ie ae ef if, Sm / | helicases rd Vd Wa et ! > ya's \ \ VN | XA \ \h Nh aN \ “hy i Vv NY ae \ . \\ y WN Y\ V\) ‘ies \ 45 ANY SYR NS CAN NNN WANES © N \ \ \ . \\ \ \ Wi \ Way a: \\ te \ PAY i \ aA; ‘lf if {Vv 4 ‘If ; w// Nh Wy i} MASS. AY | LY | ; iy anal 1) FAN WA PHAN Wi O ke z or =) ke Wu ox WOODS HOLE, LIBRARY OF MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY LOANED BY AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AaP | 6 we A Aa pe y y THE CANADIAN Be POMOGmOGILs |. VOU M Ee xox Tt EDITED BY THE Reb. C. I. S. Hethune, M. a., D.C. L., PORT HOPE, ONTARIO. TASS See Strode J. Fletcher, Ottawa; H. H. Lyman, Montreal, and Rev. T. W. Fyles, Quebec. Hondon, Ont.: LONDON PRINTING AND LITHOGRAPHING CO. 1891. ~ = et ete te ead paet han: A > . . e HM * 4 LIST OF GONTRIBUTORS TO THIS VOLUME. ——_re—— - NILIDIR ICIS ES. S55 00 hemo ce sean 6 BROOKINGS, SOUTH DAKOra. PANS LUMI BANS SY Vistlete. ciate rel apavataye < - > Mages WASHINGTON, D. C. BAINTES SINAC ELAN, . custaclaro, 8 ftayete cvs © Seats. WASHINGTON, D. C. EB TPEHUIN BitAc gM = sevchats .tclas «si sie ,07< « Glance Port Hope. BETHUNE, REV. C. J. S. (The Editor)..PorT Hope. Bee BNI MAIL Re Winlete wjcicietete se 2 + ape .-. NEW YORK. IBIGATKE HIB Ve SWieS.ccrints Aras > «SNe TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA. BIRO MDE A Wei ctiaic soinstaeid bes cies + apierce TORONTO. BRUCE AIDE ceric tira. eeisichs ere need dasie cis » aeme ele Brockport, N.Y. BRUNE Rese AWREINGE ye: fais. «ates LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. CIC AWLP © GH Hee Wiel eyh slo tctnc cislisters.« « sreberevets AKRON, OHIO. IDAINB VPRO a blero tatoo tusisyateies» supers VIcToRIA, B. C. DIAGVELS pa AVVio urls Snvote Serohel dic sreteiatctelovelle- » cieiotens TOMPKINSVILLE, STATEN ISLAND, N. Y- TO VeA Res At Git repens ste lcs) niavars Nestareros » qeeiets NEw YORK. EDVARD Se Weg lore tects a cieettys!) apetenste COALBURGH WEST VA. ERIN ATID Gey Eli ietelcraree aire Shane icin’ « © Mee AMHERST, MAss, IMU SANG) & Welk oes) VW DOS Aaa oid DoDD oo OTTAWA. PRB YIN Gite, Grp ld evayeteyeretol Paine ose here ACR cee CARBONDALE, ILL. IPG OSs TRAD Wreck S\Nilow etono ction o ome icicae SOUTH QUEBEC. CE IRR GY) 0 ER VGANS C1 RRR eR be a CS BREMEN. GERMANY. (GIO GNUN) RID EAN os AG Sek Bio eid do 6 pair. omic OTTAWA. EVANT ETON DIRS TOEUNG wrists crocs syerals ALLEGHENY, PA. eee WESEEAGIUIBG ce Sas. sees ce OTTAWA. PAS USING: Jepannt: otetercieeicisciaciaaws'- «ten cee LONDREALS HOLLAND, REV. W. (Jobe cetie o Saleh oie 6 PITTSBURG, PA. HUBBARD, es Geer tate Panett .... YELLOWSTONE PARK. ERC S OINRGS Acres terse a: werstuess Giete's sia NEw YorRK KEEN. REV. IL 1B ee eta Pete Cer MASSETT, B. C. LOR EEN COMA ee Sree etonsteaeaan als aheeis on CoLuMBUS, OHIO. LINTNER; Jis A’: Beets oie Se aN. Merc SPOR BAIN Way. IN iSye Wi HeVAMGAUN retclon Edinte car oaapecat si acneipiceesale sWone sais MONTREAL. Fae aie Ja Nay DES Pe he ciceey aec ATHTACA, Na Ys WO) EN AT gs SENG oR eS cho uci itu Onn OLN, C Lonpbon, ONT. MURTFEL ce MESS NE Bi aes Sr. Louis, Mo. IME OVO: GBINoe by. adem ctetaaiienhe a covocaine oe New YORK. OSBORING SER BE RIE Aceh. csiss ee ale 0 .. AMES, IOWA. [PANT OUN ET Va 8 foci Bence eho pan. Done oo Ome - HARTFORD, CONN. IE ES VaR SMO aN Seren sued She aston Se ats) cso licre Sieh WASHINGTON, D. C. ROWE BW olcalRe sae ee were tei otts bios .,.CURRYVILLE, Mo. SCHNVIAIR 22 Bat A Sirs. cate toayecn othe = ales © 2 WASHINGTON, D. C. SV BIS Tee) Resta |in eb sruntctsts opto te ohavetsieete /.!bo,,-) “tats NEw Brunswick, N. J. SIN@IWVZOV s (AG Soc EA oe bie ayeteitteenNa shes sctae LAWRENCE, KANSAS. TAWA ORS RE Vier (Ge Were is), Sie stn celiac He .). ae VICTORTAgw Bs. C. STVEVARX@IC aR wie OS AUN Ds) ahetechsaa ae eqs ste, oe NEw HAVEN, CONN. TOWNS E MiDSC CH TeV E Re ia scrrabe-ve « Las Cruces, NEw MExIco. LU SD INA AV Recor obccee steverey cities aietehe dais. pier LONDON, ENGLAND. WAIN OLGA) By pd Oa Lie ana ai ate ire . BUFFALO, N. Y. “\A Hi BLE] O19 ot bod Bs Ree iO a ew RS prea AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, MISS. WEEKS, A. ec EA OOB Ob oisbccuie rn .. . BOSTON, MAss. WINN. ‘A PERE hs piso heaters aime ie pie MONTREAL. WRIGHT, oe Gener ey eee nate «ios SAN BERNARDINO, CAL. sat Canadian Joe VOL. XXIII. LONDON, JANUARY, up Ore No. 1. DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME NEW CANADIAN BRACONID. BY WM. H. ASHMEAD, BERLIN, PRUSSIA. The interesting new species of Braconide described below, unless otherwise stated, were all captured by my good friend Mr. W. Hague Harrington, at Ottawa, Canada. BRACON FABR. (1) Bracon brachyurus n. sp. _2.—Length 25 mm.; ovip.; mm. Black, polished; mandibles, palpi and legs, except the posterior cox and the basal two-thirds of their femora, yellowish-brown. Tegulz honey-yellow. The head is transverse, the cheeks rounded off posteriorly. Antenne 22-jointed. The parap- sides are not sharply defined, only indicated by slight depressions in the mesonotal surface. Metathorax finely rugose with a delicate median keel. Abdomen oval, depressed, the ist and 2nd segments wrinkled or slightly rugose, the segments beyond smooth, shining, and all of nearly an equal length. Wings hyaline, the venation brown ; the recurrent nervure is not interstitial with the 1st transverse cubital, and the znd branch of the radius is about twice the length of the rst. Described from a single specimen. (2) Bracon melanaspis n. sp. ?.—Length 2? mm.; ovip. ? mm. Black, polished ; mandibles, palpi and legs, except the posterior pair which are entirely black except the apex of the femora, and extreme apex of abdomen, brownish-yellow. The wide lateral membranous portion of 1st abdominal segment, pale yellow. The head as in the previous species. Antenne very long 28- jointed. Tegule black. Parapsidal grooves not sharply defined, and fringed with long hairs. The scutellum is also sparsely pubescent. Meta- thorax and pleurz smooth, shining. Abdomen oval, the rst segment with a smooth, black shield, the sides of which are parallel and the disk 2 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. with a slight elevation. Wings greyish-hyaline, due to the pubescence, venation brown, the rst branch of the radius more than half as long as the 2nd, the recurrent nervure not interstitial with the 1st transverse cubital. Described from one specimen. (3) Bracon nigridorsum Nn. sp. 2.—Length 3} mm.; ovip. $ mm. Black, polished; mandibles, palpi, legs, including coxze, and the abdomen, except the disk of rst, end, 3rd, 4th and 5th segments, which are black, wholly pale brownish-yellow. Tegule honey-yellow. Antenne 35-jointed. Parapsides distinct. Meta- thorax and mesopleure smooth, polished, the latter with a single fovea near the posterior suture. Metapleure very hairy. Abdomen long oval, the shield of the 1st segment trapezoidal, finely rugose, rounded off at apex and between it and the lateral margins of the segment are two long channels ; the 2nd segment is slightly shagreened at base. Wings hyaline, strongly iridescent, the venation brown; the 2nd branch of the radius is twice the length of the rst, the recurrent nervure not interstitial. SPATHIUS NEES. (4) Spathius Canadensis n. sp. ? .—Length 25 mm.; ovip. 13mm. Reddish-brown, the dorsum of thorax blackish or dark fuscous, the abdomen, except the long petiole and the base of the 2nd segment, black. The antenne are honey-yellow, very long, multiarticulate, the posterior femora and tibiz slightly fuscous. Head perfectly smooth, polished ; the thorax delicately shagreened, the parapsidal grooves very distinct, deep ; the metathorax with g or 4 delicate longitudinal carinz. Wings fuscous, the base and tips hyaline and with a white or hyaline band across the middle, including the basal half of the stigma. Described from one specimen. The species comes nearest to Z. Laflammei Prov., but is readily separated from it and other species by its smaller size, perfectly smooth head and by the brevity of the ovipositor. CHNOPHANES FORSTER. (5) Canophanes borealis n. sp, ? Length 33 mm.; ovip. § mm. Very elongate, black, finely rugose; the quadrate head is smooth, but with delicate transverse aciculations on THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 3 the vertex ; the apical portion of 3, 4 and 5 abdominal segments, two- thirds of the 6th and the 7th wholly smooth and polished. Antenne honey-yellow, long and slender. Legs brownish-yellow, the posterior coxze black, the anterior and middle pairs more or less dusky basally. Parapsidal grooves distinct, the middle lobe with a median longitudinal furrow. Wings hyaline, the venation as usual, the rst transverse cubital vein obliterated. Described from one specimen. RHOGAS NEES. (6) Rhogas mellipes n. sp. f.—Length 3% mm. Black; Antenne 29-jointed, brown; man- dibles, palpi and apical abdominal segment white ; legs, including coxe uniformly pale honey-yellow. Head smooth, polished, the face with some sparse hairs. Thorax with parapsides distinct, the three lobes, ex- cept the middle lobe posteriorly just in front of the scutellum where it is coarsely rugose, are smooth and polished. Scutellum rufous. The upper portion of the mesopleure and the metathorax coarsely rugose. Abdo- men, except the three basal segments which are coarsely longitudinally striated, smooth, shining ; the apical edge of the 3rd segment is tinged with rufous. Wings hyaline, the venation pale brown ; the second branch of the radius is only slightly longer than the rst. Described from one specimen. MICROPLITIS FORSTER. (7) Microplitis cincta n. sp. f.—Length 32 mm. Black, opaque, rugoso-punctate, and with a sparse, short pubescence ; the palpi, legs, the membranous portion of the 1st, and znd and 3rd abdominal segments reddish-yellow ; the posterior coxz basally, a small spot at extreme tips of their femora and tarsi fus- cous ; the apical joints of antennz and the middle tarsi are also fuscous. Antenne 18-jointed, black, except as mentioned, longer than the body, the 1st two joints of flagellum of about an equal length, and slightly longer than the joints beyond. Parapsides indicated slightly posteriorly. Mesopleure with an oblique groove on the disk. Metathorax coarsely rugose without carine, except two slight ones laterally extending in the form of an indistinct channel from the rounded spiracles. Abdomen 4 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. oval, depressed, smooth and shining; the shield of the rst segment linear, and with the posterior corners rounded off. Wings hyaline, the stigma and most of the coste, brown-black, the other veins brown ; areolet large, closed. Described from one specimen. This species comes nearest to WZ. mamestre Weed. OPIUS WESMAEL. (8) Opius Canadensis n. sp. g.—Length 2? mm. Black, polished; the orbits broadly, the face wholly, the scape and two or three flagellar joints beneath, legs, including coxze, the lateral or membranous portion of 1st and 2nd abdo- minal segments, and the suture between the 2nd and 3rd, all honey- yellow; the posterior tibie apically and their tarsi slightly dusky. Antenne as long as the body, 35-jointed, brown. Wings hyaline, the venation brown, the recurrent nervure almost interstitial with the first transverse cubital, the median and submedian cells of an equal length. Metathorax smooth, with some sparse, long bristles scattered over its surface. The shield of the rst abdominal segment is longer than wide, smooth, the disk impressed, the sides parallel ; the 2nd and 3rd segments are slightly rugose, the following smooth, shining, sparsely hairy. Described from one specimen. (9) Opius bicarinatus n. sp. f.—Length 33 mm. Robust, black, shining and _ pubescent. Head broad, rugosely punctate ; face with glittering pile ; palpi and legs pale rufous, the posterior coxe black. The thorax has the parapsidal grooves coarsely indicated and punctured at bottom, across the base of the scutellum is a deep broad fovea, while the pleurze are rugoso-punctate. The metathorax is finely rugose, and there is a large fovea on each side of the post scutellum. Abdomen oval, depressed, rufous, the base and apex black; the 1st segment is the longest with two carine on the disk and rugose, the 2nd segment is also rugose, while the following segments are smooth and covered with fine hairs. Wings hyaline, the venation dark brown; the 2nd submarginal cell is much narrowed at apex, from an exceedingly short 2nd transverse cubital nervure, and this will be found to be a good character to distinguish the species. Described from one specimen. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. +9) IDIASTA FORSTER. (10) Ldiasta macrocera Nn. sp. gf .—Length 33 mm. Black, highly polished, the second abdominal segment with a rufous stain. Antennz 4o-jointed, nearly twice as long as the body, brown, the scape and 2nd joint red, the 4th about one-third longer than the 3rd. Palpi pale ; mandibles and legs red. Thorax with the parapsidal grooves indicated only anteriorly by short, punctate lines, a grooved line on the shoulders and a fovea just in front of the scutellum. The scutellum has at base two large foveze separated by a slight carina. Mesopleure smooth, with a broad punctate space between them and the mesopectus. Metathorax coarsely rugose. Abdomen ovate, and except- ing the petiole, which is longitudinally striated, smooth and_ polished. Wings hyaline, the stigma very iarge, ovate, brown, the veins paler. Described from one specimen. | APHIDIUS NEES. (11) Aphidius macrogaster. n. sp. f.—Length 34% mm. Head, thorax and legs rufous ; the anterior legs slightly yellowish. The abdomen is very long, lanceolate, slightly more than twice the length of the head and thorax combined, terminating in asmall curved prong. Antennz 20-jointed, brown, the joints of the flagellum about twice as long as thick. The mesonotum exhibits some fine longitudinal aciculations just in front of the scutellum and the parap- sidal grooves are present, otherwise it is smooth and shining. Wings hyaline, the venation brown ; the 2nd branch of the radius is about as long as the transverse cubital nervure. . Described from one specimen. The species approaches nearest to A. dzcolor Ashm.; but that species is larger, the head black, and the sculpture of the mesonotum is different. (12) Aphidius crassicornis n. sp. g.—Length 2$ mm. Black polished; clypeus piceous ; mandibles, palpi, two basal antennal joints and legs, yellow, the middle and posterior tibiz and tarsi sightly obfuscated. Antennze 21-jointed, stouter than usual and remarkable for the shortness of the flagellar joints, which are hardly longer than wide and readily separate the species from all other described forms. The abdomen, except a rufous tinge on the 2nd seg- 6 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. ment, is black, smooth, the petiole being slightly roughened and about twice as long as wide. Wings hyaline, the venation brown. Described from one specimen. A @ named in ms. J. brevicornis, but which I now believe to be the opposite sex of the above species, agrees with it in colour, but has unusually short, 16-jointed antenne that do not extend beyond the apex of the metathorax, and while the flagellar joints are also short, they are yet distinctly longer than wide. The opportunity is taken here to describe three other species in this genus, which have been long in my collection, as follows :— (13) Aphidius pinaphidis n. sp. gt ¢.—Length 2? to 3 mm. Brownish-yellow; in the # the occiput, disks of metathorax and abdomen are black or blackish ; inthe 9 only the abdomen shows a dark blotch or shade above toward the tip, otherwise it is wholly brownish-yellow. The f antennz are 25-jointed, the 2 16- jointed, and in both sexes the flagellum is black, the joints being longer than wide, while the mesonotum is distinctly punctate. Wings hyaline, venation as usual brown. Hab.—Jacksonville, Fla. Described from several specimens reared by me many years ago from the pine aphis Zachnus Australis. (14) Aphidius bifasciatus n. sp. 9.—Length 2 mm. Brownish-yellow ; the abdomen and flagellum black, the petiole yellowish. This species has 20-jointed antenne, a peculiar shagreened punctuation, no parapsidal grooves, two transverse brown bands on the anterior wings, and thickened or swollen posterior femora. Hab.—Jacksonville, Fla. Described from a single specimen reared from the pine aphis. The banded front wings and the swollen posterior thighs readily distinguish the species. (15) Aphidius nigriceps n. sp. ft .—Length 2? to 2§mm. Bright yellow testaceous, smooth and pol- ished ; the head above and the disk of the mesonotum black. Sometimes the disk of two or three of the abdominal segments also show dusky blotches or shades. The antennz are 21 or 22-jointed, very long, black, except the two basal joints ; the flagellar joints are about twice as long as THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. vf thick and delicately fluted. The mesonotal grooves are wanting. Meta- thorax areolated. The abdominal petiole is about two and a-half times as long as wide, finely rugose and with a slight constriction at about the middle above. The middle and posterior tarsi are slightly dusky. Wings hyaline, the venation pale, the 2nd branch of the radius longer than the transverse cubital nervure. Described from two specimens taken by Mr. E. A. Schwarz, at Oak- land, Md. LIPOLEXIS FORSTER. (16) Lipolexis fuscicornis n. sp. %.—Length 13 mm. Black, polished ; mandibles, palpi, two basal joints of antennz base of third, legs and petiole flavo-testaceous, the 2nd abdominal segment piceous. Face scaly. Antennz 12-jointed, the flagellum slightly thickened toward tip, fuscous, the joints twice as long as thick. Wings hyaline, the venation brown, the radius unusually long and almost forming a closed radial cell. Taken at Ottawa. This is the only species to be described in this genus with 12-jointed antennz, and this character, with the Jong radial vein, will readily distinguish it from the several other species now placed here. HISTEROMERUS WESMAEL. (17) Histeromerus Canadensis 0. sp. ?.—Length 2§ mm.; ovip. 3 mm. Black, polished; collar and prosternum flavo-testaceous ; legs yellowish-red. The oblong head is a little longer than wide, a little wider behind than in front, smooth and polished, except some punctures above the clypeus. Antenne 15-jointed, and when extended backward extend only to the tegule. The dorsum of thorax is flattened, the parapsidal grooves indicated only anteriorly by some punctures. The abdomen is as long as the head and thorax together, compressed, black, the sutures of the ventral segments tinged with yellow. Wings subhyaline, somewhat narrowed, the veins brown ; the 2nd submarginal cell is long and rather narrow, about one-third longer than the 3rd; the recurrent nervure enters the 2nd submarginal cell at its lower posterior angle. Described from a single specimen. Its smaller size, colour and the paucity of joints in the antenne, will at once separate it from 4. mysta- cinus Wesmael. 5 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. a mana nn NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF LEPISESIA FLAVO- FASCIATA, BARNSTON. BY H. H. LYMAN, MONTREAL, Having been asked by Sir William Dawson to look over two collec- tions of insects which had been sent in in competition for a prize, I was delighted to find in one of them a specimen of this very rare moth. Knowing that everything in connection with the capture of such a rarity would be of interest, I asked Sir William to ascertain from Mr. R. McDougall, the collector, all the facts that he could furnish in connection with such an interesting event, and I duly received, through Sir William, a letter about it, from which I extract the following account :— “The moth was caught at Ormstown, Chateauguay County, and was the only one observed during the summer. If I remember aright, it was captured on the wing, about three o’clock one bright sunny afternoon. It was hovering over a garden, where many kinds of flowers were growing side by side. The capture was: made, I believe, about the middle of June.” This species has been taken sparingly at widely separated localities. It was described by Barnston from a specimen taken at St. Martin’s Falls, on the Albany River, Hudson’s Bay Territory. Grote and Robin- son gave its habitat as the Atlantic district. | Strecker figured it on Plate XIII., fig. 4, of his “‘ Lepidoptera,” but in nature the yellow of the hind wings is brighter, and with a good deal more orange in it than would be supposed from Strecker’s figure. Strecker gave the localities as Canada ; Holyoke, Mass. Prof. Fernald says of this species:—“ The early stages and food plant of this exceedingly rare moth are unknown. It has been taken in Canada, Massachusetts, Belfast and Orono, Maine. Mr. Thaxter in- forms me that he saw one at Kittery, Maine, flying around the flowers of Larkspur in June. It flies in the middle of the day in the hot sunshine around the flowers of apple, lilac, shad-bush, etc. It appears to be one of our earliest day-flying sphinx moths.” THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 9 THE HABITS OF A GROUND-HORNET. BY WM, T. DAVIS, TOMPKINSVILLE, STATEN ISLAND, N. Y. Stizus spectosus is the largest native ground-hornet, and its formid- able appearance and great activity generally secure it undisputed posses- sion of the square rod where it happens to alight. It is from an inch to an inch and one-half in length ; the head and thorax are brown, and the abdomen is black with six irregular yellow blotches. These markings are discernible as it flies swiftly about its business, and give it a particu- larly tiger-like appearance. It seems to be afraid of nothing, and if you walk near its burrow it flies with a menacing buzz in circles about you, and its brown, black and yellow body gleams in the sunlight. In constructing its burrows, it usually selects a country roadside or a dry, barren hill, where a freedom from roots makes digging less laborious. On the hill back of Richmond village, on Staten Island, I have seen them carrying heavy harvest-flies to these burrows, several of which are dug there nearly every summer. ‘The task of carrying so great a burden as a Cicada is a particularly laborious one, and they do not fly very fast when thus heavily laden. Sometimes they drag the harvest-flies a distance along the ground, and sometimes they resort to an ingenious method to finally get them to their burrows. In August, 1889, I observed a St7zws carrying a Cicada, and flying slowly up a hillside. It lit at the base of a black birch on the hill-top, and dragged the’ harvest-fly, holding the smooth dorsal surface to the bark, to the topmost branches, finally disappearing among the leaves. I did not see it leave the tree, for I was unable to command a view on all sides at the same time, and then there was a neighboring birch whose branches interlocked with the one where the hornet was. I satisfied myself that it did leave, by climbing up and violently shaking the branches and tree top. S¢fzzws employs this method of transporting the heavy Cicada ; it climbs the tree with the insect, and then flies from the branches, the excessive weight gradually bringing it to the ground again, but nearer to its burrow. Professor Morse, in his annual address before the American Association in 1887, notices the following :—‘‘ Dr. Thomas Meehan describes a hornet that was gifted with great intelligence. He saw this insect struggling with a large locust in unsuccessful attemps to fly away with it. After several fruitless efforts to fly up from the ground with his victim, he 10 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. finally dragged it fully thirty feet to a tree, to the top of which he laboriously ascended, still clinging to his burden, and having attained this elevated position he flew off in a horizontal direction with the locust.” Commenting upon this, Mr. C. G. Rockwood, jr., in Science for August r1gth, 1887, gives an account of “a large insect evidently of the wasp family,” that carried a Czcada for a distance of twenty feet up a maple tree and then flew away with it as described above. Wishing to ascertain the relative weights of these insects, I had dried specimens, including pins, weighed in a druggist’s scales. Cicada tibicen weighed thirteen grains and Stzzus spectosus seven and one-half. LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA TAKEN AT LITTLE METIS (RIMOUSKI CO.), P. QUE. BY ALBERT F. WINN, MONTREAL. My collecting at Little Metis having been confined to July and August, my knowledge of the forms occurring there is necessarily very incomplete ; but as the insect fauna of the Lower St. Lawrence seems to differ considerably from that of Ontario and the western part of Quebec, I venture to give a list of the species I know to occur there, and hope that in the event of my not going there again, some other entomologist will give us a list of additions. 1. Papilo turnus Linn. Common inland ; rarer on the shore ; July. 2. astertas Fabr. Rare; July; larva in August. 3. Pieris oleracea Bd. Very common ; July and August. 4 1 vape Linn. Very common; July and August. 5. Colias philodice Godt. Very common; July and August; Albino females sometimes as common as yellow ones, though not usually. 6. Danais archippus Fabr. Very rare; 1 specimen, August. 7. Argynnis cybele Fabr. Females common; July; no 2’s seen. 8. " atlantis Edw. Very common ; July and August. 9. " myrina Cram. Rare ; July (commoner, no doubt, in June.) 10, " bellona Fabr, Very rare; July, in a swampy field. iis 12. E3- 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 2I. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. \ THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 11 Phyciodes tharos Drury. Common; July. Grapta faunus Edw. Rare; August. 1 gracilis G. & R. Common; August, but hard to catch. 1 progne Cram. Very rare; 1 specimen, Aug. 18th. 1 J-album Bd. Very rare ; 1 specimen, Aug. 12th. Vanessa antiopa Linn. Common ; August; larve on poplar, July. " Milberti Godt. Very rare ; 1 specimen, August. Pyrameis atalanta Linn. Very rare ; August. " huntera Dru. Rather common; August. " cardui Linn. Abundant in 1884 and 1889; none seen other years. Limenitis arthemis Dru. Local, but common where found ; July. " disippus Godt. Rare; July. Satyrus alope, dim nephele Kirby. Very rare; 1 specimen (7), August, 1884. Chrysophanus americana D’Urban. Abundant; July and August. Lycena Couperi Grt. Very rare; 2 specimens, July 8th and Aug. 18th, Pamphila Peckius Kirby. Common ; July. " manitoba Scud. Common; end of July and August ; very fond of buttercup flowers. ZYGENIDA. Ctenucha virginica Charp. Local, but abundant in places ; July. BOMBYCID&. . Deiopeta bella Linn. Very rare ; t specimen, August. . Arctia virgo Linn. Rather common at light ; July. 1 Saundersit Grt. Common; July and August ; light. . Spilosoma virginica Fabr. . Leucarctia acrea Pack. _ Larve common in August; moths, . Halesidota carye Harr. j probably about in June. " maculata Harr. . Orgyia nova Fitch. Common; August. n leucostigma A.& S. Rare; August. . Ichthyura albosigma Fabr. Rare ; July, 1 specimen ; light. . Pheosia rimosa Pack. Rare; July ; light. . Clisiocampa americana Harr. Rare ; July, 1 specimen, . Hepialus 4-guttatus Pack. Very rare ; August ; light. 12 . Mamestra lorea Steph. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. NOCTUID&. . Gonophora scripta Gosse. Rare; July and August. . Raphia frater Grt. Rare; July. . Bryophila lepidula Grt. Rare; July and August. . Microcelia fragilis Guen. Common ; July. . Agrotis baja S. V. Common; July. u C-nigrum Linn. Common; August; light; treacle, and in fields by day. . Agrotis haruspica Grt. Very common ; July and August. 1 fennica Tausch. Very common ; July and August. n subgothica Haw. Common; July. 1 plecta Linn. Rare ; July. 1 ¢landestina Harr. Common ; July and August. 1 yppstlon Rott. Rare; August. 1 occulta Linn. Rare ; July. " renigera Steph. \ Common ; July. . Hadena devastatrix Brace 1 arctica Bd. ] Common ; July and August ; by light, u @ubitans Walk. (?) (and treacle. nu Sputatrix Git. 1 -verbascotdes (2?) Guen. Rare; 1 specimen, July. un - lignicolor Guen. Rare; July. " impulsa Guen. Rare; July and August. 1 mactata Guen. Rare; July. . Hyppa xylinoides Guen. Rare; July. . Lrigonophora periculosa Guen. Rare ; July, 2 specimens, 4 V-brunneum Grt. Common ; July and August. . Luplexia lucipara Linn. Rare ; July. . Apamea nictitans Esp. Rare; August. . Heliophila pallens Linn. Abundant ; July. " adonea Git. Rare; July. . Amphipyra tragopogonis Linn. Rare ; August. . Caradrina multifera Walk. Rare; July, 1 specimen. . Orthosia helva Grt. Abundant ; July and August. . Cucullia intermedia Spey. Rare; July, 1 specimen found on a poplar. 76. 77: 78. 79: 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. go. gi. 92. 93- 94- 95- 96. o7- 98. 99: 100. IOI. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Abrostola urentis Guen. Very rare; July, 1 specimen, Plusia ereoides Grt. Common ; July ; light. 1 @rea Guen. Common; August. 1 mappa G.& R. Rare; August; light. 1 bimaculata Steph. Abundant; July and August ; light. 1 vtridisignata Grt. Common; August; day flier. 1 bvassice Riley. Common; July ; light. 1 ampla Walk. Rare; July ; light. n simplex Guen. Common; August ; day flier. Pyrrhia exprimens Walk. Common; August ; light. Drasteria erechtea Hibn. Common; July. Hypena humuli Harr. Rare ; August, 1 specimen. GEOMETRID#. Endropia obtusaria Hiibn. Rare; July. Metrocampa perlaria Guen. Very common ; July and August. Sicya macularia Harr. Common ; July ; light. Amphidasys cognataria Guen. Rare; August, 1 specimen. Deilinia variolaria Guen. Common ; July ; light. Semiothisa enotata Guen. Rare ; July, 1 specimen. Thamnonoma subcessaria Walk. Common; July and August. Lozogramma defluata Walk. Common ; July. Hydria undulata Linn. Rare; August. Rheumaptera hastata Linn. Common; July; by light. " lacustrata Pack. Rare; July; by light. Hydriomena trifasciata Bork. Rare; August. Petrophora diversilineata Hibn. Common; August. " hersiliata Guen. Rare; July. " populata Linn. Common; July; by light. " prunata Vinn. Rare; July. Glaucopteryx cesiata Bork. Not rare; July. Lupithecia —sp. Rare; 1 specimen, July. PYRALID#. Nomophila noctuella S. V.. Very common ; August. Crambus girardellus Clem. Rare ; 1 specimen, August. 13 14 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PREPARATORY STAGES OF SMERINTHUS EXCAICATUS, A. & S. BY WM. BEUTENMULLER, NEW YORK. Ecc.—Oval ; pale apple green, smooth, shining; slightly flattened above and below. Width, 2 mm.; height, 1.50 mm. Clemens, in his Synopsis of North American Sphingide, p. 182 (Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phil., 1859), describes the egg as being ‘‘smooth, white, with an equatorial reddish-brown band, having a slender central white line.” All the eggs, about one hundred and fifty in number, which I examined were entirely green, with no indications whatever of the bands. mentioned by Clemens. Duration of this stage, six days. Younc Larva.—Head rather large, subglobose, dull pale green ; mouth parts pitchy black. Body above and beneath uniformly yellowish- green, with the caudal horn very long and reddish-brown. As the larva advances in age there gradually appears along each side a series of eight lateral oblique yellowish bands, and a subdorsal longitudinal stripe of the same colour. ‘The caudal horn also becomes somewhat brighter, and the head concolorous to the body. Length, 6 mm. Length, when ready to moult, ro mm. Duration of this stage, about four days. AFTER First Moutt.—The head is now covered with yellow granu- lations, and the caudal horn is somewhat longer and more prominent, with a yellow band near the apex. The body has also now some few granulations on the anterior segments. The oblique lateral bands are brighter in colour, and the longitudinal subdorsal stripes are broken by the bands. Length, 13 mm. JDuration of this stage, about six days. AFTER SECOND Moutt.—Little difference from the previous moult, except in shape of the head, which now assumes a triangular form, and the granulations and markings are also somewhat more distinct, and the tips of the thoracic feet reddish-brown, with their bases green. Length, 16mm. Duration of this stage, about four days. AFTER THIRD Moutt.—The body in colour now is apple green, and is much stouter. The caudal horn is tipped with reddish-brown at the apex, and is covered with granulations, as is also the body, especially along the dorsal region on the first to the fourth segments. On each side of the head is an oblique band which meet at the vertex. Length, 23 mm. Duration of this stage, about six days. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 15 AFTER FourtH Moutt.—The body in colour is the same as in the preceding moult, and the caudal horn lacks the reddish-brown colour at the apex. The thoracic feet are now yellow, tipped with reddish- brown, and the abdominal legs have on the outer side of each a small patch of the same colour. The mandibles are pitchy black, and the labrum pink. Length, 34 mm. Duration of this stage, about seven days, AFTER FirtH Moutt.—No perceptible difference from the previous moult, except that the elevated granulations which cover the body are more distinct. The thoracic feet are reddish-brown with their bases yellow. Spiracles white with black margins. Length, about 55 mm. Foop Piants.*—Wisteria, cherry, spirea, blackberry, apple, rose, plum, elm, oak, hazel, hornbeam, birch, willow and poplar. The eggs were kindly sent to me from Cotuit, Mass., by Mr. Henry F. Crosby, of New York. Double brooded. CORRESPONDENCE. HYBERNIA DEFOLIARIA LINN., IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. Sir,—In 1887 I took a specimen of Hybernia defoliaria at rest on an oak near Victoria. Mr. G. Hulst, who kindly leoked over my Geometra in 1888, expressed a doubt as to the correctness of the locality, as defo/iarza, though so common in England, had not been noticed by any American entomologists. Since the first capture I have several times seen larve which I am almost certain were of this species, for in the Old Country ten years ago I was familiar with the insect in all its stages. To-day, how- ever (Nov. 18), I have satisfied myself by the capture of two males and one female of typical defoliaria. They were all at rest on fences in the City of Victoria, and two or three miles away from the locality where I first observed the species. Possibly this moth is an importation, and, if sO, not a very desirable one, as in some parts of England it is considered quite a pest. Gro. W. TayLor. The specimen mentioned above by Mr. Taylor, as taken in 1887, is now in my collection, and is, I should say, certainly a typical HZ. de- Soliaria. J. FLETCHER, Ottawa. * See Food Plants of Lepidoptera, No. 2, Ent. Am., I, p. 196. 16 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. CHIONOBAS BORE. Str,—We have in Colorado a butterfly identical, according to the determination of Dr. Staudinger (see C. E. XVIII., 15), with Chionobas Lore Lehn. and Hiibner, and by the aid of Mr. David Bruce I have been able the past season to rear the larvae from egg to adult stage, soon after reaching which hibernation took place. This has led me to inquire into Sandberg’s history of Bore of Lapland, referred to by Mr. Scudder (Butt. N. E., p. 126), and on writing Dr. Holland on the subject, he very kindly looked up Sandberg’s paper, and has sent me a translation of it. So far as | know no translation into English has been published, and I suggest that you print it in full, so that when the history of the American form is published—as it will be after pupation is reached—the habits on the two continents can be compared. It is already clear that our form does not hibernate through two winters. The larval stages began on 16th July, and the fourth (and last) moult was reached 9th September, so that their duration to last moult was but about nine weeks. I hope to see pupe soon after the winter passes, and shall then fully illustrate the species in ** Butterflies of North America.” W. H. Epwarps. Sandberg’s article is contained in the Berliner Entomologische Zéits- chrift, Vol. XXIX., 1885, Part II., pp. 245-265. It is entitled ‘“‘ Beobach- tungen ueber Metamorphosen der Arktischen Falter.”—Awgdice. Obser- vations upon the Metamorphoses of Arctic Lepidoptera. I gather from the preliminary pages that the author was for twelve years an official residing in Norwegian Finmark, and that he there made the observations which he records in his paper. I send you a translation hurriedly made of what he has to say concerning Oeneis Bore at p. 247 et seg as follows : 1. Oenets Bore Schn. Egg cylindrical, marble-white, longitudinally ribbed. Caterpillar clothed with fine hairs, bright brownish-yellow, ornamented by a narrow dark dorsal line, which terminates abruptly, and two broader dark lines, one upon either side. The head is globular, small in propor- tion to the body, greenish-yellow, with six dark lateral stripes, and black THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. cy eyes. The spiracles are of the same colour as the body. The latter is round, tapering posteriorly and with the back arched. ‘The anus is two- pointed. (Zweispitzig.) Length 35 mm. The caterpillar feeds upon different grasses, and is of an exceedingly sluggish disposition. When disturbed it curls up and remains for a long time without motion. It hibernates twice, and pupates in the month of May in its winter quarters among the roots of grass just below the surface of the ground. It is greatly subject to the attacks of ichneumon-wasps. The handsomely coloured chrysalis is short and thick, provided with long and broad wing-sheaths, which, as well as the thorax, are of a bright green colour. The abdomen is bright reddish-yellow, with dark spots and a bright green line upon the dorsal aspect, together with a darker line of the same colour upon either side ; the spots in the vicinity of the middle line are arranged in pairs upon each segment ; the cre- master is short and blunt; the region of the head is adorned on each side by a coal-black, shining streak, which is bent into the form of a half- moon. The chrysalis, which, as in the case of all Satyrids, is stiff and incap- able of motion, and when moved gives no evidence of life, is attacked by parasites of a larger species of ichneumon than attacks the caterpillar. The imago is disclosed after the lapse of from three to six weeks from the date of pupation. The transformations have been hitherto unknown. This thoroughly Arctic species, which hitherto has not been found south of Lat. 68-69 N., was first detected by Dr. Staudinger upon Nor- wegian territory in the year 1860, by a pair of specimens coming from Kautokeine in Finmark. Later, in the year 1875, the butterfly was taken by mein numbers upon the sandy meadows near Jacobsely, close to the margin of the Arctic Ocean, in profusion in the interior at Nejden, at Skogerones ten Kilm, nearer to the sea, and in scattering examples upon the crags at Kirkenes. In Russian Lapland, upon the stretch of country lying between Jacobsely and Kola, this species of butterfly is of very common occurrence. Upon the Norwegian coast, west of Warangerfjord, it has, nevertheless, not been as yet observed. The caterpillar was found for the first time upon May 15th, 1880. 