Ouaintance, Rohwer, Sasscer, Smyth, Viereck, Walton, and Webb, members, and Messrs. J. B. Gill, Marshall, Stanford, J. F. Strauss, Urbans, and Wall, visitors. OF WASHINGTON. VOLUME XIII, 1). the Ichneumo- noidea, Proctotrypoidea, Vespoidea, Sphecoidea, and Apoidea. The understanding on the writer's part was that Dr. MacGil- livray should be the author of the systematic portion in the Tenthredinoidea and Mr. J. C. Crawford in the Chalcidoidea in the same way as Mr. Beutenmiiller became author of the Cynipidce and Professor Wheeler of the Formicickc or Formi- coidea. These arrangements were entered into in order that this great complex, the Hymenoptera, might, as treated in "The New Jersey List," have the advantage of the scrutiny of specialists actively engaged in pursuing the study of the several groups. The advisability of such a course is natur- ally patent to anyone at all familiar with the rapid strides that are being made toward a more modern, searching, and exhaustive arrangement of our knowledge of entomology. 94 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY In the list cited Dr. MacGillivray is not credited with the Tenthredinoidea as he should have been. Inasmuch as sev- eral of his manuscript generic names are here for the first time given standing, owing to the inclusion of described species, I deem it necessary to state that Dr. A. D. MacGil- livray should be cited as the author of the. systematic portion of the Tenthredinoidea in the above list in spite of the fact that he is not so credited. To the uniuitiaied it could easily appear that the third edi- tion of the Insects of New Jersey was written by Mr. Silas R. Morse, Curator of the New Jersey State Museum. Be this as it may, it is necessary to call attention to a number of inaccuracies with reference to the systematic side of the groups in which the writer was to be author but of which he did not see proof sheets of any kind in which the matter might have been set straight. That even the notes not written by the specialists might have been improved had the specialists been allowed to read the proof becomes evident, for example, from a perusal of the introductory remarks to the list of Tenthredinoidea. In the former list Dr. Ashmead had two superfamilies, the Tenthredinoidea and Siricoidea, whereas in the present list Dr. MacGillivray has one only, namely, the Tenthredinoidea, and this to cover the groups formerly em- braced by the terms Tenthredinoidea and Siricoidea, yet the almost unchanged wording that did service for the Tenthredi- noidea in Dr. Ashtnead's arrangement is made to serve as an introduction to Dr. MacGillivray's conception of the Ten- thredinoidea, thus making it appear that the Siricoidea of Ashmead is made up of sawflies. In the manuscript submitted by the writer the fact that a species had been referred from one genus to another was in- dicated by giving the old generic name within parentheses, with the sign of equality preceding the name within the pa- rentheses; generic names regarded assubgenera, however, were given within parentheses along with the species involved, but without the use of the equality sign . This arrangement has been changed by entirely dropping out many of the generic names so enclosed or where the enclosed names occur they appear uniformly without the sign of equality, so that the intent is destroyed and they serve only to call attention to the fact that the immediately involved species and perhaps one or more following have been transferred from the genus in paren- theses or take the name within parentheses as a subgeneric designation. To further complicate matters subgenera are in some cases given as headings the same as genera, but in dif- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 95 ferent type from that used for genera, the subgeueric name being sometimes preceded by the word subgenus, again indi- cated merely by the difference in type. Page 604. Stephanidae should file in after Braconidac; for S. cinctipes Cress, read S. {Schlettererius} cinct/pcs Cress.; (Megischus) should read (^—Megischus). Page 605. A. Aincricitnus Ashui. should read (.1.) Praon ameriqanus (Ashm.), this species having been justly trans- ferred to Praon by Gahan, 1910; (.]. brunneiventris Ashm ) -Praon americanus (Ashm.); (A. citraphis Ashm.) = Aphtdius (Lysiphlcbus} testaceipes Cress.; (A. »iv:/ Ashm.) —A. {Lysiphlebus) niyzi Ashm.; (A. salicaphis Fitch )=/!. {Di&retus) salicaphis. Fitch (==Adialytus)\ (A. populaphis Fitch) =A. (Adialytus} populaphts Fitch; (A. rapce Curt.) =A. (Diceretns) .rupee Curt. (—Lipolexis'). Page 606. Insert the sign of equality before Aphidins. Page 607. Cardiochiles popnlator, Blacns lithocolletidis, and B. lactucaphis were not included in the manuscript fur- nished by the writer; the same is true of Pen'litus hopkinsi Ashm. on page 609; Chelonns fisstts on page 612; Bracon dorsatorSay, which is now a Habrobracon, and Bracon catocluc on page 615; Aphcerete pc»om\'ii.r Brues, described from Minnesota, page 616; Brancnus (sic) Banchus cresson/i and Exetastes prophiqitns, page 618; Ophion geminatus Say, which is the same as Paniscus geminatus, and Tn'c/itstits (sic) Triclistns pygmceiis Cress., page 621; Mesostcnns spinarius, page 630; Amblyteles niiiotabilis Cress., page 633; Jc/incu- mon pnrpunpcnnis, page 634; Ainblyfcles after snblatiis, after succmclus, after mtbiragns; Probolus after rufizonatust page 635; Ichneumon cinctitarsis, page 636; Loxotropa pcgom\ur Brues, described from Minnesota, page 651. Dasymutilla ferruginea Fab.; there is no such species, the records belong toferrugata under Spharophthalma on the preceding page (page 664); Anoplius ma urns Cress ? (fitnerensSt. Farg. J), A. pompilus, page 674, ffalictus (Chloralictus) iivnip/ial/t, page 687; Hal ictus (Agapostemori) leronxi L,ep (jparallelus Say), which is a Halirtns in the strict sense; Halictns {Aguposlemori) emarginata Say; there is no such species, Halictns {Agaposlemori) pilosns Cress., belongs to C/ilora- lictus and was not described by Cresson, but by Frederick Smith, all these on page 668; Melissodes trinodi* Rob., page 693; Prosopis say/ Rob., page 6'*4; /^/l/ivnts e/atns, which is the male of Bombus pennsylvanicus, page 698. Of these species, as is evident from the foregoing, several are either wrongly cited and others should not have been included. 96 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Page 607. (Cenlistes americanus Riley)— /^////- nearly as long as two joints of tarsus, basal tarsal joint as long as next three together, fifth longer than first. Wings with black vena- tion, subcosta and cubitus interrupted with pale, cross-veins pale in the middle, a black spot at stigma, and one near the end of the median vein, a short stripe at end of the anal vein, marginal forks with dark dots, hind wings with veins near end of median more heavily marked. Wings long and narrow; radial sector arises beyond fork of cubitus, first branch much before end of anal; six branches to radial sector in both wings. Expanse 43 mm. From Pusa, Bengal, India, March 1<>. 102 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY FAMILY HEMEROBIID^. Megalomus setulosus Walker. Walker says his Hemerobius setulosus is near the European H. hirta (now Megalomus), so it cannot be a Micromus as considered by one author. This specimen agrees well with his description. The basal dark brown of fore-wing terminates obliquely at the inner gradate series; there are seven radial sectors, the first and last of which are soon forked; the costal area is very broad; in the hind wings are only a few brown spots near tip of the wing. It has some resemblance to the M. latus of Arizona. It has recently been described by Longinos Navas as M. nouhalieri. From Kasaull, India, April. FAMILY CHRYSOPID^. TABLE OF SPECIES OF CHRYSOPA. 1. A narrow, black stripe under each eye, and stripe on basal joint of antennae orestes No such marks 2 2. Practically all cross-veins black at each end alcestes Few cross-veins so marked 3 3. Costal margin rather suddenly swollen just before the stigma madestes Costal margin only gradually widened 4 4. Gradate veinlets black virgestes Gradate veinlets pale scelestes Chrysopa orestes, new species. Pale yellowish or green; tips of palpi black, a narrow black stripe under each eye to the mouth, and a dark stripe on outer side of basal joint of antennae. Venation pale, but the gradate veinlets brown, and also the ends of some of the cross- veins. Antennae longer than wings; pronotum broad, but little narrowed in front, with a transverse groove and ridge behind the middle. Fore wings rather short and broad, barely acute at tips, second cubital cell as long as third, latter very oblique at tip, being much longer below than above; divisory veinlet ends beyond the cross-vein; six branches of radial sector to the margin; four or five inner gradate veinlets, seven in outer series; the inner row plainly nearer to outer than to the radial sector. In hind wings the radial sector unites to median for more than a cell- length. Expanse 20 mm. From Pusa, Bengal, India; on black orange mealy-wing, September 7. Chrysopa alcestes, new species. Pale yellowish or greenish, unmarked. Wings with most of the cross-veins dark or dark at ends. Fore-wings moderately broad, OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 191 1. 103 barely acute at tips; second cubital cell rather shorter than the third, the divisory veinlet ending at, or beyond, the cross-vein, but cutting off only a very small cell. Radial sector with six branches to margin; five inner gradate veinlets, six in the outer series, all dark; the inner row as near to the outer as to the radial sector. Hind wings acute at tips; costals, gradates, and a few cross-veins partly dark; radial sec- tor unites to median for less than cell length; four veinlets in inner gradate series, five or six in the outer. Pronotum about as long as broad, slightly narrowed in front. Expanse 20 mm. From Pusa, Bengal, India, October. Chrysopa virgestes, new species. Pale yellowish or greenish; immaculate. Wings with pale venation, but the gradate veinlets are dark. Fore wings rather slender, acute at tips ; second cubital cell about as long as the third, the latter much broader at apex than at base; divisory veinlet ends beyond the cross- vein. Four inner gradate veinlets, six outer ones; the inner row is rather nearer to the outer row than to the radial sector. Hind wings slender acute; radial sector unites to median for a cell-length; two or three inner gradate veinlets, four or five outer ones. Expanse 20 to 22 mm. From Pusa, Bengal, India, October 12, 13, November 7, at light. Chrysopa madestes, new species. Pale yellow or greenish, unmarked. Wings with pale venation, stigma indistinct. Fore wings moderately broad, not acute at tips; hind wings hardly acute. The costal area is moderately broad, but it broadens quite suddenly a little before the stigma and remains of a nearly equal width for some distance; second cubital cell about as long as the third; the divisory veinlet ends beyond the cross-vein; five or six inner gradate veinlets, six or seven in outer series; the inner row is nearer to the radial sector than to the outer row; the two rows are thug quite far apart. In hind wings the radial sector unites with the median for nearly a cell-length; four inner gradate veinlets, five in the outer series. Expanse 21 mm. From Pusa, Bengal, India, on sweet potatoes, February 12. Chrysopa scelestes, new species. Pale yellowish or greenish; cheeks reddish. Wings with pale vena- tion, unmarked. Fore wings slender, barely acute at tips; second cubital cell hardly as long as the third; both very slender; divisory veinlet ends before the cross-vein, or at it; five or six inner gradate veinlets, six in outer row; the inner row is a little nearer to outer row than to the radial sector. Hind wings slender, acute at tips; five or six inner gradate veinlets, and six or seven in outer row; the radial sector unites to the median for nearly a cell-length. Expanse 22 mm. 104 I'KoCKKmXGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY From Pusa, Bengal, India; in March and April; eating caterpillar on cabbage. FAMILY LEPTOCERID^. CEcetina insignis, new species. Dark, heavily clothed with hair. Head with gray and black hair; palpi with long gray and some white hair; antennae dark, narrowly annulate with white. Abdomen dull black; legs with some whitish and some iridescent appressed hair. Wings dark, with short golden or tawny hair, heavily marked with black spots on forkings of all veins on the tips of veins, on outer margin, a large long patch on basal part of costal margin, one beyond middle on costa, and the stigma black; on disk of wing is a zigzag streak over the basal part of the discal cell, then back on median vein, and then out on cubitus, making a very prominent marking; hind wings dusky with blackish fringe. Fore wings slender, with venation much as in CE. notata, but the cross-veins behind discal cell are much dislocated, and fork Sis longer than fork 1; in the hind wings the posterior fork is only one-third as long as anterior fork. Expanse 14 mm. From Bassein Fort, Bombay, India, October. Leptocella maculata, new species. Yellowish white, with white hair, antennae only very indistinctly an- nulate with brown; fore wings brownish hyaline, with a few brown spots on the forkings of the veins, the anastomosis partly brown, also the vein connecting discal cell to the radius, a hyaline whitish dot be- hind this cross-vein on the upper edge of the thyridial cell; the largest brown spot is on the forking of the median vein; hind wings wholly hyaline, with white fringe, the anterior veins only faintly indicated, but show a fork 1. In fore wings forks 1 and 3 are of equal length, while the second subapical cell is wider near base than at tip. Ex- panse 21 mm. From Pusa, Bengal, July 30, on rice leaves. /.ep/occrns i/n/icus Walk, may belong to this genus but could not be this species, for the wings are evidently more heavily marked. Setodes postica, new species. Head with whitish gray hair; antennae with black on apical part of each joint, broader on joints near middle of antennae than elsewhere; palpi gray-h;ihvd; thorax with gray hairs; abdomen yellowish, legs pale yellowish, wings blackish on anterior part, the hind border darker than elsewhere; the posterior part of wing is pale gray and contains several black dots, one at the anal angle; beyond this th mm.; head 0.75 to 0.80 mm. in diameter, color much the same as in previous stage. May 7. Third moult. Length of larva 6 to 10 mm.; head 1 to 1.80 mm. in diameter. Body assuming a yellowish tinge with light lateral 108 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY lines on either side of the dark dorsal area. At this age they look somewhat as though they had been covered with a fine white powder. May 9. Fourth moult Length of larva 11 to 14 mm.; head 1.40 to 1.50 mm. in diameter. Dark dorsal area gradually disappearing. May 12. Fifth moult. Length of larva 14 to 16 mm. ; head 1.50 to 1.60 mm. in diameter. By this time the larvae have assumed a bluish smoky color, darkest along the dorsal aspect, ventral lines and prolegs yellow, body distinctly transversely wrinkled, tips of thoracic legs brown, eyes black, head smoky white. After the fifth monlt the larva apparently does not feed again, but leaves the tree and enters the soil, where it constructs an earthen cocoon about one-half inch long, in which it remains unchanged until the spring of the following year. Observations for four successive years prove this sawfly to be single brooded. The species in question was first observed attacking ash at Manhattan, Kansas, in 1888, by Mr. C. L. Marlatt, while studying the life history of the ash sawfly Tomostethus bardns (Say). Mr. Marlatt recognized it to be an undescribed species and on page 195 of the First Annual Report of the Kansas Experimental Station, Division of Entomolog-y, gives a good drawing illustrating two views of the head of the larva. Adults of this species, as well as those reared by the writer, have been examined by Mr. S. A. Rohwer, who identifies them as 70- mostethus multicinctus (Roh.). In the original description1 this species was described from material collected May 6 at Washington, D. C., and April 27, Falls Church, Virginia, by Mr. Nathan Banks. In studying the various stages of the sawfly it was soon ob- served that a great many of the larvae were apparently sick and dropping from the trees. The trunks of the ash and sycamore, and in fact even stakes in close proximity to the trees from which they had fallen, were more or less whitened by the presence of sick larvae which were attempting to get back on the foliage. So conspicuous were these larvae that it was not uncommon to see groups of pedestrians gazing Curi- ously at the infested trees. In order to ascertain if possible the cause of this apparent sickness, sawflies were submitted for examination to Mrs. Flora W. Patterson, who reported that the death of the larvae had been brought about by one of the En - tomophythora^, but as the fungus was only present in the my- celial stage it was impossible to give a specific identification. EXPLANATION OF PLATE VII. Tomostethus multicinctus. FIG. 1. Female. FIG. 3. Larva- feeding on leaves. 