:^ V, *v: ;^^st. ^JM- "S^-.^I^' .^^- ^^^ ^-^ ¥t'i.'<^ '^i^ <:f^i- ^CC'' :X ^acic UM^ .^;:^;^ ^^ ^^v-i ^r>>>55^ '^- *^. ^S -^- ^ \ %I^C :v:^: ^ ^& -,r, v^l^:- >^^}C^. :^^: ^<§;i^- -v-r. ^^^; -^^^ ^«'-' ^^lf^: ^c^TF. ^.^, ^^^^^ . ^^?^- . ■^ * ^^ ^^.-cc:^ V'on, CDut. LONDON I'RINTING AND LITHOGK AFHING CO. 1892. LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS VOLUME.. AARON, DR. E. M Philadelphia, Pa. ALDRICH, PROF. [. M.,. Brookings, South Dakota. ASHMEAD, \V H ." Washington, D. C. BANKS, NATHAN Sea Cliff, N. Y. BETHUNE, REV C. J. S. (The Editor). . .Port Hope. BLACin.EV. W. S Terre Haute, Indiana. BRODH^:, DR. WM Toronto. CAUDELL, A. N Ringo, Indian Territory. CLAYPOLE, DR. E. ^V Akron, Ohio. COCKERELL. T. D. A Kingston, Jamaica. COnUILLETT, D. \V LosAngei.es, Cal. DORAN, E. \V College Park, Maryland. DYAR, H G RoxBURY, Mass. EDWARDS, W. H Coalburgh, West Va. FERNALD. PROF. C. H Amherst, Mass. FISCHER, 1. PH Buffalo, N Y. FLETCHER, JAMES Ottawa. FOX. W J Philadelphia, Pa. FRENCH, PROF. G. H Carbondale, III. FYLES. REV. T. W South Quebec. GILLETTE. C. P Fort Collins, Colorado. GOSSARD, H. A . ..Ames, Iowa. GROTE. A. R ; Bremen, Germany. HAAHLTON, DR. JOHN Allegheny, Pa. HARRINGTON, w! H Ottawa. HOLLAND, REV. W. J Pittsburg. Pa. HUBBARD, H G. Detroit. Mich. HU I ST, REV. G. D Brooklyn, N. Y, KELLICOTT, PROF. D. S Columbus, Ohio. KUNZE, DR. R. E New York. LYMAN. H. H Montreal. MARLATT, C. L Washington D. C. MEAD. T. L Oviedo, Florida. ^[OFFAT, T- A London, Ont. MURTFELDT, MISS M. E Kirkwood Missouri. NEUMOEGEN. B New York. OSBORN, PROF. H Ames, Iowa. RILEY, DR. C. V. Washington. D. C. SCHAUFUSS, C F Meissen, Germany. SCHWARZ, E. A Washington, D. C. SKINNER, DR. H Philadelphia, Pa. SLOSSON. MRS A. T New York. SMITH, DR. J. B New Brunswick N. J. STALEY, O. T Marshall, Missouri. STYLES, DR." C. W. Washington. D. C TOWNSEND, C. H. TYLER Las Cruces. New Mexico. VAN DUZEE, E. P Buffalo, N. Y. WEBSTER, PROF. F. M Wooster, Ohio. WEED, HOWARD EVARTS Agricultural College, Miss. WEEKS, A. G , TR Chestnut Hill, Mass. WICKHAM, H. F Iowa City, Iowa. WRIGHT, W, G San Barnardino, Cal. Sl|e Canatliati Jntomolonji$t. VOL. XXIV. LONDON, JANUARY, 1892. No. 1. CAN INSECTS SURVIVE FREEZING?* BY H. H. LYMAN, MONTREAL. In a foot note to his paper on "The Butterflies of Laggan" (Can. Ent., XXII., 129), Mr. Bean says : " I hope none of my younger readers entertain the absurd mediaeval superstition that hibernating caterpillars pass the winter in a frozen condition. In successful hibernation they do not get near to such a condition \ but if they do absolutely freeze, then are they undone caterpillars. Valkyria gives them sleep, unmixed with dreams, and they wake in Valhalla." Without entering into any discussion as to my relative age in compari- son with Mr. Bean's, I may confess that I have long believed that some caterpillars, as well as insects in other stages, can and do survive freezing. And, finding my belief so distinctly challenged, I have endeavored to find some light upon this subject from such literature as is accessible to me, and from personal testimony. The first work to which I turned was Scudder's " Butterflies of New England ". In this work there is an Excursus, No. XVII., on " Lethargy in Caterpillars ", and another, No. XXII., on " The Hibernation of Cater- pillars," but in neither is any light thrown upon this question. In the same author's " Butterflies " but little more is said upon this subject. On page 135, in writing of Colias J>hi/odice, he says : " Winter overtakes at once caterpillars of various ages, chrysalids and butterflies, and probably eggs. The experience of breeders, and the diversity in the time of appearance of the butterflies in the spring, render it probable that the cold season kills not only the butterflies and eggs, but perhaps the chrysalids as well, leaving the caterpillars to renew the life of the species in the spring." * Read before the Annual Meeting of the Entomological .Society of Ontario, November 25th, 189 1. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. But, though I have failed to gather from his works any information upon this subject, I have learned from him personally, and by letter, some facts which may be thought to throw some light upon this question. About thirty-five years ago Mr. Scudder was prodding for beetles in some hole of a rotten stump in winter at Williamstown, Mass., and came across several caterpillars of Isabella, and breaking at least one in two found it brittle, like an icicle, and he believes he noticed crystals within, and, therefore took two or three home to his room to see if they would come to life, which one or more did. Mr. Scudder, however, does not lay much weight on these facts, and adds : "I may or may not have broken more than one, and do not at all remember whether only one or all came to life, but of course I may have broken only one, and that one already dead." I have recently seen somewhere, where I cannot now say, though I have spent hours in searching for the reference, an account of a caterpillar being found frozen into a cake of ice. The finder cut out a cube of the ice containing the caterpillar by means of a red-hot poker, and then left the block on the sill outside his window for several days, while the tem- perature ranged below zero. Upon bringing it into the house and thawing out the larva, it revived, and became quite active, but further experiment was prevented by its spinning its cocoon. In Mr. Fletcher's report for 1889 (Fxperimental Farm Reports, 1889, p. 79), it is recorded that four larvae of the Mediterranean Flour Moth (Ephestia Kilhniella, Zeller) were placed in a glass vial out of doors for half an hour when the temperature was only five degrees above zero F. , and as a result were frozen hard, so that they " rattled like glass beads against the sides of the bottle ". Of the four, two never recovered at all, but the other two revived partially and retained their natural appearance for about a fortnight, and moved their bodies a little, though they finally succumbed. The Rev. T. W. Fyles has kindly given me the following particulars of his experience with larvje of Coleoptera : " In the winter of 1864-5, I was splitting up decaying hemlock logs in my pasture at Iron Hill, P. Q., intending to burn them in the spring. On several occasions I found in these logs numbers of the larvae of Orthosoma unicolor in a torpid state. In some cases the water had percolated into the burrows of the insects and frozen around their occupants. One day I picked out a number of the largest grubs from their icy envelopments, and found them rigid and seemingly lifeless. I took them to my house and watched them as they slowly thawed into activity." THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOtilST. 