18 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. A single hibernating example, about to mm. (about four-tenths of an inch, which would be after second moult), was detected in withered grass upon the barren sand-banks near Jacobsely, and here later in the year a second ‘almost thoroughly matured specimen of the same species was captured. As was to be surmised from the abundance of the butterfly in grassy spots, the larva feeds upon different species of grasses, especially Festuca ovina, with which the level reaches about Jacobsely are everywhere overgrown. The theory broached by W. M. Schoyen in his “Oversigt over de 1 Norges arktiske Region hidtil fundne Lepidoptere, Kristiania, 1879,” and which is founded upon the observations made by Prof. C. Berg, of Buenos Ayres, in the case of another species of the genus, viz., Ocn. Gutta Hb., viz., that the larva feeds upon lichens, has, in consequence, not been established. The caterpillars which had been collected attained their full develop- ment about the end of August, and ceased then to feed, and sank into a lethargic condition. As they gave no evidence of a disposition to pupate, I buried them toward winter, at the end of September, in the ground. On the 15th May of the following year their winter quarters were opened, and one of the caterpillars was found to be dead, the other, on the contrary, appeared to be in a very healthy condition, and crept around lustily with- out, however, taking any nourishment. Its good health was unfortunately only apparent, for the little creature in a former stage of its larval existence had been stung by an ichneumon-wasp, the larve of which were ready to pupate upon May 23rd, and in the end, as they broke through the outer integuments of their host and emerged into freedom, gave the deathblow to the unfortunate victim of misplaced hospitality. These little larvee transformed speedily, and presently the caterpillar was enveloped by about fifty greyish-white cocoons, which, after the lapse of five weeks in the latter days of June, disclosed the imagines. Thus all the hopes I had built upon these larve were brought to an end, and it was not my good fortune until in the spring of the following year, when I again visited Jacobsely, to find fresh specimens. The caterpillars at this time appeared in numbers scattered throughout the grass, so that in the course of a few hours I succeeded in collecting about fifty full-grown examples, among them, unfortunately, not a single example which could be used, inasmuch as they all appeared to have harbored guests during the winter, and were all decorated with from forty- THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 19 six to fifty-four parasitic cocoons of the same species as that before observed. Some of the hosts had died during the process, others were still alive ; but all further development was at an end in the case of the latter, and at the end of eight days the last one died. Inasmuch as not a single uninjured specimen was to be found among so many caterpillars, I reached the conclusion that the place to look for the chrysalids was under the ground, and that only these caterpillars which were forced by the pressure of the circumstances which I have related, made excursions to the upper world. The parasitic cocoons which I had collected disclosed the first wasps on the 2oth day of June, and pupation, therefore, must have occurred about the middle of May. Their hosts must, therefore, have awakened from their winter’s sleep at the beginning of May, and, therefore, their pupation, if everything had progressed favorably, would have taken place probably in the course of the two following weeks. My diligent search for pup was for a long while fruitless, until at last on the 25th of May I succeeded in digging up one. It was lying free in the sand concealed under the roots of grass. The transformation had just taken place, as was shown by the skin of the caterpillar, which was quite fresh and still clinging to the anal extremity. The chrysalis on the 24th of June dis- closed the butterfly of Ginecs Bore in a beautiful male example. From four to six days before the butterfly emerged from the chrysalis the wing- sheaths had assumed a dark yellowish-grey, and at last quite bluish- black colour. On the 31st day of May I found still another chrysalis of the same species lying in the grass, but brown in colour. This produced no butterfly, but, upon the 17th and 18th of June following, three speci- mens of ichneumon-wasps of another much larger species than that which had infested the caterpillar. In the spring of the year 1883, which, for our high latitudes, was unusually early and warm, this butterfly was observed as early as the middle of June upon the crag at Siidwaranger Prestegaarde. At Jacobsely I found on the 15th and zoth of May, under moss in barren spots, con- cealed among the roots of grass, two caterpillars, which both transformed five days later, and on the roth and 13th of June following disclosed the imagines (two f 7). The duration of the chrysalis stage of existence was, therefore, scarcely three weeks. W. J. HoLLanp. 20 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. BOOK NOTICE. Insecta: By Alpheus Hyatt and J. N. Arms. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co. This handy volume forms the eighth of the series of the “ Guides for Science Teaching” issued by these well-known publishers of educational works. The series is intended for the use of teachers who wish to give practical instruction to their classes in Natural History. The volume before us forms a marked advance upon those previously issued, inas- much as it consists of 300 pages, with over 200 illustrations, while none of the others were more than a fourth of these dimensions. This great enlargement is due, no doubt, to the growing popularity of entomology as a subject for the teaching of observation in schools, as well as for in- telligent recreation and serious study on the part of individuals. The volume before us is an admirable manual for teachers who wish to instruct their pupils in the science of entomology, and will be found most useful also by private students. It is full of admirable diagrams and illustrations, for the most part original, and it takes up for discussion some of the commonest insects in the different orders that can be readily pro- cured by anyone. For instance, the external structure and the internal anatomy of insects are first taught by means of the common Locust ( Ca/- optenus), which can be taken in quantities anywhere, a May-fly (Zpfhe- mera), a Dragon-fly, a Cockroach, a May-beetle, the Axchippus butterfly, etc., are used to illustrate the different orders. No teacher or student need be at a loss for material with which to follow out the instructions in the book. The whole work is excellent, and we have no doubt that it will be found most valuable in the various agricultural colleges especially, as well as in other educational institutions. We may quote the following advice from the opening chapter :— “Encourage children to watch living locusts...... Better a child should learn to handle one animal, to see and know its structure and how it lives and moves, than to go through the whole animal kingdom with the best text-book, under the best teacher, aided by the best charts ever made. The former would have learned what real knowledge is, and how to get it, while the latter would have simply learned how to pass at his school examination.” Mailed January 6th. ’ The Canarian Fantomotogist VOL. XXIII. LONDON, FEBRUARY, 18o1. No. 2. NOTES ON A FEW CANADIAN RHYNCOPHORA. BY W. HAGUE HARRINGTON, OTTAWA. Rhynchites bicolor Fab. has not that general distribution, in Canada at least, that is believed by Mr. Wickham, who remarks (Can. Ent., Vol. XXII. p. 171): ‘‘ In fact I doubt if there is a spot on this continent where roses grow that Riynchites bicolor does not inhabit too.” On the Pacific coast it is certainly a very common insect, as I found at Victoria, V. I., and New Westminster, B. C., in May and June, 1888. At some points also in the Northwest Territories it is abundant, for my brother sent me many specimens from Moosejaw, Assa. But as we come eastward it seems to disappear. Pettit does not record it in his list of the Coleoptera of Grimsby, nor does Cooper or Provancher give it as occurring in Quebec. It does not appear in any of the catalogues published by the Geological Survey of Canada, nor in that of Hubbard and Schwarz of the Coleoptera of the Lake Superior region, the fauna of which is almost identical with that of Ontario. It certainly can scarcely occur in the vicinity of Ottawa, as both Mr. Fletcher and I have carefully examined our various species -of roses for several years and have not observed it. Rhynchites cyanellus Lec. occurs quite frequently on small willows, sometimes in copulation, and the beetles seem to feed upon the leaves. R. eratus Say has only been found once by me, when two specimens were taken upon Bitter Hickory (Carya amara). Attelabus rhois Boh. is the only representative of the family which is found at Ottawa, and is of rare occurrence. The few specimens taken have been on oak and basswood, but I have found upon birch several leaves rolled probably by this species, but from which I did not succeed in rearing the beetles. Provancher gives it as ordinarily found upon hazel, but not common. Barynotus Schenherri Zett. This species has had a place in American Check Lists on the strength of a specimen received by LeConte from Newfoundland. In August, 1884, I was, however, fortunate enough to bo bo THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. ———<« collect at Sydney, Cape Breton, N. S., several beetles which ultimately proved to belong to this species. A short time after I obtained them I sent one to a correspondent in the United States and he named it Z77- colepis alternata (?). Last winter, in trying to get my Rhyncophora in better shape, I found that some mistake had been made, and after a care- ful examination of the beetles I decided that they must be B. Schenherri, and my finding was at once confirmed by Dr. Hamilton when I sent him a specimen. The beetles were found under logs or drift wood, chiefly near the “ballast heaps,” and were well covered with scales, as compared with the one mentioned by LeConte, but not so bright and fresh looking as specimens I have recently obtained from England. I made a hurried search for it in September last in the same locality, but did not find any. The “ ballast heaps,” I may add, are formed by vessels discharging their ballast of stone, earth, etc., before loading coal, and many species of in- troduced plants are found on, or about them. Agaspharops nigra Horn has been several times recorded, but the specimens appear to have been old rubbed ones. A specimen in my col- lection from Vancouver Island shows it to be a more striking beetle than the description indicates. ‘The elytra are ornamented with interrupted irregular bands of pearly and golden scales intermixed, and roughly form- ing humeral and apical lunules. The anterior and lateral margins of the prothorax are also irregularly clothed, and patches occur on the head and ventral surface. The style of ornamentation is similar to that of Hormorus undulatus Uhler. which LeConte (classification p. 439) states to be more ornate. Otiorhynchus sulcatus Fab. was found by me at Sydney in August, 1884, and again in September last. It is apparently quite abundant, as at several points I found fine fresh specimens under boards, etc. Provancher states that this beetle is common in Quebec, and adds, “ we think that its Jarva lives in haws, as we have nearly always found it beneath hawthorns and apple trees.” Otiorhynchus sp. With the preceding species I found at Sydney, both in 1884 and 1890, specimens of a blackish Otiorhynchus which has not been identified. It is in all probability a European species, but does not agree with any I have received, and has not been recognized by Dr. Hamilton, or by Dr. Horn, to whom he showed a specimen. It is larger, rougher and blacker than QO. ovatus Linn, which, curiously, appears to be very rare at Sydney, as I only obtained one specimen. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 23 Strophosomus ? This is another species which was found at Sydney in 1884 and 1890 and which does not appear to be uncommon. My specimens were obtained under logs, above high-water mark, and among the grass roots exposed along the sides of the depressions caused by the logs, The species has a marked general resemblance to Strophosomus coryli Fab. recorded from New Jersey by Mr. Jiilich (Ent. Am., Vol. V., p. 56), but has the legs almost concolorous with the body, and has the head and thorax ungrooved. It is a European species, for in an old case of English beetles which recently came into my possession, I find five specimens of this species placed with three of S. cory/i, having either been confounded with that species by the maker of the’ collection, or having lost their label subsequently. I have hitherto considered this beetle an otiorhynchid, not having microscopically examined the mandibles, but it may be more nearly allied to Strophosomus. Aramigus Fulleri Horn appears to be steadily extending its range, and in 1889 one of our city florists suffered a very severe loss from the beetles obtaining a foothold in his rose-house, evidently with imported plants. Not understanding the attack, he had attributed the injury to other causes, and had allowed the beetles to breed, so that in December when I visited the houses. both beetles and grubs were abundant. He had then, however, commenced the vigorous application of remedies suggested to him by Mr. Fletcher. Scythropus elegans Coup. occurs abundantly upon white pine, and varies in colour, as mentioned by Mr. Chittenden (Ent. Am., Vol. VI., p. 168). I have also found it upon spruces, but not frequently. Podapion gallicola Riley forms numerous galls on the young branches of red pine (Pinus resinosa) within a few miles of Ottawa, and Mr. Fletcher, who has visited the lumbering districts, informs me that the galls are very abundant upon the same species in some sections. Lepyrus geminatus Say is a common species upon willows, but I have not been able to discover the larva. Mr. Wickham, in his Vancouver notes, says ‘‘ Zepyrus is common upon willow,” referring to ZL. gemedlus Kirby, or Z. colon Linn., which are both recorded from the West Coast, but probably to the former, as it, or a closely allied species, is apparently common. This genus has a very northerly distribution (through Hudson Bay region, Alaska, etc.), and willows also range far north, so that it is not unlikely that all the species infest these trees. 24 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Listronotus. Of this genus several species occur upon semi-aquatic plants, but it may not be generally known that they appear to be more readily attracted by lights than most rhyncophora. Such I found to be the case one summer, when considerable numbers came to lights placed on a balcony for moths, although the house stood on a hill at some distance from the water (Rideau river). Pachylobius picivorus Germ. is quoted by Mr. Beutenmuller (Can. Ent., Vol. XXII., p. 202,) as infesting pine, because in a list of insects found upon that tree (Trans. Ottawa Field Nat. Club, No. 2, p. 33,) I mention /Zylobius stupidus. The beetles so referred to I have since found to be only somewhat larger specimens of HW. pales, which were so labelled in the collection of the late Mr. Billings, and probably in other Canadian collections. While speaking of this genus I may mention that I once found a hibernated specimen of 4. confusus Kirby which had punctured with its beak the tube of a blossom of the Mayflower (Trailing Arbutus, Zfigea repens) and was apparently feasting on the nectar therein. I do not recollect the date, but snow was still upon the ground in sheltered spots. Tanysphyrus lemne Fab. is very abundant during the summer upon Lemna, upon the surface of which hundreds may sometimes be seen crawling. I have also obtained many, by sifting, from moss in which they hibernate, and the specimens so obtained are cleaner than those taken in summer, which are frequently encrusted with mud or slime. Magdalis. Dr. Hamilton (Can. Ent., Vol. XVIII., p. 115) separates from JZ. Lecontec Horn a bluish species from Eastern Pennsylvania and Canada. What appears to be this species is common here upon young pines, especially stunted ones growing in stony or poor ground. Specimens vary considerably in the punctuation of the thorax, and some approach the form with canaliculate thorax, which he mentions as found on spruce. Anthonomus corvulus Lec. is found in profusion upon the flowers of Cornel ( Cornus) in May, and is readily recognized by its small size, its apion-like form and shining appearance. It varies slightly in size, but not apparently in other respects. Orchestes. The various species of this genus are found, as recorded, upon willows, especially in spring. O. pallicornis Say is always common, and O. rufipes sometimes so on trees in moist localities. O. xzger Horn THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 25 was last season as plentiful as pad/icornis, although seldom taken pre- viously. O. subhirtus Horn, and O. ephippiatus Say are very rare. I have also one specimen (captured a few miles north of Ottawa on 4th June) of a species which is entirely rufous, except the pectus. It is about the size and form of pad/icornis and appears to be undescribed. Acalyptus carpini Ubst., Elleschus bipunctatus Linn., and EL. ephip- piatus Say may all be found in profusion on willows, when they are in bloom. The second species varies a good deal in its coloration. Piazorhinus scutellaris Say is not very rare, but my specimens have been mostly accidental captures by sweeping or sifting. I have, however, found it upon hickory in July. Miarus hispidulus Lec. has not occurred at Ottawa yet, but is abund- ant in some parts of Ontario. At London on 15th Oct., 1885, I found the seed capsules of Lobelia inflata very extensively attacked by larvee from which I reared a jarge number of beetles. Pseudomus truncatus Lec. By an unfortunate clerical error of a cor- respondent I was led to record this species as occurring at Ottawa upon butternut. On the appearance of my List of Ottawa Coleoptera (Trans. Ottawa Field-Nat. Club, No. 5, p. 71) this species was questioned by Mr. Schwarz (it occurring only in the Southeastern States), and on examina- tion the species was found to be Cryptorhynchus parochus Hbst. (Crotch 9233 instead of 9223). I regret that such a mistake should have been made, especially as Mr. Beutenmuller has quoted the record (Can. ENT., Vol. XXII., p. 258). Piazurus oculatus Say is rare here, but I find two specimens labelled as taken upon basswood on a2tst July. Acoptus suturalis Lec. has been found quite abundantly, sometimes in copulation, on hickory stumps about the end of June. Mononychus vulpeculus Fab. ‘This rotund little beetle can always be found upon the flowers of Iris in spring, busy love-making or puncturing the base of the flower and depositing its eggs. In autumn it can be obtained in any desired number from the pods, few of which are some- times free from it. Many of the beetles are, however, destroyed by Pimpla pterelas Say, which I have bred in large numbers from the infested pods. Celiodes nebulosus Lec. occurs abundantly in June upon mixed vegetation near water, but I have not ascertained what plants it especially 26 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. frequents. Ceutorhynchus, Pelenomus, Celogaster and Rhinoncus occur under similar conditions, and also in moss obtained from such localities in the fall. Centrinus rectirostris Lec. may be found in June, in wet localities, upon Club-rush ( Scirpus eriophorum ), and about the middle of the month the beetles are abundant and are often seen in copulation, or depositing their eggs in the lower portions of the stems. The larva is a moderately stoutish white grub about one-quarter of an inch long, with a brownish head, the sutures of which are whitish. The burrow sometimes goes down nearly to the root, and extends upward severalinches. The larva generally winters in the upper part of the burrow so as to be safe from the spring flooding of the ground, and about May transforms to the pupa; the time of the change and the duration of this stage being probably largely dependent on the weather. Some years the grubs are extremely abundant and scarcely a stem of the Scirpus in some localities is without its occupant. It is very rarely, however, that more than one grub is found in a stem. Centrinus prolixus Lec. is common some seasons upon sedges and aquatic plants, but the habits of the larve are unknown to me. Sphenophorus pertinax Oliv. lives in the lower portion of the stem of the Cat-tail Flag ( Zypha /atifolia), and its larva and that of the moth Arzama obliguata often inhabit the same stem. Stenoscelis brevis Boh. has been taken on oak, as well as on some of the trees named by Mr. Chittenden (Ent. Am., Vol. VI., p. 99), and my observations of its habits fully confirm his statement that it bores only in standing timber denuded of bark. Cossonini. Two specimens of a small species were obtained at Sydney in 1884 under the bark of a dead spruce. I am informed that Dr. Horn has the same species from Mass., but it is not described. A species of similar size, but belonging to another genus, occurs here, also under the bark of spruce. Dryocetes affaber Mann. has been observed boring in terminal shoots of the branches of large white pines, and the cones and twigs (the former chiefly) of the red pine are much infested by this species or septentrionadlis Mann. The attacked cones may be easily recognized by their stunted and shrivelled appearance, they seldom exceed the size of an acorn. Several larvee may be found in one cone, and the beetles seem to spend the greater part of their time burrowing in the cones, as I kept a lot of THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. ae infested cones in a tin box, and the beetles could seldom be found out of their burrows. Dendroctonus simplex Lec. A very extensive attack of this beetle was observed a few years ago in a grove of large larches about three miles from the city. {In August, when I first noted the sickly appearance of the trees, I found that the bark, apparently all over the trees (the tops could not be examined), was riddled and loosened, and thousands of these beetles with larvae and pupz were observed. The trees were, of course, killed, but whether the injury was due entirely to this species, or that the trees had been weakened by other causes I cannot say. I could find, however, no other injuries such as to account for the death of so many large and, previously, apparently vigorous trees. VANESSA CALIFORNICA. BY W. G. WRIGHT, SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA. It is reported from various quarters that V. Californica has within a year or two first been observed in British Columbia, where it is now regarded as something new and strange. It has been suggested to me that a few facts about it, as to California and Oregon, would be of interest. I have observed it in great numbers from near the Canada line in Washington and Idaho almost to Mexico. Doubtless it ranges down into the Mexican State of Lower California, 200 miles or more, to the great mountain of San Pedro Martier, in latitude 30° N., or the same as St. Augustine, Florida. Its range, as to altitude varies according to latitude. In the more northern places it flies from tide water to the tops of the highest mountains, at 14,500 feet. In the warmer regions of South California it becomes “a stranded butterfly,” (if, indeed, there be such a thing,) and is seen only on high elevations and the tops of mountains, and never at any season of the year in the valleys. In South California it is not seen lower down than 3,000 feet above tide, and from that up to and above the tops of the highest mountains. In that region, near the Mexican line, is a mountain 11,900 feet high, as repeatedly indicated by my barometer, and on that high crest I have seen vast numbers of this Vamessa flying over. One day in September, 1880, I was there as guide with a party of strangers, and the butterflies were so thick that even the tenderfeet noticed them. The insects came flying up the western sloping side of the crest upon the wings of the trade wind 28 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. moving faster than anyone could follow, and upon reaching the crest, instead of dropping rapidly down the precipice on the eastern side, as they might have been expected to do, they kept right on at the same angle of elevation directly up into the air and out of sight, as if they were going to the moon. Incoming up the slope they all made directly for the highest peak, and did not drop over the side of the crest, as they might easily have done. No other species was with them. So, on Mt. Hood, in Oregon, V. Cad/ifornica flies in countless millions. About. the great glacier, at an elevation of 7,000 to 9,000 feet, I have seen them in vast numbers flitting about in the lee of the trees or resting on the ground in the warm spots. I never ascended the high peak of Mt. Hood, but the guides, and every one else who had been high up, spoke of the clouds of this one butterfly to be seen upon the peak. Sometimes the remark was made that ‘“ they were all flying in one direction.” The larval food plant in California is Manzanita. Doubtless the larve feed also on other plants, as must necessarily be the case in a species so widely spread. The butterfly itself is but rarely seen feeding on flowers. It is often seen at water on the sands of little mountain streams, and is oftenest captured in such places, as its flight is so rapid and strong that it is difficult to capture one on the wing. I had often marvelled that it is so seldem seen on flowers, and at length, several years ago, found it in numbers feeding on sap or dampness that envelops the freshly opening young leaves of fir trees, Adzes. They were so eager and absorbed in lapping up this nectar that I could pick them off with my fingers, or push the cyanide bottle over them without alarming them, and did so capture a number, which is saying a good deal for a butterfly that is so uniformly wild and difficult of approach. From this circumstance, and from other corroborative indications, I judge that the sap of Adzes is their chief food in the imago state. This species of butterfly, like P. Carduz, is something of a hoodoo: it is of no value itself, it is usually present when you don’t want it, and its appearance seems to be the signal for more interesting species to disappear. It is also of quite a quarrelsome disposition, taking delight in dashing at a nice Argynnid or other nice thing just as you are about to capture it, and chasing it out of sight. For all these things, and for others, itis no pet of the butterfly man, and if it has recently irrupted into British Columbia the invasion is one that will give the lepidopterists of that country no joy, it is evident. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 29 NEW N. A. MICROLEPIDOPTERA. BY PROF. C. H. FERNALD, AMHERST, MASS. Psecadia delliella n. sp. Expanse of wings, 21 mm. Palpi white, with the outside of the first two joints black. Head white. Antenne brown, white above basally. Thorax snow white, with two black bands, one across the middle and the other across the scutellum. Forewings snow white, with a satin lustre and crossed by five more or less interrupted nearly equidistant bluish-black stripes. The first is nearly straight and extends from the costa nearly across the wing; the second crosses at the basal fourth of the wing and is angulated outwardly near the middle of the wing; the third arises from the costa just before the middle, is angulated outwardly at the middle of the wing and ends at the middle of the hinder margin. ‘This stripe is sometimes interrupted near the middle, and is more or less completely connected with a spot outside of it on the upper side of the cell. The fourth stripe starts from the outer fourth of the hinder margin and extends up to the fold where it stops. A little above and outside of this is an elongated oblique spot. The fifth stripe runs from the anal angle up to the end of the cell where it branches, one branch continuing in the same course up to the costa but broken at the point of branching, the other branch extending obliquely up and inward nearly to the costa where there are three or four costal marks of different sizes. Outside of this stripe, on the middle of the wing, are two dashes, not in the same line, but sometimes connected. About nine spots of unequal size, more or Jess confluent, rest on the outer edge of the wing, three on the costa and the rest on the outer margin. A small black spot rests on the base of the costa. The basal half of the fringe is orange yellow and the outer half smoky-brown. Hind wings, above and beneath, white basally, pale fuscous apically, fringes white. Underside of forewings dull whitish, with fuscous along the costa and outer border, and faintly showing the marks of the upper side. Abdomen dark smoky brown, the segments edged with whitish. Anal tuft, and second segment orange yellow. Underside white with a black spot on the middle of the basal part of each segment. Forelegs black with the joints tipped with white, and the fore coxe are white with a 30 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. black stripe on the outside. The middle and hind legs are white and ringed with black. Habitat, Texas. Described from one female in my collection, and one male in the collection of Mr. A. Bolter. I have named this beautiful little insect for Miss Dellie Stebbins, who has ably assisted me for the past three years in my entomological work. Propexus magnificus Xi. sp. Expanse of wings, 40 mm. Head and palpi pale fawn color, the latter as long as the head and thorax and mixed with black scales. Maxillary palpi somewhat lighter. Antenne white above and ringed with dark ; the pectinations are black. Thorax pale fawn coloured with a dorsal white stripe, and the inner edge of the patagize is also white. The forewings are pale fawn coloured and mixed more or less with darker scales, except on the costal region and a stripe along the fold. The costa and hinder border are narrowly edged with white, and the veins are striped with white, the median stripe being much the widest ; all are more or less expanded on the outer border. Fringes white and cut with two parallel lines of the ground colour of the wings. Hind wings and abdomen very pale fuscous. Fringes white. Under- side of all the wings pale fuscous, the forewings being the darkest. Underside of the body, and all the legs, pale fawn coloured, the latter marked with white on the inner side. Described from two males taken at Salida, Colorado, June 11, 1888, and sent to me by the Rev. Geo, D. Hulst, from whom I have received numerous favours. Schenobius maximellus n. sp. Expanse of wings, 63 mm. Head, palpi, thorax and forewings dull ochre yellow. The labial palpi and forewings are sprinkled uniformly with dark brown atoms, and the forewings have a brownish shade extending outwardly over the cell, a terminal row of dark brown dots resting one each on the ends of the veins; a row of indistinct brown spots extending from the apex in the direction of the outer third of the hinder margin ; a similar spot resting on the median vein near the origin of vein 2, and another at the end of the median vein. Fringes of the same colour as the wing but without the brown sprinkles. Hind wings, and abdomen above and beneath, very pale yellow and sprinkled with brownish atoms ; the former with a terminal row of dark = at aot THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 31 brown dots, and the latter with irregular fawn coloured patches on the second, third and fourth segments. Underside of all the wings lighter than above and with terminal brown dots. Legs dull ochre yellow and more or less sprinkled with dark atoms. Described from one female in my collection, taken in Austin, Texas. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF EREBIA, AND NOTES ON THE SO-CALLED CHIONOBAS BORE OF COLORADO. BY W. H. EDWARDS, COALBURGH, WEST VA. Erebia Ethela. Mave.—Expands 1.5 inch. Upper side dark brown ; both wings .have a common extra-discal band of red-fulvous elongated spots, on primaries six, filling the interspaces from lower branch of subcostal to submedian, the second and third from the top a little longer than the others, these last being equal ; at the end of the cell a small fulvous patch. Secondaries have five spots, the fifth being in second median interspace, the upper three equal, sub-oval, the fourth about half the size of the third, and the fifth still smaller ; fringes of both wings concolored. Under side of primaries dark brown along the margins to the continuous fulvous band which replaces the spots of upper side ; the cellular patch much diffused ; all the wing inside the band obscure fulvous on dark brown ground. Secondaries dull black with a grayish tint ; the spots repeated, but in yellow-buff, with scales of fulvous about the edges ; inside the cell, and against subcostal nervure a small patch of buff scales, less bright than the spots. FEMALE.—Same size. Same colour and similarly marked ; underside as in the male. From two 7, two 2, sent me by Professor Edward: T. Owen, part of fourteen examples taken by him in the Yellowstone Park, June, 18go. This species is allied to Apipsodea, is smaller, and quite otherwise ornamented with fulvous. The change from fulvous on upper side of secondaries to buff is similar to what is sometimes seen in Lrebia Pyrrha of Europe. Esper’s figure of #. Pharte, ¢, pl. cxx., fig. 3, represents a species of the same size as both sexes of /¢t/e/a, and the markings are similar in character, only that on upper side the fulvous Bye THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. <- nae : 2 = ee ee 8 spots of forewing make a continuous band, and are broader than in £thela, and beneath hind wing the spots are red instead of yellow. Probably Z¢he/a is a dweller in Colorado also, as the late Mr. W. S. Foster told of a small Zredza, distinct from Zpipsodea and Callias, which he had seen an example of in Marshall Pass, and which had red spots on the wings. At the request of Prof. Owen, I name this species in memory of his daughter, Miss Ethel, who assisted him in the capture of these Erebias, and whom he has since unhappily lost. Professor Owen also took the female of 4. Haydenii, not before observed. It is in all respects like the male. After the translation of Sandberg’s paper was sent to the Can. ENT. (see XXIII., 16, Jan., 1891), I received from Dr. Staudinger a letter saying that he was satisfied his determination of the Colorado form of Chionobas, in 1886, as identical with Lapland Bore was wrong. That he had recently received six perfect examples of this Colorado form, and a very large number of true Bore from Norway and Lapland. “I see that this species, even in one locality, offers much variation, With one or two exceptions, all have on the under side of the secondaries the veins white like Zaygete Hiibn., from Labrador. Some are hardly to be distinguished from them, and, therefore, I believe Zaygete of Labrador a local form of Bore Hubn. “ Crambis Freyer is described from Labrador specimens, and these also show much variation, and I have some which come so near to some of Bore that they are difficult to separate. “‘ Now as to the Colorado specimens : some varieties of the European Bore, without white veins on under side of secondaries, come so near to these (of Colorado) that from one specimen only (as in 1886) I could suppose this to be Bore. But as I now have six before me, and no one has the white veins like Bore, or only very little white, as sometimes is the case also with Crambis, of Labrador, I can only believe this a grayish (instead of brownish) form of Crambis Freyer. Also, except in the colour, the underside of the primaries of this Colorado form agrees perfectly with the true Cyambis.” In another letter he says: ‘‘ 1 would counsel you to name this, perhaps, Crambis, var. griseous or otherwise.” I have four Crambis from Labrador, 2 ~, 2 2, sent me by the late H. B. Moschler, as Cramdis Freyer. All are dark brown, of thick THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 33 texture of wing, quite opaque. On the underside, the forewing is not distinguishable in colour or marking from Semédea ; the hind wing is dark —a dusky gray, the band within its bordering lines darker, or brown. It closely resembles Semidea of Labrador, as determined by Moschler. I have under view eleven of the Colorado form in question, 5 #7, 6 9, and have seen several others. All are or were gray-brown above, of slight texture of wing, so transparent that the white labels on the pins are distinctly seen through the wings when viewed vertically. All have the band beneath the hind wings gray-white within, and there is a consider- able space outside of and next to the band on either side of pure white, forming a conspicuous feature ; the rest of the wing, at base and over extra-discal area, is gray-white. The band has similar outline and breadth to that of Cramdis of Labrador, with variations in both species, and the band of the Labrador Semzdea is similar to the other two. As to the forewing beneath, except that in the Colorado form the colours are paler, that form is closely like Crambdis and also Semidea, both of Labrador and White Mountains, of New Hampshire. I have eight Zaygete Hubn. from Labrador and Alaska, and the band is of the same character as in all the other species mentioned, varying in outline, but the veins are white in all the eight, as Dr. Staudinger says Taygete should have the veins. Also this species is usually yellow-brown ; one Alaskan example is dark brown. In Dr. Staudinger’s view the Colorado form is a permanent variety. It certainly is completely isolated, and for untold ages must have been as much so as to-day. A permanent variety in such case is a species. [If it originally branched from the Labrador Craméis, and of this we are absolutely ignorant, it has lost all connection; breeds true, and fulfills every requirement of a species. And asa species I regard it. Consider- ing that we owe all our knowledge of it to Mr. David Bruce, who, during the last three years, has taken great pains to investigate its localities and habits, and has obtained eggs whereby I have been able to rear the species to adult larval stage, I cannot do otherwise than name it Chionobas Brucet. Mr. Bean, at Laggan, Alberta, has taken a single specimen of this Brucet. Mr. Bruce has taken more than 300, and he tells me the peculiar characteristics which I have enumerated have been found in the whole of them. pelle yin —— 34 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. , FOOD PLANTS OF SOME BOMBYCID4Z AND NOCTUID | NOT INCLUDED IN H. EDWARDS’S CATALOGUE. ' BY ROLAND THAXTER, NEW HAVEN, CONN. The following brief list of food plants of Bombycidee and Noctuide , not included in the recently issued catalogue of Mr. Henry Edwards, may be of some interest to persons engaged in rearing Lepidoptera. When not otherwise stated the insects have been found and reared, or reared from the eggs by myself, and were mostly collected at Kittery, Maine :— BOMBYCID&. Orgyia nova Fitch. Pinus strobus & » dennita Pack... Quercus, Parorgyia basifiava Pack. Betula. ' Limacodes biguttata Pack. Carya. «so fasciola H.