2. Male. 'Can. Ent., XLI, p. 90 (1909). PRCC. ENT. SOC. WASH. VOLUME XIII, PLATE VII A SAW FLY INJURIOUS TO ASH. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, Mill. 109 Mr. Rohwer stated that of the four North American species of Tonwstcthns the habits of only two were known, and these feed in the larval stage on ash. In Europe the habits of three of the species are known. Two of these feed on the European ash (Fra. \inns c.\-cc/st\>r Linn.), and the other. T. f/tlioinosns Schrank, feeds on Ranunculus sclcralns Linn. In Europe eight different sawflies attack the com- mon ash. These are: Cnvstis septentrionalis Linn., 70- mostethus inc/anopv^iis Costa., T. n ig rilus Fabr. , Macrophya punctum-album Linn., I\'/u>gog-astcr piiiiclti lain King, Pac/iv- pro/as/s rapic Linn., Tenthredo (olim Allantus] res-pa Linn. The American species of Tomostethus are abundantly different from the European ones. W. F. Kirby, Cameron, Dalla Torre, and Konow consider Tomostethiis bard us. (Say) to be the same as Tcnthrcdo cord/gcra Pallisot de Beauvois. But although hard us agrees with the description and figure of cordigcra it does not .agree with the enlarged drawing of the antennae. For this reason, and because Lepeletier (1823), who is the first reviser, considers cordigera to be a Central American species, the name cord i^ era has been restricted to those Central American specimens which answer not only the description and figure of the adult but also agree with the figure of the antennae. Mr. Marlatt stated that in 1SS<,. 1897, and 1898 (and even earlier) at Manhattan, Kansas, he noticed almost complete defoliation of a dense clump of ash by a common ash sawfly, the entire grove of 15 or 20 acres being totally stripped. The eggs were laid on leaves, petioles, etc. Amongst the numerous larvae were found some (about 2 or 3 per cent) with the head pale, the rest having the head black. These were col- lected, notes were made, and when the imagoes issued were found to be new. There was also a third species amongst these larvce which was not reared, but must have belonged to a different genus, being similar to one of the spiny rose-feed- ing larva.'. Reared specimens were sent as a loan by Professor Popenoe, about ten years ago, from which a description was drawn up, but was never published, and he is now glad that Mr. Rohwer has given it a place. 110 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Mr. Rohwer replied to a question by Dr. Howard, saying that the species had been found in Washington, D. C.; Falls Church, Virginia; Riley County, Kansas; and Texas, a fe- male being in the Belfrage collection. Mr. Marlatt thought the species as widely distributed as the host plant. Mr. Rohwer said that most of the species of Blennocampinae defoliated deciduous trees. That the species seemed to pre- fer the new young growth. That many of our native species defoliate various species of oaks, Dr. Dyar having bred many new species of Periclista and Isodyctium from larvae on oaks. In reply to a question by Mr. Webster about breeding saw- flies, Dr. Dyar said that the only way was just to keep after them. Mr. Cushman stated that during the course of some obser- vations on a sawfly of the genus Caliroa which he conducted at Tallulah, Louisiana, during the past summer (1910), he had great difficulty in carrying the immature stages through to maturity. He therefore devised a combination feeding and pupating cage as follows: An ordinary tumbler was filled with earth, into which, at the center, was thrust a small phial, and at the side a glass tube open at both ends. The phial was for the reception of a peach twig and was filled with water to keep the food-supply fresh. The tube was for moistening the earth from the bottom instead of puddling the surface. An ordinary lantern globe, the top of which just fitted inside the tumbler, was inverted over the tumbler, and closed above with a square of cheesecloth. With this cage a large proportion of the larvae confined were carried at least to the time of en- trance into the ground and many matured under conditions as nearly natural as is possible to obtain in a breeding cage. It would probably be a successful cage for almost any ground- pupating insect. OP WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. HI The fourth paper on the program was by Mr. Pierce, en- titled: 4 SOME FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BOLL WEEVIL. BY W. DWIGHT PIERCE. For several years I have been endeavoring to find the law of effective temperature which governs the development of the boll weevil. Soon after beginning studies of the develop- ment of the insect, it was found that the use of 43 degrees as the zero of effective temperature was erroneous, but it has been a very difficult matter to find the correct substitute for this point. It has been more or less the fashion in entomo- logical life-history studies to consider 43 degrees as the zero of effective temperature for all insects. The first authors that I can find who threw some doubt upon the validity of this law were Messrs, Ouaintance and Brues, in their bulletin on the cotton bollworm. In this bulletin they stated that it appeared to them that between 58 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit was more nearly correct for the bollworm than 43 degrees. Later, Pro- fessor Sanderson, in a series of papers, pointed out the gen- eral fallacy of assuming that 43 degrees is the zero for all insects. He stated that it was his opinion that each insect was governed by its own climatic laws and that it would probably be found that a different zero of effective tempera- ture held for each species of insect. The usual method of obtaining the zero of effective temper- ature is by using the daily mean temperatures during the period of observations and the total length of the develop- mental period with a sufficient number of observations given under quite a range of temperatures. It is possible by means of frequent testings to ascertain the point above which an ac- cumulation of daily units of temperature will give the least variation. This point is considered the zero and the total effective temperature is the product of the average daily mean temperature above the zero multiplied by the average number of days. In this manner it has been found that 56 degrees more nearly approximates the zero of effective temperature for the boll weevil than 43 degrees. The studies showed, however, that there was considerable variation in total effec- tive temperature which must be due to some other cause, and it was also apparent that it would be necessary to ascertain a different zero of effective temperature for each locality unless it was possible that some other factor held a controlling in- fluence in the development. In this manner the question 112 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY rested for some time, as it appeared impossible to ascertain the variable elements. A very recent study of the data on the .development of the weevil brought out the fact that instead of there being only one factor in the development, there were several factors. Observations of the egg stage at different localities in differ- ent months, but with a mean temperature within 1 degree of 80 degrees, gave a considerable variation in the length of the stage. At Alexandria, Louisiana, the incubation period was 1.9 days; at Tallulah, Louisiana, 2. 6 days; at Victoria, Texas, 3.73 days; and at Dallas, Texas, 4.1 days; these differences corresponding quite regularly to the differences in the amount of humidity of the various places. The same differences have been found in the studies of the larval and pupal stages, so that it is quite apparent that the relative humidity at a given temperature is a controlling factor. It is impossible to state any particular formula for this control by humidity, but it may be said with truth that the length of the developmental period increases as the mean humidity decreases. It is of course well known that the developmental period is greatly influenced by temperature. At Victoria, Texas, it was found that the egg period varied from 3.73 days at 81 degrees temperature to 13.9 days at 62 degrees. In like man- ner the larval stage at Victoria varied from 7.5 days at 78.7 degrees to 25 days at 62.5 degrees, and the pupal stage varied from 3.5 days at 82.65 degrees to 14 days at 61.55 degrees. These same variations in accord with the variations in the temperature have been found for all of the other places ex- amined, but it is also impossible to give a definite formula for this variation, because it is impossible to carry on observations with temperature as the only variant. To give a formula, it would be necessary to include both humidity and temperature. It was not thought that any other factor was likely to have a controlling influence in the development of the weevil, but Mr. Cushman, in his studies at Tallulah, Louisiana, in 1910, in which he had his squares under more or less even climatic conditions, found that 475 males averaged in development 13.88 days, while 393 females averaged 13.49 days. This variation is of course very small, but interesting, and might lead to considerable speculation. In considering- the development of the boll weevil it is al- ways necessary to divide those stages which have developed from fallen squares from those which have developed in squares hanging on the plant. This has been necessary be- cause the percentage of mortality is always different and also because the factors which cause the mortality are different. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911, 113 It now appears that the average developmental period at Alex- andria, Louisiana, in 1908, in August, was 15.3 days in fallen squares and 15.1 days in hanging squares. It is probable that in drier localities there would be still a greater difference in the average development. It has always been necessary in our studies to separate our studies of weevils in the squares from those of weevils in bolls because the development in bolls is always much longer than in squares, in some cases being almost twice the average in squares. This may be considered as a combination of the factors of lower temperature, greater humidity and tougher food. One of the most interesting factors which has been ob- served in the study is that of the period preceding the falling of the squares to the ground. It is of course apparent that when a cotton square hangs on the plant a little longer than other squares it becomes drier, as it has not the benefit of the shade and moisture of the ground. The effect of the period before falling upon the development is much stronger than would be expected. A few examples may be cited to illus- trate this point. At Victoria, Texas, in 1904, in the first 15 days of July, the average developmental period was 12 days for squares falling in one day, 14 days for squares falling in 3 days, 14.1 days for squares falling in 5 days, 15.5 days for squares falling in 7 days, 18.3 days for squares falling in 9 days, 18.8 days for squares falling in 11 days, 20 days for squares falling in 13 days, 22 days for squares falling in 15 days, and 23 days for squares falling in 16 days. In August, 1906, at Dallas, Texas, it was found that the period ranged from 17.9 days for squares falling in 7 days to 36 days for squares falling in 22 days, with almost a perfect curve of increase. The fig- ures for this series of observations, when considered by seasons, show also the effect of the mean temperature. Squares which fell in 7 days developed weevils in the latter part of June in 16.3 days, in the first of July in 16 days, the last part of July in 16.9 days and the middle of August in 17.9 days, and this variation is what might be expected from the differences in the temperature. Just as striking is the series of observations for squares falling in 11 days at Victoria in 1904. In June these squares averaged 17 days, the first half of July 18. 8 days, the last half of July 20.6 days, the first half of August 21.5 days, and the last of September 25.5 days. It may be seen from this brief discussion that it is impos- sible to frame any definite law of effective temperature without also including a law of effective humidity and giving due con- sideration to the quality of the food supply and the amount 114 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY of moisture contained therein. Furthermore, it is obviously necessary, in order to get a perfect formula, to consider the sex of the developing weevils. The question has been put to a mathematician who has given considerable study to biono- metrics and he stated that the only way that a formula could be derived for this condition and the only way that a curve could be plotted would be by the use of the three dimensions. This paper has been introduced in order to warn other en- tomologists against coming to hasty conclusions about laws of development, and to urge those who have the time and in- clination to make thorough studies of the various factors in- fluencing the development of the insects which they can study. During the very full discussion of this paper Mr. Pierce added that the minimum fatal temperature of the boll weevil seems to be 12° F. and the maximum fatal temperature 123° F. In reply to Dr. Howard's question as to whether the weevil was not now able to stand colder temperatures than formerly Mr. Pierce stated he could not say definitely, but thought that certain apparent discrepancies in statements about mini- mum temperatures would be accounted for by the law of alter- nating temperature. It is well known that sudden alternation of otherwise harmless temperatures is frequently fatal. Mr. Pierce stated that the minimum isotherm of 14° almost corresponded with the line of winter control of the boll weevil. In reply to Dr. Howard's inquiry as to the extent of the use of 43° as the zero of effective temperature, Mr. Pierce stated that it first came into the literature of botany in France, but was adopted by Merriam in his study of life zones. Later on this zero was accepted without research for the codling moth, boll weevil, bollworm, cattle tick, and many minor in- sects. It is very important to understand the law of effective temperature. In the case of the cattle tick the recommenda- tions were based on 43° where the zero should be nearer 50°, and this is a very important point. Dr. Hopkins spoke of the difference in seasons, and said he had abandoned temperature records and now relied on the conditions of certain plants to indicate real time for action; that the temperature law governing insects also governs the plants, a striking example being Chermes, which is immune to OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 115 treatment except during the short period when the new growth of the host tree is starting, dates being of no value. Mr. Quaintance said that such laws may govern native in- sects, but that in the case of introduced insects and such as the codling moth, Conotrachelus t etc., temperature conditions sometimes affect the insects that do not seem to affect the host. Dr. Hopkins replied that cultivated plants are not reliable as guides in any locality, but that native forest trees (white oak, tulip, etc.) should be considered. In reply to Dr. Hopkins' s remarks about phenology Mr. Pierce stated that in the case of the boll weevil the develop- ment of the host plant had absolutely nothing to do wjth the emergence of the adults from hibernation. They emerge during a period of three or four months and in accordance with the accumulation of effective temperature in their hiber- nation shelter. Mr. Cushman remarked that in connection with the climatic effect on the boll weevil he had made a series of interesting observations at Tallulah, Louisiana. In 1909 the winter was warm and open, the weevils were out early and numerous, the weather hot and moist, .stimulating rapid development of the cotton plants. A change then came to very hot, dry weather, which controlled the weevil so that a cotton crop was made. The following year the reverse conditions pre- vailed, but with the same effect. The winter was cold, result- ing in a small survival, and was followed by a long, cold spring, so that many weevils that had hibernated successfully died. In May warm weather set in, the cotton grew rapidly, and the weevils multiplied rapidly, so that by the end of the season they had