3 Dr John Hamilton, of Alleghany, Pa., on the other hand, found, as related in his interesting paper in Can. Ent., XVII. , p. 35, that he could not revive specimens of Coleoptera which were unquestionably frozen, though some larvae inclosed in cylinders of ice were still found to be flexible, and regained activity on a rise of temperature. Though Dr. Hamilton's experience was decidedly against the theory that actual freezing does not necessarily cause death in insects, he still admits that a good deal of evidence has been adduced on the other side, and that records of the survival of frozen insects cannot be summarily dismissed. To turn to some of the older writers on entomology, I may quote the following from Kirby &: Spence's " Introduction to Entomology ", Vol. II., second edition. On page 231, after referring to some very extra- ordinary instances of the survival of insects under such trying circum- stances as immersion in gin for twenty-four hours, and immersion in boiling water, the authors say : " Other insects are as remarkable for bearing any degree of cold. Some gnats that De Geer observed survived after the water in which they were was frozen into a solid mass of ice : and Reaumer relates many similar instances." Later, on pages 452-3 of the same volume, in treating of " Hibernation of Insects " I find the following very interesting remarks : " But, though many larva3 and pupse are able to resist a great degree of cold, when it increases to a certain extent they yield to its intensity and become solid masses of ice. In this state we should think it impossible that they should ever revive. That an animal whose juices, muscles and whole body have been subjected to a process which splits bomb shells, and converted into an icy mass that may be snapped asunder like a piece of glass, should ever recover its vital powers, seems at first view little less than a miracle ; and, if the reviviscency of the wheel animal ( Vortricella rotatoria) and of snails, etc., after years of desiccation, had not made us familiar with similar prodigies, might have been pronounced impossible ] and it is probable that many insects when thus frozen never do revive. Of the fact, however, as to several species, there is no doubt. It was first noticed by Lister, who relates that he had found caterpillars so frozen that when dropped into a glass they clinked like stones, which nevertheless revived. Reaumer, indeed, repeated this experiment without success, and found that when the larvae of Boinbyx pityocampa, F., were frozen into ice by 3, cold of 15^ R. below zero (2" F. below zero), they could not be made THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. to revive. But other trials have fully confirmed Lister's observations. My friend, Mr. Stickney, the author of a valuable ' Essay on the Grub ' (larva of Tipula oleracea) — to ascertain the effect of cold in destroying this insect, exposed some of them to a severe frost, which congealed them into perfect masses of ice. When broken their whole interior was found to be frozen ; yet several of these resumed their active powers. Bonnet had precisely the same result with the pupae of Papilio brassicce, which, by exposing to a frost of 14° R. below zero (o" F.), became lumps of ice, and yet produced butterflies. Indeed, the circumstance that animals of a much more complex organization than insects, namely, serpents and fishes, have been known to revive after being frozen, is sufficient to dispel any doubts on this head." In Barmeister's "Manual of Entomology" the above instances are also referred to, though at much less length ; but, as no additional facts are adduced, it is unnecessary to quote from his work. The above would seem sufficient to establish the proposition that some insects can survive freezing, and, indeed, when one remembers that insects successfully maintain their existence in the most arctic lands which have ever been visited by man, it seems strange that anyone should ever have questioned it. Is it conceivable that these tiny creatures, when in a state of lethargy and partaking of no nourishment, could successfully resist yielding to frost in regions subject to a temper- ature of 75° F. below zero, and where in summer the soil only thaws to the depth of twelve or fifteen inches, the ground below this depth being perpetually frozen ? The meteorological tables of the English arctic expedition of 1875-6 show that the mean temperature of the winter months at the stations of the two vessels, "Alert" and "Discovery", varied from 5° F. below zero in October, and 17° F. below zero in April, to 40'^ F. below zero in the middle of the winter, and that the minimum temperatures reached were: — 73^° F. at the winter quarters of the first named vessel, and — 70.8" F. at the station of the latter in Discovery Bay. In spite of these terrible temperatures the naturalists attached to the expedition were very successful, and Mr. Robert McLachlan, F. R. S., to whom the collections of insects were submitted, wrote as follows in his THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. report : " The materials brought home from between the parallels 78° and 83'^ N. latitude, showed quite unexpected, and in some respects astonishing results. I have no hesitation in saying that the most valuable of all the zoological collections are those belonging to the entomological section, because these latter prove the existence of a comparatively rich insect fauna, and even of several species of showy butterflies, in very high latitudes." But the most interesting account of experiments on this subject which I have seen, is that given by Commander James Ross, R. N., F. R. S., and inserted by Curtis in the Entomological Appendix to the " Narrative" of Sir John Ross's second arctic voyage. The experiments were tried upon the caterpillars of Laria Rossii, a very abundant species in Boothia Felix, and doubtless all through the artic regions of this continent. The account (page Ixxi.) is as follows: "About thirty of the caterpillars were put into a box in the middle of September, and after being exposed to the severe winter temperature of the next three months, they were brought into a warm cabin, where, in less than two hours, everyone of them returned to life, and continued for a whole day walking about ; they were again exposed to the air at a temperature of about 40° below zero, and became immediately hard frozen ; in this state they remained a week, and on being brought again into the cabin, only twenty-three came to life ; these were, at the end of four hours, put out once more into the air, and again hard frozen ; after another week they were brought in, when only eleven were restored to life ; a fourth time they were exposed to the winter temperature, and only two returned to life on being again brought into the cabin ; these two survived the winter, and in May an imperfect Laria was produced from one, and six flies from the other." That a caterpillar infested with parasites should have been able to survive such severe treatment and spin its cocoon is most remarkable* and it is not to be wondered at that alternate freezing and thawing should have been disastrous to the majority of those experimented upon. Many other similar accounts doubtless exist, but I think that the records which I have thus brought together are sufficient to prove that actual freezing is not necessarily fatal to insects, and that Mr. Bean had no sufficient warrant for the statement quoted at the beginning of this article. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME BUTTERFLY LARV^ FROM YOSEMITE (V.), AND THE LIFE HISTORY OF CALLIDRYAS EUBULE. BY HARRISON G. DYAR. Pyrameis cardui, Linn. The life history of this well-known species has not been written, to judge from the references given by the late Mr. Henry Edwards in his useful catalogue, so I present it here ; — Egg. — Cylindric-conical, the base flat with the usual vertical ribs ; colour pale yellow ; diameter .6 mm. Laid singly. First larval stage. — Head rounded, black and shining; width .3 mm. Cervical shield and anal plate black ; body very blackish with a number of short dark hairs ; feet normal. The larva lives under a slight web on surface of leaf. Second stage. — Head as before with a {q\n hairs ; width .6 mm. Body dull black, furnished with rows of short conical blackish tubercles each with a long hair ; the tubercles of the rows (i) and (2) on joints 6, 8 and 10 are pale yellow. Hair blackish ; feet black. Third stage. — Head slightly bilobed, black, shining, a few black hairs from minute tubercles ; width i.i mm. Body black, covered with spined processes arranged as in Grapta^, all black except the three dorsal ones on joints 6, 8 and 10 which are yellow, but with black spines. Fourth stage. — Head bilobed, uniform shining blac k, with many black hairs arising from elevated bases ; width 1.9 mm. Body black, minutely dotted with yellow ; processes black except the bases of the three dorsal ones on joints 6, 8 and 10, which are dark yellow. As the stage advances a very narrow geminate dorsal and single subventral broken yellow line appears. The larvse live singly under nets constructed of silk supported on a leaf. Fifth stage. — Head rounded, uniform sublustrous black, the mouth parts paler and bases of antennae reddish ; covered with black hairs of considerable length, which arise from small tubercles; width 3.5 mm. Body deep black, brownish subventrally and on the legs, with numerous minute yellow piliferous tubercles bearing whitish hairs. The shafts of the processes are all more or less colourless, but the branches and tips are all black and the bases are shining blue-black. There is a row of inter- See " Descriptions of some Butterfly larv?e from Yosemite," No. VI. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, I segmental stigmatal red dots and a similar row of larger substigmatal yellow dots. Claspers of abdominal feet pale. In some examples the substig- matal yellow dashes almost form a continuous band, and there are indications of a geminate yellowish dorsal line ; but this latter rnarking almost disappears under a lens. CArjysa/is.— B.ea.d large, eyes prominent, thorax very slightly ridged along the dorsal line with an elevated point posteriorly centrally and a pair of smaller subdorsal points, two points on the lateral edge of wing cases and one near the middle of outer margin of wing. Abdomen rounded dorsally, nearly straight ventrally, with a subdorsal row of conical points ; cremaster broad and flat, colour sordid white with an obscure golden tint, dotted with black and shaded with smoky gray, broadly so dorsally (except a narrow dorsal line), narrowly stigmatally, broadly ventrally, and more irregularly and clouded over the thorax and cases. All the points tinged with shining gold or bronze. Length 13 mm.; width 6 mm. Food-plants. — Lupine (Lupinus) zxidL'0!x\%'Ci& (Carduus). CalUdryas etibide, Linn. Egg. — Spindle shaped, truncated on basal end, distinctly vertically ribbed and faintly transversely striated. Colour pale white, becoming ochre yellow before hatching. Length i mm.; diameter .3 mm. First larval stage. — Head round, smooth, ochre yellow, the ocelli dark brown ; width .3 mm. Body smooth, concolorous with head, with a number of long tapering setae, curving forward, about six on each joint. Second stage. — Head rounded, subtranslucent yellowish ; width .5 mm. Body cylindrical, pale yellow, with many short hairs arising from granu- lations of considerable size. Some of these hairs overhang the head and many terminate in a little knob. Under the microscope the setae are seen to be ail glandular, transparent and swollen at tip, and arise from large conical tubercles, between which the body is very minutely punctured. Third stage. — Head pale green, mouth parts yellowish, many short pale setae ; width .8 mm. Body annulated, about six annulets per segment. Colour yellowish green, not shiny, v/ith a distinct rather broad, pale green stigmatal line. The fleshy tubercles on the body are slight, the setae very short but slightly blackish and bear at tip large, round, clear Uquid drops. 8 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Fourth stage. — Head round, leaf green, mouth parts yellow; many short hairs arising from black conical granulations ; width 1.5 mm. Body leaf green with a paler stigmatal line and thickly covered with black con- ical granulations, some of which are larger than others and surrounded by pale green, and all bear short setae. Under the microscope these granulations are seen to arise from swollen green bases and the setae each terminate in a clear spherical drop. Fifth stage. — Head small in comparison with body, round, leaf green, thickly covered with conical granulations bearing minute setae, concolor- ous with head, but a few of the larger ones are blue-black; width 2.4 mm. Body cylindrical, 5 mm. thick, dark leaf green with a distinct rather broad, yellow stigmatal line strongly shaded with orange, extending the whole length of the body and bordering the anal plate. Six annulets per segment, each annulet containing some twelve conical blue-black granu- lations, surrounded by bluish green at the base. Only a few of these occur below the stigmatal line and then in the middle of the joints where, also, just above the stigmatal line, and sometimes partly below it, the granulations are connected by black, forming incipient transverse bands on the annulets. The granulations are each tipped by a short black seta. Feet and venter pale green, nearly smooth. The body is very minutely punctured between the granulations when seen under the microscope. Chrysalis. — Suspended by the cremaster and a long very slight silken loop. Thorax bent up at an angle of 45° with the body, rounded, a slight depression posterior to it ; a long pointed process on the head like a horn, almost continuous with the sides of the body. Wing cases enormously, developed, projecting more than the thickness of the body, evenly rounded along ventral line, flattened laterally and tapering ventrally to an edge. Abdomen cylindrical, tapering; cremaster flattened, a little excavated below. Colour dark pinkish vinaceousf , or pea-greeni, with a greenish dorsal and lateral band, bordered with pale yellow ; ventral line and veins of wing-cases narrowly yellowish. Length 25 mm.; thickness through wing cases from dorsum to venter 10 mm.; thickness of abdo- men posterior to cases 4 mm.; width of body 5 mm. Food-plant. — ^tnndi. ( Cassia.) Larvte from Santa Barbara, Cal. t Ridgway's Nomenclature of Colours, pi. iv. , fig. 18. ;Op. Cit., pi. X., fig. 9- THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. .t REVISION OF THE BOMBYLID GENUS EPACMUS (LEPTOCHILUS). BY D. W. COQUILLETT, LOS ANGELES, CAL. In the Canadian Entomologist for May, 1886, I gave descriptions of the only two species of Leptochiliis at that time known to inhabit North America. I am not aware that any additional species have been d'estribed since the appearance of that paper. My collection contains! representatives of three as yet undescribed species which will be found- duly characterized below. Ih the Biologia Cetitrali Americana, Part Diptera, the Baron Osten Sackeri calls attention to the fact that the name Leptochilus, first applied to this genus by Dr. Loew, is preoccupied, and proposes the name £pacmus ioht. used in its stead. It is to be regretted that the rules of nomenclature will not permit us to attach Dr. Loew's name to this new teVm ; the genus is rightfully his from the fact that he first characterized it' after an extended Search among the writings of other authors, and it seems hardly fair to deprive him of this honour simply because he inad- vertently applied to it a name already in use. Perhaps we might com- promise matters somewhat by writing the name of this genus : Epacmus Osten Sacken-Loew, which would indicate a joint work of these two authors. Following is a table of the species of Epacmus known to me to occur iri 'North America : '' I. Ground colour of the abdomen black . . . . 