-S. Carya. a Y-inversa Pack. Carya. Packardia geminata Pack. Carya. Ichthyura strigosa Grote. Populus. cc indentata Pack. Salix. y vau Fitch. Populus. Gluphisia trilineata Pack. Populus. Notodonta stragula Grote. Populus. Lophodonta ferruginea Pack. Betula. He Georgica H.-S. Quercus. Seirodonta bilineata Pack. Quercus. Gdemasia eximia Grote. Salix, Populus. Dasylophia anguina A. & S. Baptisia. ‘Ss interna Pack? Carya. - Calodasys biguttata Pack. (Schizura ipomee Doubl., Lec., Pack). Acer, Ulmus, Quercus, Betula, Vaccinium, Ceanothus. a leptinotdes Grote. Carya. Fleterocampa obligua Pack. Quercus. ¥ guttivitta Walk. Quercus, Carya. “ i biundata Walk. Carya. Cerura aguilonaris Lint. Populus. Prioma bilineata Pack. Betula. Sr THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 3 Callosamia angulifera Walk. Liriodendron. Artace punctistriga Walk. Diospyros virginiana. Tolype laricis Fitch. Pinus, three species. NOCTUID#. Leptina dormitans Guen. Carya. Habrosyne scripta Gosse. Lilia. Audela acronyctoides Walk 2 Abies balsamea. Charadra deridens Guen. Ulmus. Raphia frater Grote. Populus. Feralia jocosa Guen. Abies canadensis and balsamea. Apatela vinnula Grote. Ulmus. i occidentalis G. & R. Pyrus malus. i Surcifera Guen. Prunus serotina. og saneraius G..& R; - Carya. es dactylina Grote. Salix, Betula, Alnus. : hastulifera A. & S. Alnus. be persuasa Harv. Quercus (Chapman). - clarescens Guen. Rosacez (esp. Pyrus malus). os ovata Gr. Castanea. BE dissecta G. & R. Acer. ;: sperata Grote. Rubus. Ss xyliniformis Guen. Rubus. : lanceolaria Grote. Found on Comptonia not feeding. Prob- ably a general feeder like od/énzta. Figured in Abbott’s un- published drawings on Gaz//ardia. Harrisimemna trisignata Walk. Diervilla, Ilex verticillata. Agrotis trabalis Grote? Pinus strobus. “< astricta Morr. Helianthus. Oligia versicolor Grote. Pinus strobus. Abies Canadensis. fomohadena badistriga Grote. Lonicera cult. Gortyna Harrisii Grote. Heracleum lanatum. Nonagria subfiava Grote. Scirpus. x oblonga Grote. Typha. Macronoctua onusta Grote. Iris versicolor. Luthisanotia timais Cram. Pancratium, Narcissus, Scolecocampa liburna Geyer. Various species of Corticium Polyporus and other of the larger Basidiomycetons fungi. 56 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Crocigrapha Normani Grote. Quercus. Xylomiges confusa Hubn. Quercus. Scopelosoma Moffatiana Grote. Hamamelis. Litoprosopus futilis G. & R. Sabal palmetto (Lec., Chapman). Marasmalus ventilator Grote. Rhus typhina. re histrio Grote. Rhus. Deva purpurigera Walk. Thalictrum cornutum. Plusia Putnami Grote. Poa, Agrostis, etc. Plusia monodon Grote. Liatris, Helianthus. Pyrrhia exprimens Walk. Rhus., Robinia. Catocala relicta Walk. Betula, Populus. “ Brisets Edw. Salix. ‘“ habilis Gr. Juglans. Panopoda carneicosta Guen, Quercus. ‘ rufimargo Hiibn. Quercus, Lilia. Homoptera minerea Guen. Salix. TEN NEW SPECIES OF ORTHOPTERA FROM NEBRASKA— NOTES ON HABITS, WING VARIATION, ETC. BY LAWRENCE BRUNER, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. A trifle more than two years ago the writer first entertained the idea of preparing a synopsis of the Orthoptera of Nebraska, with the intention of publishing it as a special bulletin from the Agricnltural Experiment Station. With that end in view, work was immediately begun ; and in the course of a few months the greater portion of the manuscript was ready for the printer. At this time other matters that were considered of more immediate importance came up at the Station, and that of the Orthoptera was laid aside. It has now been lying nearly two years. As the result of special collecting and study on the order for the past eighteen years within the State, my collection contains 241 species that have been taken within its boundary. Among these there are about two dozen species that appear to be new to the science of entomology. From among these apparently new things, the following are selected for publication at this time : THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. a0 GRYLLID&. Cycloptilus borealis n. sp.—Head and pronotum of both sexes, together with the two basal abdominal segments of the female, light mahogany brown above ; abdomen dark brown inclining to black on the dorsum which is more or less densely covered with silvery grey scales, giving the insect a grizzled appearance. Tibiz and apical portion of the femora indistinctly fasciate with brown. Underside and basal portion of the legs pale yellowish. Moderately robust, fusiform ; the middle pair of legs rather small ; posterior femora not very much inflated. Anal cerci of the female a little more than half as long as the body, quite stout and somewhat hairy ; those of the male shorter and slenderer ; those of the female directed backward, those of the male considerably divergent. Length of body, # and 2, 7.5-8 mm.; of pronotum, f, 2.15 mm.; 9, 1.85 mm.; of antenne, f and 2, about 1o mm.; of hind femora, 7, 3.5 mm.; 9, 4 mm.; of anal cerci, f, 3 mm.; ?, 4.1 mm.; of ovipositor, 4 mm. This active little cricket was first taken by me on the roth of August, 1888, at Valentine, near the Niobrara river. It was found among dead grass upon sandy soilon a southhill-slope. It was again met with on the margins of the large salt basin west of Lincoln on the 15th of the follow- ing month. These latter specimens were under boards lying upon sandy soil. Judging from the fact that all the specimens thus far taken have been found upon sandy soil, it will be safe to call it a frequenter of sand districts, where it may be looked for under boards, loose stones, sticks and loose debris of all kinds during daytime. Tow other representatives of the genus have been described from North American localities, 7. ¢., Cycloptilus sguamosus Scudder, a Texan species, and Cycl. Americanus Saussure, a Cuban species. LOCUSTID&. Ceuthophilus pallescens n. sp.—This wingless cricket is very similar in appearance to C. pallidus Thos., but differs from that species in its markings and in the number and arrangement of the femoral and tibial spines. In size it is similar to C. macudatus, than which it is slightly less arched. 38 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. A moderately long legged species in which the spines are arranged as follows : Anterior femora with two spines beneath internally ; the middle, with about four pairs and an outer apical one ; posterior femora with both the inner and outer carinz of the lower edge very thickly set with minute teeth-like spines, the inner row doubled near the middle. Posterior tibiz furnished with five spines on each edge, somewhat alternately arranged and with the intermediate spaces filled with teeth-like shorter ones ; the lower edge is also supplied with three sub-apical and two apical spines only a little less prominent than those above. Middle and anterior tibiz with three pairs of spines each on the under side. Antenne moderately long. Eyes of medium size, pyriform. General color very pale straw color. ‘The middle and hind thoracic segments, together with the first abdominal, marked above with a narrow transverse black patch each. Through these there is drawn a narrow dorsal line that severs them into lateral halves. Eyes shining black. Spines of legs tipped with brown. In addition to the usual spines this insect is characterized by the presence of numerous smaller, almost micro- scopical spines that are scattered over the general surface of the femora and tibiz. These latter are entirely brown. Length of body, 2, 19 mm.; of antenne, 30 mm.; of hind femora, 12.5 mm.; of hind tibiz, 14 mm.; of ovipositor, 12.25 mm. Described from one female and one immature male. Habitat.— Dawes and Sioux counties in northwestern Nebraska. The female specimen was taken in a shallow well 17 miles north of Harrison. The male was found under a timber at the tunnel on the line of the Bur. lington & Missouri R. R., south of Crawford, in Dawes Co. Udeopsylla compacta n. sp.—About the size of Daihinia* brevipes Hald., to which it bears a very striking resemblance ; but is darker coloured than that insect, and at once distinguishable from it in having the tarsi of anterior and posterior legs four-jointed instead of only three-jointed. The posterior femora of this insect also lack the heavy spines that are so characteristic of the other. Legs short and heavy, the posterior femora in the male very similar to those of the female, very minutely spined below ; the posterior tibie not *The genus Dazhinia is based on the abnormal number of tarsal joints in the anterior and posterior feet, where there are three instead of four. Haldemann’s type was not an unique in that respect. I have fully a dozen specimens all of the typical form, THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 39 bowed, strongly spined above and below. Antenne heavy, about as long as the body. Length of body, # and 9, 22 mm.,; of antenne, about 24 mm.; of posterior femora, and §, 12.5-r4 mm.; of hind tibie, f and 9, 16 mm. This hitherto undescribed cricket is a native of the sandy districts of Nebraska, Dakota and Kansas; and like the Dachinia brevipes Hald., to which it has been compared, also burrows into the sand. So closely do these two insects resemble each other at a cursory glance that I did not distinguish their difference until about to label them for cabinet specimens. It is to be distinguished from Udeopsylla robusta and nigra by the greater size of its pronotum, also by its less glossy appearance. In colour it is a pitch-brown above and paler beneath. There is still another species of these large, wingless “‘ sand crickets ’ to be occasionally met with here in the West. It is the insect that I have called Udeopsylla gigantea.* As that characterization was very brief, the following description is herewith presented :— Very dark brown, almost black, with an interrupted dorsal line and a few mottlings of a lighter shade. The posterior femora are very heavy and clumsy in the male, reaching more than half their length beyond the extremity of the body, furnished below with a row of nine short strong spines ; posterior tibiz three-sided, more strongly bowed than usual, and furnished above with two rows each of four spines which alternate, and between these smaller ones ; the, lower side also spined on apical half. Legs of female less inflated and not so strongly spined. bl Length of body, $, 30 mm; 2, 26 mm; of antenne, ~ ard 2, about 30 mm.; of hind femora, f, 24.5 mm., 9, 17 mm.; of hind tibiz, 3, 25 mm., 9, 19 mm. This insect appears to be much scarcer than either brevipes, robusta, nigra or compacta, and is confined in its distribution to a much smaller area. It also burrows in the ground and lives solitary. It has been seen by me but once within the State, viz., in the vicinity of Lincoln, near the large salt basin. It is also to be met with in Kansas and the Indian ter- ritory—the pair upon which this description is based having been taken in Kansas. *Bulletin of the Washburn Laboratory of Natural History, Vol. I., p. 127. 40 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Thus far comparatively little attention has been paid to the conocephalids among the Locustide of North America. Especially is this true with reference to the genera Xiphidium and Orchelimum, both of which are rich in species here in Nebraska as well as in almost every other State of the Union. When I undertook to work over the specimens of these in- sects in my collection, it was but a very short time before the discovery was made of a number of new things. Some of the most striking of these are now described. (To be continued.) NOTES. PHRAGMATOBIA RUBRICOSA HARRIS. There is no doubt but that our specimens which go by the above name are referable to the European P. fudiginosa Linn. Prof. Smith has noticed their superficial resemblance* which amounts to identity. I have compared examples from France with a series from New York and I can find no difference in ornamentation. Neither do they differ structurally. The venation is identical.f The genitalia of the male also are the same within the limits of variation of the species, which appear to be wide. In the specimen from Europe examined the supra- anal plate is elongate-triangular, produced to a point, concave below, slightly curved down and bulging a little laterally at the base. The side pieces are very long and narrow, gradually tapering and curved inwards. They are strongly concave on the inside, the sides being almost curved over, with a short, sharp projection above and below at a little more than half their length. Of rubricosa three specimens were examined. In two the anal plate was aborted, being represented only by a short, square piece ; in the third it was present, of the same shape as in the specimen of fuliginosa, but a little narrower. The side pieces also varied. In the first and third specimens their edges were so much incurved that the two points came together and were united in one piece; in the other speci- men they were as in /w/iginosa, perhaps even a little less incurved. From the above it will be seen that ~wéricosa cannot stand as a distinct species. Harrison G. Dyar, New York. *Can. ENT., XXII., 120. +My specimens differ from Prof. Smith’s figure on page 235 (fig. 8) in that the second subcostal venule branches off before the fifth, while in the figure the reverse is the case. This is so in both European and American examples. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 41 AELLOPOS TITAN. Mr. Lyman’s interesting note on the occurrence of Lefisesia flavo- fasciata reminded me that the Society has in its possession a very rare moth, Ae/lopos titan Cram., and possibly the only Canadian specimen in the country. It was obtained by the Society with the Pettit collection ; and Mr. Pettit told me that a neighbour’s boy at Grimsby brought it to him alive one morning in his closed hands, and asked if it was of any use to him. Prof. Fernald, in his “Sphingide of New England,” says it is unknown to him, but is said to occur rarely in the southern part of New England Mr. Grote does not mention it in his ‘‘ Hawk Moths of North America,” but gives it in his Check List of 1882 as a N. A. species, and in the Can. Env. for July, 1886, speaks of it as belonging to the colony of West Indian moths in Florida, some of which at times invade New England. For the benefit of any of your readers that may be fortunate in securing a specimen I transcribe Prof. Fernald’s description :— ‘“‘Expanse of wings, two inches and three-tenths. Dull blackish with a slight olivaceous tinge; discal spot black and scarcely visible; a straight, semi-transparent, whitish band crosses the middle of the fore- wing, followed by another which is much narrower. A somewhat arcuated, similarly coloured band formed of a double series of semi- vitreous, lunate spots extends from the costa nearly across the wing. The terminal space is paler and has purplish reflections. The underside is dark brownish, and the whitish markings of the upper side are distinctly reproduced. The hind wings are blackish, paler at the base and shaded with yellowish along the costa. Head and thorax above, dull brownish with a slight olivaceous tinge. Abdomen olivaceous, with the third abdominal segment white above; fourth segment with a large dark brownish lateral shade which is much reduced on the fifth, but extends entirely across the sixth. Anal hairs, brown on the sides and olivaceous in the middle.” That description applies well to the specimen before me, with the exception that the straight whitish band does not quite cross the middle of the forewings, terminating before reaching the, costa, and the black discal spot is quite distinct. Our specimen is fresh, and in excellent condition, its only defect being the absence of part of the anal tuft on one side. J. Atston Morrat, Curator, 42 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. LEPISESIA FLAVO-FASCIATA. The notice of the capture of Lepisesia Hlavo-fasciata in Canada re- minds me that I had omitted recording its occurrence in Colorado. I have taken it there near South Park, above 10,000 ft. elevation. The larva feeds on Epilobium in July and August, and varies from greenish- yellow to brown ; when young it has a yellowish caudal horn which it loses when half grown (at third moult ?) and it then presents a shining black “button” like that of Zkyreus Abbottiz. When full grown the larva is of a dirty olive brown color, with darker mottlings and fine longi- tudinal lines. It pupates under leaves without making a cocoon or enter- ing the earth. The moth flies in June in Colorado (but I had one emerge last March from a pupa that had been kept in a cool room all winter). This species is partial to the flowers of a species of Ribes, flying swiftly from one bush to another, and appears to have all the habits of the two small species of Hemavis that frequent the same locality. The larva of Alypia Lorguinii is also abundant on Epilobium at the same time, and I was collecting it when I discovered the larva of Z. Flavo-fasciata. Davip Bruck, Brockport, Monroe Co., N. Y. SCENT-GLANDS IN THE LARVA OF LIMACODES. Described from four larve found on Liquidambar, Oct. 18. When disturbed the larva has the power of emitting drops of clear liquid from pores along the edges of the back, this liquid having an odour similar to that of crushed Liquidambar leaves. These pores are sixteen in number, situated along the edges of the back, their location being indicated by darker green spots just below the edge; between the seventh and eighth pairs of pores on each side is a white spot, and behind the eighth a white dot. The back varies from entirely brown, excepting the anterior border, to having the anterior fourth, a median stripe from it, and an irregular spot behind the middle, green. The side is green with more or less brown beneath. The larva is inverted boat-shaped or casket-shaped, obtusely truncate anteriorly and prolonged into a short tail posteriorly ; hump-backed. At the median angle on each upper edge is a prominence on each side, behind which and separated from it by the fifth pair of pores is a smaller THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 43 prominence. ‘The prothorax is free from the “casket” and retractile ; its spiracle on the posterior border ; eight pairs of spiracles are visible on the sides of the “casket.” The ‘‘subjoint” is situated beneath and is retractile. W. Hampton Patton, Hartford, Conn. A CORRECTION. A curious error occurred in the catalogue of Arctizde in the last volume of the Can. Ent., pp. 167 and 168. Under Luchaetes egle I placed as synonyms Zanada antica W\k., and Arctia sciurus Bdv. In some way they have attained specific rank in the paper as it stands. They should be indented as synonyms, without the preceding generic abbreviation. A similar error occurred under Hyphantria, pp. 163-165, where punctatissima, congrua, punctata, textor and candida all stand as species instead of synonyms as was intended. In both cases the error is apparent if the bibliography is consulted carefully ; but I deem it better to call attention to it so that the correction may be made in the volume. J. B. Smiru. CORRESPONDENCE. ARCTIIDE OF NORTH AMERICA. Dear Sir : Kindly insert the following synonymical note. On page 231 of Vol. XXII. Prof. Smith refers to Halistdota trigona Grt. I would _ correct this to read as follows :— Halisidota specularts Her.-Sch. 1854—H.-S., Saml, neuer oder wenig bek, ausser. Schmett., page 72, fig. 59, Zrichromia. trigona Gtt. 1879—Grt., No. Am. Ent., 46, Hadisidota. 1881—Grt., Trans. Kansas Ac. Sci., VII., 64. Habitat—Colorado, New Mexico, Brazil. I have compared Mr, Grote’s description with Dr. Herrich-Schafer’s figure, and there is no doubt but that the two refer to the same insect. Harrison G, Dyar, New York. 44 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. BOOK NOTICE. AMONG THE MoTHs AND BUTTERFLIES: By Julia P. Ballard. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1890 ; pp. 237. This beautiful book is an enlarged and revised edition of “ Insect Lives,” published 1880, and contains recent studies and many additional illustrations. It treats especially of rearing butterflies, sphinges and moths from the caterpillars, and is based wholly on the personal observations of the author. Without previous knowledge of entomology, Mrs. Ballard found herself attracted by some species of caterpillar, and followed it up to pupa and imago, making original discoveries at every step, and gaining experience day by day, and has become an expert in that line. Many of the species treated of, if their early history is mentioned at all in books, have never been so carefully studied as here ; witness the story of the great Leopard Moth, the Bulrush Caterpillar, the Monkey-faced Moth, the Beechnut Box, the Rosy Dryocampa. Of many others, better known than these, are interesting notes, as Orgyza leucostigma, Deilephila lineata, Ceratocampa regalis. The enthusiasm of the author is contagious, and makes the reader wish that spring would hurry along. I do not know ofany book—certainly there is none in America—which has attempted to enter upon the field now taken possession of by Mrs. Ballard. Ifany good pater, or aunt, or cousin, wishes to do a kind turn to an active boy or girl, they could not do better than put this book in the young person’s hands,—at the same time a net and collecting apparatus (which our good friend John Akhurst will be happy to furnish), and bid them, when spring comes, search the fields and woods as Mrs. Ballard has done. ‘The difference between eyes and no eyes is wonderful, and occupying the former will keep young people out of mischief, at least giving them something to do and to think of. Once let a boy put his foot over the threshold of this temple of ours and catch a glimpse of the inner mystery, and there will be no idle and wasted hours. And to this end the author of ‘‘ Moths and Butterflies ” has well served her generation. Wo. H. Epwarps. * .* Subscribers are respectfully reminded that their subscriptions are now due and should be paid forthwith to the Treasurer. The date to which payment has already been made will be found on the address label. Mailed February 4th. The € anadiay ntomologist. VOL. XXIIL LONDON, MARCH, 18o1. No. 3. REMARKS ON PROF. JOHN B. SMITH’S REVISION OF THE GENUS AGROTIS. BY A. R. GROTE, A. M., BREMEN, GERMANY. To the great kindness of Prof. French I owea copy of the Bulletin of the U. S. National Museum No 38, which contains Prof. Smith’s Revision of the North American Species of Agrotis. In view of the fact that out of the 252 species reviewed by Prof. Smith, no less than r1o are credited to myself, besides five species ‘‘not placed,” it might be reasonably supposed that I was interested to receive this publication and that I must regret not having received it before publishing my New Check List. With regard to the classification of the group it is conducted upon the basis first suggested by myself, z. ¢., the forms with unarmed fore tibie are separated, and other divisions are based upon genitalia and sexual char- acters. These latter, in my opinion, are not sufficient for generic distinc- tions in the noctuidz, and we may thus regard the whole as forming one genus, the more so as the European species are not fully drawn into comparison. Prof. Smith is quite right in saying that I had no idea of the extent of my genus Carneades. I only regard as belonging to it species with tuberculated clypeus. At the time of establishing the genus upon moerens and citricolor, 1 had no longer the opportunity of com- paring my former material. I believe there can only bea question of three genera at the expense of Agrotis as considered by modern authori- ties: one in which the anterior tibie are unarmed; one in which the tibize are all armed, both of these with smooth clypeus ; the third (Carn- eades Grote) in which the front is tuberculate. I do not know that the generic term /Voctwa can be used for any of these divisions, according to the rules of zoological nomenclature, because I believe it was previously used in the Birds. For the characters to be used in separating the groups of Agrotis, I refer the student to my paper on the genus in the CaNa- DIAN Entomo.ocist, Vol. XV., p. 51, ef seg.. The type of the genus, as pointed out by me, is assumed by Prof. Smith to be the European segetum. 46 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGisT. I referred, in my Check List, Pachnobia to Agrotis (1875), but in defer- ence to European writers have lately left it near Zaentocampa. The synonymy of the species adopted by the author is largely that previously adopted by myself. It must be held in mind that, in those years, material had not largely accumulated, and that my descriptions were often drawn up from single examples. Iam not surprised that cer- tain forms should be now found connected which I was warranted in separating at the time. Indeed I have myself expressed the opinion. In, some cases, as A. zanualis, where it is not done, I think the varietal term should have been kept by Prof. Smith; colour is also a character, and my var. atropurpurea of tessellata is called a ‘‘ pure synonym,” although based upon a difference in shading which is acknowledged to exist. It is probable that here and there some references have been made which will need correction. Among these is Agrotis clodiana, which I think will prove different from vancouverensis Grt., while my figure in the Illustrated Essay does not merit, I feel sure, Prof. Smith’s criticism upon it. But I may pass over this, as well as other points, to notice a few which should not be passed over. That Mr. Morrison sent me specimens not in accord with his types, I have already stated. To this fact differences in my determinations may in part be due. Mr. Morrison sent me specimens of Pachnobia carnea from Mt. Washington labelled scropulana “type.” I did not know Wockei, except from Moeschler’s figure (which Prof. Smith says is really scropudana), nor did Mr. Morrison. But I had specimens from Mr. Moeschler labelled Pachnobia carnea from Labrador which were evidently the same as Mr. Morrison’s “ types,” or so-called types, of scropulana. I exhibited the specimens before the American Association as well as the examples of ofipara Morr. and is/andica Moesch., which latter were also the same species. Iam the first to suggest that zs/andica Moeschl. is not the same as zs/andica Stdgr., and, in consequence, to pro- pose to call the American (Labrador and Mt. Washington) species oppara Morr. This view is taken now by Prof. Smith, who has adopted many of my views, but I am brought in by him for an incorrect identification of islandica which I never committed. It is I who corrected both Moeschler and Packard for improper identifications of ¢s/andica as an American species. The identification of these Labrador and Mount Washington species is interesting, as illustrating further the theory advocated in my paper on “ The White Mountain Butterfly” of geographical distribution in the North American Lepidoptera. With regard to the erroneous determina- THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 47 tion of the European Dah/ii, I may say that Mr. Morrison himself sent me phyllophora determined as Dah/ii var. of Gueneé, and that I corrected this determination. I may say, to conclude with Mr. Morrison, that some- time after the circumstances which led to our difference transpired, Mr. Morrison wrote me a letter in which he acknowledged that he had misled me on several occasions, for the reason that he imagined [ had acted in bad faith to him in sending him (at his request) species to describe, which he thought I knew not to be new. These species were, however, really new, and I described them, upon Mr. Morrison’s refusal, myself, where- upon Mr. Morrison candidly acknowledged his suspicions, of which he relieved me, and this matter brought our correspondence to a close. With reference to the remarks on page 38, with regard to Mr. Henry Edwards’s types of Agrotis, | would say that I returned the types of A. xzvetvenosa, A. pallidicollis and A. milleri to Mr. Edwards, and thatI did so at his special request. No other “types” were “borrowed” by me, and all other specimens of Agrotis received by me from this source were given to me by Mr. Edwards, as a due return for my general determinations of his material in the family. I relinquished to Mr. Edwards really valuable and veritable ‘‘ types” of Aegertad@ in the exercise of a like courtesy, as Mr. Edwards was studying that group. Mr. Edwards’s specimens of Californian Agrotis were, however, not “types” until worked over by me, and had little value aside from my work upon them. I gave Prof. Smith also, several tyjes of Moctuide and Mr. Neumoegen of Arctia. I may here remark that Prof. Smith is fond of citing speci- mens determined by me which are in various collections and do not belong to my species. In some few cases, as in the exsertistigma group, these determinations may well be the result of error on my part. But in by far the greater number of cases I believe that the determinations were not positively made by me, that in all, or nearly all, of them I never compared the specimens with my types or had the opportunity of doing so. Names given by me under a reservation would not unlikely be used by the owner of the specimen without that reservation. I think, when my types come to be examined that A. orbis will be shown to be distinct from cupidissima, and probably the species described by Prof. Smith under the latter title. But on the whole, and granting all that can ba said, and while I am certainly not directly responsible for all the mistakes in the different private collections cited by Prof. Smith, which I have never had the opportunity thoroughly to see, much less to study, it must 48 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. be clear to the unprejudiced reader that I have made very few mistakes in a very difficult group, and that I have at least laid down the founda- tions for its proper study. With regardto Dr. Harvey’s “types,” the specimens belonged to me, and were described under my personal supervision, correction and direction, and Prof. Smith, in complimenting Dr. Harvey’s accuracy, is unwittingly betrayed into complimenting me. In conclusion I may make some remarks on species of mine “ not placed” by Prof. Smith. I am surprised that 4. /ishiz Grt. is not placed, although in the list it is marked by a star. This is a very pretty and distinct Eastern species from the sharp contour of the wings and the peculiarities of the ornamentation of colour. A. juacta is a datk species, , recalling in colour the commoner blackish-brown Agrotids, but with the stigmata fused, recalling the Ao//emani group. I do not doubt its validity, nor that of zaza/is, the smallest form known to me and resembling ofaca in appearance. Mamestra insulsa Walk. is, I say, on p- 43 of my essay, an Agrotis, evidently allied to Repentis. What does Prof. Smith mean by saying (p. 209): ‘‘ Mr. Grote, whose reference of the species to Agrofis has been followed, gives no suggestion as to the species it most resembles or where its allies are to be found”? Again, Prof. Smith calls my Herzis, “herelis”; badinodis, ‘ badinodes” ; insulsa, “insula” ; in all these cases I do not know why. Finally, with regard to two species rejected from Agrotis by Prof. Smith, I would say that I could not determine the structure of the feet in the type of xzveivenosa (coll. Hy. Edwards). In my New Check List I draw attention to its resemblance to C/adocera. I do not believe it is a Fladena, as Prof. Smith classes it. I can well believe that A/aske belongs to my genus Agrotiphila, which in my New Check List I place in the Heliothini. Jam pleased that my recently expressed opinion that A. hospitalis Grt. is a valid species, distinct from perconflua, is confirmed by Prof. Smith. On page 92 the author remarks: ‘Mr. Butler says augur is the type of Graphiphora Ochs., in which case the application of the name to the Zeniocampa series by Mr. Grote would be unwarranted.” I reply, that I have shown that the term Graphiphora is uot originally Ochsenheimer’s but Hibner’s, and that its true type is Gothica, Check List, 1876, p. 37. It is, therefore, strictly speaking, to be employed instead of Zeniocampa. As to the affinities of Agrotis with Tentocampa THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 49 I have elsewhere explained myself. There are several other points in Prof. Smith’s paper to which I could reply, or as to which I could express an adverse opinion, but I am so much gratified that a needed revision of the species of Agrotis has been accomplished, that my own justification or the vindication of my priority in particular instances, becomes a matter of little moment. Any errors it may contain will no doubt.be rectified in the future, and in the meantime we have init a valuable repository of our knowledge of the North American species of Agrotis. ON THE POSITION OF LIMENITIS PROSERPINA, EDW. BY W. H. EDWARDS, COALBURGH, WEST VA. Mr. Scudder, in Butt. N. E., argues at length in favor of considering Proserpina as neither more or less than a hybrid between Z. Arthemis and L. Ursula (called Astyanax*). I differ from him, holding Proserpina to be a dimorphic form of Arthemis, just as Papilio Glaucus is a dimor- phic form of P. Zurnus. * Astyanax is one Of the resurrected names which I, with many entomologists, hold to be objectionable and not to be adopted to the exclusion of names lung in use and familiar, repeatedly treated of and figured in books. In the words of the late B. D. Walsh, one might as well ‘‘tell New Yorkers to call their city New Amsterdam, or the English to kave their letters addressed to Londinium, because these were the original names.” Fabricius, in 1775, named the species As/yanax. In 1793 he reuamed it Ursula, for the following reascn : it then stood in the genus Papz/70, in which also stood another species by name of Astyanax. He theref re changed the first of these to Ursada, and by this name the species has been known to this day—almost :00 years It is so figured by Abbott and Smith, 1797, and by Boisduval and Leconte, 1833. That Fabricius was right in changing the name to avoid a duplicate in the same genus is undoubted, and although the second Astyanax has since been found to be the female of something else, there is no reason for now disturbing Uysz/a. It was a common practice with the early naturalists, and especially with Linnaeus, to change a name given for another, and the change was accept: d by their contemporaries. In some cases we can to-day see the reason ; in others we cannot, but that there was a sufficient reason at the time is not to be questioned. There was no ‘ priority rule” at that day. To deny that Linnaeus had the right to change one of his own names if he saw fit is a piece of impertinence. No rule of the kind spoken of was ever ad -pted till 1842, and that could properly have no retroactive effect. The resurrection of obsolete names has been the greatest possible nuisance during the last 20 years or since the publication of Kirby’s Catalogue. Two years after the appearance of this Catalogue in 1872 Ist July, as appears by the Trans Ent. Soc., London. the following circular, addres-ed to entomologists, was laid bef re the S wiety, with signatures of most of the leading British entomologists ap- pended :— *‘ ENtomMoLocical. NoM NCLATURE.—The undersigned considering the confusion with which ent mological nomenclature is threatened (and from which it is already to no small extent suffering) by the reinstatement of forgotten names to supersede. 50 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Now what are the known facts about Proserpina ? 1. The species Arthemis, black, with a broad common band of white across the disks, occupies the whole northern part of the continent, from ocean to ocean, and from the Arctic Circle to northern Massachusetts and westward to Wisconsin. 2. Along the southern border of the range of Arthemis, in certain localities only, there flies, and constantly associates with it, a small black form agreeing exactly with it in size and in outline of wings. This form may either be without a white stripe across the disks (vzde Butt. N. A., 2, pl. 36, fig. 5), or it may present such a stripe corresponding in position those in universal employment, urge upon entomologists the desirability of ignoring the names so brought forward until such time as the method of dealing with them shall be settled by common agreemeut. ** (Signed) H. W. Bates. Alfred R. Wallace. Wm. C. Hewitson. Francis P. Pascoe. T. Vernon Wollaston. John A. Power. W. Arnold Lewis. Frederick Bond. J. Jenner Weir. E. Shepherd. Edw. W. Janson. Edw Newman. Samuel Stevens. ET. Higgins. Edward Sheppard. B. F. Logan, Ferdinand Grut. J. Greene. J. W. Dunning. Thos. H. Briggs. Frederic Moore. W. C. Boyd. Howard Vaughan.” And following this: ‘‘ Professor Westwood stated that . . . he considered a law similar to that which limits adverse claims to real property in this country to a period of twenty years, might with equal advantage be applied in zoology.” Now, since 1872, there has been no ‘*common agreement” by entomologists as **to the method of dealing” with these ‘‘f rgotten names,” and the question stands jst where it stood then. Mr. Scudder, apparently, in order to get some show of au- thority for resurrecting dead names, has followed he says, ‘the rules laid down by the American Ornithologists Union”! (What have entomologists to do with the rules of American Ornithologists ?) And so he displaces a large proportion of the recognized names in American lepidoptervlogy for dead and forgotten. and what is worse, often wholly un- authenticated ones. Thus we get Danazs Plexippus for D. Archippus (in his earlier writings he called it D. Eréppus). Limenttts Archippus for L. Disippus, Papilio Pol- yaxenes for P. Astertas, Neonympha Eurydice for N Canthus (absolutely without any right whatever), WV Phocton for NV. Areolatus, N. Cornelius for N. Gemma (both these unauthenticated), etc , etc , without end. One of the strangest changes of all is that of Papilio Turnus into P. Glaucus Turnus has been descri' ed 119 years, and during the entire period has been known by that name alone. G/aucaus was described 126 years ago from one sex only __It is not a species at all, it is the black dimorphic female of Yunus, and it has no corresponding male It is scarcely twenty years since this fact was made known As a dimorphic form it needs a distinguishing name It is the practice to give such forms names. Mr. Scudder now calls the entire species G/azcus, but to get a name for the black female he calls it G/aucus-Glaucus ! and there is no Turnus any more Is not thata precious device! I advise every lepidopterist to ignore such changes, one and all, and to adhere to the accustomed names, nearly every one of which has a full century of undisputed title, 4 ~ THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. aul to the outer edge of the white band of Arthemis (as in Butt. N. A., 1, pl. 41, figs. 1, 2). It is rarely or never solid white, of clear colour, as in Arthemis, but is slight and often nebulous. 