done practically the same amount of damage as in the preceding season. Thus we have opposite conditions giv- ing the same results. Dr. Howard stated that the results of Mr. Pierce' s work were very significant. It is clear from the study of certain insect forms that Merriam's summation of mean daily temper- atures during the active season will not hold perfectly as the controlling influence in distribution. Extremes of temperature must be considered, especially extremes of cold. He illtis- 116 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY trated this in the case of the yellow fever mosquito. In a paper on the distribution of the yellow fever mosquito he had decided that this species would be found throughout the Tropical and Lower Austral life zones and the zone in the southern hemisphere corresponding to the Lower Austral Life Zone in the northern hemisphere, and he prophesied that in lower austral regions where this mosquito is not found it could undoubtedly establish itself when once introduced, pro- vided the necessary water supply were present. Messrs. Dyar and Knab, however, had recently shown him that there exist regions in the Lower Austral Zone where the yellow fever mosquito has undoubtedly been frequently introduced and where it has not established itself, as, for example, in Southern California. Here, in the opinion of Dyar and Knab, the low temperature during night time has prevented the establish- ment of the species, and in this conclusion the speaker agreed. Winter cold also undoubtedly limits the northern distribution of many forms which hibernate as adults, as, for example, Schistocerca americana. In reply to a question by Mr. Quaintance about determin- ing the mean temperature, Mr. Pierce stated that he had made numerous computations of the mean of the curve on the thermograph sheet by the use of a polar planimeter and found that this mean corresponded to the fraction of a degree with that obtained by averaging the daily maximums and mini- mums. Dr. Hopkins said he found the records of the Weather Bureau of no value in determining the laws in his subjects; the local conditions are too variable, and he would recommend experiments to determine the laws governing plants. Mr. Pierce replied that all insect development records should be coordinated with thermohygrograph records taken on the spot. He stated that the botanists have worked out the zeros of effective temperature for different plants, and for different functions of the same plant. Mr. Rohwer said that in Boulder, Colorado, the' tempera- ture varied two or three degrees between the different sta- tions there. The U. S. Weather Bureau has one station there and the records from it did not agree with those made OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 117 at a station on the campus of the university, nor did those of the university agree with those at a station on the mesa, which is about 50 feet above the campus. This shows the diffi- culty the Weather Bureau would have if they endeavored to give all the data necessary in a given locality. Mr. Johnson spoke of the difficulty he had experienced in trying to correlate the emergence of the grape root-worm with plant conditions. There is great variation, a striking one having occurred in the spring of 1908, which was unusually cold but eventually warmed up in June. The cold May re- tarded pupation for about a month. Some individuals of the codling moth or plum curculio may hibernate in warmer places than others, and will naturally mature more rapidly. Professor Webster said Mr. Reeves has found differences of emergence on the north and south slopes of hills. Mr. Ely asked what attention has been paid to soil temper- atures. Mr. Pierce replied that very little had been done in this re- spect, but that it would be necessary in insect-development studies to obtain accurate records of the temperature at vari- ous depths in relation to soil moisture, texture, etc. ; that the soil temperature in Texas often ran 40° higher than the air, ac- cording to its color and consistency. Dr. Hopkins said this was of enormous importance; that he had studied the relation of exposures and other factors gov- erning forest insects, but that other influences must be con- sidered for insects living part of their time underground. Mr. Pierce closed the discussion by stating that the pur- pose of his paper was to show that records and laws of devel- opment should consider air temperature and humidity; soil temperature, humidity, and texture; food moisture and tex- ture; sex; phenology; and probably many other factors. -The last paper of the program, "A Note on the Occur- rence of Chrvsoinvza dcnuindata Fabr.," by C. N. Ainslie, was read by the Secretary. 118 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY A NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF CHRYSOMYZA DEMANDATA FABRICIUS. BY C. N. AINSLIE. About the middle of the month of June, 1909, during a week spent at Sacaton, Arizona, the agency village of the Pima tribe of Indians, I had occasion to investigate, among other things, a field of corn that was owned and cultivated by one of these Indians. The corn raised by this tribe is a peculiar dwarf variety that probably came from old Mexico many years, possibly centuries, ago. The particular field that I visited lay not far from the dry bed of the Gila River, and was badly overgrown with wild sunflowers and other weeds. It was also infested to a remarkable extent by Heliothis obso- Icta, being by far the worst field, in this respect, that ever came under my observation. Every ear and nubbin appeared to be tenanted by from one to four or five of these repulsive larvae, while the tassels, stalks, and even the suckers were, or had been, the home of multitudes more. While examining some of these suckers that were in a de- cayed condition owing to the galleries having been filled with the abundant excrement voided by the Heliothis larvae, I found a number of dipterous larvae and pupae inhabiting this clamp and disagreeable situation. A few of these were col- lected and reared, the adults that emerged being subsequently determined by Mr. D. W. Coquillet as Chrysomyza deman- data Fabr. Mr. M. French Oilman, at that time in temporary charge of the experiment work on the agency farm and since then promoted to the post of assistant superintendent of the Pima Agency, a keen observer to whom I was indebted for many courtesies during my visit, told me he was sure he had seen the same dipterous larvae in the stems of dead date palms on the farm. Repairing to the nursery where numerous small date palms a foot or more in height were growing, we had no difficulty in finding many full-grown dipterous larvae in the heart of the dead stems and between the decaying leaves. A few of the palm plants were alive with the larvae, dozens of them wriggling out when the stems were split. These larva • were so nearly mature that when placed in a vial for rearing they promptly pupated. Confinement was too much for most of them, but enough of them survived to make it reasonably certain that this was the same species I had found in the de- caying- cornstalks. The palm nursery had been recently irrigated and the pith in the dead plants was saturated with OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, lull. 119 water. The corn suckers inhabited by the Diptera were also very wet from the abundant juice of the wounded tissue. Chrysomyza demandata is a European species and there ap- pears to be but a single reference to it in American literature. This one item occurs in Entomological News, vol. xi, p. 609, where a report of the entomological section of the Philadel- phia Academy of Sciences contains the following paragraph: Mr. C. W. Johnson exhibited some flies he had found on the decay- ed berries of a vine at the grounds of the Biological School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also found one on decayed grapes at Riverton, N. J. Mr. Coquillet determined it to be Chrysomyza de- mandata, Fabr., a European species. Mr. Johnson did not know of any previous record for American specimens. Mr. Ouaintance remarked on the large scope of the Bureau of Entomology. Here was a paper based on an insect found in a corn plot of an American Indian ! Mr. Webster said the Pima Indians are remarkable, having raised corn and wheat from immemorial times, and that their gardens show a peculiar insect fauna. The fly was described from Sweden, but was here found in arid New Mexico. Mr. Walton told of collecting the fly rarely near Harris- burg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Knab remarked that judging from the habits, the species might enjoy a very extended range; it has been bred in Europe from manure, and also from the contents of a silo. -Under the heading Short Notes and Exhibition of Speci- mens, Mr. Cushman described a peculiar spot of humid Texan fauna in the midst of typical arid country. In June of 1908 he spent some time collecting insects along the Rio Grande and in the Chisos Mountains in the extreme southern part of Brevvster County, Texas. In a small area along the river, and which was subirrigated from the river, the vegetation was of much the same character as in the more humid portion of the State along the Gulf coast and the insects collected were not on the whole very different. But away from the river on the high mesas and in the mountains the vegetation was almost entirely xerophytic and the insect fauna, although abundant, was entirely different from that of the subirrigated area. — The Secretary read a letter from Mr. Schwarz describing insect collecting in Panama. 120 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY —Mr. Smyth spoke of the superstitions amongst Arizonans about the "Campomoche" killing stock. —Mr. Rohwer told of a recent paper by the Swedish en- tomologist, Mr. Tullgren, in which he showed that two Euro- pean species of sawflies live inside the young fruit of plum and apple. These belong to the genus Hoplocampa, and it is probable that some day it will be found that some of the American species of Hoplocampa live inside of fruit. Mr. Quaintance said that not long ago Mr. Rohwer deter- mined a species of Hoplocampa from California which lives inside of cherries. Mr. Rohwer stated that no economic data was sent with the specimens to him. The following papers were accepted for publication: THE OCCURRENCE OF THE MYMARID GENUS STETHYNIUM ENOCK IN WEST AUSTRALIA. BY A. A. GIRAULT. The genus Stethynium was recently described by Knock (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., Dec. 31, 1909, pp. 452-453, pi. xii, figs. 1-5) from an English species. It is a rather peculiar group characterized by bearing a well-defined, 3-jointed an- tennal club and peculiarly shaped fore wings which have the marginal cilia characteristically arranged. Elsewhere I re- cord an American species of this genus, and just recently Dr. L,. O. Howard has sent me a distinct form of it from West Australia, which I describe beyond. It might be well worth recording in this connection that the abnormally broad posterior wings which characterize this species are also borne by an Anagnis from the same locality. It remains to be seen what significance this fact has, but it may be that the forms with broad posterior wings are peculiar to the Australian region alone; an Alaptus from that region, however, has the usual slender caudal wings, and this is true of forms in other genera described from the Australian region. I describe the West Australian species of Stethynium here- with and then give a diagnostic table of the few known species of the genus. Perhaps Stethynium, in regard to distribution, is typical of mymarid genera; thus, it is worldwide in its dis- tribution, common to several continents, but its species ap- pear to be restricted to the limits, at the most, of the con- tinents to which they are indigenous; that is to say, the species indigenous to a continent are distinct from the native species of other continents. OP WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1H11. 121 Stethynium peregrinum, new species. A species at once distinguished from the type species of the genus (triclavatutn Enock) and the American species (/annum Girault) by bearing decidedly broader posterior wings which are very broad for a myuiarid, nearly as broad as the fore wings of some Anagri (e.g., Anagrns armatus Ashmead). Comparing it with fait num (actual specimens), it is twice more robust (easily visible to the eye, for instance, faninim being minute thus) and distinctly different in color, being reddish brown (about Indian red), while /annum is yellow (gamboge) ; the antenna differs in bearing shorter funicle joints, the sec- ond funicle joint, for instance, not slender and relatively long, thrice longer than wide, but only about a third longer than wide and no longer than the third joint; also the antennal club is decidedly longer in peregrinum. The fore wings in this species are much broader than in f annum and differ in shape, in that the apex is not an obtuse point but regularly rounded; moreover the marginal cilia are decidedly shorter in peregrinum. NORMAL POSITION. Female. — Length 0.73 mm. Large for the genus. General color uniformly reddish brown, the antennae, venation, and legs dusky brown, the distal tarsal joints dusky. Eyes dark red. Fore wings irregularly, rather lightly, fumated proximad under the venation, especially at the dilatation or caudal lobe along the posterior margin, and both wings with a slight dusky appearance throughout. Pronotum and vertex occasionally fuscous. Fore wings about as in the type species in regard to width, broad yet not especially large, densely and finely ciliate in the disk, the blade ovate in shape; bearing about from 30 to 34 lines of discal cilia across the widest portion; marginal cilia comparatively short, the longest only about a fifth the greatest wing width, short at the apex. Blade of the posterior wing broad (nearly as in Gonatocerus dolicho- cerus Ashmead, but broader) , but not any broader across the apex of the venation, broadest somewhat beyond its middle, with a single line of dis- cal cilia along the cephalic margin and a paired line along the caudal mar- gin; within, the blade bears about three lines of discal cilia which are somewhat irregular; all discal ciliation fainter proximad. Marginal cilia of the caudal margin of the posterior wing long, distinctly longer than the longest cilia of the fore wing, about twice longer than the greatest width of the blade of the posterior wing, or not quite that long. In the fore wing there is a small naked area just out from the end of the marginal vein; this area is longer than wide. Tarsi four- jointed, all the joints short, subequal, the proximal joint in the cephalic tarsi somewhat longer; tibial spurs single, acute, 122 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY onger than the proximal tarsal joints, the cephalic spur forked , larger, curved, forming a strigil. Parapsidal furrows complete; mesophragma present. Abdomen small, ovate, smaller than thorax, the ovipositor not exserted. Antennae eleven-jointed, normal, but the funicle joints shorter than usual, all subquadrate, none twice longer than broad. Scape moderate; pedicel usual, rather large, distinctly larger than any of the funicle joints; funicle joint 1 smallest, barely longer than wide, 2 and 3 rectangular, each a third longer than wide, subequal; joint 4 some- what shorter and broader, subquadrate; 5 like 4 but slightly larger; 6 as long as either 2 or 3 but somewhat broader; club with the two divisions curved but not as much so as in the other species; the distal or third club joint is conic and nearly as long as the combined length of the two proximal joints. Pubescence inconspicuous. (From 4 specimens, §-inch objective, 1-inch optic, Bausch and Lomb. ) Male.— Length, 0.70 mm. The same as the female. Abdomen still smaller. Marginal cilia of the fore wings longer, subequal in length to the longest marginal cilia of the posterior wing. Antennae 13-jointed, filiform, the joints of the flagellum longi- tudinally striate; club 2-jointed, the joints not different from those of the flagellum. Pedicel small, barely longer than wide, smaller than the first funicle joint; joints of funicle short, joint 1 shortest, somewhat rounded, but only a fourth shorter than the next joint; joints 2 to 9 subequal, not quite twice longer than wide; proximal club joint subequal to preceding joint, the last joint slightly shorter, narrower, bluntly conical. Pubescence inconspicuous, nearly if not quite absent. (From 2 specimens, the same magnification.) Described from two male and four female specimens sent for identification by Dr. L,. O. Howard and bearing the label "919. Perth, W. Austr. G. Compere." Mounted in balsam. Habitat: West Australia (Perth). Types: No. 13824, United States National Museum, Wash- ington, D. C. , 2 males, 4 females, each sex on a single slide (2 slides). The following table separates the few described species of Stethy nium: DIAGNOSTIC TABLE OF THE DESCRIBED SPECIES OF STETHYNIUM ENOCK. 