2 -■ Ground colour of the abdomen yellow, its tomentum golden-yellow 5'- except a white crossband on the second segment . conci/inus, n. sp. 2. Wings (except sometimes the costal and subcostal cells) wholly hyaline, front and face furnished with tomentum ... 3 f''! Wings smoky -brown at the base, front and face destitute of tomen- tum ...... 4 - 3. Scutellum shallowly concave behind, hind and middle femora and fic.:« ... front tibiae provided with bristles . . modestus, Lw. •I Scutellum convex behind, all femora and the front tibiae destitute of bristles .... pellticidtis, n. sp. ■;i-: 44;. Hind femora and front tibiae provided with bristles, scutellum pol- 9dj L ished black .... transiius, Coq. !!>:.' Hrnd femora and front tibiae destitute of bristles, scutellum opaque Jumosus-, n. sp. 10 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGlSt. Epacmus concimius, n. sp. — Head black, front densely white polHnose, destitute of tomentum, the middle portion sparse white pilose, the orbits and space in centre of lower third of front bare; face much retreating below, densely white pollinose, destitute of tomentum, the lower three- fourths densely white pilose. Proboscis not projecting beyond the oral margin. Antennae having the first two joints yellow, the third black and nearly twice as long as the first two united ; styliform portion of the third joint one-half as long as the thickened basal part. Occiput yellowish tomentose. Thorax black, the anterior third white tomentose, the re- mainder yellowish tomentose ; pile of thorax sparse and mostly yellowish, the bristles also yellowish ; pleura dense white tomentose and sparse yellowish pilose. Scutellum opaque black, rounded behind, white and yellowish tomentose, the bristles yellowish. Abdomen reddish-yellow, its tomentum and pile golden-yellow except a wide crossband of white tom- entum on the second segment ; venter yellow, blackish at its base, its pile and tomentum yellowish except that at the base, which is white. Legs yellow, a black spot at base of each trochanter ; tomentum and bristles of legs yellowish, hind femora each with three bristles below, ront tibiae provided with bristles. Wings wholly hyaline. Stalk of halteres brownish-yellow, the knob sulphur yellow. Length 7 mm. San Diego county, Cal. A single female, in May. Epacmus pellucidus, n. sp. — Black, the femora, tibiae and base of each tarsus reddish. Front densely dark brown and yellowish-white tomentose and pilose, the pile very short ; face slightly produced below, white tomentose and yellow pilose. Proboscis not projecting beyond the oral margin. Antennae having the second joint minute and scarcely apparent j styliform portion of the third joint equal in length to the thickened basal part. Occiput white tomentose, that in the middle above reddish-brown. Thorax reddish tomentose, the bristles white (only two in number, one in front of each wing) ; pile and tomentum of the pleura, breast and coxae white. Scutellum opaque, rounded behind, reddish tomentose, the pile and bristles wholly wanting. Abdomen mixed reddish and yellowish tomentose, that on the last two segments wholly white ; last segment pol- ished blackj the pile on its apex golden, yellow ; dorsum nearly destitute of pile, first segment toward its sides abundant white pilose ; venter yellowish-white tomentose. Legs white tomentose, all femora and the front tibiaj destitute of bristles. Wings hyaline, apex of subcostal cell THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 11 yellowish. Stalk of halteres dark yellow, the knob light yellowish. Length 6 mm. Los Angeles county, Cal. A single female, in June. Epaomis fumosus, n. sp. — Black, the tibiae largely reddish. Front black pilose, destitute of tomentum ; face slightly produced below, des- titute of tomentum, the pile yellow, that in the middle black. Proboscis not projecting beyond the oral margin. Antennae having first joint twice as long as the second, styliform portion of the third joint once and a-half as long as the thickened basal part. Occiput light yellow tomentose and pilose. Thorax light yellow tomentose, the bristles yellowish ; pleura having pile of the upper part yellowish, that on the lower part, breast and coxae white. Scutellum opaque, rounded behind, yellow tomentose, the bristles reddish. Abdomen somewhat abraded in my specimen, but ap- parently wholly light yellow tomentose ; pile of dorsum sparse, yellowish, that on the sides more abundant, especially on the first segment, white ; venter white tomentose and pilose. Legs mixed white and yellow tomen- tose, all femora and the front tibiae destitute of bristles. Wings hyaline at the apex, the costal cell, bases of marginal, first submarginal, first and second basal and of the anal cell smoky-brown, which colour does not have a well defined limit outwardly. Stalk of halteres dark yellow, the knob light yellow. Length 6 mm. San Diego county, Cal. A single female, in May. HET^RINA AMERICANA. There was brought to me by Mr. T. H. Hill, of this city, one of our young collectors, a dragon fly captured at Delaware, a village a few miles west of here. It was one I had not seen before. On referring to Glover's Plates I found it there, figured and named. It is Hetcerina Americana^ Fab., the Lestes basalis of Say, in the family Agrionidae ; a beautiful creature. Its most noticeable characteristics are the bright sanguineous colour on the base of the wings, the clear copper colour of the thorax, and the brilliant gem-like ornamentation of the head. Say gives the habitats as Missouri, Indiana and Massachusetts. Abundant, and easily taken. I am not aware of its being hitherto reported from Canada. Mr. Hill kindly donated one to the Society's collection. J. Alston Moffat, London, Ont. 12 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. CANADIAN GALLS AND THEIR OCCUPANTS— AULAX NABALI, N. S, .^ BY WM. BRODIE, TORONTO. Gall at the base of the stem of Nabalus altissit?ius, usually in masses surrounding stem, often extending down on main root, rarely on main fibres of root, usually about an inch under the ground, sometimes partly above the ground. Galls roughly spherical, 5 mm. -10 mm in diameter, each containing i-io cells, usually aggregated in irregular cylindrical masses of 2-14, resembling small knobby artichokes or irregular small' white potatoes. The interior of the gall has the appearance and con-' sistence of a raw potato. They are mature about the middle of September, and retain their white appearance through winter, but in spring the colour darkens. They dry up when the interior presents the appearance of a congeries of corky, fibrous folds. The average size of 20 of the cylindrical gall masses was, diameter, 14XX; length, 22xx. The cells are small, closely confining the larva. In the spring of 1880 a friend handed me one of these galls, and informed me he had found it on the stem of an aster. For several seasons I carefully searched our asters, but failed in finding the gall, and it was not until the spring of 1885 when I found it oil the root of Nabahis altissimns. My friend had mistaken the nude, dry stem of the nabalus for an aster. In April, 1887, I made a collection of 33 gall masses from Nabalus altissimus growing on clay banks in open woods in St. James's Cemetery, Toronto. The galls were at the base of the stem, immediately above root. Usually the mass of galls surrounded the stem; occasionally but a few on one side. From these galls I reared 115 producers — 79 5 s, 36 ^ s, and 57 parasites, ^ s and $ s, of two species. The producers came out 1-6-87 — 9-^-^1') the parasites were a few" days later. A collection was made from Nabalus roots growing on clay soil in open woods a iQ.