3. South of the territory occupied by Arthemis is the black species, Ursula, flying to the Gulf of Mexico and at the southwest, in Arizona at least. Over a considerable belt, say perhaps of fifty to one hundred miles width, along the southern tange of Arthemis and northern range of Ursula, many examples have been taken which are undisputed Ursz/a, but have more or less distinct traces of a white stripe similar to that seen in Proserpina (Butt. N.A., 1, pl 41, figs. 3, 41, for such an example of Ursula), though never so heavy as in the most strongly marked examples of Proserpina. South of this belt, so far as I am aware, such striped examples have not been taken. Ovrsu/a without modification or Variation occupies many degrees of latitude, but in the southwest comes to be considerably changed and is lost in its variety Arzonensis. 4. I myself obtained eggs froma female Proserpina at Stony Clove, in the town of Hunter, in the Catskills, elevation 2,000 feet, and from these - eggs raised four pupe from which came three Arthemis and one Proserpina (this last is figured in Vol. II. before cited), so establishing the dimorphism. The relationship of the two forms had been suspected but never proved. Mr. Mead relates, Can. Ent. VIL., 162, that he obtained about 500 eggs from fifteen females Arthemis, and 31 eggs from a single female Proserpina at same time, showing the black female to be as fertile as the pied one. ; 5. I am thoroughly familiar with this part of the Catskills—in fact was born and bred in the town of Hunter—and for many years collected butterflies there, and I can say positively that I have never seen an example of Ursu/a there. It does not fly at all in that elevated district. On reaching the Valley of the Hudson, ten miles west from Stony Clove, Ursula begins to appear. Nowhere is the surface in Hunter at less than 1,700 feet, and all the highest peaks of the range are within the town limits. Between the Clove and the river valley are Round Top, High Peak, etc., and the lowest ground is the summit of the Kaaterskill Clove, elevation nearly 3,000 feet. 6. In preparing the text for Z Arthemis for Butt. N. A., I made careful enquiries about Proserpina all along the line from Maine to Wisconsin, and published the information gained. This form was rare in Maine, not common in south New Hampshire, unknown in Vermont, as also 52 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. in the Adirondacks of New York; common in middle Michigan, and in certain localities in Wisconsin. Had not been seen at Toronto, Canada, but occasionally was noticed at Hamilton. That is, along a line of 1,000 to 1,500 miles on the southern border of the range of Arthemiés, and the northern border of the range of Ursula, at a few spots only had Proser- pina been observed east of Michigan (to the west there is no definite information). The only region where Proserpina was known to be abundant is in the town of Hunter above spoken of. All this appeared from the evidence spread out in the Butt. N. A.; and Mr. Scudder has been able to add nothing to it but this, that in “ the Graylock Hopper’’ (an elevated valley in the mountains) at Williamstown, Mass., Proserpina was ‘“tolerably comm on” As to its abundance at Stony Clove we have the direct testimony of Mr. Mead, who also collected there year after year. Speaking of one year he says:—“ When I collected every Proserfina 1 could find I took 110, of Arthemis I actually did take about 200 and could have taken 1,000 without any difficulty. 7. Inall the preparatory stages Proserpina and Arthemis are precisely alike, and both are specifically removed from Ursuda. Witness the figures of the eggs, Arthemis, Butt. N. E., pl. 64, fig. 15; Ursula, fig. 12. I have Mrs. Peart’s drawings of the eggs of both Proserpina and Arthemis, and they are indistinguishable. In the first two larval stages all this group are alike, but at second moult each species takes on characters of its own. Fig. 26, pl. 74, given by Mr. Scudder as Arvthemis mature larva is copied from Trouvelot’s drawing of Proserpina (made for me and loaned for use in the Butt. N. E.). This drawing is named on its card Proserpfina, and of course, in giving it on his plate as Arthemzs, Mr. Scudder was satisfied that it answered equally well for either form. I have another drawing of Arthemis at the same stage, made by Mrs. Peart, and all its peculiarities are shared by Proserpina. These are widely different from the mature stage of Ursuda,as is plain trom Mr. Scudder’s figures of the latter, pl. 17, figs. 17,21. Just so, the pupz of Arthemis and Proserpina are alike (1 have drawings of both), and differ specifically in form and colour from the pupa of Ursula, Butt. N. E., pl. 83, fig. 12, for Ursula; fig. 14 for Arthemis, copied from Mrs. Peart’s drawing of Proserpina. So we have, on the one hand, the two co-forms, alike in each and all of the three earlier stages, and alike in size and shape of wings in the imago, (and Mr. Scudder allows this to be the fact, by using the drawings of larva and pupa of the co-forms in- terchangeably); on the other, Ursz/a, differing distinctly in the three stages, OF ws THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. and nearly always much larger in the imago, with differences in the shape of each wing. (As is well shown in Butt. N. E., pl. 2, Avthemis fig. 5, Ursula fig. 8.) 8. All the species of Zzmenitis, at the east, have one style of flight, and it is that which Mr. Scudder attributes particularly to Dés¢ppus (his Archippus): p. 277, “the flight is rather leisurely and sailing ; it moves irregularly from place to place.” Of Arthemis, he says, p. 300, it has “a rather short and rapid flight.” Perhaps it has sometimes, but usually it has the same leisurely flight as Désippus. Of Ursula, p. 287: “ Its flight is similar to that of Désippus, but still more Zofty and grand, more leisurely and sweeping.” Uvrsuda is a very common species here at Coal- burgh, and I can bear witness that there is nothing lofty or grand about its mode of flight. It darts about from place to place, from the ground to a leaf on tree, from tree to ground, haunts one locality, and once seen may be seen there regularly for days ; feeds on excrement on the ground, and lingers about the spots where that is to be found. A sustained flight would be contrary to its observed habits. I should as soon expect an Apatura butterfly to fly long distances as a Limenitis. The habits of the two are very much alike. In the argument to prove Proserpina to be a hybrid between Ursula and Arthemis, instead of a dimorphic fornt only of Avthemzs, Mr. Scudder says :—“ Proserpina occurs-only in a very narrow belt across the eastern third of the continent, a belt which forms the southern boundary of the range of Arthemis and the northern of Ursuda. It is known at so many points in this belt, that it presumably occurs wherever Arthemis and Ursula are brought into contact.” That this is an unwar- rantable assumption follows from what I have before stated. “ There are but two arguments used to prove the improbability of such a relationship as is here urged: 1. To assert that Proserpina has been found where it ts probable that Ursula does not occur within at least an easy day’s flight ; a distance of a few miles is of no account whatever.” Is it not? Are we to suppose that Ursz/a, male, of the Hudson River Valley, is so seized with a longing for Arthemis female, of Stony Clove, as to transform him from a short and leisurely flyer into one “lofty and grand,” to whom “the distance of a few miles is of no account whatever,” and cause him to desert his own females and scale mountain ranges for other females whom he has never seen nor heard of, and of whom there cannot be a hereditary reminiscence? Or do the. Arthemis females attract the 54 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. males Ursu/a by an emanation after the fashion of the Bombycid females, perceivable ten miles away at the very least? There ought, on any theory of attraction, to be a steady flight of Ursu/a males across the peaks, and once arrived at Stony Clove they should take up their abode there, and be seen in company with these so ardently sought females. But they are not there—never in a single instance have been seen there ; and to attribute to them such powers of flight is contrary to what Mr. Scudder is fond of calling the ‘‘ stupid fact.” On the other hand, the Prosevpina males and females live with the Arthemis, mate in both sexes with the two sexes of Arthemis, and the eggs of one form hatch as readily as do those of the other. The black males mate with black females, and pied males with pied females. Black on both sides will account for the black progeny considered by Mr. Scudder as so close to Ursu/a ; and the other mixtures will account for every phase of colour or marking exhibited. Mr. Scudder proceeds : ‘‘ Several instances of undoubted hybridism are known in the genus.” On which I remark that distinct species of other genera are also known to copulate, and it is not uncommon of Co/ias. And there are instances of species of unrelated genera, even sub-families, copulating. The late W. S. Foster, in 1889, on one of the peaks in Colorado, captured a male Melitea Palla in copulation with a female Chrysophanus Snow and they only separated in the cyanide bottle. I have the two mounted by Mr. Foster on one pin, with his label stating the facts attached. Also he notified me of the capture at the time it was made. Mr. Bruce has twice taken pairs of Zycene of which the sexes belonged to different sub- groups in copulation. Such instances go to show that a male, not finding its own female, may seize another, even one wholly unrelated. What fierce passion possesses the males of butterflies may be seen by referring to the history of Heliconia Charitonia, Butt. N. A., Vol. II. But when females of a species are abundant, it does not seem very probable that a male will seek the female of another species, much less scale the Catskills to find her ! | “ Proserpina partakes of the characters of the two species mentioned . . 3 it possesses, in fact, just the characters we should expect of a hybrid between these two species. It varies most towards Ursu/a where this prevails, and most towards Arthemis where that prevails.” I have answered this in the preceding paragraph. No Ursu/a need to be called in for the solving of this puzzle. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 55 ‘* A careful comparison of a considerable series shows that there is no difference whatever in the genital armour of Proserpina and Ursula.” We should like to have heard whether there is any difference between the armour of Arthemis and Ursula. The form Proserpina is undeniably related to Arthemis, only supposably to Ursu/a. If the genitalia, as evi- dence of specific value, are worth anything, then there should be no dif- ferences whatever between Arthemis and Proserpina. Therefore, if these organsin Proserpina are like Ursula, as Mr. Scudder tells us, in Arthemis they must also be like Ursz/a. But it is implied in the foregoing statement that this is not the case, but that Arthemis is unlike both Proserpina and Ursula. The preparatory stages tell a very different story, and I prefer to believe their testimony rather than that of the other.* Why any where Arthemis has a co-form, or how such form has come to be, is not explainable, any more than why Pafclio Turnus has a black female as well as a yellow one. The fact is all we know. From the Northern States to the Arctic Circle, in just the territory occupied by *Are the genitalia valuable in determining species? I doubt it much. We do not need to examine them to prove that two species plainly distinct in the imago are really so as Papilios Turnus and Philenor. It is when the imagos are puzzling that help from any quarter would be welcomed ; as in case of the Graptas C album, Comma, Satyrus and Faunus. Will they help us here? Looking at Mr. Scudder’s plates, I see that what I consider natural genera, as Colias, Argynnis, Limenttis, etc., have each their own type of these organs. It is not to be supposed that they are cast in moulds like sO many iron pots. and knowing that every other organ varies, we have the right to believe that the genitalia vary also. How much is the question. In the plates the figures are not drawn toan uniform scale and the organs are differently exposed, probably drawn as they had dried. Some seem to have shrunk in the drying. others perhaps are done from green subjects, and are full and plump __— But taking them as they stand: on pl. 33 all these species of Zzmenzt?s seem to be essentially alike, and I apprehend that the variation between them is no greater than would be found between individuals of each. So the three Argynnids, Atlantis, Cybele and Aphrodite are essentially alike. Grapta Progne cannot be distinguished from G. Comma, though they belong to different sub-groups, while G. Haunus differs conspicuously from Comma, though these two belong to the same sub-group, and can be but one remove from a common ancestor. On pl. 34 Phyciodes Tharos and Bateszz are alike ; and quite a lot of Thec/as, together with Lncisalis Niphon and Jrus, seem all alike and nowhere specifically different. On pl. 35, the three Colas, Interior, Philodice and Eurytheme, are as like as three marrowfats. My friends why are things thus ? If the test is not infallible it is not to be trusted. If it fails anywhere it may fail often. Now. on page 329, under the head of Grapta Interrogationis, we read these words: “‘ The two forms (of this species, to wit, Fabriczz and Umébrosa) differ so greatly and so constantly from each other, not only in the colouring but in the form of the wings, and even in the abdominal appendages (the genitalia), that they have been con- sidered distinct species”! Thatis, if they had not, by breeding from the egg, been proved to be one species by the evidence of the genitalia they would be considered as two! It seems to me this settles at once and for all the value of these organs as tests of species. The study of them may amuse an idle hour, the drawings of them are very pretty, but that they are of any value so far as concerns closely related species does not appear. 56 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Arthemis, the yellow female Zurnus alone is found. Along the southern boundary the black one appears ; here and there a single individual, and -having once got a foothold the black form gradually gains the mastery, and inthe south alone rules. There are no yellow females of 7urnus there. It seems to me not improbable that Arthemis, of all its group, is nearest the parent species. Every character, from egg to imago, shows that all these species are very closely related, and apparently not more than one remove from acommon form. p. 35;, lime 76, for ** Liha’ gread’* Vilia” ; pa z5,jlast dimen ‘* Basidomycetons” read ‘“ Basidomycetous” ; p. 36, line 15, for “ Lilia” read, Tilia.” R. THAXTER. * . * The Editor craves the indulgence of his correspondents, as he has met with a severe domestic affliction in the loss of his daughter, AGNES EmiLy beruune, who died on the 2nd of March in the twenty-second year of her age. Mailed April 7th, t bh Sel a Gi antadiany entomologist VOL.. XXIII. LONDON, MAY, 891 No. 25: SILVER-TOP IN. GRASS AND THE INSECTS, WHICH MAY PRODUCE IT.* BY HERBERT OSBORN, AMES, IOWA. The common affection of various grasses, commonly known as “« Silver-top,” has received the attention of such well-known investigators as Professors Comstock, Lintner, Forbes, Fletcher and others, and it is not with the expectation of completely solving the problem which has perplexed these careful students that I venture to present my experience, but in the hope that by comparisons of experience and observation we may arrive at a better knowledge of a subject at once important and complex. The appearance ‘of affected grass has been often stated and can be described briefly as a whitening of the upper portion of the stalk of grass, especially the head, which withers without maturing seed, while the basal portion is shrivelled. ‘The causes assigned for this whitening have been various, but, I believe, generally referred to the injury produced by some kind of insect operating at the base of the terminal node of the stalk. The various observations upon the insects suspected of causing the injury, or found associated with it, are admirably summed up by Mr. James Fletcher. Entomologist to the Dominion of Canada, in his report for 1888, pp, 59-62. Briefly, the species credited with the most certainty so far have been species of Meromyza, Chlorops and Thrips, while Mr. Fletcher mentions suspecting species of Hemiptera, and records an attempt to produce Silver-top by caging such Hemiptera (species not designated) upon grass plants. The species which can perhaps be considered as having been most positively connected with the disease is a Zhrips called Limothrips poaphagus by Prof. Comstock, and while, as will be shown later, I feel certain that but little if any of the trouble which has come under my *Read before the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science, Indianapolis, August, 1890. 94 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. own observation can be due to this insect, I wish to state beforehand that I have no thought of discrediting Prof. Comstock’s observations, or questioning the ability of the ZZrzps he describes to cause all the injury « credited to it. It is evident, upon slight examination of the subject, that the same appearance of the grass may be produced by very different agents, provided they attack the same point in the stem. Any injury to the juicy base of the terminal node that cuts off the flow of the sap to the head during a certain stage of its growth must produce the withering and whitening so conspicuous in affected fields. Starting with this premise it is reasonable to conclude that the trouble may result from a number of different agents, and such, I believe, to be actually the case as a result from the sum of my observations here presented. During the past two seasons I have examined with care a great number of affected stems, usually with the aid of a hand lens. For the season just past my observations in the field were interrupted, shortly after the appearance of Silver-top, by a trip to Washington. But while absent I hada graduate student collect as many of the whitened stalks as he could and place them in alcohol, and these have been examined also so as to make the observations extend through as much of the season as possible. In a very few cases I have seen evidence of fungi present in the shrivelled base of the withered node, but so very few and in such cases so evidently a consequent of the injury that I do not think it can be credited with any of the damage. In a very small proportion of cases I have found ZArifia@ present in the injured part, and in so few when the greatest care was taken to get stems that were but just beginning to show injury, that I feel forced to abandon the view that these are the principal agents in the injury here. Dipterous larve have been still less frequent and I feel positive that only an exceedingly small part of the damage for the region studied can be referred to them. Moreover, I think that in fully ninety per cent. of the stems examined (so many examinations have been made at oddtimes ~ during my walks, and in spare moments, that no exact percentage can be given,) no insect of any kind was found to be within the sheath of the injured stem. Punctures of insects have been noticed in great abundance on the parts of the plant around these injured parts, and in many cases evidence of the puncture of the succulent portion itself was apparent. The character of these punctures agreeing closely with those known to be THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, 95 made by various species of Homoptera affecting the same plants, and the conclusion that these insects are responsible for a part at least of this ‘injury seems to me to be very strongly suggested, though not demon- strated. There is no question whatever that these Homoptera puncture grass, both blades and stems, to procure their food. This is shown by the numerous punctures and deadened spots on the leaves and stems, and can be verified by watching the insect itself. That the puncture of the stem just above the joint so as to enter the succulent base of the terminal node, and the extraction of the sap from that part, would cause their shrivelling and the consequent whithering of the node above, seems sufficiently evident. Knowing the habits of these insects, and considering the fact of their actual occurrence on the injured plants and the presence of injured spots, such as these insects make in getting their food, there seems to me no reasonable doubt of the possibiZity of these insects causing all the damage observed. The difficulty, in case we accept this view, is to explain why Silver-top is not more abundant than it is, or that such experiments as that by Mr. Fletcher in caging Hemiptera on grass did not produce it, for these insects swarm on almost every blade of grass. These insects, however, work on leaves and stems all the way from the surface of the ground to the tip, and their punctures are distributed promiscuously over all their surfaces. In stiff leaves and sheaths as well as in the stems above the succulent basal portion the shrivelling is confined to the few cells immediately surrounding the puncture, but in case the beak is thrust into the succulent part the effect is to kill the cells of an area through which all the sap for the nourishment of the upper node must pass, and, hence, the more conspicuous effect. Some of my observations, moreover, show that this injury is not con- fined entirely to the upper joint, though always most conspicuous in the whitened head, but I have found the stem affected in lower nodes, and in some cases almost to the ground, in which cases also some of the upper leaves show the whitening effect of the injury. The species of Homoptera most likely to be concerned in this work, are the common species of De/tocephalus, especially znzmicus debilis, etc., which are serious grass pests, in any case, from their attacks upon the stems and leaves, and which I have recorded in some detail in a recent report to the Division of Entomology. 96 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. If correct in the opinion that the greater part of this injury where I have observed it is due to these insects, the matter of applications for their destruction becomes much easier, as we then have to deal with insects exposed to destructive liquids, or to destruction with ‘ hopper dozers” and similar contrivances. My argument in brief is this: ‘“‘Silver-top” may be produced by a number of different insects—a point already made by Mr. Fletcher. It may result from the action of insects within the sheath, or from punctur- ing and sucking of sap by insects that operate from the outside. In my own observations but a very small percentage of affected stems have contained insects of any kind within the sheath, and many show clearly evidence of puncture from without. The species most abundant in the affected fields, and known to punc- ture grasses, are mainly /ass:de. ‘These insects are sufficiently abundant, and their habits entirely in accord with the injuries noted. No other insects of sufficient abundance, and with habits to make it probable that they could cause the injury, have been found in the silver-topped grass. I conclude, then, from all the observations made so far, that for the locality studied, Homoptera (mainly /ass¢de) are the principal causes of the disease. The insects are open to general attack, and Silver-top should be prevented by their destruction. [The attention of Canadian observers is invited to this important subject. The appearance known as “Silver-top” has increased enor- mously in some districts during the last few years. In many cases examined the cause could not be ascertained.—Ep. C. E.| SOME RARE LEPIDOPTERA TAKEN NEAR MONTREAL. BY A. F. WINN, MONTREAL. Thecla laeta, Edw. 1 was fortunate enough to take a female of this rare and beautiful butterfly on the top of Beloeil Mt., 22 miles east of Montreal, on May 24th, 1888. I again visited the place on the same date in 1889 and 1890, but on both occasions the weather was too cloudy for anything to be on the wing. Thecla acadica, Edw. I took two specimens at St. Rose, July 7th, 1889, flying over a field of oats, among which there was a quantity of wild mustard in flower, and the butterflies visited the latter occasionally, but only for a moment, and then dashed off. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 97 Thecla strigosa, Harr. Very rare some seasons, and rather common others. Flies in the beginning of July, and frequents the flowers of Asclepias and Apocynum. Pamphila leonardus, Harr. One specimen (? ) taken on the flowers of Golden-rod, September 7th, 1890. The first I have taken. Dilophonota etio, Linn. I have been given a specimen of this “ visitor from the south,” that was found in the grass on McGill College grounds about the end of September, 1886. This is an interesting capture, as the date agrees exactly with captures in Ontario at London, Hamilton, and Dundas, aiready recorded in the CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Crocota Treatiz, Grote. One specimen taken at rest on the trunk of an oak, July 6th, 1889. Dryocampa rubicunda, Fabr. ‘This is recorded as being very rare in this province (Can. Ent. VI., 220; VII., 109); but since the introduc- tion of electric lights in our streets a number have been taken every season. Thyatira pudens, Guen. One specimen found at rest on a lamp post, May 13th, 1889. Charadra deridens, Guen. I bred a specimen of this moth Feb. 21st, 1889. The larva was found on oak, and agreed exactly with the *‘ unidentified larva ” described in Vol. XVIII, p. 124 of the Can. Env. Last September I found two larve on white birch, but not having enough boxes with me to keep all the species of larve separate, I put a JWVoro- donta larva in the same box, and when I reached home I found that both my derzdens had been bitten to death. Syneda Alleni, Grote. ‘Two specimens, 188, one taken at Cote St. Antoine, flying at noon, June 30th; the other in the city, about the middle of July, by light. Marmopteryx strigularia, Minot. I took this species in large num- bers in a maple grove near St. Therese, on August 31st, 1890. They seemed to be confined to this place, as in the fields surrounding the wood none were seen, but as soon as the woods were entered they flew up from the trees by dozens to settle again a few yards off on other maple trunks. When at rest the wings were invariably closed over the back like those of a butterfly, showing the beautiful marbling of the under surface. 98 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. SOME. INDIANA ACRIDIDA. BY W. S. BLATCHLEY, TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA. (Continued from page 81, Volume xxiii. ) 22. MELANOPLUS FEMUR-RUBRUM, De Geer. The Red-legged Grass- hopper. Acrydium femur-rubrum, Harris, Ins. Inj., 1862, 174, fig. 8o. Caloptenus femur-rubrum, Thos., Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 163. Id., Ninth Rep. St. Ent., IIl., 1880, 1:24, figs! 22, 23. Riley, Rep. U. S. Ent. Comm., I., 1877, 50, pl. II. Melanoplus femur-rubrum, Scudd., Proceed. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XIX., 1878, 284. Our most abundant and injurious species found everywhere during the autumn months, but prefers open blue grass pastures and roadsides. Males and females of this species, as well as of the next, were taken in copulation as late as November 22. When disturbed it either hops vigorously to one side or flies swiftly and noiselessly straight ahead for about twenty feet and then suddenly drops to the ground. 23. MELANOPLUS ATLANIS, Riley. The Lesser Grasshopper. Caloptenus atlanis, Riley, Rep. U.S. Ent. Comm., I., 1877, 49, pl. II. Id., U. SSAgmeRep., 1883, 1727pl ie Thomas, Ninth Rep. St. Ent., IIL, 1880, 124. Melanoplus atlanis, Scudd., Proceed. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XIX., 1878, 285. This species is fully half as common as femur-rubrum, and is found in company with it, the habits of the two being essentially the same. The notched apex of the last abdominal segment of the male of ad/anis readily distinguishes that sex from the corresponding one of /emur- rubrum, but the females are very similar and more difficult to separate. However, a little practice will enable one to distinguish them, even in the field, by colour characters alone, the abdominal sternites of a¢/anis being yellow, while those of femur-rubrum are dark reddish brown. Moreover, the upper outer surface of the posterior femora of the former are banded with three oblique yellowish bands, those of /emur-rubrum being plain. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 99 24. MELANOPLUS COLLINUS, Scudder. Melanoplus collinus, Scudd., Proceed. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XIX., 1878, 284. Six males of the above species, which Mr. Scudder states has not been heretofore recorded as being found west of New England, were taken on Oct. 25, from shady places along the bed of the old Wabash and Erie Canal. I was not able to distinguish the females from those of Jemur-rubrum and at/anis, with which the ones taken were in company. The males are readily distinguished from those of femur-rubrum, which Indiana species they most ciosely resemble, by the following characters : The average size is less; wings shorter, not reaching tip of abdomen ; elytra with fewer and smaller spots, and by having the anal cerci forked at the tip. 25. MELANOPLUS DIFFERENTIALIS, Thomas. The Lubberly Grasshopper. Acridium differentialis, Thos., Trans. Ill. St. Agl. Soc., V., 1865, 450. Caloptenus differentialis, Id., Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 166. Id., Ninth Rep. St. Ent., Ill, 1880, £27, fig. 24. A very common species along fence rows and borders of cultivated fields, especially in the Wabash river bottoms, where they feed upon the greater ragweed, Ambrosia trifida. On Oct. 2 hundreds were seen along the edge of a field of lowland corn, the leaves of the marginal rows of which they had almost wholly destroyed. When a stalk was approached, they did not desert it, but dodged quickly around to the opposite side, much as a squirrel does around the trunk of a tree when pursued. » If, however, one took alarm and jumped, ali the others in the immediate vicinity did likewise. The females of this species become exceedingly dark, sometimes almost black, with age, whereas the males are but little changed. 26, MELANOPLUS BIVITTATUS, Say. The Yellow-striped Grasshopper. Acridium flavo-vittatum, Harris, Ins. Inj., 1862, 173. Acridium bivittatum, Thos., Trans. Ill. St. Agl. Soc., V., 1865, 4409. Caloptenus bivittatus, Id., Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873. Id., Ninth Rep. St. Ent., Ill., 1880, 126. Melanoplus femoratus, Scudd., Proceed. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XIX., 1878, 284. 100 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. This usually abundant species is rather scarce in Vigo County. It frequents meadows, especially those of clover, and open pastures, and like C. differentialis, uses its wings but little in moving from place to place, relying upon its enormous leaps to carry it out of danger. TETTIGINA. 27. TETTIX ORNATA, Say. Red-spotted Grouse Grasshopper. Tettix ornata, Thos., Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 183. Tetrix dorsalis, Harr., Ins. Inj., 1862, 186. Tetrix bilineata, Harr., loc. cit., 186. Numerous specimens of this genus were taken which varied exceed- ingly in size and coloration, but which, under the present confused state of the literature at command, are all referred to the above species. They frequent the edges of dry, open woods, where they were quite common during the warm afternoons of October and November. 28. BATRACHIDEA CRISTATA, Harr. The Crested Grouse Grasshopper. Batrichidea cristata, Thos., Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 190. Rare. Four or five specimens were feund in company with the last named species. It is not mentioned in either of Thomas’s Illinois lists, and I can find no record of it west of New England. 29. TETTIGIDEA LATERALIS, Say. Black-sided Grouse Grasshopper. Tetrix lateralis, Harris, Ins. Inj., 1862, 187. Tettigidea lateralis, Thomas, Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 187. Very common and variable in colour ; frequenting the same localities as the last two species. 30. TETTIGIDEA POLYMORPHA, Burm. Small-winged Grouse Grasshopper. Tettigidea polymorpha, Thomas, Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 188. Tetrix parvipennis, Harris, Ins. Inj., 1862, 187, fig. $2. As common as the preceding, and found with it. The Grouse Grasshoppers are the only Acridide which, with us, hibernate in the perfect state. They have often been taken by the writer in midwinter from beneath logs and the bark of stumps, and on warm days in early spring they are very frequent on hillsides which have a southern slope. Dr. Harris well describes their movements when he says :—“ They are extremely agile, and consequently very difficult to capture, for they leap to an astonishing distance, considering their small size, being moreover aided in this motion by their ample wings.” Te ange THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 101 NOTE ON GRAPHIPHORA, HUBN. BY A. R. GROTE, A. M., BREMEN, GERMANY. On page g2 of the Bulletin U.S. N. Museum, No. 28, Prof. Smith says: “Mr. Butler says augur is the type of Graphiphora, Ochs., in which case the application of the name to the Zueniocampa series by Mr. Grote would be unwarranted.” I never fixed the type of Ochsenheimer’s genus Graphiphora. What I did was to fix the type of Hiibner’s genus Graphiphora (see Check List, Part II., 1876, p. 37). Hiibner proposes the name in the Tentamen for gothica, which, as it is the only species given, is therefore the type. Afterwards, in 1816, Ochsenheimer, 4, 68, includes ravida and 16 species not separable from Agrotis. Hubner’s type, gothica, Ochsenheimer includes under Zfzsema. By what process Mr. Butler assumes augur as the “type” of Ochsenheimer’s genus is unknown tome. In any event Hiibner’s genus Graphiphora has pre- cedence for Zaeniocampa of Gueneé. I may here also correct a misapprehension of Prof. Smith’s with regard to the use of vetusta by Mr. Walker. On page 212, 1. c., Prof. Smith says: “ Mr. Grote has suggested that this (2. ¢, Agrotis vetusta, Walk.) may be the same as murenuda, G. & R., but this can scarcely be so if the description is at all to be relied upon.” In reply I would say that I never suggested that Agrotis vetusta, Walk., was=murenula, but that Mames- tra vetusta, Walk., might be that species (see Essay, p. 43.) It appears that Walker has two vetuste, consequently Prof. Smith’s apprehension that murenula may come to be discarded for either of them, proves groundless. From an examination of Walker's type of MJamestra insulsa I came to the conclusion that it was probably an Agrofis. Prof. Smith says, Bulletin, p. 209: ‘‘ Mr. Grote, whose reference of the species to Agrofis has been followed, gives no suggestion as to the species it most resembles, or where its allies are to be found.” On page 43 of the Essay, where I make the reference, I say: “‘ The specimen (from Canada) is evidently an Agrotis, allied to Repentis, and unknown to me.” 4 102 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. ON THE OCCURRENCE OF TWO SPECIES OF COLEOPTERA NEW TO MONTREAL. BY J. F. HAUSEN, McGILL COLLEGE, MONTREAL. Platynus crenistriatus, Lec. I took a specimen of this interesting little beetle (fig. 1) here late in October, at the foot of a stump. It isnot unlike in appearance certain small Pterostichi, but may be at once distinguished by having the elytral margin behind sinuate and simple, with- out the interruption and route fold usually seen in Pterostichus. It seems to me to be, in fact, one of those less specialized forms still exhibit- ing characters in common with some species of that genus. The form is convex, black and shining, with the elytral furrows deep and strongly punctured, feet and three basal joints of the antenne bright yellow, the external margins of the elytra and edge of the prothorax beneath piceo testaceous. Whether it is com- mon elsewhere I know not, but it is the first specimen I have yet met with here. It seems of rather wide distribution, as the specimens from which Leconte originally drew up his description (New Species of Coleoptera, p. 9, 1863,) were obtained from Illinois. I took with this an example of another singular P/atynus not usually found here, and which Dr. Leconte has replaced under the old name under which it was described, namely, Anchus pusillus, Lec, Specimens are also in my collection from St. Jérome, P. Q., and Northern Vermont. Some time since I was handed, for iden- tification, by one of the members, a little . et at oe THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 103 Jongicorn I did not at first know, but which on closer examination proves to be a specimen of Gracilia minuta, Fab. (Fig. 2.) My friend, Mr. Caulfield, who has very kindly placed all his specimens in my hands, states it was taken emerging from a barrel of some kind of dye, and it is probably introduced from Southern Europe. Superficially it resembles somewhat one of the ¢cZytinz and, in fact, Schiodte placed it immediately after cZytus. (Class. Cramb. Dan. Faun., Natur. Hist. Tidsskrift, 1864, S. 3. V. 2, p. 483.) But the slightly depressed elytra, corneous ligula, not finely granulate eyes, etc., would point to its being perhaps more properly placed in Gime of ceram- bicini. For the benefit of those who may not know it, and especially as it does not appear, so faras I am aware, to have been before recorded from Canada, it may be well briefly to describe it. The figure (2) it is hoped will convey some idea of its general form. It is of a uniform reddish brown, the legs being somewhat lighter, with rather sparse cinereous pubescence giving ita hoary appearance. The antenne are ciliate and the head, thorax and elytra furnished with flying hairs. Rather variable in size, .18—.27 in. Leconte states (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila, 1850, pt. 1, p. 24) he could find no difference between his specimen and those from Europe. As somebody may have it under a different name, I will give the synonyms: G. mnuta, Fab. = pygmea, Fab. = fusca, Hald, Fig. 3 represents the labium (A) the ligula and paraglossz being in this case confused and indistinct ; B latral palpi; Y basal membrane of labium. ' Fig. 4 shows the mesonotum which is large, glabrous, margined at sides and covered with stridulat- ing surface consisting of extremely fine transverse lines. 