1. Posterior wings slender, normal, their longest marginal cilia (caudad) no longer than the longest marginal cilia of the fore wing. Joints of antennal funicle longer, the second joint at least twice longer than wide. Abdo- men short, but conic-ovate, the ovipositor slightly ex- serted. Fore wings obtusely pointed at apex. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 123 a. Light testaceous; second funicle joint of antenna only about twice longer than wide, only slightly longer than the proximal joint; marginal cilia of fore wing along the cephalic margin moderately short, at the apex very short. A large species, the fore wings broad. triclavatum Enock 6. Gamboge to luteus; second funicle joint of antennae thrice longer than wide, comparatively slender, distinctly longer than the proximal funicle joint; marginal cilia of fore wing along the cephalic margin moderate in length, not very short at extreme wing apex. Species small, the fore wings only moderate in width. fatinum Girault 2. Posterior wings abnormally broadened, their longest marginal cilia (caudad) distinctly longer than the same cilia of the fore wing. None of the funicle joints of the an- tenna twice longer than wide. Abdomen ovate, short, the ovipositor not at all exserted. Fore wing regu- larly rounded at apex. a. Indian red; fore wings broad; second funicle joint of an- tenna only a third longer than wide; distal club joint forming nearly half of the club peregrinum Girault TWO GENERA OF ICHNEUMONOIDEA. BY H. L. VIERECK. Cardiochiles Nees. T\pc : Ichneumon saltatorY. This is not the same as the Cardiochiles described by Szepligeti in the Genera Insectorum, unless we assume that the number of joints given is a typographical error for m. p. (>, 1. p. 4 jointed. Stantonia Ashmead. Type: Stantonia flara Ashmead. This is not Microtypus Ratzeburg as stated by Szepligeti. The latter genus, as shown in the original description, has a middle areola on the metathorax and the first discoidal cell hardly larger than the first cubital cell. 124 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY A NEW PELECINUS-LIKE GENUS AND SPECIES OF PLATY- GASTERID^E. PLATE VIII. BY J. C. CRAWFORD AND J. C. BRADLEY. DOLICHOTRYPES, new genus. Antennae inserted just above mouth parts, ten-segmented, with an apparent ring-joint; the scape long; the funicle three-segmented, the first segment being longest and the last shortest; the club four-segmented; lateral ocelli nearer to the compound eyes than to the front ocellus; parapsidal furrows complete or obsolete anteriorl)'; scutellum bifoveolate at base, produced at apex into a short, blunt spine; metapleurae with a long slender spine on each side, more or less obscured by the vestiture; wings veinless; hind wings contracted at base; middle and posterior trochanters elongate, their femora spindle- shaped, the tibias strongly pedunculate; abdomen broadly ses- sile, that of the female with five segments, margined at the sides, the last three being greatly elongate and flattened, seven times as long as the first two together, the entire abdomen eight times as long as the thorax; abdomen of the male short, acute, five-segmented, the first segment as long as the rest taken together. Type, the following new species. This genus belongs to the Platygasterinse, and in Dr. Ash- mead's table to the genera of that subfamily in the Journal of the New York Entomological Society, vol. xi, p. 96, the female will run to the second alternate of category 6 but dif- fers at once from Polymecus Foerster as there defined by the fact that the club of the antennae possesses but four segments and that the lateral ocelli are nearer to the compound eyes than to the front ocellus. The males of Dolichotrypes run in the key to Sactogastcr Foerster. The genus is evidently closely related to Polvmccns, of which species are known with a four segmented antennal club. Poly- mccns compressiventris is the species which approaches Doli- chotrvpes most closely. The males of Polyinccns differ in having a six-segmented antennal club, the first segment of the funicle short, the second segment elongate and twisted. Both sexes differ in the proportions of the abdominal segments. Dolichotrypes hopkinsi, new species. Black, except base of scape and legs including coxa?, are brownish yellow and the rest of the antennae are dark brown. Mostly smooth and highly polished. Female — Head finely reticulate; scape long and slender; thorax and abdomen smooth and polished; apex of median segment and base of PROC. ENT. SOO W*SHINGTON VOLUME XIII, PLATE VII DOLICHOTRYPES HOPKINSI, NEW SPECIES. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 125 the abdomen with long white pubescence concealing the surface and almost hiding the long lateral spines on the median segment; wings whitish hyaline, iridescent; posterior tarsi much longer than their tibiae. Measurements as follows: Total length 4.5 mm. ; of the thorax alone 0.49 mm.; of the abdomen alone 3.99 mm.; of the first segment of the abdomen 0.41 mm.; of the second 0.1 mm.; of the third 0.73 mm.; of the fourth 1.43 mm.; of the fifth 1.32 mm. Male. — Scape a little shorter and less slender than in the female, and first segment of the funicle a little shorter; parapsidal grooves a little less distinct than in the female; abdomen not extending as far as the apex of the hind wings, very acute, margined, five-segmented, the first segment equaling the remainder taken together, smooth and polished, the remainder minutely sculptured and opaque. Except in these respects and in the measurements given below the male agrees with the female. Measurements as follows: Total length 1.09 mm.; of the abdomen 0.49 mm. This species is described from females collected by Dr. A. D. Hopkins at Tibb's Run, near Dellslow, West Virginia (Hopkins West Va. No. 7070), and from males and females collected by Prof. J. H. Comstock at Ithaca, New York. The latter bear a number referring to the following note: Cornell University No. 683. Dolichotrypes hopkinsi Ashmead (MSS.). Found in large numbers on a newly cut oak stump near Fall Creek. Females were busily inserting the long part of the abdomen into the intercellular spaces of the wood near the bark. They were confined to the outer 2 inches of the wood. July 21st, 1897. Professor J. H. Comstock collector. Named by Mr. W. H. Ashmead, who had previously received it from Morgantown, West Va., supposed to have been ovipositing in dipterous larvae in a stump. Professor C. R. Crosby informs us that he has taken addi- tional specimens at Ithaca during the past summer (1910). Type: Female, U. S. Nat. Mus. Cat. No. 13829; male, in the collection of Cornell University. Paralyses of each sex in each and in other institutions. The authors wish to express their indebtedness to Miss Carol H. Bradley for the figures of the adults. DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VIII. Above, adult male. Below, adult female. Antenna of female, made with a camera lucida. 126 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. XIII, 1911. A NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS CHEILONEURUS. [Hymenoptera; Encyrticht.] BY J. C. CRAWFORD. Cheiloneurus cushmani, new species. Female. — Length about 1.75 mm. Varying shades of green, blue, and purplish, the face and rear of head largely reddish testaceous; pronotum, axilla?, and scutellum orange, suffused anteriorly with brown; scape whitish, rest of antennae dark brown, first joint of funicle shorter than pedicel; all joints of funicle slightly longer than wide, antennal depression deep, sharply marked semi-circular, reaching about half way up scape, above this the face with fine shallow thimble- like punctures, at sides of antennal fossa becoming more like reticu- lations; ocelli in an equilateral triangle, the lateral ones about their own width from eyes; cheeks finely reticulated with raised lines; mesoscutum very finely longitudinally lineolate, with a silky lustre, and with many silver-white hairs; scutellum with thimble-like punc- tures; apical tuft black; wings, except the hyaline bases, strongly in- fuscated, the infuscation decreasing gradually toward tips of wings; front and hind legs basally translucent whitish, front legs beyond middle of femora light brownish; middle legs brownish, their tarsi whitish; hind femora and tibiae brown, the tarsi whitish; abdomen reticulated with fine rugulose. Male. — Length 1.5 mm. Similar to the female; the antennal de- pression not well marked, the sculpture coarser, especially in meso- scutum, where anteriorly it is finely longitudinally rugulose and pos- teriorly reticulate with fine rugulaa; entire insect varying shades of metallic with more greenish than in female; hairs of mesoscutum weaker and less numerous and therefore not so apparent; wings only slightly infuscated, with a deeply infuscated spot at marginal vein; scape whitish, rest of antennae light brown; front and middle legs whitish, the apical part somewhat brownish; hind femora and tibiae strongly brownish. Habitat: Vienna, Virginia. Type: No. 14097, U. S. National Museum. Six female and five male specimens from a series reared May 24, 1911, from Kermes sp. by Mr. R. A. Cushman, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and recorded under Quaintance note No. 7038. Related to C. cnpreicollis Ashm. , which has the ocelli in an equilateral triangle, but which has the joints of the funicle elongate, the first much longer than the pedicel and the mesoscutum is shiny and punctured. Actual date of issue, June 19, 1911. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Page AINSLIE, C. N. : A Note on the Occurrence of Chrysomyza de- mandata Fabricius 118 ALLARD, H. A.: Xiphidion Stridulations 84 BANKS, NATHAN: Paranthaclisis hageni in Texas .., 71 Rediscovery of Rare Spiders 76 Notes on Indian Neuropteroid Insects 99 BARBER, H. S.: A Simple Trap-light Device 72 BRADLEY, J. C. (see CRAWFORD) . CAUDELL, A. N. : A New Cactus-frequenting Orthopteron from Texas 79 CRAWFORD, J. C. : A New Species of the Genus Cheiloneurus... 126 CRAWFORD, J. C. and J. C. BRADLEY: A New Pelecinus-like Genus and Species of Platygasteridaa 124 DYAR, H. G.: Two New North American Species of Eustrotia 68 A New Genus for Cirrophanus duplicates 69 Note on an Arizona Notodontian 69 A New Species of Dioryctria... 81 A New Coloradia 89 Change of Genus for Certain Species of Cochlidiidae 106 GIRAULT, A. A. : The Occurrence of the Mymarid Genus Stethy- nium Enock in West Australia 120 HOWARD, L. O.: Brief Notes of Two Recent Trips 77 MCDERMOTT, F. ALEX. : The Attack of a Larval Hemipter upon a Caterpillar 90 PIERCE, W. DWIGHT: Some Factors Influencing the Development of the Boll Weevil Ill POPENOE, C. H., and E. G. SMYTH: An Epidemic of Fungous Diseases among Soldier Beetles , 75 SASSCER, E. R. : Notes on a Sawfly Injurious to Ash 107 SMYTHE, E. G. (see POPENOE). VIERECK, H. L. : Hymenoptei-a in Smith's Insects of New Jersey, Third Edition, 1910 93 Two genera of Ichneumonidse 123 THE CORN'MAN PlUNTIN'G Co., Carlisle, Pa. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Volume XIII, No. 3. JULY-SEPTEMBER, 1911. (MEETINGS OF APRIL 6, 1911, TO JUNE 3, 1911) PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, QUARTERLY CARLISLE, PA. WASHINGTON,^, t, 1911. \, Entered as second-class matter July 26, 1909, at tbe post office at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, under the^Act of July 16, 1894. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday in each month, from October to June, inclusive, at 8 P. M., at the residences of memberi. Annual dues of active members, $3.00; of corresponding members, $2.00; initia- tion fee (for active members only), $1.00. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1911. President F. M. WEBSTER. First Vice-President A. L. QTJAINTANCE. Second Vice-Preaident E. F. PHILLIPS. Recording Secretary H. S. BARBER. Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer. S. A. ROHWER. IT. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Sciences A. D. HOPKINS. Executive Committee. THE OFFICERS, L. O. HOWAKD, E. A. SCHW'ARZ, HABRISON G. DYAR. Publication Committee. HARRISON G. DYAB, A. L. QUAINT ANCE, J. C. CRAWFORD. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published quarterly by the Society at No. 1 N. Pitt street, Carlisle, Pa., and Washington, D. C. Terms for subscription: Domestic, $2.00 per annum; foreign, $2.25 per annum; single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. « Authprs of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS shall be entitled to 25 sepa- rates of each contribution, free of charge. Additional copies may be had at cost By notifying the Publication Committee before the final page proof Is returned to the printer. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. VOL. XIII JULY -- SEPTEMBER, 1911 No. 3 MEETING OF APRIL 6, 1911. The 249th meeting was entertained by Prof. A. L. Quaint- ance on the evening of April 6, 1911, in the lecture room of the Cosmos Club. Twenty members, Messrs. Barber, Caudell, Crawford, Dyar, Ely, Gahan, Heidemann, Hooker, Howard, Knab, MacAtee, Myers, W. J. Phillips, Quaintance, Rohwer, Sasscer, Stanford, Walton, Webster, and Zimmer, and two guests, Messrs. O. G. Babcock and H. Watts, were present. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and cor- rected. The name of Mr. E. N. Cory, of the Maryland Agricultural College, was proposed by Mr. Gahan for active membership, and according to the rules was laid over for the next meeting. The first paper of the evening by Mr. C. W. Hooker was entitled "Notes on Insects Injurious to Cranberries," and was illustrated by lantern slides. It was discussed by Messrs. Howard, Quaintance, and Caudell. The second paper, "Notes on the Plum Curculio," by Professor Quaintance, was also illustrated. On account of the lateness of the hour the third paper was postponed to the next meeting. Neither of the papers that was read was presented for publication. 127 128 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY SOME REMARKS ON THE EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF HEMIPTERA-HETEROPTERA. PLATES IX— XII. BY OTTO HEIDEMANN. Eggs of Hemiptera-Heteroptera are exceedingly diverse in form. They vary from an oval, globular, or cylindrical shape to all sorts of modifications. Some eggs glisten in golden lustre or have other dainty coloring; many are ornamented with delicate, curious patterns, with short spines and long hair-like appendages. This strange appearance of the eggs makes their study very fascinating. Naturalists of former time have already called attention to these beautiful creations of nature, but if is to the credit of the investigators of our day that we have a more profound knowledge, in a morphological and biological sense, of the meaning and the various functions of some organs and appendages attached to these eggs. Leuckart in his famous essay on the eggs of insects, published in Mueller's Archiv fiir Anatomic und Physiologic, 1855, considers certain peculiarly shaped organs about the upper pole of hemipterous eggs as a micropyle apparatus; he be- lieved these had an opening through which the sperma- tozoa enter in order to ferti- lize the egg. He terms these organs seminal cups (Samen- becher). They are either microscopical in size or large enough to be seen even by the naked eye. Leuckart dis- covered five different types, FIG. i. * which could be divided into two groups. In one group of eggs these organs stand free and erect on the outer surface around the rim towards the upper egg-pole; in the other group of eggs they are attached to the inner side of a band-like extension of the rim. (Fig. 1, a and b.) Julius Gross published an interesting paper on the ovaries of Hemiptera1 wherein he disputes Leuckart's theory that these appendages are the transmitters of the sperm. He holds that they are a pneumatic device for ventilating the interior of the egg, keeping it in healthy condition. He calls these organs, being a part of the chorion, chorial processes 1 Zeitschrift fur wissenschaftliche Zoologie, p. 139, 1901. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 129 (Choriou-Anhaenge). The well known biologist Heymons1 expresses the same view in one of his papers. Some scientists still adhere to the older theory. It seems, therefore, that further research in this interesting matter may be necessary in order to state positively the real function of these peculiarly formed organs on the eggs of Hemiptera. The egg-shell or chorion is formed, according to Dr. Korschelt,2 by cuticular secretion of the epithelial cells in the oviduct. It consists usually of two layers, which differ in thickness and texture. The smaller eggs have the texture of the outer surface of the chorion more or less smooth or minutely granulated, while in the larger eggs it is very uneven, covered with polygonal cells, often spinous and tubercular, probably to give more consistency to the egg-shell. In the mature stage of the egg the head of the embryo is always di- rected towards the apical part or upper egg-pole, where in some groups of eggs a round or oval shaped lid or cap is no- ticeable; in other groups, mostly in those of a cylindrical form, this is absent. Globular eggs are affixed to their support often by a circular or bell-shaped plate; the round and oval forms in some of the groups are laid loose on the ground or in water, and the cylindrical eggs are usually deposited in the tissue of plants and in cracks. According to Leuckart the shape of the processes before men- tioned is characteristic for the eggs of certain groups and in doubtful cases may be of great value for the systematist. Prof. O. M. Reuter3 in a recent publication expressed re- peatedly his opinion of the necessity also of studying the eggs as an aid to classification. In recent years American writers, in working up the life his- tory of hemipterous species, have greatly contributed to our knowledge of the eggs by publishing detailed accounts. There are, undoubtedly, several distinct types amongst these eggs whereby can be demonstrated the relationship of the species and genera to the families. For instance, all eggs of species belonging to the family Pentatomidse are uniform, only slightly modified, generally barrel-shaped, or resembling very much the form of a tiny tin-can, as in Pentatoma Ii°ataS Murgantia histrionica* and Stiretrus anchorago. All these eggs have a round apical 1 Zeitschrift fur wissenschaftliche Insectenbiologie, Band ii, 1906. 2Zur Bildungder Eihiillen der Micropylen und Chorionanhange bei den Insecten. Nova Acta d. K. Leop. Carol. Acad., Bd. ii, 1887. 3 O. M. Reuter, Phylogenie und Systematik der Miriden. Acta Societatis Scientiarum fennicae. Tom. xxxvil, No. 3, 1910. 4 A. W. Morrill, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bureau of Entomology, Bui. 64, Part I, pp. 4-8, 1907. 5C. V. Riley, 4 Ann. Report Ins. of Missouri, 1872, p. 37. 130 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY cap. Their color is usually whitish, sometimes a yellowish tint prevails. The harlequin cabbage-bug shows its fancy garment even on its eggs, which are decidedly ornamented in black and white; and in species of the genus Podisus1 the eggs glitter in a metallic bronze color. A very interesting feature in the study of these eggs is the chorial processes, which always are present, and in this family they are placed in an upright po- sition near the upper pole, where they are arranged around the circular cap. On eggs of species of Brochymena these processes are microscopic in size; they stand singly, somewhat remote from each other, in number of about 30 to 40; the outer surface of the shell is strongly punctured in irregular rows( PI. IX, fig. 3.) In eggs of Euschistus the surface of thechorion is delicately punctuate; the processes are larger, abruptly thickened at the upper end, with a small opening; they number a c least 60 or more (PI. IX, fig. 4). Eggs of Tkyanta cnstator have the outer surface covered with minute, whitish, short bristles and the processes are less densely placed (PI. IX, fig. 1). The most characteristic shape of the chorial processes is ex- hibited on the eggs of the Podisus group and allied forms; they can even be observed by the naked eye and are about 1 mm. in length They are a little swollen at the base, then suddenly bent backward from the chorion, and taper gradu- ally to the end; the tip is funnel-shaped. Eggs of Cosmopepla carnijex are sim- ilarly formed, with the exception that the color is not of a deep bronze as in Pod- isus and the outer surface of the chorion less thorny in appearance (PI. IX, fig. 2). A striking feature in the hatched eggs of species of the family Pentatomidse is the uniform presence of a little T-shaped instrument within the orifice. This has been left behind by the young larva; it seems to be attached dorsally at the pro- notum to a delicate membrane which envelopes the young larva before its emergence from the egg (fig. 2). It is composed of a more or less convexly formed, transverse bar with a strong median spur, made of thickened layers of chitin and usually dark brown; the two points of the bar are connected with the 1 C. V. Riley, 4 Ann. Report Ins. of Missouri, p. 20. A. H. Kirkland, Report of the Gypsy Moth Committee, Mass., 1896, p. 52. FIG. 2. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASHINGTON " VOLUME xni, PLATE ix •;•/ i -^""^""'-M-T^T-n-*,. .--- — • • •_ ' •<"••. •- ' '> EGGS OF HEMIPTERA-HETEROPTERA OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 131 end of the median spur by a rather stiff, glassy, chitinous skin. It seems to vary a little in shape and color in differ- ent species. In Brochymena species it is entirely dark brown, in other species whitish. This strange instrument is evi- dently an egg-burster. After it has performed its function it glides over the head of the emerging larva and is usually retained in the empty shell with parts of the shed larval skin (fig. 3). Kirby and Spence, in their Introduction to Entomology, vol. in, 1826, were the first observers to notice this strange form of an egg-burster, which they named a crossbow. Dr. Richard Heymons1 published a most accurate study of this egg-burster and its function in the eggs of species of the family Pentatomidae. Very recently Di. A. W. Morrill2 has also given a full account of his observation on this interesting subject. It may be of some value to record that the occurrence of this peculiar form of an egg-burster is not limited to the eggs of species belonging to the family Pentatomidse. The writer has found the same in- strument, with slight varia- tion of shape, in the eggs of species of the Coreidae, which indicates the near relationship of these two families. The eggs of the Coreidae are another type of strange form. The species in this family deposit their eggs quite differently from those of the former. They are not laid in an upright position, as in the Pentatomidae, but fastened lengthwise to the surface of the leaves. They are similar in form, mostly elliptical. Some resemble in outline a miniature oyster-shell, as in the genus Anasa and its allies. The cap is always present at one end of the upper side, somewhat oval shaped, and the rim that indicates the future opening of the egg is often quite indistinct in some species. The color of these eggs varies from a deep brown to a light reddish brown or bronze; others are shining, brilliantly golden in line, as in ^eitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Insectenbiologie, Band ii, 1906, pp. 75-88. 2 Plant-bugs Injurious to Cotton Bolls, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Entom., Bull. No. 86, 1910, pp. 38-39. FIG. 3. 132 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY species of Metapodius1 and in Euthoctha galeator.2 It is in- teresting to note in this family the peculiar arrangement of the chorial processes, which encircle the egg so that they pass nearly midway over the cap as a row of small, extremely low knobs with a dark center. In eggs of Metapodius fenwratus these knobs are whitish and in the center reddish-brown; there are at least 40 such processes (PI. IX, fig. 5). Those of Euthoctha galeator num- ber about 22. The common squash-bug, Anasa tristis? has 15 to 18. Eggs of Spartocerus diffusus (PI. IX, fig. 6) and Meta- podius femoratus are much alike; the former differs in having the chorial processes farther apart and, of course, less numer- ous. The surface of the eggs of the Coreidse is usually finely reticulated. A somewhat aberrant form of a coreid egg appears in species of the genus Leptoglossus." This probably is caused by the mode of laying the eggs in a string in firm contact with each other at the ends, whereby the sides of the egg become flattened. In Lcptoglossus magnolia* the eggs have a metallic, copper-like lustre, and the surface of the chorion is finely shagreened. The chorial processes number from 16 to 18 (PI. IX, fig. 7). The eggs of Archimerus calcarator are laid in a row, but not joined at their ends; they are broader than high, nearly 3 mm. long and 1.5 mm. in width. The color is dark brown. The chorion very finely reticulated, with about 14 chorial processes, which are also dark brown (PI. IX, fig. 8). These eggs seem to be an intermediate form towards the eggs of Leptoglossus species. Veiy small eggs of a coreid are those in species of the genus Corizus. In Corizns side? these eggs are not quite 1 mm. in length. The general form is the same as in all eggs of this family, except that, seen from above, they have a somewhat triangular indentation just behind the cap. The color is dark brown, nearly black, with a few reddish marks, and the surface of the chorion irregular, strongly punctured; chorial processes are only a few (PI. IX, fig. 9). The egg- burster in this family differs from that of the Pentatomidse merely in having a more prominent dark tubercle at the middle of the crossbar. JH. G. Hubbard, Insects affecting Orange, 1885, p. 162. 2 1. c. p. 163. 3F. H. Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. Ento., new series, Bull. 19, 1899, p. 22. 4H. G. Hubbard, Insects affecting Orange, 1885, p. 168. 5O. Heidemann, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., vol. XII, pp. 191-197 (1910). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 133 At the present time the eggs of ouly a few species, belonging to the family Lygaeidae are known. Their eggs are essen- tially distinct from those of the former families in lacking a defined cap, and in having a few, more or less upright, chorial processes around the upper pole. The two layers of the chorion are very thin, and the outer surface is hexagonal. The eggs are yellowish- white, becoming reddish as the embryo develops. The first account of a lygaeid egg, that of our common chinch bug, J3lissns teucopterns, was published by Riley in the American Entomologist, 1868. : The accompany- ing drawing shows plainly four chorial processes on the upper end of the egg. Another author described and figured the egg of the species Pan i era vincta? The figure is not clear enough, but the short, concise description leaves no doubt that the egg of this species is a typical lygaeid egg and reads as follows: Egg— Length 0.88 mm., width 0.43 mm.; elliptical in shape; no marking; on the apical end are five short processes, each process ending distally in a thick hook, the hook projecting outward. Not long ago the writer secured eggs of the lygaeid species Belonochtlus numenius.* The eggs are laid on the fruit of sycamore trees, in the crevices among the ovaries, where they hibernate. Length of egg nearly 1.5 mm.; very elongated; the lower end somewhat pointed; no apical cap; chorial processes 5 to 6, encircling the upper pole of egg, and shaped like stout, round hooks bending towards the center. Surface of chorion ornamented with hexagonal cells longer than broad (PI. X, fig. 1). Oncopeltus fasdatus has oval-elongate eggs, a little shorter in size than those of the preceding species. The chorial process is very short and thin at base and the round, down- ward-bent portion quite big; there are 12 processes surround- ing the upper end of the egg. The outer chorion smooth, yellowish-red (PI. X, fig. 2). The eggs of no more than two species belonging to the family Pyrrhocoridae are described as yet. They are similar in shape to the foregoing family, except that the chorial pro- cesses are low and not narrowed toward the base. The egg of the cotton stainer, Dysdercus sntnrcllus, is still a desidera- tum. In an exhaustive article on the life history of this species, by Riley and Howard,4 it is stated that neither the 'C. V. Riley, The American Entomologist, vol. I, 1868, p. 173. 2 A. L. Quaintance, Strawberry Insects, Florida Agr. Exp. Sta., Bull. No. 42, 1897. SO. Heidemann, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., vol. v., No. 1, p. 11, 1902. 4 Riley and Howard, Insect life, vol. IV, p. 346, 1892. 134 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY egg figured in Glover's manuscript notes nor Comstock's de- scription of an egg, both referred to Dysdercussuturellus, are really the eggs of the cotton stainer, but belong to another family, probably Coreidse. The only reliable source is a short note by Hubbard1 in his report on the orange insects, 1885. Later, Morrill2 gives an account on the same subject, but no special description of the egg. Another pyrrhocorid egg is the species Largns succinctus* Egg, 1.5 mm. in length; width 0.8 mm.; ovoid ; chorion amber- colored, smooth, very delicate hexagonal; chorial processes small, white, cup-shaped tubercles with an opening on top. There are nine choral processes encircling the upper egg-pole (PI. X, fig. 3). The eggs of the family Aradidae appear to be more nearly re- lated to the two preceding families than to any of the others. They have quite the same shape, and are also without a de- fined cap. Eggs may be found during the time of hiberna- tion under loose bark of trees or in rotten stumps. Lugger has given a very short note on the eggs of Aradus robustus* The writer has found the common species Neuroc- tenus simplex under bark of a pine-tree stump, literally cov- ering the same. Among them were some clusters of eggs. Egg about 1 mm. long; 0.5 mm. width; laid in a heap, num- bering from 20 to 60 or more. Chorion whitish, irregular, coarse, hexagonal; no apical cap; the chorial processes seem to be wanting. (PI. X, fig. 4.) The eggs of the Reduviidre and related families show a very typical form, distinct from all the others. They form a group of eggs in which the chorial processes are placed inside the extended rim of the egg-shell and attached to its wall along their entire length (fig. 1, #). The eggs are mostly ovate- elongate and possess an apical cap; the color varies from clear white to a dark shaded brown; the eggs are usually laid in clusters, cemented together with a sticky secretion. Conorhinus sanguisuga .* — Egg 1mm. long; ovate; chorion somewhat flattened near lower end; the inner side of the 'H. G. Hubbard, Orange Insects, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. Ento., 1885, pp. 165-168. 2 A. W. Morrill, Plant-bugs Injurious to Cotton Bolls, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bu. Ento., Bull. No. 86, 1910. 3L. c., p. 94. *O. Lugger, State Exp. Sta. of Minnesota, Sixth Ann. Rep., 1900, p. 43. 6C. L. Marlatt, Dept. Agr., Bur. Ent., Bull. 4, new series, p. 41, 1896. PflOC. ENT. SOC. WASHINGTON -: VOLUME XUI, PLATE X • • ' *•_ ^-^~ Vv; -' '• . 1 , • • ' ' V ' \ EGGS OF HEMIPTERA-HETEROPTERA OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 135 extension of the rim shows the chorial processes plainly; outer surface very fine granulate, pearly white. (PI. XII, fig. 5). The egg of Zeliis Inr/diis is originally described and figured by Kirkland1 in his notes on the life history and habits of certain predaceous Heteroptera. The sticky secretion the in- sect uses for protecting its eggs covers sometimes also the cap, leaving only in the center a small opening; chorial processes close together, club-shaped. (PI. XI, fig. 3.) Sinea dtadema.—l&gg 1 mm. in length; ovate-elongate; color light brown; outer surface fine granulated; the exten- sion of the chorion at the outside rim consists of numerous yellowish, short and longer scales, turning down over the egg like a beautiful Dutch collar; cap considerably raised, narrow- ing and rounding at top, resembling somewhat the cap of an oak tingitid. (PL XII, fig. 4.) Apiomerus crassipes. — Egg 1.8 mm., oval-elongate; color dark brown; the extension of the chorion at upper egg-pole composed of longitudinal fine scales connecting with each other, yellowish around the rim and white at the edge; the cap rather low, crowned with white scales, of which those on the inside circumference are brown. (PL XI, fig. 2.) Eggs of Arilus cristatns have been described and figured by Glover in his manuscript notes, page 61, 1876 (Hemiptera- Heteroptera). The eggs are oval-elongate; dark brown; chorial processes inside of the extended rim, club-shaped. (PL XI, fig. 1.) A most interesting article has been published by J. Fabre,3 in his Souvenirs Entomologiques, on the egg of the cosmopolitan species Reduz'ias personates. He observed a young larva in the act of emerging from its egg. The follow- ing is a translation. ". . . The opening of the cover widens and through the crack I perceive something shining. It is an iridescent skin, globe-like, that pushes the cover. Now emerges out of the shell a spherical vesicle, which, by degrees, enlarges itself like a soap-bubble, blown at the end of a straw. More and more, pushed by the enlargement of the blad- der, the cover is displaced. Then the bomb explodes, that is to say that, swollen beyond the limits of its resistance, the bubble ruptures at its summit. This envelope-membrane of extreme tenuity remains, generally adhering to the brim of the orifice, where it makes a high and white margin. At other times the explosion detaches it and 1 A. H. Kirkland, Rep. Gypsy Moth Committee, 1896, Appendix pp. 60. 