\v miles north of Toronto, 20-10-88, and kept in a glass jar over winter. These galls were nearly spherical, 5X-10X dia., usually grown together in masses of 2-14, usually quite surrounding the stem, each nodule having from i-io cells. These gave producers 17-5-89—285-89; parasites 21-5-89— 1-6-89. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 13 - A collection of 7 1 gall masses made in Taylor's woods north of Toronto, 13-9-90, resembled artichokes or small white potatoes ; thc' interior white, about the consistency of raw potato. Each nodule con- tained from 1-3 cells; cells small, closely confining larva. These gave producers 13-5-91 — 20-5-91 ; parasites 19-5-91 — 1-6-91. $ producers were more numerous than ^ s. A collection made from several localities near Toronto from stems oi Nabahis altissimns growing on clay soil in open woods, 5-4-91, of 87 nabalus stems gathered 68 were gall bearing. The galls, as usual, a mass of rounded nodules surrounding base of stem an inch or two under ground; occasionally a few nodules on one side of stem, rarely a few nodules extend into pith canal. These gave parasites, Eurytoma, 5-5-91 ', producers first out 12-5-91 ; producers, 29 ^ s and 5 c? s ; out, 25-5-91 ; numerous parasites 9-6-91 — 25-6-91. One Eitrytoma 22-7-91. This lot of 68 gall masses containing probably 1,000 cells, gave of ptoducers 153 $s and 81 ^ s, and of parasites, of 3 species, 185 ^^s and $ s, a total of 419 specimens. When collected in the fall season these galls may be kept in moist sand in a glass jar, but the occupants seem to be hardy, and do not appear to be injured by the drying of the gall. However, it is best to collect in April or early in May. , These galls have been increasing during the last ten years, and have now probably reached a maximum. The parasites are now becoming more numerous. The producer is held to be an undescribed species of Aulax, for which I propose the name A. nabali. . The following is a description: — $. Length 2.50XX. Antennae 13 jointed, uniform brown, head and thorax black, abdomen shining brown, with a large anterior dorsal spot black ; all the tibicC, femora and tarsi brown, a little paler than the abdo- men ; wings ample, veins well defined, hyaline, irridescent at certain angles. Abdomen of ^ darker brown, and without the dark dorsal spot. From numerous specimens. I have bred from this gall numerous specimens of the Braconid Dacnusa crassitela, Prov. Provancher in his original description of this species gives Ottawa as the locality and Guignard as the collector. He does not say how the.; 14 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. specimen was obtained, nor does he say anything of the ^ , which differs considerably from the 5 . I have also bred numerous specimens of the Chalcid Eurytoma aulacis, Ashm.; and I have reared two species of Coleoptera, probably accidental occupants, and many specimens of a Dipteron which Prof. Riley has kindly determined for me as of the genus Leucopis, sp. I am greatly indebted to the courtesy of Prof. Riley for this and many other identifications. ENTOMOLOGY FOR BEGINNERS— No. i. NOTES ON KILLING, PRESERVING AND RELAXING INSECTS. BY JAMES FLETCHER, OTTAWA. The editor informs me that he wishes to publish in this year's volume of the Canadian Entomologist several short articles for the benefit of beginners and many others, who, although they do not aspire to being considered entomologists, yet would like to know something about our common insects, and the best way to preserve such interesting specimens as may chance to come in their way, until they may have an opportunity of mounting them for their own collections or giving them to interested friends. I have been asked to send some notes on the above subject. There is perhaps no statement more frequently made to entomologists by observant travellers, or those who live in localities far removed from civilization, than " Oh 1 I wish you had been with me, I so often saw lovely insects ; but I did not know how to save them for you." From novices the enquiry often comes, " What is the best way to relax speci- mens after they have become dry." Killing and Frese?-ving. — Having collected a specimen the first thing, of course, is to kill it. For beetles and hard-bodied insects nothing is simpler than to drop them for a second or two into scalding water ; they must be taken out again at once and dried on blotting paper, or upon a cloth. The easiest way, however, for killing all insects is to make a " cyanide bottle." This may be made either by placing a small quantity of cyanide of potassium in the bottom of a wide-mouthed bottle and pouring in sufficient wet plaster-of-paris to cover it ; or a hole can be hollowed out in the cork and a piece of cyanide inserted. This can be kept in place either with a plug of cotton wool, or a piece of chamois THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 16 leather or linen may be tied over the cork. It must be remembered that the active principle of cyanide of potassium being prussic acid it is intensely poisonous— any left on hand after the bottle is made should be at once destroyed. Insects put in this bottle will be killed in a few seconds by the poison- ous fumes given off by the cyanide of potassium ; they should then be taken out and packed away whilst soft and pliable. After a few days they become dry and are very easily broken. If there are only one or two specimens these may be wrapped in soft paper or cotton wool, and put away in a suitable box. If the collector, however, is likely to get several specimens, it will be well to prepare a box or bottle on purpose. Beetles or bugs may be preserved for a long time in clean saw-dust dampened with alcohol ; grasshoppers, ants, wasps, bees, flies, etc., although they are far better preserved by being pinned at once after killing, may be packed away like beetles and bugs in tubes of paper. These are made by winding two or three thicknesses of a strip of paper i^ inches wide around a lead pencil, leaving about one-quarter inch over the end, which is turned in and pressed flat before taking the case off the pencil. Into this short, hollow tube drop the specimens and turn in the other end with the tip of a pencil, or fill up the mouth with a plug of cotton wool. Several specimens, according to their size, may be placed in each tube, and the date and locality having been written on the outside they are ready to be packed away in a dry place. Being slightly elastic and very light they pack closely, and a large number can be sent by mail at the same time. Moths, butterflies and dragon-flies may be killed in the ordinary " cyanide bottle," and then placed in three-cornered envelopes made by taking small squares of paper and folding them across, almost