104 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. LIMENITIS ARTHEMIS, ETC. BY JOHN B. SMITH, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. The paper by Mr. W. H. Edwards in the March number of the CanapDIAN ENTomoLocist brought back to me vividly my collecting days in the Catskills, and as I have also taken arthemis, proserpina and ursula, perhaps my experiences may not be entirely uninteresting. It was sixteen years ago that I set out for a two weeks’ tramp in the moun- tains, and as it was my first experience with them, the memory of that trip is yet more distinct than of many subsequent excursions. I arrived at Catskill village soon after sunrise, and before noon was close to the foot of the mountain. I saw more butterflies there than I had ever seen at any one time before, and gathered in a large harvest, of Argynnids more especially. Lémenitis ursula was abundant, but as this was already an old acquaintance, I captured only such as offered themselves too temptingly. My objective point for that day was the Mountain House on the summit, and soon after I started the climb I noticed that uwrsula became smaller, and had an odd look somehow. I took a few, and above the Rip Van Winkle House began to take arthemis, and saw no more ursula. I stopped at the Rip Van Winkle, deeming it a good col- lecting centre, and stayed there a week. On the second day a colony of ants invaded my room, and before I discovered them, destroyed a large part of my first day’s collecting. I threw away all the wrsuZa, but saved some of the odd-looking specimens which had suffered little, and these proved proserpina. I took arthemis on the top of the mountain, but no more proserpina. Had I known the insect, I could no doubt have cap- tured many, lower down the road, but I never tramped that way. In five different, not consecutive years thereafter, I visited the Catskills, but made Lexington, only a few miles—six, I believe—west of Hunter, my stop- ping place. This is about 2,000 feet above sea level, though lower than Hunter. To reach it from the U. & D. R. R. meant a 13 mile drive from Shandaken through the “ notch,” which is nearly a duplicate of Stony Clove. In this “notch,” which I often visited, I took many a good insect, and it was a reliable locality for avthemzs. ‘They were very abundant always, though rather shy ; but I never found fvoserpina during the five years I collected there. But on the other hand I took wrsu/a on both sides of the pass, both at Shandaken and at Westkill, and along the banks of the Schoharie at Lexington. There is no doubt, therefore, that THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 105 ursula gets within a very few miles of Hunter, and that to reach Stony Clove it would not be necessary for it to come from the Hudson Valley. There are no natural obstacles to prevent a direct flight over the Schoharie to Hunter. Through Stony Clove I have been only once, and that by rail on my last visit to the mountains, when I did no collecting. As to the standing of prvoserpina I have no opinion to offer. Mr. Edwards, on p. 55 in the note, makes some remarks on the value of genitalia in determining species. On this point I have very decided opinions. By his suggestion that ‘‘ some seem to have shrunk in the drying, others perhaps are done from the green subjects, and are full and plump,” Mr. Edwards shows that he has never looked into the matter himself at all, else he would know that the structures are chitinous and cannot shrink any more than the antennz, palpi or. legs. The preparation from the recent specimen, and that from one fifty years old, would be alike in the same species. Do the parts vary? Decidedly no, or toso slight an extent as to be scarcely appreciable. I have ex- amined dozens of specimens of some of our common noctuids, and found no variation, however much the maculation differed. In my study of the Lachnosterna many hundreds were examined, some specimens a dozen years old, others just killed, and the correspondence was absolute. Do they help us distinguish species? Also, decidedly yes. But this needs qualification. Identity of sexual structure does not necessarily mean identity of species ; but on the other hand, difference in sexual structure always means difference of species. I have found these structures of the utmost value in the woctuzde, and in some genera that I have studied would not hesitate to determine species from the genitalia alone. In Lachnosterna 1 would agree to name any species of either sex from the genital structures where it is one of the species I have figured. But Mr. Edwards is right in one respect. Sometimes the character fails, and in an entire genus all the species will be practically alike. My revision of Agrofis illustrates that most strikingly. In this, however, the character shares with many another the burden of want of universal application, and we must use it as far as it goes. In the noctuids it is most valuable in separating closely allied species, and it often determines for me the rank of a form when the other characters leave me in doubt. I believe that all who have carefully studied these characters are con- vinced of their importance and high value in specific separation. 106 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF ECPANTHERIA ‘SCRIBONIA, STOLL. BY HARRISON G. DYAR. The preparatory stages of this species do not seem to have been described. Mr. Hy. Edwards in his catalogue gives eleven references, but in none is the egg mentioned, or any but a single larval stage, and in only one the pupa. It will, therefore, not be amiss to briefly describe the several stages here. I would like first to call attention to the remarkable fertility of the insect in question, at least in Southern Florida where I met with it. In Psyche, Vol. III., p. 364, Mr. Krancher cites an example of an European moth Laszocampa quercifolia, that laid 580 eggs, and seems to consider this an unusual number, as it doubtless is ; but my example of Zcpantheria scribonia laid nearly four times as many. The moth was bred from a larva found at Palm Beach on Lake Worth, Florida, and emerged from pupa Feb. 4, 1890. As it was a female and crippled, the wings having failed to develop properly, I tied it out over night and the next morning found it mated with a male of the variety Zenudata, Slosson. On the evening of Feb. 6 it began to deposit eggs on the sides of the box in which it was confined, and during the night laid about 400 eggs. Every night after this it laid eggs till the night ro-11 February, after which it died. The total number was 2,274 as nearly as I could count them. Egg: Nearly spherical, the base a little flattened, all minutely punctured ; colour yellowish pearly gray; diameter .8 mm. Duration of this stage about five days. First stage: Head light brown, paler in front; ocelli large, black ; width .5 mm. Body pale whitish, except the first and central abdominal segments (joints 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11) which are light brown, The warts are arranged as usual in the Arctzide,* concolorous, the bristles black. Length about .2 mm. Duration of the stage four days. Second stage: Head nearly colourless, shining, tinged with brown ; ocelli large, black; mouth parts brown; width .7 mm. Body nearly concolorous with the head, not shining, tinged with reddish brown. The warts of rows (1) and (2) (the trapezoidal warts) on joints 5, 6 and g-11 *As in Arctia, Leucarctia, Spilosoma, Hyphantria, Arachnis, etc, but not as in Halisidota. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 107 black ; hair black. Later the body becomes more brownish, blackish around the black warts and a pale dorsal line is seen. This stage lasted four days. Third stage: Head semi-transparent, pale brownish ; a darker shade at the vertex; maxillz reddish ; ocelli black ; width .g mm.; cervical shield and legs black ; body light reddish brown except the dorsal warts on joint 4, joints 5 and 6 entirely, and joints 8, 9, 10 and 11 in the subdorsal space, which are black ; a white dorsal line; bristles spiny and sharp, black. Duration of the stage six days. Fourth stage: Head shining pale brownish ; the mouth parts paler ; ocelli black ; width 1.4 mm. Body reddish orange with a slightly paler dorsal line ; joints 5, 6 and g—-11 are black, the latter in the subdorsal space only, and most of the warts are black. The length of the larva is about 1o mm. Duration of the stage six days. fifth stage: The markings of the mature larva are now assumed. Head brown, blackish in front ; ocelli and inside part of the jaws black ; labrum and antennz pinkish; width 2 mm. The body is marked as in the mature larva, black with transverse vermillion bands, except that there is a faint pale dorsal line anteriorly. . Sixth stage: As in the preceding stage. The width of the head is 2.8 mm. and the dorsal line is reduced to a mere trace. Feet reddish and spiracles ochre. Seventh stage: Head irregularly black in front, brownish at the sides and vertex; mouth parts and antenne reddish ; width 4 mm. Body as in the mature larva, except that the transverse bands are lighter red. Length of larva 45-60 mm. Duration of the stage nine days. Eighth stage: Head brownish black with a pale line in the suture at vertex and a pale spot on the side posteriorly ; labrum and antenne salmon colour; jaws brown; width 5.3 mm. Cervical shield straight in front, curved behind, bisected by a pale line ; body velvety black except a transverse vermillion band on each segment in the intersegmental incisures On joints 5-11 inclusive, concealed when the body is contracted. Thoracic feet brownish red, abdominal feet brown, the lower part salmon colour and the claspers whitish ; spiracles dark orange ; bristles spiny and sharp, black. Length of larva 85-95 mm. at maturity. Duration of this, the last stage, eleven days. 108 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Cocoon: A thin netting of yellowish silk just as in Arachnis picta. The drops at the joinings of the threads are yellow like little amber beads. Pupa: Robust, of normal shape; on the abdominal segments, dorsally and subventrally are ten rows of large tufts of short spiny hairs, the tufts smaller ventrally and less numerous posteriorly ; cremaster, two tufts of reddish spines from elevated bases. Colour black, reddish in the abdominal incisures ; the body is smooth and dull, the wing cases more shiny, creased. Spiracles linear, reddish. Length 35 mm., width 13 mm. Duration of this stage twenty-eight days. Food plants: The larve run about on the ground or ascend shrubs or small trees and eat whatever comes in their way, if it is not too coarse. My specimens were fed principally on a species of Spurge ( Euphorbia cyathophora) and Castor-Bean (Ricinus communis ). ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. THE GEOLOGICAL SECTION of the Society was formed in May of last year, and at the Annual Meeting in August was regularly constituted a branch of the Society. The members are as follows :—Dr. S. Woolverton, President ; Thos. Green, Vice-President ; J. L. Goodburne, Secretary ; and Messrs. B. Green, W. J. Carson, Alex. Marshall, W. Percival, Geo. Burrell and M. Scarrow. The course of study taken up was Sir Charles Lyell’s work, which proved of much interest and benefit. Discussion sometimes waxed exceedingly warm, exception being taken to many of the positions erected by various writers ; this, however, had a good result, as the discussions caused the subject-matter to be well understood by all. Specimens obtained in the district about London were exhibited at the meeting, and much patient research was sometimes necessary in order to identify examples of obscure fossils, not, however, without a few mistakes, which in the main were subsequently set right. The members had regular excursions, Friday and Saturday of each week being generally devoted to this—probably the most interesting part of geological study, and not a week passed without some new specimens being placed upon the tables of the entomological rooms. ‘The district around London was well worked up, especially in the vicinity of Spring- bank. In addition to this trips were made to St. Marys and Arkona, many specimens being brought home from both places. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 109 Taken altogether the year’s work has been very satisfactory to the members and interest has not flagged at any time, each member seeming anxious to do what he could towards adding to the interest. MEETING OF THE LONDON ORNITHOLOGICAL SecTion.—The March meeting of this section was held on the evening of March 2nd, in the rooms of the Entomological Society. After routine business, the monthly list of species observed was taken up resulting in the addition of the following ten species for February, with a total of seventeen species observed during the month:—Goldfinch, Robin, Bufflehead, Great Horned Owl, Great Northern Shrike, Song Sparrow, Bluebird, Junco, White-winged Crossbill, Mottled Owl. The chairman reported that a specimen of the Great Carolina Wren had been received by one of our members, Mr. L. H. Smith, from Forest. This is the first record of its occurrence in Canada. Mr. Stevenson remarked on the abundance of the Snowy Owl in this vicinity during the present winter, about eight or ten having been heard of by members of this section, all seen or taken in the county of Middlesex. The chairman reported the capture of a Bohemian Waxwing in September, 1890, by Mr. Harry Gould, while feeding in a wild cherry tree in company with some Cedarbirds. This appears to be the first record of its occurrence since about 1878, when Mr. W. Hines captured a few in the city in midwinter. CORRESPONDENCE. HALISIDOTA TRIGONA. Dear Sir,—In reply to Mr. Dyar’s note on p. 43, I would say that I compared my type with Herrich-Scheffer’s figure of specularis from Brazil, and arrived at the conclusion that the two closely allied forms were distinct species. In one of my papers (Tr. Kans. Ac. Sci., p. 65,) I gave the differences observed: ‘Closely resembles the Brazilian specularis, H.-S, fig. 59. It differs by the smaller size of the vitreous spot, the outer edge of which is farther from the external margin and more even. The Brazilian species wants the yellow terminal shade line (from the figure). There is a great resemblance between the two. widely geographically separated forms.” Mr. Dyar says: ‘‘I have compared Mr. Grote’s description with H.-S. figure, and there is no doubt but that the two refer to the same insect.” The “doubt” I have grounded as 110 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. above cited, and, without further evidence than appears, Mr. Dyar’s synonymical note is not justified. It is at least previous to the necessary comparison of Brazilian and North American material. Probably our species is distinct, as there are other cases of allied but distinct North American and Brazilian moths, such as Hepialus auratus and our common Orthodes reccently separated by Mr. Butler from the Brazilian infirma. : A. R. GROTE. NOTES. —_— ATTRACTING BUTTERFLIES IN COLORADO. I had generally considered Papilio indra to be a rare insect in Colorado, and from the inquiries of correspondents would think it want- ing in many collections. While collecting at about 7,000 feet elevation, in June, ’89, I occasionally saw one go past me like a flash up the moun- tain sides ; but one sultry afternoon I took several examples in a narrow canon as they sat upon a small piece of sandy ground that had been soaked by a thunder storm inthe morning. I acted on the hint thus given, and kept the place well moistened with water from the creek near by, and visited it frequently during the week I was in the vicinity, with the fol- lowing result :— Papilio indra, 65 examples. P. zolicaon, 1. P. eurymedon, 3. P. daunus, 10. Anthocharis olympia, 5. Argynnis edwardsit, 2. A. halcyone, 5. Chionobas uhlert, 4. Lemonias nais, common. Nisoniades tatius, 3, and several common species in abundance. The “Section Boss” of the railroad used to go past frequently, and he got quite interested with my pursuit. I remarked to him one day, I thought it odd I did not attract butterflies on the other places I watered. He said: “‘ Well, it does seem kind o’ queer, and I buried a mule in that very spot last fall.” Davip Bruce, Brockport, N. Y. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST alg SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE COLLECTING OF 1890. A combination of causes prevented me from doing my usual amount of hunting around Hamilton last summer, and the reports of the collectors there left with me the impression that I was not losing much. I took many a stroll through the city, looking for, and expecting to find some- thing, but invariably returned disappointed. I suspect that electric lights and sparrows are working a revolution in city collecting. I was informed by a collector, whose duty takes him out early in the morning, that unless he got to a light that was in close proxi- mity to his work before the sparrows, he got nothing ; that they know the location of all the lights as exactly as the City Engineer, and when they have cleaned up one, they make straight for another; and they are not content to take merely what is on the ground, but will flutter up and down the pole, and pick off what is at rest on it; or perched on top of a fence, they will survey carefully all below them, and the instant they see an insect, they drop to a level with it, pick it off, and mount the fence again to devour it. The communications from other parts of the country, which I have received since the season closed, indicate a general disappointment with the result of the collectors’ labours. On the 7th of June I went on a visit to the country, about sixteen miles south of the city, staying to the 23rd. The weather was warm—the first steady heat of the season. There was a bit of open woods close at hand, to which I was a constant visitor, and found hunting there specially interesting and profitable,a goodly number of different Lepidopters almost daily emerging. Edema albifrons was in surprising numbers. Look in any direction, and the eye would light on several of them sitting in their own peculiar attitude when at rest, the wings rolled tightly round the body, the front legs straightened out beneath them, supporting the forward part of the insect at an angle to the object it rests on, the lime-grey colour of its wings, and the light coloured, brown margined, singularly truncated head end, giving it an exact resemblance to a bit of rotten twig sticking out from the side of a tree. Another plentiful thing was Heterocampa guttivitta; what most drew my attention to this insect at this time, was the large proportion of de- formed ones. We are often disappointed in rearing insects in confinement, by having some of them deformed, and are apt to attribute the deformity 112 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. to the confinement ; but this species in nature gave a larger proportion of deformed specimens than I ever got from all my rearing in confinement. Lunas were very abundant. I took one dozen, and could have taken three. I found several of them in a badly crippled condition, one par- ticularly so ; on one side the wings were perfect, on the other they had not expanded one iota, they did not even look as large as they should have been when it burst the chrysalis. I saw Zumas flying for the first time in my life. They mount easily and make good progress, but the operation is performed wholly by the front wings ; the tails were crossed, and in one instance I felt certain the curves were linked into each other, giving firmness and immobility to the hind wings. I took a pair of Packardia geminata in coitu ; the singular form of the object arrested my attention, without suspecting it was pro- duced by insects. The sexes differ greatly, in both size and markings. It has been an extremely rare insect in my experience, having never seen the male before, so I was much pleased with my find. I took my first specimen of Datana angusit, and a single specimen of a Datana of the ministra type, but with only three lines across the wings, wavy and comparatively even. I also made my first capture of Hadlisidota maculata, although Carye and Tessedlata are amongst the most constant and _ plentiful species in the Hamilton neighborhood. On the field day of our Society during its annual meeting in August last, I took a Zzssock larva on bass wood that attracted my attention by its bright lemon yellow colour, and square black spots down the centre of its back. Not knowing it I showed it to Mr. Fletcher, and he pronounced it to be 4. maculata. During September they were quite abundant on the maple shade trees about London. During that June visit I took an Azelina hubnerata, which has been in my experience a very rare and variable geometer. I am aware that some of the forms that I have taken may have distinguishing names, but I have not had them authoritatively determined. I also took five speci- mens of Dryocampa rubicunda, my first captures of that attractive moth, several Zortrixes and other small moths new to me, which have not yet been identified, and a variety of good but not uncommon moths besides ; also two males and six females of that delicate long-sting Hymenopter Arotes amenus, Cress., making altogether a very satisfactory two weeks’ collecting. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. PRS I made another visit between the 18th of July and the 2nd of August, to a locality 25 miles north of the city, but got nothing .worthy of notice, except, perhaps, a Catocala relicta, for its being somewhat early in the season. In London during November Operophtera boreata was very plentiful, yet I did not see a single specimen of an Anzsopteryx. J. Atston Morrar. VANESSA CALIFORNICA IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. Noticing the remarks of Mr. W. G. Wright in the February number of the CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST respecting V. Californica, I considered it would be of interest to give particulars of its capture at Victoria, B. C. During 1890 it was scarce in this vicinity, though probably common enough on higher elevations. The specimens taken by me were cap- tured at Beacon Hill, amongst or near the fir trees that compose the wooded part of the Park, and situate some sixty feet above the sea level. I secured my first as it was rapidly flying along a new made road, which runs through the firs ; this was on September gth. The next time I saw it was September 21st, when I managed after a long run to net a worn- out specimen. A whole month intervened before seeing it again, the third one being captured October 26th. This was the last, and was taken off a fir tree whilst sucking the sap, apparently too satiated with the juice to heed danger, being easily taken, and transferred to my collecting box. It was a good specimen as regards plumage, but ragged and torn, having evidently been “on the road” a long time. Mr. James Fletcher, of Ottawa, kindly named it for me, at same time mentioning that it was the first recorded capture from Vancouver Island, if not in Canada. I doubt very much if those taken by me were bred here, but hold more to the idea that they were visitors from foreign parts across the Sound, or perhaps from the northern part of the island. Mr. W. G. Wright says :—“ It is of no value itself ; it is usually present when you don’t want it, and its appearance seems to be the signal for more interest- ing species to disappear.” This without doubt is true as regards California, its natural home ; but considering all things, I certainly believe that its appearance on Vancouver Island zs of value, even if it does nothing more than add another species to the list of diurnals occurring here, and I fondly hope to see it again this year. W. H. Danpsy. Wictoria, B, C., Feb. 21st, 1891. 114 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. CANADIAN RHYNCOPHORA. Since writing the notes on Rhyncophora which appeared in the February issue, I have had an opportunity of obtaining Dr. Sharp’s deter- mination of the two species mentioned on pages 22 and 23. He writes © to me as follows :—‘* The two weevils from Cape Breton are: 1. Ofio- rhynchus rugifrons, Gyll., 2. Sciaphilus muricatus, both common N. European insects. The Oforhynchus is a slight var.; the Sczaphilus not distinguishable from Scottish specimens.” W. H. Harrincron. ARCTIA ARIZONENSIS, STRETCH. I obtained eggs from a worn § taken at light near Salt Lake City, Utah, in June ; these gave me a fine lot of imagines early in September, and I again got eggs from them, and had larve feeding which produced a number of moths at various times during the winter. Some of the larve ceased to feed when one-third grown, and I dumped them out among weeds by my orchard fence to take their chances. From the two broods I got about 150 fine examples of the perfect insect. Part of the first lot were fed up by a friend in Ogden, Utah, and sent to me as pup, part were fed in Denver City, and many I reared in the mountains above Platte Canon (10,000 feet elevation). The last brood were reared in Western New York. The larve were very easy to manage and ate freely of almost anything. Plum, willow, plantain, polygonum, lettuce and chickweed were given them as best and easiest obtainable, but nothing seemed to come amiss. Under the different conditions of altitude, climate and food [ ought to have obtained varieties, if the species varies at all, but I never bred any Arctzans that kept so constant to the parent form. I also have about a dozen of both sexes taken at light in Utah and Central Colorado, and these also are the counterparts of my bred examples. All the males are precisely like Stretch’s figure of Arzzonensis &, the 2 & exactly like his Autholea 9, in the same work (Zyg. and Bomb.), but not one male was like his Autholea f as there figured, but all well spotted on underwings like his figure of Arizonensis J. I give description of the mature larva (the earlier stages were plain black) :-Head and thoracic feet shining black with tinges of chestnut ; body velvety black with narrow reddish brown dorsal line (produced by two linear spots on each segment). all tubercles intensely black, those above lateral fold all crowned with bunches of short black hairs ; those on second and THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 115 third segments have many light brown hairs intermixed ; the bunches below lateral fold are light brown, thus giving the larva the appearance of being fringed ; body beneath and abdominal legs light purplish brown. Length, two inches. Pupa black, covered with white powdery bloom. The eggs were very numerous and small and light yellow in colour. The hairs of the larva possess stinging properties, and are very irritating to the bare arms and face, as I experienced to my great annoyance on several occasions. Davip Bruce, Brockport, N. Y. PLATYNUS NEW TO CANADA. Among the commoner beetles at Sydney, Cape Breton, if not indeed the most abundant, is a species which has, I think, not been recorded in Canadian lists. I refer to Platynus hardyi which was described by Leconte (Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. Vol. IL, p. 53) from Newfoundland specimens received by him from Baron de Chaudoir. I cannot find any record of it from other localities. The specimens which I collected in 1884 were not carefully examined and were placed with P. cupripennis, of which a few examples were collected at the same time. On looking over the lot last winter I found that they were undoubtedly P. “ardy7, and last September I captured a nice series. The species is eminently gregari- ous, and when a good locality is found they may be seen in numbers under boards or loose stones, but the colonies scatter so rapidly that the majority escape. Whether this beetle is distributed through, and indigenous to the island, or has been brought over from Newfoundland in one of the numer- ous steamers that carry coal from Sydney and return in ballast, I cannot say. W. H. HarrRINGTON. BOOK. NOTICE. MANUAL OF ANIMALS INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL TO AGRICULTURE. Dr. J. Ritzema Bos, lecturer at the Agricultural College of Wageningen, Holland, has just published a magnificent volume in German which makes one wish English-speaking farmers and gardeners, as well as ento- mologists, possessed in their own language, and for their respective coun- tries, a similar compendium of knowledge on the “ Animals injurious and beneficial to agriculture, cattle breeding, forestry and_ horticulture.” ( Tierische Shadlinge und Niitzlinge, Berlin, 1891.) 116 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. This work of 876 pages contains all the information necessary con- cerning the forms, occurrences, life history in relation with man of his various animal friends and foes, and the curative and preventative meas- ures against their attacks. The newest discoveries of workers in this field, and original researches by the author are recorded, and 477 figures, en- graved with scientific accuracy, show the appearance of the different mammals, birds, insects, snails, and worms, the details of their structure, and many devices for resisting the injurious kinds or assisting those that war against the latter and are thus precious allies of the farmer and gardener. The first 30 pages are devoted to considerations on the causes of occurrence of obnoxious animals, and on the general means of protection against them. Then 80 pages treat of mammals from the bear to the mouse and the bat, 120 of birds, 460 of insects, 130 of snails and worms. The depredations of insects, which have been particularly studied by Dr. Bos, are especially dwelt upon. At the end of the book are tables of the animal pests arranged accord- ing to the place where they live. This table is most useful, for, with its aid, anyone who has found any form of animal life preying on man, cattle, domestic animal, tree, or plant, or in granary, barn, or house, and wishes to know its name, habits, the nature of its ravages, the remedies against it, etc., can with very little trouble find the page in the volume where the desired information is given. For instance, the first item of this table is as follows, with reference for each animal to the page in the book :— BEE, BEE HIVE :—Foxes, marten, polecat, bear, honey-buzzard, tits, occasionally other bird species ;—spiders ;—wasps ;—the brown bee louse (Braula ceca, a winged louse) ;—the so-called black bee louse (larva of an oil beetle), which, however, leads usually its cuckoo life only in wild bees’ nests ;—bee moths, wax moths ; bee-beetles ;—earwigs. Similar lists follow for cat, cattle, dog, domestic birds and eggs, goat, horse, man, pig, rabbit, sheep. The references to apple tree pests are arranged under the different heads: In roots, in wood, under bark, in bark crevices, on and in buds, on young shoots, on one year’s twigs, on buds and leaves, in the fruit, ravagers of the fruit; and similarly for all common trees and plants of field, garden, or forest. J. A. GuiGNarD, Ottawa. Mailed May Sth. The Canadian Entomologist VOL. XXIII. LONDON, JUNE, 1891. No. 6. NOTES ON SOME SPECIES OF NOCTUIDA DESCRIBED BY FRANCIS WALKER. BY PROF. JOHN B. SMITH, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. In Vol. XXXII. and XXXIII. of the list of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the British Museum, Mr. Walker described some species from ‘‘ West Canada, in the Rev. Mr. Bethune’s collection.” No records of specimens in the Museum are given, and the descriptions are of specimens apparently returned to the collector. On the chance of these specimens being still in existence I wrote Dr. Bethune, begging him for such assistance and information as was in his power to afford. He very kindly responded, saying, “I shall send you by mail to-morrow a box containing the few specimens that I have left that were named for me by the late F. Walker. The labels on them are mostly in his own hand-writing. When I came here in 1870 I had no room for my cabinet and was obliged to store it away in a dark place for some years. I was also so very hard worked, building up this school, etc., that I was unable even to look at my speci- mens. Consequently the Dermestes got in and destroyed a large number —especially those set low down—that were my first captures, and that Walker had named. Thus many of his types had perished. I do not think it matters very much, as the descriptions and identifications were often so unsatisfactory. After seeing what I send you, you might abolish all the others that are stated to be in my collection, because they are no longer in existence and cannot be identified.” The box came duly to hand, and as the specimens gave rise to some doubt, and I desired to fully establish the value of the labels, I again wrote Dr. Bethune, and he replied : “T have been unable to find any more records regarding my ‘ Walker insects.’ The frinted labels and numbers on those I sent you were put on by myself—the zwrztten ones are Walker’s. It is of course quite pos- sible that some of them got transposed, as they have been changed from one cabinet to another, and had also to go through a severe disinfecting 118 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. process to get rid of the Dermestes. This has no doubt happened in the case of the specimen marked Agrotis ordinata that you refer to. ‘“‘ Where the specimen agrees with Waiker’s printed description, it is either a type or corresponds closely to his type—perhaps examined at, or nearly at the same time. * * * My first acquaintance with Walker was in 1863 when I spent some time in London. I was in England during the greater part of 63 and ’64. I used frequently to go to the Brit. Museum, and struck up a great friendship with W., which continued to his death. We corresponded regularly, and he sent me his publications and quantities of European and other insects, for which I made the best return I could. He was one of the quietest and gentlest of men ; his sensitive nature was much pained by some of the harsh and rough criticisms that were passed upon his work. His mistake was in attempting too much. Had he con- fined himself to the Diptera, his reputation would probably never have been impaired.” At my request Dr. Bethune kindly gave me permission to deposit these specimens in the U. S. National Museum at Washington when I had examined them, and there they now are, accessible to all students who may desire to verify my conclusions. Nine species only are described by Walker as ‘‘ In Rev. Mr. Bethune’s collection,” but a number of others are given as from West Canada, and sometimes they are said to come from Mr. Bethune. Of these nine species eight are represented in the specimens before me, one only, Agrotis vetusta, is wanting. With the exception of the specimen labelled “ Agrotis ordinata,” all are evidently the types, agreeing in sex and in all other points with the description. In Agrotis ordinata I cannot accept the labelled specimen as type, though it agrees in at least one important feature —the sex. The few specimens which are not types, are in many instances errone- ously named—provided that the species we know under Walker’s names are really his species. In detail the specimens before me are as follows :— Mamestra insulsa, Walk., C. B. M., Lep. Het. IX., 234, 1856. An imperfect specimen ; but not the type. It is Hadena ducta, Gtt., (Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., IV., 176, 1878). The type is in the British Museum and has been examined by Mr. Grote who said first it was an Hadena, and afterwards that it was an Agroftis allied to repentis ( Car- neades messoria). Walker’s description applies perfectly to the specimen THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 119 before me, and does not apply well to any form of messorza known to me. As the type is in existence, the best way will be to cite zzsu/sa, Wlk., as a questionable synonym of ducta, Grt., and thus call the attention of who- ever may have a chance to make the comparisons to the probabilities. The species was described from Orillia, West Canada, and the locality is therefore in favor of the name. Mamestra displiciens, W\k., C. B. M., Lep. Het., XXXII., 660, 1865, The specimen is labelled by Walker, and is evidently the type. It is a normally marked Carneades messoria. Mamestra unicolor, Wik., C. B. M., Lep.-Het., [X., 233, 1856. Determined by Walker, but not the type. It is Moctua clandestina, Harris, and therefore agrees with the type, which Messrs. Grote and Robinson have also identified with clandestina. Mamestra nigriceps, Wik., C. B. M., Lep. Het.. XXXII., 659, 1865. Apparently the type, agreeing well with the description, but without Walker’s written label. A printed label has been substituted for the original, if a written one ever existed. This species is also equal to Voctua clandestina, Harr. It was described as in Dr. Bethune’s collection. Mamestra contenta, W\k., C. B. M., Lep. Het., IX., 232, 1856. A badly rubbed specimen, but easily recognizable as Hadena devas- tatrix, Brace, and therefore like the type which Mr. Grote has referred in the same way. Agrotis reticens, Wik., C. B. M., Lep. Het., XXXII, 692, 1865. Two specimens, one with Walker’s written label, the other with a printed ‘‘ Type ” label and a printed specific label. Both specimens are Carneades messoria, Harris. Agrotis ordinata, Wl\k., C. B. M., Lep. Het., XXXII, 691, 1865. The specimen bears Walker’s written label, and is described as in Dr. Bethune’s collection ; but it does not at all agree with the description. Neither does it agree with the description of any other of the species described from Dr. Bethune’s collection. The specimen is Pyrophila tragopogonis, Linn., and I can only imagine that Walker in placing his labels,splaced this one on the wrong specimen, or that in the transferring in Dr. Bethune’s collection, another specimen became substituted for the ‘type. What is described is really a form of Carneades messoria, Harr., to which I would cite ordinata as a synonym. 