2 J. H. Fabre, Etudes sur 1'Instinct et les moeurs des Insects, Sou- venirs Entomologiques, 18 serie, p. 99, 1903. 136 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY throws it out of the shell. Now the way is free; the little one can come out either by breaking the skin set in the opening or by throw- ing it over, or else by finding the way out when the bursted bubble has detached itself from the egg. It is simply marvelous! To come out of its coffer the pentatomid has invented the mitre and the push of of the hydraulic ram. The reduviid has constructed the explosive engine. This performance, going on in the egg at the time of hatch- ing, acts as another style of an egg-burster and is accom- plished evidently by the air pressure within. For further in- formation on this subject one ought to read Frederick Knab's instructive paper on "The role of air in the ecdysis of in- sects," published in volume xi of the Proceedings of our Society. Eggs of the family Phymatidae (== Macrocephalidae) are evidently related to those of the Reduviidas. They have the same peculiar chorial processes, which are attached to the inner side of the egg-rim, instead of standing free upon the outside. (See fig. 1, b. ) Phymata erosa, subsp. Jasciata.* — Egg, oval and stout; length 1.6 mm., covered with a sticky secretion nearly up to the neck; apical cap present, very thin and flat; outer sur- face of the chorion coarsely granulated, color black; chorial processes form numerous small channels on the chorion inside the extension of the rim. (PI. X, fig. 5.) Since studying the different types of egg forms, the writer has come to the conclusion that the family Tingitidse ought really to be placed in the Reduviidae group, after the Phyma- tidse. The tingitid eggs have very much in common with the eggs of the Reduviidse; they possess channel-formed chorial processes inside the extended rim of the egg-shell, and have also an apical cap. The original description and figure of a tingitid egg of the species Corythuca arena ta, was published by Comstock.1 Later Morrill2 in his exact paper "On the immature stages of some tingitids of the genus Corythuca" pointed out the marked difference in the manner of depositing the eggs existing be- tween the oak tingitid, that of the hawthorn, and that on the buttonwood. In the Tingitidse the depositing of the eggs occurs always on the underside of the leaves. In some species they are par- 5G. C. Champion, Biol. Centr. Amer., vol. II, p. 50 (1901.) 1 J. H. Comstock, Rep. Comm. Agri. 1879, 1880, p. 221. 2C. A. Morrill, Psyche, 1903, p. 127. OP WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 137 tially inserted into the tissue and covered with a sticky, brown substance, as in the species Corythuca arcuata cratcegi Morrilland in the Christmas berry tingitid,1 C. incurvata. The oak tingitids lay their eggs free and erect, in smaller or larger groups, fastened to the surface of the leaves. The sycamore tingitid, C. ciliata, hides them beneath the pubescence on the leaf. Eggs of the rhododendron species Leptobyrsa cxpla- tuita2 are inserted entirely into the epidermis of the leaf, pro- tected there while hibernating. Eggs of the species C. mar- moratit" are described as being thrust under the epidermis along the larger veins of the leaf, leaving only the small, yellowish, conical cap in sight. Leptostyla clitoriae, new species. Egg about 0.5 mm. in length; laid singly, upright, on the underside of leaf; ovate, narrowing toward the lower egg pole; the chorion thick and hard, covered with numerous coarse granules; color black, except the lower end of the egg, which is whitish; chorial processes channel-formed, arranged vertically around the extension of the rim on inner side, continuing inside on the conical cap to its center. These processes may be noticed even on the outside bulging as correspond- ing narrow ripples, which are usually covered with a white substance. (PL X, fig. 6.) Of the large family Capsidae (-= Miridse) eggs of only three species are well known. The family is an ally of the Reduviidae group, according to Leuckart, having the chorial processes channel-formed on the inner side of the extended rim. Slingerland, in his excellent essay on the lifehistor}' of the four-lined leaf-bug P<.rcilocapsns lineatus* gives a detailed account of the eggs. They are laid in slits cut into the stems of the plants, closely packed together, usually in number of 6 to 8 eggs. The egg-scars, with the white tips of the eggs projecting from them, are quite easily seen. He describes the egg as follows: Egg, 1.65 mm. in length, smooth, cylindrical, slightly curved or flask-shaped, and of a light yellow color with the upper third capped by a white, finely striated portion; the lower end is rounded and the upper irregularly flattened. *C. Pemberton, Journal of Economic Entomology, 1911. 2O. Heidemann, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., vol. x, p. 105, 1908. 3 E. P. Felt, New York State Museum, Bull. 76, p. 125, 1903. 4M. V. Slingerland, Bull. 58, Cornell University Agr. Exp. Sta., 1893. 138 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Lately eggs of the species Lygidea mendax and Hetero- cordylus malinus have been described by G. R. Crosby,1 found on the leaves of the apple. The egg is rather strongly curved, slightly compressed, and dull whitish in color. The representative of the family Cimicidae is the worldwide- known Cimex lectularius. Leuckart in his account of the bedbug has proved, by the existence of chorial processes ar- ranged on the inner side of rim, that the Cimicidae belong to the group of the Reduviidae. They are laid in concealed places in heaps of 6 to 50 eggs, color clearly white; termi- nated by a cap; chorion somewhat coarsely hexagonal; chan- nel-shaped chorial processes. In recent years several American authors2 have given the life history of species of this family and have also described and figured the eggs. Acanthia {—H&mato siphon) indora. — The egg was first de- scribed and figured by Duges. Later described by Osborn3 in his publication on "Insects affecting domestic animals." The eggs of this species are also mentioned by C. H. Tyler Town- send4 in his "Note on the coruco, a hemipterous insect." Cimex (=(Eciacn-s'} hirundinus. — Eggs are figured origi- nally by Lugger in his Sixth Annual Report, Division of Entomology, Minnesota, 1900, page 50. About the eggs of the Family Anthocoridae we are not yet sufficiently informed. The family is considered by Renter and other authors as being allied to the group of the Redu- viidae. The egg of J^riphleps insidiosus' is figured in Folsom's Entomology. According to the illustration, the egg has a strong resemblance to the egg of Cimex. (PI. XII, fig. 6. ) Eggs of the aquatic and semi-aquatic species of Hemiptera are ovate or more or less elongate. According to Prof. O. M. Renter6 these eggs of the aquatics have no apical cap, and at the upper egg-pole centrally two or more chorial processes. 1 C. R. Crosby, Notes on the life-history of two species of Capsida?, Can. Ent, 1911, p. 17. 2O. Lugger, Sixth Ann. Rep. University Minnesota Agr. Exp. Sta., 1900; L. O. Howard, Insect book, 1901, p. 289; C. L. Marlatt, Bull. 4, n. ser., Div. Ent., Dept. Agr,; J. B. Smith, N. Jersey Agr. Exp. Sta., WOT, p. 20; C. V. Riley, Insect Life, n, p. 105, (1889-90) ; A. Girault, Psyche, 1905, p. 61; 1. c., p. 117. 3H. Osborn, Bull. 5, n. s., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. Ent. 1896. 4C. H. Tyler Townsend, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., vol. Hi, No. 1, 1894, p. 40. 5 Folsom's Entomology, p. 159, fig. 207 (1906). 6O. M. Reuter, Phylogenie and Systematik der Miriden, 1910, pp. 35, 60. (Act. Soc. Scie. Fenn., XXXVII, 3.) PROC. ENT. SOC. WASHINGTON VOLUME XIII, PLATE XI -.:>>< cc. LJ I- Q_ o cr LU oc Hi UJ r U. O CJ3 (5 LU m PROC. ENT. SOC. WASHINGTON VOLUME XIII, PLATE XII o: LU h- Q- O ca tr LJ o (f) CD LJ V v^ \F in •--A ... OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 11)11. 139 However, this does not hold good in our species of the family Belostomidae, where the eggs show a distinct cap, which is somewhat obliquely placed at the upper egg-pole and pushed off at hatching, as stated by Needham in his description of the eggs of Benacus. Bueuo also observed in his careful study of the life history of Belostoma fuminta, how the nymph conies out through a round lid that splits off the top of the egg and is attached thereto by a hinge extending about one- quarter the circumference. In recent years some American authors, foremost among these J. R. de la Torre Bu'eno, a keen observer, interested them- selves in the study of the formerly much neglected aquatics and semi-aquatics. Excellent accounts of the life-history and accurate descriptions of the eggs of water- bugs have been published; thus the writer will refrain from repeating the same and refers to the original descriptions, viz: Family Hydrometridae: The egg is described and figured by J. O. Martin in his "Study of Hydrometra I in eata" —mar- tini (Can. Ent., 1900, p. 75). In' addition Bueno has given his observations in "Notes on Hvdrometra martini" (Can. Ent., 1905, p. 13). Family Gerridae, subf. Veliaini: Description and figure of eggs of Microvelia americana. Life Histories of North American water-bugs, by Bueuo (Can. Ent., 1910, p. 182). Family Naucoridae: Egg described and figured by Bueno in his publication "Brief notes toward the life history of Pelocoris femorata, with a few remarks on habits" (Journal N. Y. Ent. Soc., vol. xi, 3, 1903). Family Belostomidae: The egg of Belostoma fluminca, de- scribed in "Life-histories of North American water-bugs," by Bueno (Can. Ent., 1906, p. 193). Pedinocoris macrony.v: "A ferocious water-bug." Eggs described by G. W. Harvey. (Can. Ent., 1907, p. 19.) "The eggs of Benacus and their hatching," by James G. Needham (Ent. News, 1907, vol. xvm, No. 4, p. 114). Eggs of Lethocerus (Belostoma') grand is: "Belostomidae and some other fish-destroying bugs," by George Dimmock. (Ann. Rep. Fish and Game Commissioners, 1886). Family Nepidae: "Theeggof the water scorpion" (Kanatni fusca'), by R H. Pettit (Can. Ent., 1902, p. 213). An ad- ditional description of the egg of Ranatra quadridentata, by Bueno, in his Life histories of North American water-bugs. (Can. Ent., 1906, p. 247.) Family Notonectidae: "The genus Xotonccta in America north of Mexico," by Bueno. Egg described of the species 140 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Notonecta undnlata. (Journal N. Y. Ent. Soc., vol. xm, No. 3, 1905, p. 154.) Family Corixidse: "Egg of Corixa mercenaria" by L. O. Howard, Insect Book', 1901, p. 273. Egg ovate; chorion minutely chagreened, yellowish-white, shining; at the upper egg-pole, centrally, a short, but rather robust, conical-shaped chorial process. (PI. XII, fig. 7.) Some European entomologists are now adopting the charac- teristic egg-types as a medium for the phylogenetic and sys- tematic arrangement of the families. Our authors, describing the life histories of North American hemipterous species, in- vestigated the eggs mostly in relation to biological and economic entomology, overlooking the important role these remarkable egg-forms may play in the systematic study of the order. But neither part should be neglected. For this reason the writer thought it worth while to take an interest in the study of North American hemipterous eggs, and describe forms hitherto not known. This work is simply a summary, a step in the direction of finding some new and valuable char- acters for our classification. There opens a wide field for further investigations; and the writer hopes that young stu- dents may become interested in this subject, and fill up the gaps in our scant knowledge of these beautiful forms of hemip- terous eggs. Up to the present time no eggs have been observed of the following families: Acanthiadse — Saldidse. Nabidse. Ochteridse ~- Pelogonidse. Dipsocoridae = Ceratocombidae. Nerthridae^ Galgulidse. Isometopidse. Gerridae. Piesmidae. Mesoveliadae. Neididae = = Berylidae. Naeageidae == Hebridse. Scutelleridae. Henicocephalidae. Cydnidae. Emesidas. Thyreocoridae == Corimelsenidse. The original descriptions in this paper and accompanying drawings are taken from eggs belonging to the U. S. National Museum collection, from material of my own, and from an additional, small, but valuable collection sent by Dr. W. D. Hunter, to whom I feel much indebted. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 141 STUDYING THE STRIDULATIONS OF ORTHOPTERA. BY H. A. ALLARD. Among the Orthoptera of the families Acridiidce, Locustidae, aud Gryllidae, stridulatory powers have been very highly de- veloped. The simplest and least musical sounds are char- acteristic of the Acridiidae. Among the Gryllidse, however, highly specialized sound-organs have been developed capable of producing veritable musical tones. The strident sounds produced by insects are always of an instrumental sort and are, for that reason, entirely unlike the true vocal sounds characteristic of birds. Insect stridulations, in the true sense, do not constitute real music, since, in most instances, musical tones are entirely absent. Even when musical tones are present, as in the trillings of the Gryllidae (crickets), these trillings are almost wholly continued in a sin- gle monotonous tone. With the exception of some of the Acridiidse, which stridu- late by movements of the hind legs, the stridulations of the musical Orthoptera are produced by definitely controlled movements of the tegmina, which have been more or less com- pletely modified for sound-producing purposes. Among the Acridiidae which stridulate during flight, the inner wings are brought in contact with the tegmina at will, so that a noisy clack may accompany flight. These harsh sounds, however, represent musical tendencies just as much as the calls of the katydids, since they are more or less within the control of the possessor, and not merely accidental noises attending every flight movement of the wings. The tegmina of these grass- hoppers have been least modified for sound producing pur- poses. Among the more highly specialized Locustidae, how- ever, a portion of the base of the tegmina has undergone con- siderable modification to produce delicate, sound-producing surfaces, which, among the different species, are used to fur- nish a variety of sounds. The wings of the Gryllidae show most complete modification for sound-producing purposes, and, consequently, these insects produce the most varied and most musical sounds of all the Orthoptera. "Entomologists, generally, have somewhat neglected the musical habits of the Orthoptera. Consequently, the stridu- lations of only the more common forms are definitely known. From some of the early descriptions it appears that the notes of different species have been somewhat confused. In some instances a portion of the characteristic stridulation of a species has been entirely overlooked, so that the description is noticeably incomplete. In other instances the descriptions are so vague that they have little or no meaning. 