in the middle, so as to make a triangular form with one flap a little smaller than the other, when the insect is placed between the two flaps, the two edges of the larger one are folded over the lesser, and the specimen is then ready to have the date and locality written on it and to be packed away where it will not be disturbed. Relaxing. — The easiest way to soften insects is simply to place them in a covered jar upon damp sand for from 12 to 24 hours. A few drops of camphorated spirits dropped on the sand will prevent mould from forming on the specimens. Pinned specimens can be either placed in the §and jar or pinned upon a piece of cork and floated on water in a closed l6 ' THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. jar, or in a basin with a damp towel over the top. Butterflies and nioths stored in the envelopes mentioned above are best relaxed by putting the ' envelopes carefully without opening them, between the folds of a damp towel placed between two sheets of glass. The cloth should be wetted and then wrung out as dry as possible with the hands. Fold it smoothly and spread out the envelopes separately between the folds. Small butter^* flies and moths will relax in 12 hours and the largest in 24 hours. Beetles' and bugs in paper tubes may be dropped into warm water and will be- ready for setting in a few minutes ; wasps, bees and flies should be placed^' in the sand jar to soften. Mr. W. H. Harrington, who uses these tubes!" extensively for all kinds of insects, finds that specimens can be con-- veniently relaxed by putting the tubes on a piece of wet blotting paper ki- the bottom of one saucer with another mverted over the top. The advaii-'' ^age of this plan is -that if specimens should be accidentally forgotten^ or ' it- -should be inconvenient to mount them at once, the small amount of- moisture soon evaporates, and there is no danger of mould. - ioi^ux 1 • . . • ; A ? i.,J..J -^■J..,. -• .- - - . - - ' - - - -■ -- . .- . . _\_ * 5:;;: - "BUTTERFLIES THAT BATHE." 'l!'^ r ".' ' " In Goldthwaite's Geogl. Mag., Vol. 2, p. 738 (Nov., 1891), is a paper- on "Butterflies that Bathe", giving observations of M. G. Lyell, jr., in, Australia, on certain butterflies, species not stated, that " backed into the . water until the whole of the body and the lower part of the hind legs were under water, the two forelegs only retaining their hold on dry land. After remaining in this position something like half a minute it flies away, ap- parently refreshed. During the morning I noticed a number doing the same thing. In one instance no less than four were to be seen within a space of not more than three yards * * *. While in the water the fluttering of the wings was suspended, and so intent were the butterflies in the enjoyment of the cold bath that they could hardly move, even when actually touched by the net * * *. Immediately upon emer- ging they flew up again to the hill sides." I do not know where this was originally published. Mr. W. G. Wright sent me the' copy of the Geog. Mag., and remarked that it was a case of depositing eggs on plants in the water, and that the larvae must be aquatic in their habits. I think there . caii be no doubt of that. Further observations on this butterfly would ' be^welcoTiTe. and lepidopterists'wotild beglad to know what genus and species has so unusual a habit. ' W. H. Edwards, Coalburgh, W. Va. • THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 17 AN EXPLANATION. On the Report of the Entomological Club, as given in the Canadian Entomologist for November, pp. 246-247, I would make the following remarks : — Mr. Smith's statement that there are two distinct series in the SphingidcB, as also that the Smer'uithince have their probable orgin in Ceratocampid forms of the Bombycidcs are both original with myself. The series Hemaris., Choerocampa and Smerinthus belong together. So far as I know, I am the first to show, from imaginal and larval characters, that C/ioerocampa and SmerintJuis are allied, and I am the first to describe an ocellated Choerocampid from Brazil. The anal horn of the Sphiiigidce is to be regarded apparently as the last remnant of the Bom- bycid dorsal series of thorns. So far as known to me, I am the first author to point out that older Lepidopterous types occur in America than in Europe, and that from the study of our Bovibycid fauna fresh sugges- tions are offered to the probable course of evolution in the order. To the statement as to the Zygaenidce, p. 246, I would say that I followed Dr. Packard's views in his paper in the Essex Proceedings. Criticisms as to my arrangement in my Lists are sufficiently answered by this statement. To the remark upon the Dioptidce, p. 247, I would state that I am not " responsible " for the reference of Phryganidia Californica to this family, but Mr. Butler, whose reference will be found in the pages of " Papilio". To the remarks on the JVoctuidce, I would state that I consider the group as one family with four unequal sub-family groups : T/iyatirince m. (= Thy at ir idee m.), JVoctuime, Pack., CatocalincB, Pack., and Deltoidince, Lntr. I have shown in my writings that these groups are further divisable by sufficiently definable characters for classificatory purposes, and I have used the idea of tribes for these subdivisions in the Lecontean sense. It is Mr. Smith's practice to take from my writings what he can use, without credit, and to hang upon minor points of difference, upon which I have nowhere insisted, criticisms which are gewerally uncalled for, and, as above instanced as to the Dioptidce, sometimes incorrect. A. R. Grote, Bremen^ Germany. 1!^ THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, METJT^A PHAETON. About the first of July I was informed by Mr, W, E. Saunders that shortly before, when out on one of his Ornithological and Botanical excursions, he had seen Melitcea phaeton, in a cedar swamp, two miles from Komoka station, which is ten miles west of London, on the Grand Trunk line. I took the first favourable opportunity of getting a sight of that insect alive, which occurred on the ninth. I found the swamp, and soon saw the butterflies disporting themselves in the sunny spots, seem- ingly quite plentiful. They would not have been difficult to secure had the footing been solid, but a previous heavy rain had set that afloat. I took five, and saw quite as many more during the short stay I made in the woods. J. Alston Mofkat. CORRESPONDENCE. petrophora silaceata. Dear Sir : At our recent annual gathering the Rev, T. VV, Fyles had brought with him a box of insects for the purpose of obtaining their names if he could. Amongst them was a Geometer, which I recognized as identical with one I have had for four years awaiting a name. When Captain Geddes arrived he also had another of the same kind amongst the material which he had brought. As no clue to its identity could be obtained from the authors we consulted, I thought the time had now arrived when we ought to know something about it, so I applied at headquarters for information, going into communication with the Rev. Geo. D. Hulst, who kindly returned my specimen with the name Petrophora silaceata, Hub. It proves to be an exceedingly interesting species, widespread and variable. Mr. Hulst mentioned that one of his specimens is from Labrador, sent to him by Moeschler. As I could not find the name in any of our N. A. catalogues, I turned to the European, and found it in Edward Newman's " Illustrated Natural History of British Moths " as Cidaria silaceata, Hub. It is therein illustrated by figures of six well defined varieties. Newman does not give any variety names, but Mr. Hulst determines my specimen to be " var. deflavata, Stdgr.," yet it is not identical with any of Newman's figures, although closely resembling the sjxth, which is one of the least ornate. Newman says : " The moth appears in May, and a second brood in August, and is regarded as common in England, Scotland and Ireland." London, Dec. i8th, 1891. J. Alston Moffat. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 19 PROF. J. B. SMITH'S LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA. BY G. H. FRENCH, CARBONDALE, ILL: While I recognize the fact that each one of us has a right to make lists of insects to suit himself, and others are not obliged to follow them, errors of identity are not a matter of opinion, and are therefore subject to criticism. With this view I wish to point out a few errors in the genus Catocala in Prof. John B. Smith's new " List of Lepidoptera." First, var. Vireiis, French, is not a variety of Cordelia, Hy. Edw., but of Amasia ; and Cordelia is not the one figured by Dr. Strecker, pi. 9, f 12. My examples of Cordelia were identified by the author of the species. Second, there is no good reason for separating the two forms of Reteda. I have taken hundreds of them ; they fiy at the same time and behave alike in the woods, and grade into each other. Flebilis is not a variety oi Retecta, but an insect of very different habits. Dr. Strecker's figure, so often referred to, pi. 9, f 4, is not Flebilis, but a small form of Desperata. I had an example from Dr. Strecker, and have bred it from Desperata eggs. I cannot regard Ulalume as a variety of Lacrymosa, as they have very different habits in the woods, as well as the differences of size and markings that are seen in the insects in cabinets. I have taken all the named forms of Lacrytnosa, as well as numerous intergrades ; have taken quite a number of examples of Ulalume, but no intergrades with any form of Lacrymosa. THE LARVA OF ANCERYX FASCIATA, SWAINS. BY T. D. A. COCKERELL, KINGSTON, JAMAICA. In July, 1 89 1, Mr. I. I. Bowrey gave me a sphingid larva, about to pupate, which I described as follows : — Larva. — Choerocampa - like, ground colour pale ochreous, sides immaculate. Dorsal region (sharply defined from sides) dark, from a close, fine black marbling or mottling, which tends to run in anteropos- terior lines. A band-like process of this marbling enters the side area on each segment, obliquely projecting towards, but hardly reaching the spiracle. Underneath the larva is more or less mottled, and there is a narrow black ventral line. Abdominal legs dark. Thoracic legs rather pale. Anterior part of fourth segment above heavily marked with black. Head pale, with a dark brown band down each side of the face. Caudal horn small and pale. Food-plant. — Carica papaya, Linn. (West Indian Papaw.) Hab. — Kingston^ Jamaica. The imago emerged Aug. 7th, and proved to be Anceryx fasciata. The present larva differs appreciably from that of ^. edivardsii, Butl., as described by Mr. Hy. Edwards in Entom. Amer. III., p. 165. So far as the larval characters go, Anceryx and Dilophonota (whether regarded as two genera or one) seem to belong rather to the Choerocampinoe than the Sphinginoe, with which they are placed in Prof J. B. Smith's new list. The moths, also, while coloured like Sphinginoe, have a somewhat Choerocampa-Hke build. 20 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. BOOK NOTICES. Insects Injurious to Forest and Shade Trees, by Alpheus S. Packard, M. D., Ph. D. (Fifth Report of the Entomological Com- mission of the United States), i vol., 8vo., pp. 957. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1890. About ten years ago (in 1881) what was then called the United States Entomological Commission, consisting of Messrs. Riley, Packard and Thomas — three very eminent men — issued a work by Dr. Packard on "Insects Injurious to Forest and Shade Trees" (Bulletin No. 7), a goodly volume of 275 pages, well illustrated and replete with valuable informa- tion. Recently a revised and much enlarged edition of this pubHcation has been issued by the Department of Agriculture at Washington, bring- ing the original work more nearly down to date, and furnishing, as far as possible, a complete manual on the subject. The new volume is more than three times the size of the former edition, consisting of no less than 950 pages, illustrated by over 300 wood cuts and forty plates, twelve of which are coloured. Some idea of the extent of the work, as well as of the importance of the subject, may be found from the fact that descrip- tions are given of over three hundred species of insects that affect the oak, and the names of nearly 150 more are mentioned; sixty-one are described as attacking the elm, and thirty more mentioned ; one hundred and fifty-one described that affect the pine, and a list of twenty more given ; and so on for a large number of other trees. Economic entomo- logists for the most part devote their attention to the insects that attack fruit trees, crops and vegetables, as these most directly affect the public ; but surely no more important matter can be studied than the preservation of our forests, which are annually being depleted for the purposes of commerce, as well as by fire and insects. It is high time that more atten- tion was paid to this matter, and that people generally should be aroused to the dangers that will surely result if we allow our country to be stripped of its woods and forests. In some countries of Europe, notably in Ger- many, a very rigid oversight of the forests is maintained by the govern- ment, and no wanton or careless destruction is permitted. In connection with this, they encourage scientific men to devote their studies to the insect enemies of trees, and as a result some magnificent books have been published, chief among these are the grand work of Ratzeburg and the perhaps less widely known publications of Kaltenbach. Alongside of these Dr. Packard's book will assuredly take its place, as his work is THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 21 Very carefully and completely done. The life-history of each insect de- scribed is as far as possible fully given j the best published descriptions of each stage are quoted and references given wherever the author has not made personal observations himself, or whenever he thinks that some- one else's record is better or fuller than his own. Thus the work is made complete to date, and succeeding observers will know what investigations have been made, and what remains to be done in this vast field of ento- mological research. The coloured plates are beautifully and accurately done, and the wood cuts and other illustrations give careful details or full representations of a large number of the insects referred to in the text. Such a publication ought to encourage our own Government to follow the noble example set them in this respect at Washington. A Series oF Thirty Coloured Diagrams of Insects Injurious to Farm Crops. Drawn from nature by Miss Georgiana E. Ormerodi W. & A. K. Johnston, London, England, i8gr. These diagrams are beautifully and accurately executed, and will be found most useful by any one who is called upon to lecture to classes in entomology, or give addresses to farmers' institutes. They