120 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Agrotis vetusta, Wlk., C. B. M., Lep. Het. XXXII, 691, 1865. This species is not represented in the material sent, and I am entirely unable to apply the description to any form known to me, either in the agrotids or in the noctuids as a whole. According to Dr. Bethune’s state- ments the type, mentioned by Walker as in his collection, has no present existence, and as the description cannot be satisfactorily applied, the name must drop. I have reprinted the description in my Revision of the Asgrotids, p. 212. . Walker has described under the specific name vefusta an Agrotis, a Mamestra and a Mythimna. It was Mythimna vetusta which Mr. Grote suggested might be his muraenu/a, not the Agrotis as I erroneously sug- gested in my transcript, nor the JZamestra as Mr. Grote stated in the last number of the Can. ENT. Agrotis inextricata, Wlk. A specimen of Carneades messoria, Harris, is so labelled in Walker’s handwriting, but I cannot find any description of the species under that genus. Walker does, however, describe a Mamestra inextricata (C. B. M., Lep. Het., XXXII., 658, 1865), and as the description applies well enough and the specimen is said to be in Dr. Bethune’s collection, it may be accepted as type, and cited as a synonym to Carneades messoria. Agrotis indtrecta, Wik., C. B. M., Lep. Het., XXXII., 659, 1865. In this case also the species is described under M/amestra, and the species applies well to the specimen labelled Agrotis indirecta in Walker’s handwriting. The specimen is Carneades messoria, making the fifth name applied to this species in Dr. Bethune’s material alone ! How many more of Walker's names can be applied to this species when the types are studied, it is interesting to contemplate? Thus far no redescriptions of Carmeades tessellata have been identified ; but it seems scarcely possible that the species should not have been represented in material received by the British Museum, and its variations must have afforded full scope to Walker’s peculiar genius. Hadena tenebrifera, Wik., C. B. M., Lep. Het., XXXIIL, 714, 1865. A male specimen in very fair condition is Semzophora catherina, Gtt., (Can. Ent., VI., 116, 1874, AZatuta). The specimen bears Walker’s label, agrees with the description, and is unquestionably the type. The species must be known in future as Semiophora tenebrifera, Wlk., and Catherina, Grt., cited as a synonym. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. oe Apamea velata, Wik., C. B. M., Lep. Het., XXXII., 671, 1865. The type is in unusually good condition, bears Walker’s label, and is Apamea sera, G. & R., (Tr. A. E. S., 1., 345, pl. 7., f. 5). The species must be known in future as Afamea velata, W\k., and sera cited asa synonym. Apamea rubrescens, Wik., C. B. M., Lep. Het., XXXII., 671, 1865. The type, bearing Walker’s label, is in very good condition, and is the species recently described by myself as Zaniocampa venata, (Ent. Amer., VI., 123, 1890). The species will be known in future as Zenzo- campa rubrescens, to which venata, Smith, must be cited as a.synonym. I should be delighted to refer all the species described by me as synonyms, could I thereby identify an equal number of the Walker species. Apamea, N. sp. A specimen bearing this label, in Mr. Walker’s handwriting, is Parastichtis perbellis, Grt. Caradrina multifera, W\k. A specimen named by Walker, but bearing a label in Dr. Bethune’s handwriting, is also Parastichtis perbellis, Grt. The specimen is not the type, and is an evident misidentification. Xylina signata, Wik. : The specimen bearing the label in Mr. Walker’s handwriting is Dasylophia interna, Pack., and is not the type. Fleliothis binotata, Wik. A specimen of Plusia aereoides, Grt., is so labelled, but I cannot find any description of the species. FTeliothis temperata, Wik. This label, in Mr. Walker’s handwriting, is attached to a specimen of Plusia aerea, Hbn.; but as in the case of the preceding, I cannot find that the name has been sanctioned by a description. Lryophila, sp. A specimen of Acronycta hamamelis, Gn., is so labelled by Mr. Walker. Altogether this little lot of insects, while disposing of a few unidenti- fied names, illustrates well the character of Mr. Walker’s work. None of these names could have been with any degree of certainty applied from the descriptions to the species really intended, and the generic references are as often misleading as an assistance. 122 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. NEW RHOPALOCERA AND HETEROCERA. BY B. NEUMOEGEN, NEW YORK. Catopsilia neleis, var. floridensis g Q. A beautiful variety of C. ze/ezs, Boisd. It differs from its tropical types considerably. The ¢ ¢ have a bright sulphur-yellow in basal half of primaries, the broad anterior space being of a creamy white instead of the citron colour in the typical form. The same is the case with the secondaries, except that three-quarters of the area of wings are of bright sulphur. ? 2 are not yellow, but creamy-white with large black discal spots, black rimmed apices and anterior margins of primaries, and with pro- minent citron tinge of the basal area of secondaries. ; C. neleis has so far been unknown to our fauna. The collector whom Mr. Chas. Palm and I sent to the Upper Indian River of Florida succeeded in capturing about fifteen specimens of this form. Catopsilia agarithe, var. Maxima. The ¢ ¢ intense orange colour with prominent black dotlets at interception of nervures and exterior margins, both on primaries and secondaries. The 2 9 of equally intense colouring. The discal spot, the diagonal line of dots from apex to submedian nervure and along exterior margin of primaries being brownish red. On secondaries the markings along exterior margin are dark red with blackish tint, much resembling those of C. philea. Expanse of wings, 66 mm.; length of body, 26 mm. The examples caught (about 50) have been found uniform in size and markings. ‘This is a giant form of its kind and remarkably handsome. Habitat: Upper Indian River, Fla. Types coll. Neumoegen and Palm. Octa compta, var. floridana. Much larger than the typical form. Head, thorax, and primaries of dark reddish-orange. The interspaces between transverse lines of pri- maries larger than in the type form. Secondaries : Costa, apex, exterior margin, and nervures black, basal half grayish, hyaline. Abdomen steel blue, THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 123 Expanse of wings, 25 mm.; length of body, rr mm. Habitat: Upper Indian River, Fla. Types coll. Neumoegen and Palm. About fifty specimens were caught, all uniform in appearance. Antarctia Beanii, n. spec. g. Thorax and abdomen above and below very hairy, concolorous with primaries, the abdomen somewhat paler, especially at the sides. Head, breast and antennz bright reddish-brown, the latter prominently pectinated. A blackish tint on patagiae, and a faint black dorsal line on abdomen. Legs bright reddish-brown, the femora especially so. Primaries reddish brown, of lighter tinge at base and basal part of costa. The following maculations in brownish-black. Two large irregular median bands starting from costa, one between base and center, and the other above discal cell respectively, running across the entire wing and converging at center of interior margin, thus forming a triangle, resembling the Roman letter V. A broad band along exterior margin. Fringes blackish. In some specimens the marginal band being broken up in irregular blotches. These various bands are so conspicuously placed as to show the inner spaces, enclosed by them, more prominently, the latter looking like a triangle resting with its base on costa and like a mesial line outwardly curved. Secondaries rose colour. Fringes blackish. Two mesian bands of gray-black, irregularly formed. The anterior band more pronounced, the interior one being more of a curved line of irregular, large dots. Below, both primaries and secondaries reddish brown, merging into rose colour along anal margin of secondaries and costa of primaries. All maculations grayish-black, faintly indicating marginal and anterior mesian bands on primaries, and showing the mesian bands of secondaries. ?. Antennze minutely pectinated, nearly simple, of bright rose brown colour with blackish tinge at base. All maculations brighter than in the ¢, especially the reddish and rose tints. Expanse of wings: ¢, 33-35 mm.; 9, 29-30 mm. Length of addy: 6,10 mm.; 9.10 mm. Habitat: Laggan, Alberta, N. W. T. Types coll. B. Neumoegen. This is the most northern Aztarctia so far found in our fauna. I take great pleasure in dedicating this handsome species to Mr. Bean, to whose indefatigable explorations of the Alberta subalpine fauna I owe my specimens. 124 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Antarctia Beanit, v. fuscosa. A beautiful variation in which the primaries in ¢ and 9? are nearly uniformly brownish-black from base to exterior margin. The triangular spot at costa as well as the mesian line being slightly indicated. Types coll. B. Neumoegen. It seems to me that Arctza Bruceiz, Hy. Edw. (Entom. Amer., Vol. IIL. p. 183), is not a true Avctia, but very closely related to A. Beaniz. Excepting the slight differences of structure in the @ @, these insects show conclusively how near our genus Aztarctia, Hb., comes to Lederer’s genus Ocnogyna. All the specimens of 4, Beaniz, including its var. fuscosa, having been raised by Mr. Tnos. E. Bean, I asked him for some data about the larvee and their life habits, to which he kindly acceded. I publish them here- with in his own words : ** All specimens are bred from larve taken (when in or near final stage) near Laggan. Only one imago has been found in the four seasons I have collected here. One ¢ bred in 1886 from an estray larva was the first seen. In 1888 the imago above mentioned was found. (July 2,a ¢.) In 1889, 2 ¢ 6, 1 were bred from estray caterpillars. So up to 1890 only six were seen, though I often searched for them. But in June, 18go0, I found them more frequent in one limited tract of about two acres— elsewhere none to be found. Larva feeds on willow exclusively, I think. At any rate all I have found feeding were on willow. The imagines bred in 1890 came from pupa chiefly between July 4th and 21st, though one g delayed until Aug. 4; 1890 was a late season. Those bred in 1889 emerged June 8 and 24 (2 ¢ ¢), Jume 26 (19). Males and females equally numerous. The ¢ ¢ are noticeably larger than the ? 2, as an average. As to extremes of size, the 2 9 vary most; there are more extra small @ @ than ¢ ¢. The ¢ ¢ average decidedly darker than 2 2, Occasional 2 9 are extremely dark. This species occurs at an elevation ranging from 4,800-5,000 feet, so far as observed. The mature larva is about 24 mm. long. Ventral and basal lateral region clothed with rust-red hairs. Dorsal and upper lateral region usually has jet black hair, but sometimes some of the hairs are whitish. Hair of median lateral region sometimes black, sometimes whitish.” Leterocampa nivea, N. sp. Antenne slightly pectinated, white above, black below. Head, thorax, abdomen, legs, and both wings white. Thorax and abdomen heavily THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 125 tufted. A little dusting of black across basal half of primaries. A few black grains on costa, between discal space and apex, and a few black tiny dots at intersection of nervures and exterior margin of primaries, Below, uniformly white. Expanse of wings, 46 mm.; length of body, 14 mm. Habitat: Virgin River, S. Utah. 9. Typecoll. Chas. Palm. Gonodonta unica, Nn. sp. Palpi, head and collar brilliantly white. Eyes black. Antennz brown. Thorax heavily tufted, dark brown. Patagiz powdered with gray. Abdomen and legs bright yellow. Fringes grayish brown. Interior margin inwardly curved near the outer angle and overlapping near base. Primaries, for three-quarters of their extent from base, dark brown with an Olive tint, bordered by a dark transverse, undulating line, and showing in this field traces of such lines. Discal spot indicated by olive colour. Base, inner curve of interior margin, and a basal dash of lilac grainlets. The space from costa near apex down to the sharply pointed outer angle transversed by well defined undulating lines of lighter colour. Secondaries of uniform bright yellow. Fringes concolorous. .i.. gene oe Sercstel uk vera ext: Sin ey oe ee zs Palpiwithy only simple hats. Geese ees) kate ees Palpi as long as body, large, very pale....... fie Pallidys, é | Palpi not as long as body, small, dark.............sanborui. Fingers almost one-half shorter than hand....... acuminatus. 3 | Fingers as long or scarcely shorter than the hand .........4 Dark spots in dorsal scutz much nearer median that lateral ents scutes widely separatea@me.s + ance ss cit an > tristis. 4 ; Dark spots at about the middle of dorsal scute, scute RALKOWwIy! SEPALAteEG «c+... aberiaasin ta sos 2s nies OLLOTIROLS Garypus, Koch. In this genus the cephalothorax is quite suddenly narrowed in front of the eyes. It has not been recorded from the U.S. Several specimens of a species of this genus were found at Ithaca, N. Y., in the crevices of a rocky cliff. The form may be described as follows :— Grypus granulatus, NOV. sp. Length, 1.7 mm.; colour, abdomen yellowish, legs white, palpi and cephalothorax pale reddish. Palpi longer than the body ; second joint short, very convex in front; third not very long, short pedicellate, gradu- ally growing thicker; fourth predicellate, shorter than the preceding, 164 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. becoming near end a little larger than the femur ; claw about as long as femur ; hand not very broad, tapering towards base of fingers, which are a little shorter than the hand, and curved. Palpi, except fingers, granu- lated, and provided with simple hairs. Cephalothorax distinctly narrowed in front of eyes, anterior margin straight. Abdomen broad, seven scutz separated by a line, first scuta not divided. Legs short, hind legs not very stout. Cephalothorax and scute of abdomen granulated, with simple hairs. The eyes slightly projecting and almost touching. Legs granulated, hind pairs but little larger than front pairs. Found in crevices Ghaiclifiiat ithaca, NY: Chthonius, Koch. The species of this genus are seldom taken in houses. They are not rare under wet or damp leaves in the woods. They can move quite rapidly. Three species have been described from the U. S., two of them from caves. The description given by Hagen for Chth. pennsylvanicus was quite short. A fuller description of this and two other forms may be added. Chthonius pennsylvanicus, Hagen. Length, 1.9 mm. Colour, brownish with scattered silvery spots on abdomen, mandibles reddish, palpi pale reddish, legs white. Palpi slender, longer than the body; third joint (femur) reaching one-third its length beyond the cephalothorax, nearly cylindrical, slightly narrowed in middle, largest near tip ; fourth joint about one-third the length of the third joint ; hand not broad, tapering towards base of fingers, the latter straight about one and one-half times length of hand ; femur longer than fingers. Mandibles very large, about as long as cephalothorax. Cephalothorax much wider in front than behind, about as wide in front as long. Hind eye about twice its diameter from front eye, which is about on the front margin. Abdomen narrow at base, becoming broader near tip, twice as long as cephalothorax. Hind pairs of legs very much larger than front pairs ; fourth pair much longer than body, tip of femur nearly reaching to the end of abdomen. Penn., N. Y. Chthonius longipalpts, Nov. sp. Length, 1.9 mm. Colour pale yellowish, fingers and claws of mand1- bles a little reddish ; cephalothorax and scute slightly brownish, abdo- men with scattered silvery spots. Palpi long and slender, longer than body ; femur very slender, slightly largest near tip; fourth joint short, conical ; claw slender; hand narrow, tapering toward base of fingers, THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 165 which are straight and a little longer than hand; femur longer than fingers. Mandibles large, not quite as long as cepualatiords. Cephalo- thorax not much wider in front than behind, not near as much so as in Chth. pennsylvanicus ; hind eye about once or one and one-fourth its diameter from front eye, which is a little separated from anterior margin of cephalothorax. Abdomen narrow at base, growing wider near tip, end rounded, more than twice the length of the cephalothorax. Hind pairs of legs larger than front pairs ; hind legs extending beyond abdomen, but the tip of the tibiz rarely reach the end of the abdomen. Under leaves in woods, Long Island, N. Y.; Ithaca, N. Y.; Washington, D. C. Chthonius moestus, NOV. Sp Length, 1.3 mm. Colour, more reddish than preceding, silvery spots not as distinct. Palpi short not reaching end of abdomen ; femur short, cylindrical ; fourth joint conical ; hand very short, fingers straight, about twice the length of hand, about as long as femur. Mandibles large, tapering, not as long as cephalothorax. Cephalothorax quite a little broader in front than behind, more so than in Cth. longipalpis; eyes close together, about touching. Hind pair of legs short, not reaching beyond abdomen. Ithaca, N. Y., under stones in spring. The described species of North American Chthonius may be separated by the following table :— oe TWOLOR NOIGVES «Beers dunes se oh seyancs Wine INoWcave Species, fOMRvcyeS:. . apne. hen y says srl ache oe eae {Hind legs about twice as long as the abdomen..... packardi. | Hind legs not much longer than the abdomen.... . . . coecus. ( Eyes close together, almost touching..............oestus. (Eyes distinctly separated. . Tae NC Aa tees 8 Hind eyes about twice its » diame ‘bt rane eye, céph: much wider in front than behind........ pennsylvanicus ead eye not twice its diameter from front eye, ceph. but little wider in front than behind.. .........longipalpis. Atemnus, Can. The eyes in this genus are indistinct or wanting; the mandibular apophysis is present, the dorsal scutz softer than usual, and the fourth joint of the palpi is longer than is usual in the Odcsin@. A species from California may be called Atemnus californicus, NOV. sp. Length, 2.1 mm. Colour, cephalothorax and palpi reddish-yellow, abdomen and legs nearly white. Cephalothorax longer than broad, sides 166 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. nearly parallel until just before the anterior margin where they converge slightly, anterior margin very obtusely angled. Mandibles about half the length of cephalothorax, finger with a small and weak apophysis. No eyes. Cephalothorax smooth. Palpi very long; the basal joint narrower than usual; second joint slender, as long as mandibles, a very small, conical projection on outer side near distal end; third joint (femur) slender, nearly as long as cephalothorax and mandibles together, not pedicellate, gradually growing thicker from the base ; fourth jointa little shorter than the third, very long pedicellate, pedicel almost one-third the length of the joint, gradually growing thicker, both sides convex, the outer more convex toward the distal end, the inner more convex toward basal end, broader than femur ; hand quite long pedicellate, oblong oval, not very broad ; fingers much longer than hand, curved toward the tip, with a great many very fine teeth ; inner side of femur and inner side of hand and base of fingers granulated. Body and appendages with simple hairs. Abdomen wider than cephalothorax, widest behind the middle, not very long ; hind legs long, reaching much behind the abdomen, other legs a little longer than usua]. California, Dr. Cooper Curtice. Olpium, Koch. This genus is related to Atemnus, but has distinct eyes. It has not been recorded from U.S. A species from the District of Columbia may be called Olpium rufulum, Nov. sp. Length, 2.5 mm. Colour, cephalothorax and palpi red, dorsal scutze yellowish, legs white, venter yellowish. Palpi slightly longer than the body, second joint with a small obtuse projection behind ; third joint (femur) pedicellate, about as long as cephalothorax, nearly cylindrical ; fourth joint shorter, long pedicellate, both sides convex, inner side more convex toward base ; hand pedicellate, nearly as long as fourth joint, not very broad, tapering slightly toward base of fingers ; fingers curved, as long as hand ; femur and part of hand finely granulate. Cephalothorax smooth, one and one-half times as long as broad, sides nearly parallel, slightly contracted in front of eyes, anterior margin a little convex ; eyes close together, anterior eye about its diameter from anterior margin ; madibles not one-half the length of cephalothorax, apophysis slender. Abodmen about one and three-fourths the length of cephalothorax, not much wider, widest in middle ;- fourth pair of legs about reaching end of abdomen. Body and appendages with long simple hairs. Under a large stone, Washington, D. C., March. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 167 ADDITIONS TO THE CANADIAN LIST OF MICRO- LEPIDOPTERA. BY J. ALSTON MOFFAT, LONDON, ONT. As I was in the habit of sending to the authorities, for determination, only such as I had in duplicate, thereby avoiding the inconvenience of returning them, and retaining single specimens of a kind as a reminder of what to look for, and in most cases where to look for them, I found that in Micros single specimens accumulated rapidly. Having changed my location, I wished to finish up with the old material and begin anew. So as a means toward that end, I sent to Prof. C. H. Fernald 80 speci- mens that I had been unable to identify, with the understanding that he was to retain such of them as he desired. I regret that there seems to have been so little of value to him amongst them, as evidenced by the few that he did retain, to reward him for the time, trouble and thought that he must have expended on them, which is mildly disclosed in the remark appended to the list of names that he sent to me, ‘‘ They are an iteresting but difficult lot.” As was to be expected in such an accumulation, some turned out to be variations of old forms, others merely better specimens of some already known by name, whilst others were so poor as to render them unfit for determination ; and some proved to be partially or wholly unknown to him. After discarding all pronounced too poor to determine, and placing in position those already known, we have the following 30 names added to our list, and their representatives to the Society’s collection (excepting one) :— Botis oscitalis, Grote. “< mancalis, Led. fiydrocampa proprialis, Fern. Lipocosma fulginosalis, Fern. Hlomophysa glaphyralis, Guen. Loripalpus lunulalis, Hulst. Acrobasis palliolella, Ragonot. Ambesa walsinghami, Rag. Luzophera semifuneralis, Walk. Canarsia hammond, Riley. Peoria hematica, Zell. 168 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Teras effractana, Frol. «¢ hastiana, Linn. Lophoderus affiictanus, W\sm. Ldigraphis inopiana, Haw. Eccopsis atrodentana, Fern. il malana, Fern. Sericoris instrutana, Clem. Pedisca juncticiliana, W\sm. ee abbreviatana, W\sm. solicitana, Walk. Semasia ferruginana, Fern. 2 argutana, Clem. Proteoteras esculana, Riley. Phoxopteris subequana, Zell. Mellisopus latiferreana, W\sm. Dichrorampha incanana, Clem. Cryptolochia querciella. Gelechia purpureofusca, Walk. “ tascripta, W\sm. cc Then there are besides, one species of Lophoderus undetermined ; three Lccopsis, three Semasias, two Phycids, three Pediscas, and one Penthina, with eleven where the genera was uncertain or unknown. Amongst the old names received is Sericoris coruscana and constella- tana. Coruscana is in the Society’s printed list ; conste//atana was first published as Canadian, so far as I know, in Mr. H. S. Saunders’s list of captures at electric light in 1886. Can. Ent., Vol. XIX., No. 2. It is a common and abundant species wherever I have collected, in its season, and tolerably constant, varying slightly in depth of shading. I have seen both names in collections when I have thought it looked like two names for one species. I had a specimen that differed somewhat from the ordinary in the markings; I put it in the box, and that is how I got the name at this time. Prof. Fernald detected two specimens of coruscana in this lot. It is distinctly different from the other and must have been very rare where I have collected, as it was wholly unknown to me ; so that it seems extremely probable that the name on the Society’s list should have been conste//atana, instead of coruscana, and Canadian collectors would do well to take note of it. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 169° NEW NORTH AMERICAN HOMOPTERA.—IIL. BY E. P. VAN DUZEE, BUFFALO, N. Y. Lamenia Californica, n. sp. Form and size of Z. vulgaris. Black, shining, densely pruinose ; head, pectoral pieces, and legs fulvous. Length, 4 mm. Front but little wider across the middle than next the vertex. Head fulvous, tinged with brown on the vertex, apex of the clypeus, margins of the cheeks, and on the front each side of the central carina. Eyes dark brown. Pronotum fulvous, more or less embrowned on the disc ; pro- pleura, base of the intermediate femora and the claws dusky or blackish. Elytra as in vulgaris, blackish with a row of fine white lines on the transverse nervures at the base of the apical areoles. Plates of the male concave on their inner edges, touching at base and apex only. This species is very near our eastern vu/garis from which it may be distinguished by its fulvous head, pronotum, and pectus, and the form of the plates of the male. In vu/gars these are slightly retreating on their inner margins at base, and near the middle exhibit a distinct re-entrant angle, Los Angeles, California. Described from six examples, all males, received from Mr. D. W. Coquillett. (Nos. 642 and 643.) Cicadula punctifrons var. americana, N. var. This variety differs from the typical form as follows: Front deeper brown, scutellum with a black spot within the basal angles mostly covered by the pronotum which is there discoloured or marked with a brown cloud ; two outer areoles on the clavus and the three inner on the corium blackish, appearing as five oblique blackish vitte ; apical areoles infus- cated ; nervures of the wings deep fuscous. Other markings and the genital] characters as in the parent form. The apparently constant differences between this and the typical form seem to call for a varietal name, but it could hardly be considered a distinct species. About Buffalo it occurs in great numbers on low willow bushes from June to August. I have taken one example that does not differ from typical European specimens in my collection. It occurred on osiers in company with the variety July rath, 1889, but does not seem to be common. Athysanus parallelus, n. sp. Closely allied to A. strio/a, Fall. ; larger and stouter, vertex shorter ; 170 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. pronotum shorter, its hind edge nearly straight. Colour and markings about as in that species. Length, 6 mm. Head broad and short ; vertex short, fore and hind margins parallel, but feebly arquated, width between the eyes three times the length, disc obscurely longitudinally rugose ; face coarsely punctured ; front moder- ately convex, its length and breadth subequal ; clypeus oblong, sides straight, at apex slightly contracted ; base feebly convex ; lore broad, rounded ; outer edges of the cheeks scarcely angled below the eyes, apically margining the lore and attaining the tip of the clypeus. Prono- tum as long as the scutellum, broad anterior margin calloused, behind which is an arquated impressed line, hind edge feebly concave or almost straight. Elytra usually subhyaline, sometimes more or less infuscated toward the inner margin, nervures distinct. Genital characters. Male: Valve slightly longer than the last ventral segment, broad, its apex rounded; plates broad, nearly square across their apex, outer angles rounded, inner edges contiguous nearly to their apex, a little shorter than the valve. Female: ultimate ventral segment a little longer than the penultimate, apical margin nearly straight, with a broad subtriangular central notch, not reaching the middle of the segment, extreme outer corners oblique ; pygofers as in s¢rio/a. Colour yellow, pale on the face, pectus, legs, and disc of the prono- cum. Front black, apex, median line and about six arcs on each side yellow ; temples black marked with a yellow spot. Eyes, second joint of the antennz, sutures of the face, median line of the clypeus, and front of the vertex black ; ocelli fulvous, connected by a yellow band ; posterior disc of the pronotum sometimes obscured. Elytra pale yellowish, inner and apical areoles sometimes smoky, nervures pale. Wings whitish hya- line, sometimes smoky toward their tips, nervures concolorous. Abdomen black ; connexivum broadly, the genital and penultimate, and the margins of the ultimate segments, and sometimes the sides of the venter, yellow ; sheath of the ovipositor black. In dark examples the outer surfaces of the femora are trilineate with black, and there is a black line on the edge of the anterior and intermediate tibiz ; tips of the tibiz and tarsal joints embrowned. Described from one male and seven female examples, all taken near South Falls, on the Muskoka River, Ont., about the first of August. This is the large form of A. strio/a mentioned in my list of Muskoka THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. L7L Hemiptera, Can. Ent. XXI., p 11, 1889. But a comparison of the genital characters with a series of s¢rio/a received from Europe shows it to be a well marked species. The true s¢vzoZa is common about Buffalo from July to September on swampy meadows and pasture lands. Goniagnathus Palmeri, n. sp. Form of Pediopsis insignis ; short and broad, punctured, colour uniform deep shining black, tarsi and apical nervure of the elytra rufo-piceous. Length, 4 mm. Head a little wider than the pronotum, closely punctured ; vertex short, very little longer at the middle than next the eye, apex very obtusely angled, passage to the front well rounded ; ocelli placed nearly half way from the eye to the apex of the forehead ; front convex about one-sixth longer than wide, sides pretty regularly arquated, suddenly con- tracted at the apex, disc each side with a large smooth area crossed by about eight irregular rows of punctures; clypeus narrowed from its rounded base, (its apex?) lore broad ; cheeks broad, prominently angled a little below the eyes ; antennz small, incerted beneath a feeble oblique ledge. Pronotum long, almost semicircular in outline, latero-posterior margins long, hind margin moderately concave; surface coarsely punctured, irregularly so on the disc, anterior submargin with an in- terrupted transverse impunctured band across its whole width; narrow hind margin impunctured. Scutellum acute at apex; anterior field coarsely punctured, disc with a finely punctured area each side of the middle ; posterior field transversely wrinkled, with a few scattering coarse punctures. Elytra but little longer than the abdomen, oblique at tip, thick and coreaceous, smooth ; all the areoles circumscribed by a single row of coarse punctures; apical areoles five, short, subequal ; antiapicals three. Inner edge of the posterior femora somewhat ex- panded apically in a small rounded Jobe ; basal joint of the hind tarsi thickened. Abdomen stout, last ventral segment of the female longer than the preceding, its hind edge very feebly advanced in the middle ; pygofers short, obtusely subtriangular in form, slightly exceeded by the ovipositor. Colour a uniform deep shining black ; apical nervure of the elytra, tarsi, base of the eyes beneath, and the antennal setz, rufo-piceous. 173 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Described from a single female example taken at Mt. Balsam, N. C., Aug. rst, 1890, by my friend Mr. W. J. Palmer, jr., of this city, to whom I take pleasure in dedicating this singularly neat and elegant little species. This is certainly a notable addition to the homopterous fauna of this country. It is a remarkably trim compactly built little creature, mimick- ing very closely the genus Pediopsis, from which it differs, however, by all the characters separating that genus from the Jassidz proper. In its intensely black colour it has few equals in our Jassid fauna. In mounting this specimen the apex of its clypeus was unfortunately covered so its characters cannot be given. DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME BUTTERFLY LARVA FROM YOSEMITE.—I. BY HARRISON G. DYAR, YOSEMITE, CAL. Limenitis lorquinii, Boisd. Lgg.—Nearly spherical, the base flat ; covered with elevated reticula- tions from the intersections of which arise short spines. The depressions between the reticulations are rounded. Colour pale green with a silvery lustre. Diameter.g mm. Laid singly at the extreme tip of a leaf on the upper surface. First larval stage.—Head rounded, brown, not shiny; ocelli and jaws black ; a few minute hairs arising from yellowish elevated bases ; width .6 mm. Body slightly enlarged at joint 12; feet normal. Colour yellowish, with rows of short conical tubercles, which are largest dorsally on joints 3, 4, 6 and 12; some very short and minute hairs. The larva builds out a long perch in continuation of the mid-rib of the leaf on which it rests. It collects a little bundle of bits of leaf, etc., at the base of this perch. Second stage-——Head rounded, brown, with two paler lines in front converging toward the vertex. It is roughly tuberculate, the tubercles yellowish. Width.g mm. Body densely tuberculate, each tubercle with several points, beside many minute granulations. General colour dark brown, with a broad, dull ochre, dorsal patch, which widens on joints 3— 5 and 8-10. ‘The larva rests on its perch as in the first stage. Third stage.-—Head bilobed, bulging in front, very rough and tuber- culated, but the tubercles are not large. Colour nearly black, the clypeus and tubercles paler, the Jatter tipped with yellowish on the sides THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 173 of the head. Width 1.3 mm. Body rough and tuberculated, a pair of short subdorsal tuberculated processes on each joint except joint 2, those on joints 3, 12 and 13 the largest, those on joints 4, 6 and 11 next in size, the others all smaller; other similar smaller tubercles in a double dorsal line and two lateral lines, besides numerous small granulations. Colour black with a dorsal white patch on joints 8—ro, reaching down the sides on joint 9. All the tubercles and granulations are dull yellowish, more especially on joints 2-4. The larva builds no perch in this stage. fourth stage-—Head as before, densely tuberculate, the tubercles larger laterally and especially so at the vertex. Colour blackish-brown, darker centrally, the tubercles pale. Width 1.8 mm. On the body are a series of round wart-like prominences covered with tubercles, the sub- dorsal ones on joint 3 produced into a pair of horns 1 mm. long, while those on joints 4, 11, 12 and 13 are larger than the others. Body densely tuberculate, black with a dorsal white patch as before. All the tubercles are pale brown. Some dorsal cream coloured shades on joints 3 and 4 and a black dorsal dot on joints 8 and g each. Indications of a white substigmatal band, especially on joints 11-13. Fifth stage.— Head bilobed, the apices produced, rough and tubercu- lated as if covered with warts, higher than wide and depressed along the median suture. Colour dull olive-brown, the excresence paler ; ocelli black ; mouth dark. Width 2.8 mm. The body is enlarged dorsally at joints 3, 4 and 6; on joint 3 is a pair of subdorsal horns, roughly tuberculated, 2 mm. long. On joints 4, 6, 11, 12 and 13 are small sub. dorsal tubercles, the largest on joint 13, and close together.. A number of small, round, smooth, elevated bluish dots, most conspicuous dorsally on joints 5—7 and 11-t3. General colour olive-brown, shading into pale pinkish on joints 2-4, but still partly mottled with the ground colour. On the hump on joint 6 it is pale olive-yellow, except in a dorsal band where the ground colour prevails. A large patch, nearly white on joints 8—1o dorsally, but on joint 8 posteriorly and joint 9 laterally, it contains a few streaks of the ground colour. An irregular, broad, white, substig- matal band on joints 5-13. Spiracles black, pale centrally and encircled by white. The processes on joint 3 and tubercles on joint 13 are blackish-brown ; venter mottled with whitish with a medio-ventral nearly white line. Anal feet elevated in repose and the body humped, the head turned toone side. The larva usually rests on the stems of its food-plant. 174 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Chrysalis—Eye cases prominent, pointed, thorax keeled; wing cases very large, projecting ; on the anterior part of the abdomen dorsally, is a very large circular disk-like projection, its sides somewhat creased. Abdomen tapering, the last segments rounded. Cremaster large, flat, fastened by its numerous hooks in the mat of silk spun by the larva and from which the pupa is suspended. Wing cases and abdominal hump subtranslucent dark olive-gray ; thorax dull purplish, mottled with white ; abdomen nearly all sordid white but shaded with gray and black dorsally, laterally and in a double broad ventral band. The terminal segments and cremaster are entirely black. Length 25 mm. ; thickness through thorax 7 mm.; height of abdominal projection 3 mm.; greatest width through wing cases 8 mm. Food-plants. — Willow (Salix), poplar (Populus), choke-cherry (Prunus demissa ). The second brood of larve probably hibernate in the second stage in the manner usual in Limenitis. ENTOMOLOGICAL FIELD. DAY.