142 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL, SOCIETY The student who undertakes a serious study of insect music meets with many difficulties. In the first place, the notes of many species are so similar that they can never be surely identified until the insect itself has been examined. For this reason no description of these, however careful, can ever be specific. Again, insect stridulations cannot readily be pre- served or successfully reproduced, so that the only alternative is to depend upon a carefully trained memory and clear liter- ary descriptions. It has been attempted to set the different insect sounds to music, giving them the values of true musical notes, but these efforts have been wholly inappropriate and unsuccessful. One could reproduce the musical compositions of Beethoven with the unmusical sounds of a taut string and comb quite as accurately as he could reproduce the absolutely unmusical and toneless stridulations of a katydid with the tones of a musical instrument. A trained mind and a keen ear are essential to the student who undertakes the recognition and identification of insect notes in the field. While it may be true that the stridulations of a few insects may not come within the limits of audition of some ears, it is also true that many unaccustomed sounds are at first unrecorded by processes within the mind itself. In either case the effect is the same, so that these sounds prac- tically do not exist for the listener. It follows that the in- ability at first of some persons to detect new sounds pointed out to them is no evidence whatever of really defective hearing. In the field, considerable practice is required before the notes of a particular insect can readily be distinguished from the general medley of noises attending the midsummer days and nights. In order to distinguish the soft, lisping notes of many insects from other sounds of the same character, as the rustling of the wind in the grasses and foliage, a keen concen- tration of the auditory and mental faculties must be gained, which comes only with patient experience. At all times great care must be exercised in order to determine, without mis- take, the notes of any singer. Every unfamiliar note must first be traced directly to the insect musician, which should always be observed in the very act of singing to render the identification of its notes unmistakably certain. Should the notes cease during one's approach, the presence of an insect in the vicinity is no evidence whatever that it was the musician. Any attempt to identify by such methods the notes of Xiphi- diums, Orchelimums, or crickets, which, at all times freely intermingle in the grass and herbage, will result only in error and confusion. OF WASHINGTON. VOLUME XIII, 1911. 143 Owing to the varied habits of different families and genera of the musical Orthoptera, somewhat different methods may be followed in a study of their stridulatious. Among the acridiiaus two distinct methods of stridulatiou prevail. Some species stridulate while at rest, rubbing the inner surface of the thigh against the outer edges of the tegmina. Other species stridulate only during flight. Those grasshoppers which stridulate while at rest may readily be captured and confined in boxes, together with a little grass or herbage. In this way the stridulations of these insects may easily be de- termined, although in the field many species are shy and diffi- cult to approach. Those acridiians which produce their char- acteristic notes only during more or less extended flights must be studied entirely in the field, since to confine them would prevent this freedom of flight by which their stridulations are produced. Nearly all our acridiians are strictly terrestrial and stridulate entirely by day. For these reasons these insects are less difficult to approach and observe than other Orthop- tera of more arboreal habits. Among the Locustidae, many are strictly arboreal and can be approached only with great difficulty, owing to almost in- accessible positions among the foliage of trees. The species of Scudderia are more or less terrestrial in their habits, dwelling among the tall grasses and low herbage. Some species stridulate onlv at long and irregular intervals, usually at night. The stridulations of these katydids are best studied by confining them in a room, placing them on a bough or bunch of grass by the screened window. In this way the notes of any individual are readily obtained as soon as dark- ness comes on, and it hears its fellows stridulating outdoors. I have found it more convenient to confine some nocturnal species of Scudderia in my sleeping-room, together with an abundance of the proper plants among which to conceal themselves. In this way I was afforded a chance to record any sounds which might be produced only at long intervals throughout the night. The species of Amblycorypha are best studied by confining them on herbage in one's sleeping- room, since these insects are almost strictly night singers, and very persistent in their strident calls. Even in the field these katydids are confined almost entirely to the low herbage of the fields and roadsides- so that they are readily approached. Amblycorypha oblovgi- folia De Geer is a most persistent singer during confinement. The species of Microcentrum also stridulate freely when confined in a room. The big, noisy katydid Micro centrum 144 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY laurifolium Linnaeus soon makes itself at home under such conditions, and continues its unmusical crepitations through- out the entire night in response to its fellows outside. This katydid is much more sedentary in its habits than Microcen- tnim retinerve, which ranges in the crowns of high forest trees, where it cannot be kept under observation. Microcentrum laurifolium Linnaeus may readily be kept in the house for indefinite periods if fresh herbage is supplied it from day to day. The katydids of the genus Cyrtophyllus are strictly arboreal in their habits and are rarely observed, although their notes are among the most rasping and persistent of any musical orthopteran. My own observations of these katydids, Cyrto- phyllus perspicillatus Linneeus, have been made entirely in their native habitat among the crowns of forest trees. These katydids, however, could no doubt be confined on large boughs in one's room, so that their notes could more readily be studied. The coneheaded grasshoppers of the genus Conocephalus and allied genera are mostly terrestrial in their habits, prefer- ring the abundant herbage of fields and moist meadows. These beautiful insects are also more active at night, when their stridulations are usually heard. These locusts are capable of strong flight and are often so shy that they can be approached only with the greatest care. These insects are best studied in the field, for they are not readily induced to stridulate in close confinement. In the field these insects can readily be ap- proached at night by the strong light of a lantern, by which, like most other nocturnal insects, they seem little disturbed. The Xiphidiums and Orchelimums, which dwell under very similar conditions in the field, are readily confined in boxes in which they usually become very noisy. These insects, how- ever, stridulate most readily when they are allowed consider- able freedom and an abundance of their accustomed herbage. Species of both genera stridulate more or less by night, al- though most species are sun-loving insects. Orchelimum minor Davis is strictly arboreal in its habits, dwelling ex- clusively in pines, where it is not readily observed. The green coloration of this interesting little Orchelimum is re- markably similar to that of the pine foliage in which it dwells. In manv instances I have at first been unable to distinguish it when only a few steps away, though the insect was stridu- lating all the while. The Xiphidiums are confined almost entirely to dense grasses and herbage, so that they are not readily detected. The tiny Xiphidium fasciatnm DeGeer is a OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 145 grass-dwelling insect whose grass-like form and coloration might be considered an excellent example of protective adaptation. The species of Atlanticus which I have observed are terres- trial in their habits and sing mostly by night. Their brown and black admixtures of color serve to harmonize them with their usual environment of sticks, leaves, etc., on the ground in woods. These insects are said to accommodate themselves readily to confinement. Among the musical Gryllidae we find a wide range of habits, which serve to adapt these insects to widely different environ- mental conditions. The mole crickets ( Gryllotalpd) are un- derground dwellers in wet soils. On the surface of the ground among the sticks, leaves, and grasses we find the large crickets {Gryllus} and the species of Nemobius, which are small, dark-colored terrestrial crickets. In the grass and herbage just above the ground the species of Anaxipha and Phyl- loscirtus dwell. The shrubs, trees, and vines are occupied by species of CEcanthus, Cyrtoxipha, Orocharis, and others. Of all the stridulating Orthoptera, the Gryllidae have at- tained the highest degree of musical ability. The stridula- tions of these insects, unlike the stridulations of the Acridiidae and IvOcustidse, are characterized by true musical tones. The species of Gryllus and Nemobius are readily studied during captivity, and scarcely cease their persistent chirps and trillings while alive. The more arboreal tree crickets of the genera CEcauthiis, Crytoxipha, and Orocharis in many instances are rather difficult to observe in the field, owing to their position among the leaves of tall trees and climbing vines. These insects, however, may be confined in a room with an abundance of foliage, which naturally conceals them, although under these conditions these arboreal crickets are not as contented and musical as the more hardy ground dwell- ers. The species of (J^canthus are most musical at night, and, at this time, may readily be observed in their natural haunts by the light of a lantern. It is a well-known fact among entomologists that strong lights serve as a great attraction to nearly all kinds of noc- turnal insects. In a study of those musical Orthoptera which stridulate at night, a light which can readily be carried is an indispensable part of one's outfit. This light should be strong and readily directed upon any particular spot. For this purpose a bull's eye lantern with a good reflector gives a most admirable light. It is an interesting fact that all the musical Orthoptera which stridulate at night have little fear 146 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY of a light, whether these be species of Orchelimum, Conoce- phalus, Amblycorypha, or (Ecanthus. In truth, iu many instances, the stridulations of some insects are more persistent when the light is kept very near them. In a study of the stridulations of Orthoptera throughout the season, it becomes evident that these creatures possess re- markably responsive sensibilities to variable weather condi- tions. Slight changes in light, temperature, moisture, and air- movements have their peculiar influence upon the charac- ter of their stridulations. It seems hardly probable that those species which stridulate during darkness have developed this habit to escape daylight enemies. If it were merely a ques- tion of darkness why do most nocturnal katydids and crickets show no fear of a strong light? In our illuminated city parks these insects are just as noisy in the glare of electric lights as away from them. This is especially true of Micro centrum lanrifoliuni Linnaeus. Temperature and moisture changes attending darkness rather than darkness itself probably ac- count for the musical activities of certain crickets and katy- dids at night. I have several times noted that those species which stridulate entirely during darkness in midsummer may, in the autumn, when the nights have become too cold, stridu- late entirely by daylight. Observations of the stridulating habits of Cyrtophyllus perspicillatus in north Georgia at different times during the season have brought out very in- teresting facts of this kind. Throughout the warm summer nights in this region these noisy katydids keep up their inces- sant stridulations. I have rarely heard one stridulate during sunlight. However, late in September, during a brief period spent in the mountains of Towns County, north Georgia, I met these katydids stridulating under very unusual conditions. Following one of the earliest and most severe cold waves ex- perienced in this region in many years the nights became so cold that all insect life was forced into silence. However, during the bright, sunnv afternoons, at 2 o'clock, I heard the rasping notes of Cyrtophyllus perspicillatus in the tall trees, and captured one individual for identification, as I had sus- pected something different at this unusual hour. In this in- stance, notwithstanding the bright sunlight, the stridulatory activities of these katydid^ were a response to the more favor- able temperatures of mid-afternoon. Throughout the summer I have many times noticed that the peculiar atmospheric con- ditions immediately preceding thunderstorms at night cause many stridulating Orthoptera to become very musical until the storm had passed. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 147 In any locality the different species of Orthoptera, many of which persistently advertise their presence by their stridula- tions, are, for this reason, rather more readily determined than other insects which are unmusical. Even before a single insect has been collected one can, in a short time, by listening to their stridulations, determine a number of species with con- siderable certainty. The whereabouts of other species are also disclosed, so that they may be more readily taken. If it were not for their musical habits, the presence of many of the rarer and more seclusive Orthoptera would never be suspected in many localities. A thorough knowledge of the stridulations of the musical Orthoptera throughout their range would undoubtedly assist the specialist in identifying and recognizing many local forms or minor varieties. Careful studies of a number of musical insects have shown the writer that verv marked differences of stridulation may characterize certain species in different parts of their range. This has been found especially true of Gryllus pennsylvanicus. The sprightly intermittent chirps of the New England individuals no more resemble the weak, con- tinuous (Ecanthus-\tis& trill of the northern Georgia indi- viduals than the notes of CEcanlhus uivcus resemble the very dissimilar trill of (JZcanthiis latipennis. Not only is the strid- ulation very dissimilar, but the general habits are unlike. In New England Gryllus pennsylvanicus fairly swarms in the grass fields and pastures during the autumn, chirping every- where in plain sight. In northern Georgia this cricket be- comes exceedingly abundant in March, April, and May. In this region it is very shy and secluded in its habits, stridulat- ing beneath matted leaves, clods of earth, and grass in fields, and oftentimes in deep burrows in pastures. It is rarely seen unless deliberately uncovered and unearthed. By midsum- mer its stridulations are rarely heard. Apart from the scientific interest which the stridulations of our Orthoptera may afford, a study of those factors which contribute to our emotional life and buoyancy throughout the midsummer days and nights leads to the conclusion that this tenor of mind is largely inspired by the varied sounds of hosts of musical crickets and katydids. The stridulations of a single singer may appear monotonous, but the lispings and trillings of many species unite to produce expressive and soothing harmonies in the mind of the sympathetic listener. Different emotional moods and fancies are largely inspired and sustained by the music of different insects throughout the 148 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY seasons. Their music becomes a part of the poetry of the summer time, and to understand it with sympathetic feelings increases our appreciation of much of the happiest poetry of our literature. It is possible that the Oriental mind is more responsive to the touch of insect music. We are told by L,afcadio Hearn and others that many ages ago the Japanese learned to appre- ciate insect music. At the present time they cage and sell many of their most musical katydids in order to hear their varied calls as we cage birds for their songs. Hearn's peculiar respect for inherited memories led him to feel that the Japa- nese mind colored by the accumulated memories of many such happy experiences must find ineffable beauty and charm in the many musical crickets and locusts of that country. In our own country the stridulations of insects have re- ceived but little attention. The notes of many species still remain undescribed, yet in most instances it is almost as easy to learn and to recognize different species by their notes as to recognize different birds by their songs. In the South the stridulations of insects have received but little attention. Throughout this region the writer has spent many spare mo- ments both night and day trying to trace each unfamiliar note directly to the wings which produced it. Yet the work is never finished, and hosts of unfamiliar sounds emanate from inaccessible pines and oaks in every locality from early spring till late autumn. For years the writer has been utterly balked in his efforts to obtain even a glimpse of a number of these musi- cal creatures. In some instances the season of song is exceed- ingly brief. Notwithstanding these diffculties, each summer's waiting and watching brings to light some new call which ever afterward becomes a familiar greeting from the insect which made it. The quest always allures toward the unseen and unknown, so that the writer each recurring season finds himself ever impelled to listen and to watch, ever hoping to acquaint himself with the maker of those unseen mysterious trills and chimes in the tree tops. CORRECTIONS. BY H. L. VIERICK. Volume XIII, page 97, line 14, for "a" read "the preced- ing;" page 98, line 25, for bridewelli read bridwelli. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 149 A NOTE ON ASCODIPTERON. (Diptera.) PLATE XIII. BY NATHAN BANKS. Recently Dr. Lyons, of the Department of Mammalogy of the U. S. National Museum, while examining Bornean bats of the genus Emballonura, came across some peculiar swellings on the body, which he concluded were insects, and brought them to the Section of Insects. These somewhat pear-shaped bodies were in a cavity of the skin of the bat, with the anal end of the body extruded. An examination of these speci- mens disclosed a head and thorax of very peculiar appear- ance, retracted within the sac-like body. A survey of the literature showed that they belonged to the genus Ascodipteron, described in 1896 by Adeusamer. The structure of the sternum places these forms as belonging to the Streblidae. Now we learn that Muir has bred them and found that the winged specimens, male and female, are Streblidas. He says that the female after mating breaks off her wings and legs and burrows into the skin of the bat, leav- ing only the anal end extruded. This agrees with what we have found — all six legs present, but of only two joints, the second with a black apical scar where the rest of leg was broken off. Monticelli in his figures shows the stumps of the wings, but did not recogni/e them. Monticelli's family Ascodipteridse is thus a synonym of the Streblidse. There are now at least six lots of these creatures known. The one specimen! upon which Adensamer formed the genus, from a Phyllorhina from Java; the Monticelli specimens from Rkinolophus from Abyssinia, Asc. lophotes; the two species described by Speiser, one from Siam, the other from Mada- gascar; the Muir specimens, upon which he has worked out the life history; and finally those taken on Emballoinira from Borneo, shown here. The winged Streblidae are very rare; they have been taken in several cases from the same bats that harbor the Ascodip- teron. It is therefore probable that Ascodipteron is but a stage in the life-history of most, if not all, Streblidse, and that our form and Adensamer's species belong to Xvctcribosca. The species so beautifully figured by Monticelli is very dif- ferent from that of Adensamer and the one shown here. The body is much more slender; the tip of the abdomen has the spiracles arranged differently; the mouth-armature is different, and the mesosternal sclerites are quite differently shaped, so 150 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY that I doubt if A. lophotes will belong to Nycteribosca, but rather to the genus Raymondia. I have made some drawings of these specimens from Em- ballonura, and wish to call attention especially to the furcate tip of the antennal arista, and the spines on the tip of the body, and to the chitin rings near the posterior spiracles; these rings bear bristles. These characters figured will serve to distinguish this species from those already known, so I pro- pose to call this species Ascodipteron emballonurce , athough I suspect that when its life-history is known it will be shown to be the same as some species of Streblidse already described from Insulinde. References to the various articles on this peculiar fly are as follows: ADENSAMER, Th. Ueber Ascodipteron phyllorhinse, eine eigenthiim- liche Pupiparenform. Sitzungsber. Kais. Akad. Wiss. Wien. ; Math.-naturw. Cl., Bd. 105, pp. 400-416, 1896. MONTICELLI, P. S. Di un altra specie del genere Ascodipteron, parassita del Rhinolophus clivosus Riipp. Ricerche Laborat. Anat. R. Univ. Roma, vol. VI, pp. 201-230, 1898. (A. lophotes.) SPEISER, P. Diptera pupipara. Fascic. Malay Zoolog., I, p. 125, 1903. (Describes A. siamense.) —. Diptera pupipara. Voelzkow,. Reise Ostafrika, Bd. 2, p. 202, 1908. (Describes A. labulatum.) BARBOUR, T. A note regarding the life history of Ascodipteron. Psyche, 1910, p. 168. (Brief summary of Muir's discovery of the life history. ) EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIII. Ascodipteron emballonurse Banks. FIG. 1. Side view of the fly. 2. Spiracle of pupa. 3. Armature of skin on anal end of body. 4. Antenna. 5. Basal part of leg. 6. Posterior spiracle and chitin ring. 7. Puparium. 8. Mesosternum and metasternum. 9. One half of head from above. 10. Spiracle on thorax. HROC. ENT. SOC. WASHINGTON VOLUME XIII, PLATE Xlll ASCODIPTERON EMBALLONU RAE BANKS OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 151 REVIEW OF WORK BY PANTEL AND PORTCHINSKI ON REPRODUCTIVE AND EARLY STAGE CHARACTERS OF MUSCOID FLIES. BY CHARLES H. T. TOWNSEND. The very important recent contribution by J. Pantel, en- titled "Recherches sur les Dipteres a L,arves Entoraobies," is the first of three memoirs planned by its author to appear under that head, and bears the subtitle "Caracteres para- sitiques aux points de vue biologique, ethologique et histolo- gique." It appeared in volume 26, first fascicule, of La Cellule, and comprises 165 pages of text proper, 2 pages of definition of terms, 6 pages of bibliography, 14 pages of ex- planation of plates, a four-page table of contents, 26 text figures, and 5 well-executed double plates. The text matter is arranged in four chapters, of which the first specially con- cerns us here, covering much ground upon which I have my- self been engaged during the past four years, and adding no little to my own knowledge of the subject of the reproductive and early-stage characters. I should state at the outset that a copy of this publication sent by the author to me in Massa- chusetts failed to reach me here in Peru, and I had not seen the paper until a second copy reached me late in May, 1911. Thus my paper presented before the Entomological Society of America in 1910, about to be published with additions in the Annals of the Society, has been wholly prepared without knowledge of the results announced by Pantel in this work. The author presents a table in which he defines ten groups founded on reproductive characters. Primary divisions are made on the form of the egg, the first group having a short, broad egg, to which I should add flattened; the second having a long egg. Two groups are distinguished in the first divi- sion, one with a macrotype, the other with a microtype egg. In the second division a group is cut off on the character of the pediceled egg. The remaining seven groups are divided pri- marily on presence or absence of chitinous terminations of the larvipositor or ovipositor for puncturing the skin of the host. The forms that do not so puncture the skin are then divided on the double-sac or coiled types of uterus, the latter forms separating into those having a delicate uniform chorion and a colored maggot fitted for remaining some time in the open, and those having a dorsally thickened chorion and an uncol- ored maggot deposited in chorion on host. The colored- maggot forms are divided into those with numerous ovari- oles whose maggots are deposited on foliage in vicinity 152 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY of the hosts, and those with few ovarioles whose mag- gots are indicated with a query as probably deposited in the vicinity of the host. Finally, the forms provided with chitinous piercing organs at the tip of the female abdomen are divided into those whose eggs are perceptibly tapered at the posterior end and which are credited with a habit of subcutaneous oviposition, and those whose eggs are the same at both ends and which have the habit of subcutaneous larvipositiou; the latter being divided again into those with piercer and larvipositor distinct, and those with the two combined. This grouping becomes in a large measure a true and natural one, but a very considerable number of diverse types are left together in groups i, v, and vi especially. In order to pre- serve the relative proportions of the whole, these groups need splitting, on whatever characters are available; external adult characters to be used if the eggs, maggots, and reproductive organs do not show sufficient differences, for many of these types are pronounced in the adult. Separate mention of the ten groups follows below, with general mention of the forms referred to them. Group I. — Species which glue a short flattened macrotype egg to the body of the host. Pantel recognizes the fact that the seventeen forms here grouped by him are of diverse types. While his groups are manifestly not intended by him as tax- onomic divisions, I feel confident that proper taxonomic groups can be defined on the characters brought out by such work supported by others judiciously selected from the ex- ternal anatomy of the adult. Thus we have the following: Phasiidae: Phasia crassipennis , P. ro strata, Cistogaster globosa, (Xysta) grandis Egger, (.A".) semicana Egger, and quite possibly Gymnosoma rotundatum and Stylogym- nomyianitens. Tachinidae: Tachinn larvarum, (T. ) rnsiica, Tricholyga major, Parasetigcna segrcgata, Ptychomyia se- lecta, Winthemyia f-pnstnlata, Nemorilla rnaculosa, Meigenia foralis, M. major, Thrixion halidayanum. These further need subdivision into several tribes. The two Eggerian species that have heretofore been re- ferred to Xysta are manifestly not that genus, and may be referred to the new genus Euxysta, type X. semicana Egger, erected in this paper. (See Group IX for Xysta.'} Tachina rnstica is the type of the genus Chcetotachina B. B. Pantel's figure of the female reproductive system in this species shows a very distinct type from that of Tricholyga and Enphorocera (not Euph. clanpennis Coq.), which I take to OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 153 represent the tachinine type or group-unit. Chcetotachina has the spermathecal duct extremely elongated and longer than the tubular glands, the latter being not only much shortened comparatively, but also very slender, much more slender than the spermathecal duct; moreover, there is only one sper- matheca, according to Pantel, which seems to me most re- markable, since in all of my work I have never found any variation from three. Thus the chaetotachinine group is a most distinct one. The bulb-like enlargement in the spermathecal duct of Chcetotachina noted and figured by Pantel is considered by him as perhaps a supplementary spermatic reservoir. This might well be the case in this form with only one spermatheca, but I find the same well developed in Enphorocera peruviana and E. minor, two Peruvian species, both of which have three spermathecae. I think it more probable that these bulb like swellings of the ducts function alternately as air- exhausts for drawing the spermatozoa down from the sper- mathecae through the very long ducts and as expellers for forcing them into the uterovagina. They are very marked and quite spherical in the Peruvian species mentioned, and strike me as being especially comparable to the bulb of a syringe. They may also function as spermatozoal inhibitors during copulation. Of the forms above mentioned, so far as known, only Mei- genia and Thrixion have a uterus in my sense, which is termed by Pantel "uterus incubateur" and "organe incuba- teur", and by Uufour ''reservoir ovo-larvigere. " Pantel con- siders the uterus present in all forms; I consider it present only in those forms which incubate the eggs. The cor- responding organ in those forms which do not incubate the eggs I call the uterovagina, which has no incubating but only a fertilizing combined with a vaginal function; it thus can not properly be called either vagina or uterus, since it combines the functions of the two. The vagina is the more or less well-marked termination of the incubating tube or sac; thus the uterus plus the vagina in the incubating class are homol- ogous with the uterovagina of the non-incubating class. Pantel records his belief that incubation of the eggs in Meigenia and Thrixion is probably to be considered excep- tional. I can hardly agree to this. I have found eggs in a number of these forms sufficiently developed to show the cephalopharyngeal skeleton of the maggot, and further the elongate coiled uterus would not be present, I believe, unless for the purpose of incubation. Similar incubation is known 154 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY to occur normally in Gastrophilus and Hypoderma, and prob- ably in other forms with thick chorion, as Cuterebra and Dermatobia. Pantel points out and accounts for the mistake of Neilson in claiming larviposition for Tachina larvarum. Evidently the maggots which Neilson mistook for larvarum were de- stroyed by larvarum maggots hatched from the eggs covering the hosts, the larvarum maggots themselves being overlooked but the larvarum flies reared. This illustrates well what serious confusion may result during investigations that seem well guarded. The form mentioned by Pantel as referred by me with doubt to Hemimasicera is Cyclotaphrys anser T. An important point brought out by Pantel is that of acci- dental viviparity. Von Siebold has recorded such for Calli- phora vomitoria. Pantel states that he has noted the same condition in Euxysta grandis and Parasetigena segregata. While I believe that this phenomenon may actually occur at times, I feel that the greatest caution is necessary in the de- termination of such individuals, which may in some cases represent other types very similar in external characters. Portchinski's work noted further on, while perhaps correct as to determinations, has an important bearing on this point. Another point of interest brought out by Pantel's work is that the ovarioles of the muscoid flies are without alternate nutritive cells. I have independently noted this fact. There is a terminal chamber present surmounted by a filament, rather than a terminal filament alone, as in the ovarioles of Thysanura and Orthoptera; but this chamber, while perhaps nutritive in function, is not connected with each ovum by a separate strand-like duct as in the more specialized type of ovariole. I have noted this uniformly in many cases, and it shows throughout Pantel's figures of his ten groups. In view of the more or less complete development, and often- times escape from the chorion, of the maggot in the uterus in a great part of the Muscoidea, it becomes clear that we must in some manner distinguish between oviposition and larviposition. In many cases the fully developed maggot is deposited in its chorion. This is the case with all the leaf-ovipositing species, or the forms with microtype egg. It is doubtless often the case, as Pantel suggests, with forms hitherto supposed to hatch the eggs or liberate the maggots in the uterus, these being deposited in their delicate and transparent choria, as I have several times observed with Almugmyia arida and A. major, two Peruvian species, the maggots immediately mak- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 155 ing their escape from the chorion and starting away in search of hosts. I have noted the same with Varichceta ruficanda in Massachusetts and with Sarcophaga in Peru. I believe that it will be at once most convenient and most truly representa- tive of the actual conditions to consider the deposition of all tough or thick chorion eggs as oviposition, whether or not they contain the more or less developed maggot; and the de- position of maggots, whether naked or enveloped more or less fully in a delicate chorion, as larviposition. The first are al- ways specially provided, either by flat ventral surface, by pedicel, or by heavy chorion carrying an abundance of cement (as in the cuterebrine flies), for outside deposition and at- tachment to surfaces as eggs. The last are not so provided in any way, the intent of the act in their case being certainly the deposition of living maggots for immediate activity. The membraneous base by which the maggots of the leaf-larvi- positing forms are attached to plant surfaces probably consists of a part of the chorion, or perhaps the vitelline membrane, or both, which adheres to the anal end of the maggot at birth, being thus made use of by the maggot certainly at times, though the latter may leave this base in search of a host. The subcutaneous deposition of maggots is perhaps normally made in choria. The subcutaneous deposition of eggs, to be noted farther on, presumably made as eggs without any develop- ment of the maggot, is indicated only in those forms with an elongate egg and delicate chorion entirely unsuited for ex- ternal attachment. Group II. — Species depositing on the food of the host a microtype egg containing the developed maggot and destined to be swallowed. Fourteen identified species are mentioned here, including the following genotypes which I have not yet been able to dissect: Baiimhattcria goni