* July 4th was a great field day for the entomologists, it having been ar- ranged to meet at Jamesburg, N. J. The societies represented were the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, the Feldman Collecting Social of Philadelphia, the Brooklyn Entomological Society and the Newark Ento- mological Society. About forty members were present, among whom were Dr. Henry Skinner, Curator of the Entomological Society of Phila- delphia and editor of the Entomological News ; Professor J. B. Smith, of New Brunswick ; Isaac C. Martindale, of Camden; James Johnson, of Frankford ; William J. Fox, Assistant Librarian of the Academy of Natural Sciences ; C. W. Johnson, Curator of the Wagner Institute ; Dr. Castle, Messrs. Liebeck, Neutze, E. Wenzel, H.Wenzel, Schmitz, Trescher, Hoyer, Bruner, Philip Nell and Philip Laurent, of Philadelphia, and Messrs. Machesney, Angell, Loeffler, Angelman, Sherman, Thompson, Ottolengin, Leng, Merkel, Roberts, Pearsall, Davis, Baier, Hess, Dietz and Sieb, of Newark, New York and Brooklyn. *From the Philadelphia Public Ledger. - THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 1¥5 It was feared that the hail storm of the previous evening would some- what interfere with the pleasures of the day, but the bright sunshine of the early morning brought sunshine into the hearts of the ardent col- lectors, for Jamesburg is well known to be a favourite collecting ground. The arrangements for the occasion were made by Prof. J. B. Smith, State Entomologist for New Jersey. The party were met at the Jamesburg Station by the gentleman having charge of the extensive cranberry interests near the town, and by conveyances were taken about a mile to a beautiful grove, bordering cranberry meadows, where, after a photo- grapher had secured a picture of the entire party, the day was spent in collecting, ample lunch having been provided. The locality proved to be such that all the divisions of entomological study could be enjoyed. Philip Nell gave his whole attention to Micro-lepidoptera, C. W. Johnson collected the Diptera, W. J. Fox looked after Hymenoptera, a few collected in all the orders, quite a number looked after butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) exclusively, while, perhaps, the greater portion collected the Coleoptera. Isaac C. Martindale succeeded in making the largest collection of the day of butterflies and moths, as well as a large number of dragon flies (Neuroptera), which seemed to be quite abundant, No complete list of all the collection has yet been made, but the following butterflies were taken :—Papilio troilus, Papilio philenor, Colias philo- dice and alba, Pieris rape, Danais archippus, Melitea tharos, Argynnis idalia, cybele and myrina, Hypophleas Americana, Lycena comyntas, Lhecla calanus and titus, Neonympha canthus and eurytis, Eudamus tityrus and bathyllus, Satyrus alope, variety maritima, Pamphila mas- sasoit, manataagua, verna, pontiac and metacomet, which may be con- sidered as a remarkably good catch for one day in one locality. The specimens were in fine condition, and some of them of rare occurrence. The best catch by the coleopterists was the Cicindela lepida, a beetle heretofore known only from the seacoast and the vicinity of the salt licks of Illinois. The State of New Jersey has long been regarded as a good collecting ground for the naturalist in whatever department his studies inclined, and the finding now and then of these rare species in unlooked-for localities adds to her well-known reputation. Professor Smith has given much attention to the insects found to be injurious to the agricultural interests, and has greatly aided the farmer in ridding the farm and the growing crops of destructive things. The cranberry culture has received his 176 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. special attention, and his knowledge of entomology has been of great service to cranberry growers. The bogs near Jamesburg are looked upon as being the finest in the State, and the prospect this year is very favour- able for a good crop. ‘The berries are just now forming, the inflorescence having been in great profusion. Mr. Martindale identified all the plants that were collected, he having been engaged in botanical study for more than thirty years, and has become familiar with all the species growing in the State. He stated that a belt of country crossing New Jersey diagon- ally, from Sandy Hook on the coast to near the city of Salem on the Delaware river side, in width about twenty miles, known as the pine barren regions, was the best botanical ground to be found east of the Alleghenies. Many entomologists have not heretofore given sufficient attention to botanical study, but it is now well known that many species of insects feed exclusively on certain plants, and a knowledge of these aids much in the determination of the collector’s gatherings. The Geological Survey of New Jersey, so long in charge of the late Professor Cook, has already published catalogues of the fauna and flora of the State, but there yet remains much desirable work to be done by the careful collector. The late Dr. Joseph Leidy, of Philadelphia, regarded the swamps of New Jersey as the best collecting ground east of the Mississippi Valley, and during the preparation of his memorable work on the Fresh Water Rhizopods made many and frequent visits thither, and thereby greatly enlarged our knowledge of species. The late Chas. F. Parker, of Camden, in company with Mr. Martindale and others, explored all that part of the State lying south of Trenton for botanical specimens, Mr, Martindale has collected the marine flora (sea mosses), and already published the results of his years of study in that department. Mr. Calvert, of Philadelphia, has completed a list of all the dragon flies known to this section. Dr. Henry Skinner has published a list of the butterflies that have been found in the vicinity of Philadelphia. All these greatly aid the student of natural history, and the annual field gatherings of the active entomologists are doing a good work in fostering a more social feeling among the many persons engaged in the study of insect life. No special arrangements were determined upon for another year, but it is expected that the annual gatherings will be continued, and all persons interested are privileged to attend. It was much regretted that Dr. Horn, the eminent entomologist of Philadelphia, was prevented by previous engagements from being with the party. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 177 ENTOMOLOGICAIL AND OTHER MEETINGS AT WASHINGTON. The annual programme of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science has just been issued. For a fortnight continuously meetings of great scientific interest will be held in Washington. In the whole of America there is no place which can compare with the American capital as a suitable place for such meetings. Not only is it the social and political centre of the Union, but here also are the headquarters of the various government scientific departments. To naturalists objects of great attraction will be the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum, the Aquarium, the Botanical Gardens, National Zoological Gardens, and many other places of general interest. Several other scientific bodies have arranged to hold their meetings previous to the meetings of the American Association. The American Microscopical Society, Aug. 11-12. The Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations will meet Aug. 12 in the Law Lecture Room of Columbia University. On Aug. 13th the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists will begin its sessions, and a conference of American Chemists will be held on the 17th or 18th. On Monday, 17th, the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science will hold its first meeting, and also on the same day the Association of Economic Entomo- logists, of which our own Vice-President, Mr. James Fletcher, of Ottawa, is the presiding officer for this year. The Entomological Club of the American Association will meet on Aug. 19th. A joint circular has been, issued by Mr. Fletcher and Prof. Osborn, President of the Entomological Club, urging entomologists to attend the meetings, and suggesting that. papers referring especially to economic entomology might, for con- venience, be best presented before the Association, while notes, items, discoveries of scientific interest, etc., might be referred to the Club, and authors -are requested to send in beforehand titles of their papers to the proper secretaries, viz.:— Mr. L. O. Howard, Secretary Association of Economic Entomologists, Washington, D.C. Dr. C. M. Weed, Secretary Entomological Club, A.A.A.S., Hanover, New Hampshire. This arrangement, we feel sure, will tend to make both of these meet- ings more successful, and will allow Entomologists attending to be present at all the sessions of both organizations. 178 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Meetings of the Entomological and Botanical Clubs of the American Association will be held throughout the week. On the whole the coming meeting of the American Association at Washington promises to be one of the most profitable and enjoyable of any ever held under the auspices of that most successful body. CORRESPONDENCE. fH OG HTS (OR ESeP aC I Eis. Siv,—In considering the value of the structure of genitalia in deter- mining species, we come in direct collision with the old unsettled question, ‘‘ What constitutes a species?” I believe it to be a simple one, when we remember that there are two ways of using the term, the natural and the artificial. All are agreed that there is no such a thing as genera in nature, and I am fully convinced that there is such a thing as species in nature, which is satisfactorily demonstrated by cross breeding ; and that the artificial method of defining species is merely a matter of individual opinion, as to how much difference should be considered enough to make a species. Does the fact stated by Prof. Smith, that “in an entire genus all the species will be practically alike,” prove that the character has failed? May it not rather go to show that genus to be composed of just so many artificial species, of one natural species, which I am quite satisfied may often be the case, and, therefore, be a valu- able proof of its success? — There are no two opinions of the advantage to be obtained from a reliable test of species. Prof. Smith expresses confidence in the genitalia up to a certain point; given his experience, we might have the sarne, One of his published investigations convinced me that there must be a great deal in it. ’ In Entomologica Americana for August, 1890, dealing with the Scope- Josomas, he says, ‘* Moffatiana is closely allied in colour and maculation to Grefiana, so closely, indeed, that for a long time they were considered identical * * * The genitalia of Moffatiana are of an entirely dif- ferent type from the other species of the group. * * * This strong difference in species otherwise so nearly allied is remarkable.’ As I know the history of how they came to be separated, I will give it as con- firmatory evidence to the value of that method. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 179 In that famous entomological year, 1877, I took Scopelosomas for the first time; they were in great abundance. From the latter part of September to the first day of December I took about 800 moths, mostly Scopelosoma and Lithophane, the bulk of the Scops. being of that form now known as Moffatiana. Ihad noticed a difference in the depth of shading in the yellow ones, but thought it the result of age and exposure. In November I visited Mr. Grote in Buffalo, taking with me represen- tatives of my recent captures, and received from him over a dozen names of Scops. and Liths., and amongst them S. Grefiana. In following years I observed that the yellowish form was just as fresh as the reddish one, and that in some localities one would greatly outnumber the other, and I began to suspect that we might have in these forms different moths. About this time Roland Thaxter, who is now, I understand, entitled to the prefix of Dr., opened communication with me, with a view to ex- change ; to him I expressed my suspicion, and sent to him an example of the light form as being least abundant with me, and received the reply, that he saw no difference in it from those he took. I then sent him the reddish form; he expressed delight, never having seen the same before, and enquired if Mr. Grote had seen it. I told him that I had got the name from just such specimens. I supplied him with a good series, and he went into communication with Mr. Grote about it, and it seems with some difficulty succeeded in persuading Mr. Grote that it was deserving of a separate name. And now Prof. Smith, by the examination of the genitalia, finds them widely apart. I, by observing their habits, had suspected this might be the case, but could not prove it, whilst from appearance alone Mr. Grote had failed even to suspect it. As resemblance is not always proof that they are one, so the lack of it is not a demonstration that they are separate. In the early part of 1890 I had an opportunity of examining an extensive series of Zitho- phanes in the collection of Capt. Geddes, Toronto. I could arrange in line 30 or 40 Disposita, Petulca, Ferrealis, Signosa, Bethunez, in such a way as to make it appear impossible to tell where the separation should be made. What verdict would the genitalia give in this case? I would expect it to be in favour of their being artificial species of one natural species ; yet it may not, but suppose it did? let no one think that I would favour the obliterating of a single name. J. Atston Morrat. 180 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. BOOK NOTICE. INSECTS AND INSECTICIDES, by Clarence M. Weed, Hanover, N. H., 1891. Under the above caption Dr. Weed has published a small volume of 281 pages, well printed and copiously illustrated, which will be found most useful by those for whom it is prepared—the farmer, the fruit grower, the floriculturist, and the housekeeper. The work consists of an introduction and six parts. The introduction gives a concise account of the transfor- mations of insects, which are illustrated by the life history of Papilio astertas, the Celery Caterpillar, for those which have a complete meta- morphosis, and the Chinch Bug for those which pass through incomplete transformations. ‘The differences between biting and sucking insects are explained, and the natural enemies of injurious insects are treated of. There is then a summary of the different insecticides, and the best methods of applying them. The introduction closes with short instruc- tions for collecting and preserving insects. Part J. treats of Insects Affecting the Larger Fruits—apple, plum, pear, cherry, peach. Part /f.—Insects Affecting Small Fruits—strawberry, currants, goose- berries, raspberry, blackberry and grape. Part ///.—Insects Affecting Shade trees, the Rose and House Flowers. (Parts 1-3.0f Dr. Weed’s work have appeared previously in a small edition issued by the Columbus (Ohio) Horticultural Society.) Fart 1V.—Insects Affecting Vegetables—tomatoes, potatoes, celery, squash, cucumber, bean, pea, cabbage, onion, asparagus and rhubarb. fart V.—Insects Affecting Cereals and Forage Crops—lIndian corn, wheat, clover, grass. - Part V7.—Insect Pests of Domestic Animals and the Household. On the whole this is a very useful and attractive volume, well arranged, easy of reference, and well illustrated. The accuracy and quality of Dr. Weed’s scientific work are now too well known to need any comment, further than to say that this his last publication is up to his usual excellent standard. JOE; Mailed August 6th. The atntautliany Hontomolonist. wads. XOXLTT, LONDON, SEPTEMBER, 1891. No. 9. NOTES ON COLEOPTERA.—No, 8. BY JOHN HAMILTON, M. D., ALLEGHENY, PA. Panageus crucigerus, Say.—The living beauty of this beetle is but feebly represented by the dull and faded examples usually seen in collec- tions. Its bright sparkling colours lose their brilliancy onward after life ceases, for which no restorative has yet been discovered. It is not infre- quent along the New Jersey coast, occurring sometimes in abundance. The mature insects may be found on Brigantine Beach from the middle of July onward. ‘They are in their greatest abundance about the first of September, at which time they seem to be disclosed. The eggs of many Carabide are deposited in July and August, and from such, imagoes are produced during the same months of the succeeding year, Individuals of these same and other species hibernate and oviposit in the spring, but their offspring are usually not perfected till the next year. Panageus crucigerus, however, at least on the coast, seems to oviposit in the spring, probably during April, and to disclose the same year about the time men- tioned, as appears from observations repeatedly made, one of which is given. Sandy depressions are seen covered in summer two or three inches in thickness with sea trash, below which the ground is damp from capillary attraction, as they are only a few inches above the ordinary summer tides. These are the beds of tidal streams, which, during the winter and spring till near April, are constantly covered with salt water from ocean or bay, many of them being formed during that time, and previously existing ones filled up. On the first of September, on over- turning some of the weeds deposited on one of such places, several -examples of P. crucigerus, too immature for use, were taken, which evi- dently had been bred where they were found. As this bed had been formed during the winter, of course the eggs from which these insects were derived must have been deposited after March. It was physically impossible for the larve to have reached there from other places, because for a long distance around there was nothing but dry and burning sand. 182 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. To account for the rapid development it may be stated that these places are inhabited by multitudes of small crustacea and other minute forms of maritime life, so that the food supply of the larvee is most ample, pro- moting quicker growth and earlier maturity than occurs in the case of species less bountifully supplied. A couple of weeks afterwards the rest of this place was fully investigated and over fifty well chitinized examples obtained, while many others were seen which were still immature. This species was described by Mr. Say from a specimen cast alive by the waves on the sea beach of Senipuxten, Maryland, the last of Septem- ber, and it is now recorded as occurring on the sea coast of New York, New Jersey and Florida ; also Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. Amara fulvipes, Putz.—This beetle was unknown here till recently, when Mr. Klages took a large number in a pasture field, where there were cattle, late in the year (October)—many of them paired. I took it in this city since at electric lights in June, and once in a field in a hilly place later. It probably inhabits the hilly districts along the foot of the Alleghanies. It is decidedly a fine species, belonging among the large elongate forms (Zzrus). It does not appear to be generally known, or at least is not plentiful enough to appear on an exchange list, while none have been received for identification. In the last two catalogues of European Coleoptera there is an Amara ( Triena) fulvipes, Serv., and if my investigations are correct Putzey’s species must be renamed. Bradycellus cognatus, Gyll.— Tachycellus appears for the first time in a general European catalogue, in edition 1V., just published (May, 1891), and under it is this species. While the first three joints of the antennze are not really pubescent like those which follow, yet they are armed so thickly with long thick hairs that its removal from Lradycel/us seems doubtfully justifiable. This species is native in Europe and in Asia, as well as in North America. Quedius fulgidus, Er.—This beetle has been taken in a more northern latitude than is recorded of any other species. It was found during the voyage of the Alert and Discovery towards the North Pole, 1875-76, at Discovery Bay, in Grant Land, North America, in about lat.82°. (Linn., Jour. Zoology, XVI., 107.) This beetle is remarkable otherwise for the power it has of adapting itself to a variety of climates, being found like- wise in very warm countries, as Asia Minor, Barbary, Java, Tasmania, Australia, etc., in all of which it seems to be native. This world-wide distribution has produced considerable variation, especially in its colora- THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 183 tion, and it is not well agreed among eminent coleopterists whether there should be one species or two. The form found in Grant Land is stated to have been the common black British form, mesomelinus, Marsh. Tanarthrus salicola, WLec.—This interesting little Anthicide was described from the salt marshes of the Rio Colorado, where it is said to have the habits and activity of a Cicindelide. I saw an example taken by an amateur entomological friend on a salt marsh near Lincoln, Nebraska, which shows the species to be also an inhabitant of the alkaline salt marshes west of the Rocky Mountains. Leptinus testaceus, Mull.; Caucasicus, Motsch.; Americanus, Lec.— This curious beetle, which is blind, is known to be native in Europe and Western Asia, as well as in North America. Its consideration here is chiefly intended to present at one view what is known of its habits and what has been written about it, with the view to ascertain more nearly its mode of life. The chief bibliographical references in American literature are :— 1. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1866, 367. Described by Dr. Leconte, under the name Americanus, from examples found by Dr. Brendel at Keokuk, Iowa, under a log, in a mouse nest. 2. Classification of the Coleopt. of N. A., 1883, 77. ‘ Lives with various small rodents and insectivora, either on their bodies or in the material of their nests, but whether as true parasites or merely as guests has not been determined.” 3. Proc. Ent. Soc., Washington, I., 16, 1884. ‘‘ Known to be parasitic only in the imago state.” —Schwars. 4. Insect Life, I., 200. Prof..C. V. Riley states that the larve and imagoes had been found around Washington in the nests of Graphops. 5. Scientif. Amer. Suppl., XXV., 10356, June 1888, and re-printed in Insect Life, I., 306. “ It is known to be parasitic on mice, as it has been found upon them in Philadelphia by Dr, John A. Ryder, and I have taken it in the nests of a common field mouse near Washington.”—/7/ey. 6. Proc. Ent. Soc., Wash., II., 2. ‘* Parasitic on wood mice and on other small rodents.”—Schwarz. Mr. H. Ulke has also taken this species. Prof. Jerome Schmitt, of St. Vincent College, Westmoreland Co., takes it comparatively frequently, and kindly permits the use of his notes. Noy. 3rd, 1890, one example was taken in a mouse nest under a log, the mouse having just fled; cold and snowing. Many nests of mice were examined by sifting during the winter, but no Zeftimus were obtained 184 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. from them. Feb. 18, 1891, three examples were sifted from leaves drifted against a fence, but not in company with mice. June, 27, under a decaying log in a lot of dry vegetable matter, possibly an abandoned mouse or bumble bees’ nest, some 50 or 60 specimens were obtained. July 3rd, under circumstances similar to the last, about a dozen examples were found. August roth, a single example was found on Chestnut Ridge (one of the Alleghanies) under a stone where no nest nor mouse far nor near could be found. ‘The result of Mr. Schmitt’s collecting shows that Zeftinus may be taken at any season of the year. It also shows that it is not wholly dependent on mice or mice nests for its food, as of the five captures it only occurred once with a mouse. All previously recorded captures were made in the nests of this rodent, which has given rise to the expression: “ Parasitic in the nests of mice,” etc. The state- ment that Zep¢tinus is parasitic on the bodies of mice is unsupported, except in one erroneous instance, from which all assertions of this kind have probably arisen. The statement in Insect Life cited, that it has been found on mice by Dr. John A. Ryder, proves, on being traced up, to be somewhat erroneous, and it is found, curiously enough, to have been a mole—and dead—on which it occurred, perhaps much in the way a Cercyon unipunctatum, a Silpha, Choleva, etc., might have been there. That ZLeftinus is not a parasite seems to have been the opinion of some distinguished European authors, among them, Mr. A. Fauvel, who published a paper on the subject in 1863, in Annales. Ent. Soc., France, of that year, in which he states that this insect is found under dead leaves, in leaves in hollow logs, under logs, stones and roots, and thinks, with Fairmaire (cited), that the opinion that they are parasitic on or with rodents is erroneous ; advancing the conjecture that they feed on small fungi, hike most Choleva, Agathidium,.Oxypoda, Tachyporus, etc., the decaying leaves and mosses of the nests of rodents often furnishing supplies of this small vegetation accounting for their presence there. If Mr. Fauvel is correct_in this surmise, 1t would be only in line for them to resort occasionally to a carcass for food, if in its vicinity, as is the well- known habit of many insects which live on decaying matter and low forms of life, thus accounting for their presence on a dead mole, as found by Dr. Ryder. Whatever may be the nature of its food, from the fore- going it is evident it can and does live independent of animals, and that: the proper term to apply to it in its relation to rodents would, perhaps, be frequently inquilinous. In Europe the distribution of Leftinus is, Germany, France, Sweden, Caucasus ; in America, that mentioned above. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 185 But, were the country collected over by the mode employed by Professor Schmitt, without doubt it would be found to be a common and widely distributed species. Agabus ( Colymbetes) discolor, Harris, New England Farmer, 1828, 164. A.(C.) pheopterus, Kirby, Faun. Bor. Am., 1837, p. 70, No. 102. A. (C.) phaeopterus, Kirby (Mann.), Bul. Nat., Ges. Mosc., 1853, 159. A. discolor, \| Lec., An. Lyc. Nat. Hist., New York, V., 204, 1852. A. obliteratus, Lec., Smith, Cont. XI., 5, 1860. A. ( Gaurodytes) Lecontei, Horn, pro. A. discolor, || Lec., Tr. Am. Ent. Soc., 1V:, 417. These forms bave been heretofore united and disunited in a variety of ways, and what appears to be the true synonymy seems at present a little clouded. -Discolor, Warris, has in the Munich catalogue for a synonym phaopterus, Kirby, but the reading of the descriptions shows this to be an error. A. pheopterus, Kirby, was described from examples taken in lat. 54°. A form determined by Mannerheim to be this species was taken in Alaska. cata ns SER eNen oe WIMEEE Fastiaribackas iP. \S, Hippies t 3 >a vase eee eaten [Three CLAWS CO tATSUS:...°..)., SERRE = «= ba ol aero err \ew.o Claws tO:1arsHS - 5 +. +) GMM os ae A arte LOSER USoFILA GRACILIS, Keys. Marx in Proc. Ent. Soc., Wash., 1890, Vol., II., p. 36, pl. I., fig. 6. Alabaster Cave, Cala. This is quite unlike other Dysderide in general appearance, but is referred by Keyserling to this family. DyYSDERA INTERRITA, Hentz. D. crocata, Koch. Marx Cat. Aranz of temp. of N. Am., 18go. D. interrita, Hentz. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. IV., p. 224, 1842. ss ee ‘-opid. U.'S:,,6de Burgess, p. 20; phil tig Tmo me ‘ xe «¢ Emerton, New Engl., Drass., Agal. and Dysd., p. 36, pl. VIIL., fig. 2, 1890. New Engl., N. Y., D. C., Md., Va. ARIADNE BICOLOR, Hentz. Pylarus bicolor, Hentz. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. IV, p. 225, 1842. Ke es a Spid. Wiis.red.. Burgess, p. 2z,7plL, Epes 3, 1875. “ pumilis, Hentz.. Proc: 2B0sE, Soc. Nat, Hist, Vols s1Vi, 9p 226, 1842. as & ce Spid.. igs, 2ed.,. (Burgess, p..22. pl «Lies fig..5, 1975. *M.E.—median eyes; A.S.E.—anterior side eyes; P.S.E.—posterior side eyes, THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 209 Ariadne bicolor, Hentz. Emerton, New Eng., Drass., Agal. and Dysdiep. 37, pl. VIII; fig. 3, 1890. * ca ff Marx Cat. Arane of temp. N. Am., 1890. “cc pumilts, (73 (73 cc 6c“ (73 (74 “ce “cc 1890. ew Engl; N: Y.,D:C., lea’, ‘Ala., Kla;7?@hio;; Va., Md., Pa., N. C. A. pumilis is only the young of A. bicolor. SEGESTRIA PACIFICA, nov. sp. Length, 5.3 mm. ; length of ceph., 2.3 mm. ; length of abd., 3. mm. Breadth of ceph., 1.3 mm. ; breadth of abd., 1.5 mm. Length of femur I., 2. mm.; Length of tibia I., 1.8 mm. Color—Cephalothorax brown, darkest near front margin, yellowish towards posterior end ; mandibles, reddish brown ;. maxille, yellowish ; lip and sternum, brownish ; palpi whitish, with dark ring at base of tibiz ; legs whitish, with brown rings at tip of femora, on patella, and near base and tip of tibiz and metatarsi, first pair darkest ; abdomen nearly white, with scattered reddish-brown spots, which form a large patch on the middle of the dorsum and a few smaller patches behind it; on the venter a broad median stripe reaches from the lung-slits to and around the spinnerets, which are yellowish. Cephalothorax wide in front, but little wider in middle, rounded behind, head low, eyes six, S. E. touching, the A. S. E. not quite their diameter from the front margin, M. E. larger than S. E., touching, about their diameter from the front margin. Mandibles large, slanting, much thicker than anterior femora ; maxillz long ; lip long and truncate at lip ; sternum narrow in front, widest behind the middle ; legs 1-4-3, 2nd pair lost ; first pair of legs largest ; abdomen nearly cclindrical, spinnerets short. One specimen from Washington State [T. Kincaid]. 210 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE ENTO- MOLOGICAL CLUB OF THE.A. A. A. S., 1891. (HELD IN THE COLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D. C., AUGUST Ig-22, 1891.) The Washington meeting of the Club was one of the most successful ever held in point of attendance and interest. Seven sessions were held, with average attendance of twenty-two, and minimum of eighteen. Forty- two persons registered and received Ciub badges, in the following order :— Herbert Osborn, Iowa; John B. Smith, New Jersey ; Howard Evarts Weed, Mississippi; D. S. Kellicott, F. M. Webster, Ohio; C. V. Riley, L. O. Howard, Washington, D.C. ; James Fletcher, Ottawa, Canada ; W. B. Alwood, Virginia ; B. Pickman Mann, E. A. Schwarz, Washington, D. C.; Lawrence Bruner, Nebraska; A. J. Cook, Michigan; Paul Wallace, California ; E. B. Southwick, New York ; G. H. Perkins, Vermont; Geo. H. Hudson, New York ; Wm. H. Ashmead, Florida ; J. A. Lintner, New York ; Howard H. Hopkins, Maryland; Martha E. Stuart, Nebraska ; Lucien M. Underwood, Indiana; O. F. Cook, New York; Mary E. Murtfeldt, Augusta Murtfeldt, Missouri; E. W. Claypole, Katherine B. Claypole, Agnes M. Claypole, Edith J. Claypole, Ohio; E. W. Doran, Maryland ; Geo F. Atkinson, Alabama ; J. M. Stedman, North Carolina ; Otto Heidemann, William H. Fox, Geo. Marx, Washington, D. C. ; Charles Robertson, Illinois; L. H. Pammel, Iowa; E. A. Popenoe, Kansas ;» Ad -S), 1801. (Continued from page 222.) AUGUST 20, 1891. The Club met pursuant to adjournment at 9 a. m., President Osborn in the chair. Eighteen members present. The minutes of the first day’s meetings were read, amended and approved. Mr. Lintner spoke on Tue ‘Pear Mince, (Diplosis pyrivora) 1s New York. It had been brought to his attention as an injurious species during the present year. It has been abundant at Catskill, and in small numbers has extended to within 20 miles of Albany. After careful search he has found a single infested pear at the latter city. He gave a history of the investigations made in this country on the species, and detailed all that was known concerning its life history. The character of the injury done was carefully described and specimens were exhibited. He also gave a history of the experiments made to control the species, and spoke approvingly of a suggestion that some application to completely blight and destroy the blossoms of infested orchards, more particularly the Lawrence trees, be made to exterminate the pest. It is so numerous, 15 to 35 larve in a single pear, and go ¥ of the entire fruit infested, that he ranks it among the most injurious, and with the pear fsy//a the most serious obstacle to pear growing in New York. The larve mature about the first of June. They then emerge from the pears, usually during or after a rain, drop to the ground and bury themselves a short distance. In ro days they make a cocoon covered with grains of sand; but how long they remain before pupating he could not say. He asked whether Mr. Smith’s statements concerning methods of oviposition made before the Association of Economic Entomologists De THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. was based on personal observation. It was at variance with the des- criptions of this operation and somewhat surprising. Mr. Smith replied that he had never watched oviposition, nor had it been watched in this country so far as he was aware. His statements were inferences based on examinations of infested fruit. The passage from the ovaries to the outside of the pear was large and open, so no necessity existed for a puncturing of fruit by either insect or larva. He further found that in a lot of infested pears placed on moist earth, most of the larvee left the pear by this same aperture. Mr. Lintner expressed surprise at this, and described his experience, which was that the fruit usually cracks transversely near its base, and that the larve make their way to the surface through these cracks. Mr. Southwick asked as to the best way to breed Cecidomyide. He had been very unsuccessful with some species he had attempted to rear. Mr. Smith thought no general rule could be laid down, as the habits of the insects differ so much. Our effort must be to keep them in natural conditions as much as possible. Mr. Lintner agreed to this and added, that there was much difference in the ease with which species could be bred. With some, success was very difficult. Mr. Fletcher found them easy to rear as a rule, if they were given the constant care and attention necessary. He thought the blighting of the blossoms might be done without injury to the tree, as the blossoms of many varieties expanded before the leaves appeared, and even if some leaves were destroyed at this season the injury would soon be repaired. Mr. Lintner asked what material could best be employed ? Mr. Fletcher suggested the arsenites, and preferably London purple on account of its causticity. Mr. Howard asked whether Mr. Fletcher had considered what effect this would have on the bees. Mr. Fletcher said he had not. It was an off-hand suggestion ; but sulphate of copper might be substituted, and would not, he thought, hurt bees. He was, however, rather sceptical as to the injuries to bees from spraying flowers, and intended next spring to experiment on this question, Mr. Osborn asked whether the midge was confined to pear or was known to attack other fruits? He explained that he had found a Cecid- = bo bo or THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. omyid larva on choke-cherry, with habits very like those described, and thought it might possibly be the same. Mr. Fletcher thought it unlikely that a pear insect would be found on Prunus. It might possibly be found in some allied forms like Crategus. as is Anthonomus 4-gibbus at Ottawa. Mr. Howard gave some notes on THE ENCYRTIN® WITH BRANCHED ANTENN#. He gave a history of the gradual discovery of these aberrant forms, a box of which he exhibited, and explained by means of blackboard figures the nature of the curious antennal modifications. Excellent drawings of the species were also exhibited. In response to a question from Mr. Osborn, he stated that one of the species was bred from Aucculatrix ; but that the hosts of the others were not known. On motion of Mr. Keilicott, the President appointed Messrs. Kelli- cott, Smith and Howard, a committee to nominate the officers of the club for next year. The Club then adjourned until 1 p. m. AFTERNOON MEETING. The Club reassembled at 1 p. m., with President Osborn in the chair and twenty-seven persons present. A paper by Mr. Hubbard being called for, Mr. Schwarz stated that the communication to be presently read by the Secretary was not an elaborate paper, but a private letter hastily written by the author while still in the field. The insects mentioned therein had, of course, not yet been studied, and could only be determined by Mr. Hubbard after his return. But on account of the highly interest- ing information it contained, the letter was eminently fitted to be laid before the Club. No previous observations on the insect life in the Hot Springs of the Yellowstone Park seem to have been made, although this interesting locality had frequently been visited by scientific parties. In fact, beyond Dr. Packard’s short article in the American Naturalist on a Stratiomys larva from a hot spring in Colorado, he was not aware that anything had been published in North America on the insect fauna of Hot Springs. Further, there was very little recorded of the general insect fauna of the Yellowstone Park, and he even remembered having seen 226 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. somewhere a statement in print to the effect that the Park is remarkably poor in insect life. It would appear from Mr. Hubbard’s letter that this notion had to be considerably modified, at least so far as the Coleoptera are concerned. The Secretary then read the following paper :— INSECT LIFE IN THE HOT SPRINGS OF THE YELLOW- STONE NATIONAL PARK. BY H. G. HUBBARD. Pleasant Valley Hotel, August 7, 1891. ‘The arrangements we had to make with the proprietors of the stage line gave us a trip of five days from Beaver Canon to the mammoth Hot Springs for $35 apiece, there being three of us. But if we stopped over anywhere it was $10 extra; it was also $10 extra to make the trip to Yellowstone Lake. But I am very glad we did not omit this, as it is by far the most delightful part of the Park. As the distances in the Park are tremendous, you can imagine I had not much time for collecting, and most of the insects I did get were taken when | could get out and walk while the carriage was going up some long hill. However, we had an entire day at the middle and upper geyser basins, as we had to travel only eight miles. There were hundreds of pools and geysers to visit which would have more than occupied the entire day if I had not skipped most of them. I, however, saw three of the large geysers play, and that was quite sufficient. These geysers and hot springs always build up either a hill, or if there are many of them together, they form, perhaps, immense terraces, covered with pools full of boiling water, and generally running over in thin streams. Millions of insects fall into these transparent pools, or get suffocated by the steam, and their dead bodies are floated to the edge of the basin, and there, in a few hours, they are coated with lime. Around all the pools and geysers and everywhere in the Park, where hot sulphurous water is running over the ground and forming tepid or hot pools, there is to be found Cvcindela hemorrhagica. At the mam- moth hot springs on the terraces, where the hot water forms shallow basins, I saw this Czc’zdeZa running along the edge of the flutings, where the water, quite warm, was pouring over the rim. They did not hesitate to run in the water where it was one-eighth of an inch deep. I thought they must be there for some predatory purpose, so I examined these basins carefully, and, sure enough, there were thousands of minute gnats THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Dat emerging from the pup, which floated up against the edges of the basins and pools. The larva was also abundant in the geyserite precipitate that forms a flocculent mud in all these tepid basins. I soon found that this mud is alive. with insects, chiefly Diptera, but there is a very large and white Ochthebius and its larva, and also a common Pii/hydrus. The latter lives only in the tepid pools, while the Ochtheb:us inhabits water that is very much warmer. I regret that I had not a thermometer with me to test the temperature. There is, of course, a little Sa/da run- ning about the edges, and this seems to stand any amount of heat, as I find it about the edges of springs which are actually boiling. But the most curious thing of all is the presence of two species of VVebria—one of large size, with yellow legs ; the other smaller, and entirely black, living under pieces of geyserite about the hot springs, and even on the sides of the cones of the largest spouting geysers, where they are liable to be washed away in a flood of boiling water. The larve of these MVedrias live also in the sulphurous geyserite sand near the hot springs and geysers, but not so near to the geyser vents as the imagos. There is, however, a large Bembidium, with variegated elytra, which is always found under bits of geyserite and in the geyserite sand about every hot spring and geyser ; its larva lives with it in the same places. In the Firehole River, just below the Excelsior geyser, which contin- uously pours rivers of boiling water into the stream and raises its tem- perature to probably 70° or 75° F., there lives an A/mis of medium size ; but I found it rare and had not time to collect it in any numbers. In a small stream of tepid water, running through a grassy plain, I found that same slender, undescribed /mis which we took below the old powder mill in Ogden Canon. It swarmed in this stream in countless millions, every stone and stick was alive with it and its larva. There was also a Corixa, apparently the same species I took in Utah Lake. Here it swarms in incredible numbers, forming black masses all along the sides of the stream. Of course the stream was sulphurous and heavily charged with mineral matter, so that sticks, moss and everything that fell into the water was soon silicified or coated. All the stones and sticks in the bottom were streaming with peculiar algz of various colours. In the Firehole River, above the upper geysers, where it is an ordinary mountain stream and quite cool, I found in debris in the water a marvellous A/mis with red spots ; but four times larger than the largest I ever saw. In the same debris were peculiar aquatic larva, apparently Coleopterous, and bo bo ie 2) THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. belonging to different families, but I did not get the imagos. I found here, at the upper geyser basin, a few things on the spruce trees, but nothing new. There are one or two TZelephorus, Cory mbites, several Dascyllide, etc. Malachiide of the genera Dasytes and Listrus are also common here as elsewhere on spruce and pine. Nowhere else in Yellowstone Park have I been able to find anything on pines except these Malachiids. Beating trees and bushes seems to produce nothing at all. At the upper geyser basin there was a large meadow, which had over part of it a deposit of alkaline mud, dry and cracked in the sun. Here I find a gigantic Aphodius with variegated elytra (A. hamatus ?) under cow- dung. Only one specimen was alive, the others had been killed by the hot sun, and their dead bodies were very abundant on the mud or under dry dung. An Llaphrus, apparently Z. ruscarius, was running about on the mud in the hot sun. In patches of cyperaceous grass in this alkaline plain I got a large Patrobus-like Carabid, or else a peculiar Pterostichus. There was also a Stenus under the dead grass. On July 27th, at evening, we arrived at Yellowstone Lake. The shore of the lake, which I was not long in visiting, consists either of glacial boulders, or beaches of rather coarse, black gravel. No insects are thrown up by the waves at present, except, perhaps, an occasional Hemipter or Coccinella. However, there is a beach fauna, consisting of the usual black Cryptohypnus of large size (C. funebris), a large black Anthicus, which is very common, and a much rarer species quite minute in size. To my great surprise I found here a single specimen of that same peculiar Coleopterous larva (Safrinus ?) with maggot-like body and almost obsolete legs, that I found among the Ephydras on the shore of great Salt Lake. ‘There were also a few species of dark bronze or black Bembidium and an Amara. On July 29th we were on the road from the Grand Canon to the Mam- moth Hot Springs, which we reached late in the afternoon. I visited the nearest group of hot springs and found the usual fauna. The neighbour- hood is cavernous, and a river of hot water runs beneath the hotel. Under stones there are crickets, which evidently belong to a subterranean species. We spent the next day at the mammoth hot spring, and I had a good chance to collect. I found the Ochthebius and other things in the hot water on the terraces,and under stones a good many Amara, Pterostichus, Patro- bus, etc. A cedar appears here for the first time, and is growing on the terraces formed by the hot springs, On this I found, by beating, a eae € ea THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 229 beautiful mottled Am¢hicus ; not at all rare, and a few other things, Mala- chiide and Curculionidz, etc.; among them a beautiful Otiorhynchid, with cream-coloured elytra, showing metallic copper-red colours beneati. On cedars below the hotel there was a Helops, some Cistelide, Elateride, and one specimen of a very large Longicorn of a genus allied to Anthophylax. Under loose stones on the dry hillsides I found good Carabide, Harpalus, Amara, Pterostichus, and a Cymindis, quite com- mon. Continuing down the mountain side about 1,000 feet I finally reached the Gardiner River, which is a cool, rapid, mountain stream, bordered with tall willows, larch, birch, aspen, wild rose, cherry, etc. Here J find covered beaches with an abundance of JVebrias of several species. A large one, with yellow legs, may be the species found about the geysers. The.black species are either very variable, or there are several species among them. I think the smallest, which has a tendency in some localities to become brown in colour, is not a Vebria, but belongs, perhaps, to Pelophi/a. ‘There is also a very elongate black form which resembles a Patrobus, but is of very large size. Here I found a very neat E/mis, quite different from those known to me. It is moderately large, uniform dark-bronze in colour, and of very short, thick, form. It lives very differently from any Z/m7s I ever saw. It is uzder small stones close to the shore, and can only be found by disturbing the gravel with the hand, whereupon the beetles are upset and float about in the water, and seize upon the rootlets of willows that grow among the stones. This same Elmid I have found since in a little trickling stream which came down the steep bank of the Yellowstone River near this place. This little stream was as cold as ice, and densely shaded with nettles and a very tall umbelliferous plant. The Gardiner River was the first stream I had found that is a natural mountain torrent. All the streams in the western pait of the Park are vexed with devils of one sort or another in the shape of hot water, sulphur and steam, and are full of queer, slimy alge, deposits of lime, etc. The Yellowstone River which flows near me _ here is also partly sulphur water, but still it is full of trout, and its shores pro- duce all the species of Vebria, Pelophila and Patrobus that I have men- tioned. I find also in shady places, where moss grows under willows by the borders of the streams and in debris, a few Bledius and Micredus, with one or two other Oma/ini. Deep in a pile of debris on the shore of the Yellowstone River near here I found also Dianous. On July 31st we took a carriage from Mammoth Hot Springs and 230 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. came to this place. ‘The distance is 18 miles, and the road ascends a high mountain chain and then descends into this valley, which is close to the junction of the East Fork with the Yellowstone, and is 15 or 20 miles below the Grand Canon. We are here in a most beautiful country of great diversity, and almost never visited by tourists. There are dense forests of spruce and fir, some of the latter reaching a good size ; there are also parks and meadows, lots of streams, from the great Yellowstone River to the smallest brooklet. Rocks, grass-covered hills, wild flowers, desert plants, abound in infinite variety, and there are also warm springs near at hand. We are all of us very much pleased, and I have good col- lecting, while the freshest and most bracing mountain air invigorates all of us.” In commenting on this paper, Mr. Schwarz remarked that the glisten- ing surface of large bodies of water was known to attract many insects, but that in the case of the hot springs of the Yellowstone Park, which are of small extent, we must in all probability seek for another cause to account for the multitude of insects that fall into the hot water. It ap- peared quite probable that the gaseous exhalations of these springs and geysers would prove to be the attractive cause, and he recalled the fact that at the solfataras of European volcanoes large numbers of suffocated insects had been observed, the presence of which could hardly be due to accident. Similar observations had also been made at the solfataras near Santa Barbara, Cala. Among the Coleoptera, found by Mr. Hubbard in or near the hot springs, the WVedrzas are of especial interest, because we had hitherto been accustomed to associate the occurrence of these Carabids with cold streams and snowfields in alpine regions. Mr. Lintner expressed his appreciation of the character of the paper, aud complimented Messrs. Hubbard and Schwarz on the excellent service done by them in working up the fauna of special regions. Mr. Lintner spoke on THE PEAR PSYLLA (P. pyricola) IN THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY. He gave a review of the history of the species, described the methods of injury and discussed the possible remedies. He finds unexpected success in using the kerosene emulsion even against the mature insects. He briefly discussed the life history, finding that there were two broods at least. The eggs and method of oviposition were described, particular attention being called to a filament or pedicel-like prolongation of the tip. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 231 Very severe injury had been done during the present year by the insect in the pear orchards of the Hudson River Valley. Mr. Schwarz said that four species had been confused as Psy//a pyri by various European authors ; that Dr. Franz Loew had, in the Verh. z. b. Ges. Wien, written exhaustively on the subject, and that Schmidberg- er’s pyri is identical with pyrisuga, Foerster, which does not occur in North America. He had observed fyricola in Michigan, where it is not common and where, late in the fall, it assumed that intense coloration which indicates hibernation in the imago state. Mr. Lintner spoke further ON THE EYE-SPOTTED BUD-MOTH (7Zmetocera ocellana) IN WESTERN NEW YORK. This insect had been very destructive in the orchards of the western part of the State—many of the orchardists representing it as having caused them more harm in their apple orchards than all other insect pests combined. The caterpillar fed upon the unopened buds, on the blossoms, on the young leaves as they first put forth, webbing them together, on the advanced foliage, and it was also reported as boring into the young twigs. Its habit of concealment, after its operations disclosed its presence, made it almost impossible to reach by the usual application of the arsenites. From the severe injury that it was occasioning, it was very desirable that some method of destroying it should be discovered and recommended to our fruit growers. He had believed that eggs were deposited in the month of April by the parent moths, from some imperfect and denuded specimens that had been captured fluttering about the fruit trees at this time, and which seemed to be that species ; but Prof. Fernald and others had stated that the insect hibernated as a half-grown larva under a silken tent spun upon the fallen leaves. Some of the larva which Mr. Lintner had hatched from the eggs in June, had attained such size in early July when they died, that they should certainly have attained full maturity during the early autumn. He also exhibited specimens of the very remarkable, extremely flattened and disc-like egg, which he thought could not be the same with that which Prof. Fernald had described in Bulletin No. 12 of the Hatch Experiment Station for April, 1891. If the egg is deposited in the early spring, it could be killed by a kerosene emulsion ; if the larve hibernate in the fallen leaves, they could be kept from ascending the tree, or destroyed by collecting and burning the leaves. 232 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Mr. Fletcher had found larve on apple twigs in winter in Nova Scotia, hibernating beneath a silken covering, which he thought were undoubt- edly this species. He had also secured eggs during the past summer at Ottawa, where it had been one of the notable pests of the season. Mr. Lintner also made remarks ON SOME OF OUR ORGYIAS. Some time since Mr. Smith named some specimens of Orgyza in his collection as O. definita, stating that there were no /eucostigma in the Albany collections to his knowledge. More recently Mr. Dyar had seen the specimens, and had pronounced them all J/eucostigma. He also pointed out that the egg mass of /eucostigma is covered by the female with a frothy mass. That of definita is almost bare, having only a slight covering of hairs, and there is no frothy substance whatever. He had reared from eggs received from Mr. Dyar a specimen of definita, which certainly seemed distinct from what he had in his collection He had also bred O. zova, which deposited its eggs in a single layer upon the surface of the cocoon, without any covering whatever. He had been especially interested in this latter species because of its supposed resemblance to the European aztigua, and would endeavour to get the early stages of both for comparison. Mr. Smith said that the late Mr. Hy. Edwards had made such com- parisons, and had frequently stated positively that they were identical. Concerning his determination of definita, he had just been working over the Meske material in the museum collection, which contained only what he took to be definita. Mr. Lintner’s specimens were seen soon after, and were so well marked and clean that he deemed them the same, and said so. Since then he had seen the egg masses on trees at Albany, and finds them deucostigma. He had long known of the difference between the egg masses, Mr. Lintner had very few specimens ; and he can only believe that the finest and most sharply marked specimens were retained, and these looked quite different from the normal, obscure and shabby specimens taken. Mr. Lintner assented, that only the finer specimens had been retained. Mr. Riley said that he had carefully compared zova and antigua in all stages and found them identical. Adjourned until the 21st inst. at 9 a. m. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. bo 1S) ie) ———___—_ —— AUGUST 21, 1891. The Club met at 9 a. m., President Osborn in the chair, 27 persons present. The minutes of the second day’s meetings were read and approved. Mr. Mann stated that some enquiry had been made concerning the old minutes of the Club, of which all trace seemed to have been lost. He heard the remark, and remembered that they were in his possession. He gave a history of the Club since its organization in 1874, of its formation as a subsection of the A. A. A. S., which was not a success, and of the reorganization at the Minneapolis meeting, since which time it has flourished. He now turned over to the Secretary the book and its contents. Mr. Kellicott moved that the Secretary be empowered to complete the minutes from published records, so far as they were obtainable and had not been already incorporated in the book. Carried. The Nominating Committee reported, recommending for election :— President, E. A. Schwarz, of Washington, D. C. Vice-President, E. A. Popenoe, of Manhatten, Kansas. Secretary, C. L. Marlatt, of Washington, D. C. On motion the report of the Committee was unanimously approved, and the above gentlemen were elected accordingly. Mr. Mann, from the committee to consider the recommendations of the President’s address, presented the following report :— To the Entomological Club of the A. A. A. S:: Your committee, appointed to consider the recommendations contained in the annual address of the President, has attended to its duty, and begs leave to report. In regard to an international meeting of entomologists, to be held in 1893, your committee deems the suggestion an excellent one. It is of the opinion that such a meeting should be held in connection with the meeting of the A. A. A. S. in that year, and that all entomologists should be invited thereto. It is expected that the Association of Economic Entomologists will invite and secure the attendance of home and foreign economic entomologists at its meetings, and it is recommended that the same excellent arrangement for co-operation be made in the future as was made for the meetings of this year, by which all members of the Associ 234 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. ation or the Club who have papers to read on economic ento- mology should be invited to read them at the meetings of the Association, and all who have papers on technical entomology or life habits be invited to read them to the Club. It is recommended that a committee be appointed to confer with the officers of the Association of Economic Entomologists to make the above suggested arrangements, if practicable, and to prepare and send out invitations, preferably in the form of a joint address from the two bodies. In regard to the preparation of a Manual of Entomology, your com- mittee deems it a matter of high importance that such a manual be prepared, and sees no insuperable obstacle thereto. It is of the opinion that this should be a technical work, for entomologists, rather than one calculated to interest and allure the non-entomologist. Such a work as that of Westwood’s Classification, adapted more especially to the present status of entomology in this country, would be of inestimable value. In the opinion of the committee it should carry the classification to the point of the determination of genera by systematic tables, not undertaking further to describe or define the genera. The committee recommends that the preparation of such a work be committed to several hands, and that the primary distribution of its subject matter be as follows, as nearly as practicable :— Introduction and System—Dr. A. S. Packard. Metamorphoses and Life-habits—Dr. C. V. Riley. Hymenoptera—Messrs. E. T. Cresson and L. O. Howard. Lepidoptera—Dr. J. B. Smith. Diptera—Dr. S. W. Williston. Coleoptera—Dr. G. H. Horn. Hemiptera— Prof. H. Osborn. Orthoptera—Prof. L. Bruner. Neuroptera—Mr, Ph. Calvert. Myriapoda—Mr. N. Banks. Archnida (sens. lat.) —Dr. Geo. Marx. It is expected that in the larger or more difficult groups the editors named would be at liberty to subdivide their work, and to call in such assistance as they might desire. Respectfully submitted. B. PickMAN Mann. J. B. Smit. JAMES FLETCHER. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 235 On motion the report was received, and Mr. Mann moved its adoption. Mr. Riley objected on business considerations, and detailed at some length the obstacles in the way of preparing and publishing a manual like that suggested. No definite plan had been presented, and the adoption of the report and an attempt made to carry it out might involve the Club in great difficulties. Mr. Smith from the committee explained that all these difficulties had been realized by them, and hence, while their report was favourable, they had intentionally omitted any definite suggestions of a business character, realizing that this required much more time than they had, for considera- tion. Mr. Osborn explained his views on the subject, and urged the neces- sity of a manual. Mr. Mann thought such a manual must be prepared eventually, and that, with the backing of the Club, and with an array of names such as that proposed, no difficulty should be found in getting a publisher. Mr. Riley suggested that the report be divided, and moved that the first recommendation of the committee, concerning an international meeting, be adopted. Carried. Mr. Howard moved that the balance of the report be recommitted to the same committee, with instructions to report a well digested scheme ~ one year hence. Mr. Mann moved that a committee of three be appointed by the President under the first recommendation on an international meeting. This was carried, and the President reserved the selection of the committee. The President afterwards named Messrs. Kellicott, Howard and Fletcher. At the request of Mr. Fletcher the official minutes of the Club were ordered to be printed in the CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. The following was then presented by the author :— PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THE INSECT FAUNA OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE, UTAH. BY E. A. SCHWARZ, WASHINGTON, D. C. The Great Salt Lake of Utah has been easily accessible for many years, and its shores have been visited by various entomologists ; so that 236 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. it seems strange that no one has hitherto published a comprehensive or even partial list of the insects occurring in that interesting locality. During the present summer, while on a short excursion to Utah with Mr. H. G. Hubbard, we had the opportunity of spending some time in the investigation of the insect fauna of the Lake. The larger portion of the insects collected by us, however, are not yet mounted, and still less deter- mined, and the following remarks on our observations, which I venture to offer, are necessarily quite fragmentary and of a preliminary character. The insect that, on account of the enormous number of individuals, cannot fail to attract the first attention of every visitor to the Lake, is a Dipteron of the genus Ephydra. Various species of this genus are known to occur in great number in salt water, and others occasionally become a nuisance in the vats and conduit pipes of salt-works. The particular species from the Great Salt Lake was first collected by Capt. Stansbury’s expedition, and briefly noticed in 1852 by T. R. Peale ina letter appended to Prof. Haldeman’s paper on the few insects collected by that expedition. Subsequently Dr. Packard (Am. Journ. Sc. and Arts, 1871, p. 105,) described the puparium and named the species Ephydra gracilis. The larva and imago still remain undescribed. Along the sandy beaches of the ocean we usually find one or several windrows of seaweed cast up by the waves and marking the line of high tides. Similar windrows may be seen all around Great Salt Lake, but they consist exclusively* of the puparia of this Hphydra. The lake itself is full of floating puparia, which are gradually washed ashore, and if the breeze freshen and the waves get higher, the mass of puparia is pushed higher up the beach and forms a well-defined windrow, which can be plainly distinguished even on small photographs of any part of the lake shore. On June 13th, the most recent windrow (z. ¢. that nearest to the water), averaged nearly three inches in height and from four to five inches in width wherever the beach is sloping ; at the rocky portion of the beach it was much higher, while on the flats the puparia are more spread out and form a kind of matting over the wet salt mud. Later in the season the accumulation of puparia became much greater. Investiga- tion of the puparia on the day mentioned showed that most of them were alive, that ay a small UProporHios had hatched, and that there was not a ealiive Read faies af various insects of ane: Piers which have fallen into the Lake are intermingled with the mass of the Ephydras. Most of them are badly decayed, and the number of individuals and species thus found is very small. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Ia single larva among them. On the sloping or rocky part of the beach the puparia rest upon dry ground and become themselves almost entirely dry. Here they remain for several days exposed to the warm sun, and it is certainly remarkable that under these circumstances they retain their vitality. ** From a tin box full of the puparia which I picked up on a dry spot on June 14th, the flies began to hatch by the thousands on June 1gth. In the middle of June, the weather being rather cool, the imagos were not very abundant at the lake. They rest on the wet sand or on the rocks, and here, in the little pools between the rocks, we observed that the flies deliberately go under the water to a depth of two or three inches. Whether they do this for the purpose of ovipositing or of feeding on the algze has not been ascertained. On June 25th the number of flies had already considerabiy increased, but on July 4th, when the little bathing establishment at Syracuse, on the eastern shore of the lake was visited, the number of flies was really alarming. On this point there are numerous shallow pools close to the lake beach, between the railroad dam and the dykes of the salt works, and the flies completely covered the edges and the surface of the pools, forming an unbroken coal-black mass. No observations on other insects would have been possible under these cir- cumstances ; but, fortunately, the flies could be driven away to some extent, and the roar of the rising flies is such as to drown the noise of the railroad trains passing close by. The question where the larve of this Zphydra breed has not been fully settled by us. Numerous larvz were found in the pools between the large stones near the famous Black Rock. They were still more abundant in the little sulphurous streams on the salt flats, thickly cling- ing to the slimy, thread-like algze, upon which they probably feed. But all larvee from these two sources account only for a small fraction of the prodigious number of puparia along the lake. It is evident that the majority of the larve must live in the open lake, where numerous reefs in shallow water appear to be favourable breeding places. Whether the numerous crustacea (genus Artemia) that live in the lake feed on the Zphydra larve, or whether the sea-gulls and other birds so abundant on the salt flats feed on the puparia has not been ascertained ; nor did we see any trace of the Chalcid parasite reported to infest the **During calm weather the puparia must float for several days on the lake, and it would seem probable that the imagos are able to issue from the pupa on the surface of the water. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. bo Yo (o/s) larva of Ephydra riparia in Europe. Saprinus estriatus is very abundant under and among the accumulated living puparia, and feeds upon them, while the larve of one or two species of Dermestes, which are also common at the same place, presumably feed only on the empty pupa shells. Very few other insects, and these only of small size (small Cara- bidze, Staphylinide and Anthicidz), are to be found among the puparia ; but whether or not these feed upon the latter remains uncertain. A peculiar enemy of the imago fly was observed at Syracuse. Here, in the midst of the pools covered with the Ephydras, a commotion was occa- casionally observed as if a fish of considerable size had risen to the sur- face of the water. Mr. Hubbard succeeded in capturing one of these mysterious creatures, which proved to be the larva of a toad. It appeared that this tadpole comes to the surface of the water right among the Ephydras, with a dexterous motion of its tail sweeps a goodly number of the flies into its wide mouth, and retires again to the bottom of its ill- smelling abode. The toad itself, which was found by Mr. Hubbard deeply imbedded in the mud at the edge of the pools, is terrestrial and evidently nocturnal in its habits, but no doubt feeds also on the Ephydras. Ephydra gracilis is the only insect that inhabits the open lake ; but on the salt flats, where in many places the water of the shallow pools is more or less mixed with fresh or sulphurous water, various aquatic insects and insect larve can be found. There are here the larve of one or several species of Zabanus; a beautiful green Syrphid fly was seen to emerge from the wet mud. There are, further, the larve of several dragon flies at least half-a-dozen Dytiscide and Hydrophilidze with their larve ; and where there is a considerable admixture of fresh water the pools breed numerous mosquitoes and sand flies (Ceratopogon). From what we saw on the beach of the lake and on the salt flats, a specialist in Diptera will find quite a number of interesting halophilous species. But we found it impossible to devote any time to this order, and all I secured was a specimen of a very peculiar slender Asilid, which was swiftly running over the mud, and seems to dislike to make use of its wing. Next to the Zphydra in number of specimens comes the Heterop- terous genus Sa/da, which is also well known to inhabit preferably the shores of the ocean and other bodies of saline water. What appears to be Salda interstitialis occurs in incredible numbers all over the salt flats THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 239 and renders the observation and collecting of other insects very difficult because, unlike the Ephydras, these Saldas cannot be driven away. The imagoes manage in course of time to get out of the way, but the ground remains covered with a multitude of jumping larve and pupx. One or two other species of Sa/da occur among S. ivterstitialis but are much rarer, while the large S, coriacea occurred only among the sparse grass growing along the sulphur creeks. A very peculiar species of Sadda (possibly forming a new genus) was never seen above ground, but lives nearly subaquatic on the underside of stones in sulphur springs or between the wet roots of the grasses growing close to the water. A genus of Heteroptera which we expected to see in great numbers at the lake is Corixa, but we were surprised to find only a few specimens of a single species (apparently C. decolor, originally described from Clear Lake, Cala.,) in the salt pools near Syracuse. It is possible, however, that they become more abundant later in the season. Various other Heteroptera found at the lake do not appear to be saline species, nor were there any saline Homoptera observed. No Microlepidopterous larvee were observed on the saline flora, but there are various species of Microlepidoptera feeding on these plants. None of them were reared ; but it is possible that there are among them species peculiar to the Salt Lake reigion. As to the Orthoptera we were surprised at not finding anything that may indicate a saline species.* Some species of Odonata live in the sulphur creeks and some of the imagos were captured; but the same species were also seen at Utah Lake, which is fresh water. The Coleoptera are best represented among the maritime and saline insects, and since most of our attention was devoted to this order, we found about too species in the immediate vicinity of the Lake, not counting those which were found drowned in the water, nor those which plainly belong to the desert fauna, of which quite a number of species eee *On June 25th we found at the southern shore of the lake a considerable number of Anabrus simplex washed up by the waves and all badly decayed. Since we were unable to find a single living specimen of these gigantic crickets under stones, etc., any- where near the lake we concluded that they must have bred on Antilope Island, situated about nine miles from the shore where the dead specimens were seen. But since my return from Utah I have read Dr. Aug. Forel’s vivid account of the life-habits of the North African desert cricket, Brachytrypus megacephalus, which is a nocturnal species and lives on sandy soil in deep holes, which are closed up during day time by a hillet of sand. Anabrus stmplex has possibly similar habits, and we may, after all, have over- looked its abodes in dry, sandy places close to the lake. 240 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. frequent the lake beach. But just as at the ocean, not every species found on the beach is maritime, so at the Great Lake not all species found on saline soil are halophilous. In fact, saline soil seems to possess great attractions to many species, which usually live on the banks of fresh water lakes and streams. ‘This holds especially true of most species of Bembidium which abound at the lake. Thus the number of true halophi- lous Coleoptera inhabiting the shores of Great Salt Lake probably does not exceed twenty-five distributed in the following families :—Cicindelide, Carabide (Dyschirius, Pogonus, Bembidium, Tachys), Staphylinide (Aleochara, Homalota, Bledius, Thinobius ), Histeride (Saprinus ), Chry- somelide ( Galeruca, Phyllotreta), and Anthicidce ( Motoxus, Mecynotarsus, Anthicus, Tanarthrus). How many of these are peculiar to the Salt Lake* it is difficult to tell at present, where still so little is known of the geographical distribution and mode of occurrence of the smaller and less conspicuous Coleoptera. ‘The species found by us will be fully enumer- ated in a list of the maritime and saline Coleoptera of North America which I am preparing. Of particular interest is the occurrence of a species of Pogonus, since this genus was hitherto known in America only from the ocean shore. Comparing the Salt Lake fauna with our maritime fauna, the most striking difference is the absence in the former fauna of Tenebrionidze and Rhynchophora** which play such prominent role in our maritime fauna. Cvcindela hirticollis and Mecynotarsus candidus appear to be the only species common to the Great Salt Lake and the Atlantic maritime fauna; but both are not strictly maritime or saline species. A few other species ( Pogonus planatus, Bembidium ephippigerum, and the genus Zanarthrus) are known to occur also in Southern California, either at the sea shore or at saline lakes, and this distribution seems to confirm the ancient extent of the Great Salt Lake to the extreme southwest of North America. A number of aquatic beetles live in the sulphur springs and salt ponds contaminated with fresh water; but, with the possible exception of a Sevier, in Southern Utah, which has never to my knowledge been visited by any entomologist. **Tenebrionids of the genera Aleodes, Contontis and Alapstinus are occasionally found at the Lake, but clearly belong to the desert fauna, while certain species of Sphenophorus, which abound at the roots of rushes, and a few other Rhynchophora are ikewise not saline species. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 241 Coleoptera are not numerous on the saline flora, but most of them occur also elsewhere. The large Gaderuca erosa, which, when alive, is of a bright sulphur yellow colour, feeds with its larva on a species of Sueda, and is clearly a saline species, though not confined to tne Salt Lake region. Concluding this hasty sketch of the Salt Lake fauna, I would say that one of the reasons why so little of this fauna has hitherto been recorded, is that most presons coming from Salt Lake City visit the lake only at Garfield Beach, which is at present the most readily accessible point of the south shore. But just at this spot the saline fauna is but poorly represented, and, moreover, the desert flora and fauna come here close to the lake. The immense salt flats which commence about one mile from Garfield Beach are rarely visited; but here is the home of the genuine salt fauna. Collecting in the semi-fluid and ill-smelling salt mud of these flats is, however, somewhat troublesome, and it would be no easy matter to bring together a complete set of the various species. Fortunately, however, the entomologist finds here assistance in an unex- pected way. ‘There are several large salt works on these flats, where numerous large, shallow ponds have been excavated for the purpose of gaining salt by the evaporation process. If there is no water in these ponds, the bottom consists of a tenacious, loam-like mud, saturated with concentrated brine, and here concealed in this mud some of the most characteristic species of the Great Salt Lake fauna (Pogonus planatus, Dyschirius salivagans, Bledius, (3 species,) Tanarthrus salicola,) can be found in great numbers of specimens Mr. Smith gave some NOTES ON THE FOOD HABITS OF XYLEBORUS DISPAR. In the latter part of June while collecting along a road, he noticed that many of the young willows and birches on one side of the road were dead. Investigation showed that in the main stem, usually about three feet from the ground, a colony of Scolytids were boring. At this time there were a few larve, more pup, but a yet larger number of newly matured beetles. The galleries were longitudinal, and up or down from a main transverse and somewhat irregular central channel, which had an opening through the bark. This gallery so weakened the stems, which were from one-half to one inch in diameter, that they would readily break. In some cases where all the insects were in the imago state all the longi- tudinal galleries were full of beetles, all headed toward the blind end of 249 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. the gallery, the head of one close to the tail of that preceding. The remarkable feature was in the disproportion between the sexes in appear- ance and numbers. The male was very small as compared with the female, and much more rounded, almost globose. The males, too, were much less numerous than the females ; usually there was only one in a gallery, and he was usually at the extreme end. Mr. Schwarz has deter- mined the species as Xy/eborus dispar. The species has been injurious to pear, but Mr. Smith was not aware that in America it had been re- corded from either birch or willow. Mr. Schwarz was not surprised at this record, because in Europe X. dispar eats almost anything, being found in most widely divergent plants. In America it has been reported on pear, apple and liriodendron. Mr. Fletcher said the species was very injurious to pear and apple in Nova Scotia, but he finds both sexes almost equally abundant, and some- times entire galleries filled with males only. Mr. Schwarz said that in this particular group of Xy/eborus (genus Anisandrus, Ferrari), the males are usually much rarer than the females. They are wingless and never leave the burrows, copulation taking place within them. Seven North American species are known to him, but only three in both sexes, and none of the males of our species have ever been described by American authors. He added that X. odesus, Lec., would in all probability prove to be identical with dispar, the latter being variable in size, according to the nature of its food-plant. Mr. Smith then gave a note on the HABITS OF VOLUCELLA FASCIATA. A lot of prickly pear was received from Ocean County some time in May or June, infested by a Lepidopterous larva which proved to be Megaphycis bollit or Melitera prodenialis, already referred to by Mr. Riley. The larvee were counted and the leaves cut so as to make sure of their contents ; but at that time nothing was noticed of any other insect. Later the caterpillars pupated, and eventually a moth appeared for every known larva.