are sufficiently large, being thirty inches long and twenty-two wide, to be seen at some distance in a hall or class-room, and will serve to illustrate descriptions of an economic character. Though intended for England, nearly all of them are equally applicable to this country. They are divided into five sets of six each, which deal with the following objects : — (i) Common Insect Attacks : Ox Warble Flv, Horse Bot-fly, Large While Butterfly, Cockchafer, Turnip Flea-beetle. Onion Fly; (2) Insects Affecting Various Kinds of Crops : Surface Caterpillars, Daddy Longlegs, Eel-worms, Plant Bugs, Hessian Fly, Wire-worm; (3) Insects Affecting Particular Crops : Mangold Fly, Hop Aphis, Bean Beetle, Corn Thrips, Gout Fly, Corn Saw-fly ; (4) Insects Affecting Fruit Crops : Winter Moth, American Blight (Aphis), Gooseberry and Currant Saw-fly, Apple Blossom Weevil, Codlin Moth, Magpie Moth ; (5) Insects Affecting Trees : Pine Beetle, Pine Weevil, Pine Saw fly. Goat Moth, Spruce Gall Aphis, Leopard Moth. The diagrams are sold singly at one shilling and six- pence each, or in sets. On each is shewn the natural size of the insect as well as the greatly enlarged picture, a very necessary matter, as otherwise most erroneous impressions are formed by the ignorant of the real dimensions of the creature referred to. There is also printed on each a general description, by Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod, of the life-history of the insect depicted, and of the best remedies to be employed against it. 22 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. A Manual of North American Butterflies, by Charles J. Maynard : 8vo., pp. 226. Boston : DeWolfc, Fiske & Co., 1891. We are always glad to welcome the publication of a new book which is likely to render more easy, and consequently to popularize, the study of entomology. The author of the work before us has, no doubt, had this object in view when preparing this manual, in which are brought to- gether "for the first time, descriptions of all the species of butterflies which occur in North America, north of Mexico." He has evidently taken a great deal of pains in the execution of his task, and expended much labour upon the descriptions of over six hundred and thirty species of butterflies, and in the preparation of the illustrations, for "not only is a coloured plate given of one species of nearly all the genera, but wood cuts are given of some portion of about 250 species, illustrating some peculiar character by which the insect may be known ; both plates and wood cuts have, with a single exception, been drawn and engraved by the author himself" The wood cuts, giving a wing, or a portion of a wing, of a number of closely allied species, will be found very useful helps by any one employing the book for the identification of his specimens, and are much superior to the coloured plates. Anyone with a hrgQ stock of speci- mens on hand, and with a few named in different genera to start with, will find this book a very useful and handy manual for the naming of his material, but this, we fear, is the extent of its value. The author has adopted the comparative method in his descriptions, which^ involves a constant reference to some other species, which the beginner in the study may chance not to have, and be woefully puzzled in conse^iencj;. There are no synopses, or comparative tables, of either genera or species given, but the author selects a species as his "type" and compares tf:e other mem- bers of the genus with it. If the student possesses a specimen of this typical species his way will be fairly easy, but without it the invest. Ration will be sadly difficult, if not hopeless. Another very serious defect in the book is the entire absence of all reference to the preparatory sUges of the insects, and consequently to their food-plants, habits, dates oi^. ap- pearance, etc. We trust that the author may be enabled to issue a second edition of the work, and make it a thorough and complete " manual "oy remedying the defects that we have referred to. That this may be done in a concise form and in a most useful manner is admirably proved by Stainton's " Manual of the British Moths and Butterflies," which we would commend to our author as a model for imitation when he enters upon the preparation of his next edition. Mailed January 14th. lijc Cauiulian ^iitomolojist. VOL. XXIV. LONDON, FEBRUARY, 1892. No. 2. ENTOMOLOGY FOR BEGINNERS— No. 2. The Northern Mole-Cricket ( Gryllotalpa boreaiis, Burm.) BY JAMES FLETCHER, OTTAWA, ONT. Anyone finding the strange-looking insect shown at fig. i will at once recognize it as the Northern Mole cricket. It is apparently an un- common insect in Canada, and it is partly to ascertain from the readers of the Canadlan Entomologist whether or not this is the case that I am writing these notes upon a specimen which I have had in confinement for some months. I have been trying for years to get living specimens, but only succeeded last autumn when I had a fine female sent to me by Mr. W. W. Hilborn, who had caught it in his garden at Leamington, in Essex County, Ont. A short time afterwards I received from the same locality, from Mr. G. H. Mills, a male, but this was unfortunately injured in transit and died the day after arrival. There is to my mind nothing more interest- ing than keeping insects alive and watching their habits. This, too, after a little experience, becomes an easy matter if their habits are considered. I cannot, however, say that my Mole-cricket has been a very entertaining pet owing to its subterranean and nocturnal habits. I prepared a home for it in a large glass jar, 8 inches in diameter, and filled to the depth ot about a foot with light, rich, sandy loam. Upon this was placed a potato and a small sod of lawn grass. The potato and grass soon threw out vigorous roots which now reach to the bottom of the jar. In the soil were also placed some earth-worms, as the food of Mole-crickets (like that of the other members of the Gryl/idce, or crickets to which it belongs) is of a mixed nature, and they are said to be particularly partial to earth- worms. The name Mole-cricket is very appropriate for this insect, it is plainly a cricket, and at the same time its habits and even general appearance, but particularly the form and uses of its strong fore-legs, closely resemble those of the little mammal from which it takes its name. Our excellent < 24 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. figure, which has been kindly lent by Prof. J. A. Lintner, shows the female natural size. The sexes differ very little. The male is slightly smaller. West- wood says : — " Indeed, as the females are destitute of an exserted ovipositor, it is only by a minute in- spection of the veins of the wing covers that the sexes may be distinguished. The females in this family are not able to make a noise, the veins of their wing covers being more regularly disposed. The males are, morever, distinguished by having eight ventral segments in the abdomen, whilst there are only seven in the females." (Mod. Class. I, 443). There is only one species of Mole-cricket recorded from Can- ada. It is of the form shown above, of velvety seal- brown colour, which is darkest on the thorax. The wing covers are greyish, with dark veins, and the true wings are white and folded together like a fan. They ^^"' are much larger than would be imagined from their small tail-like tips, which show beyond the wing covers on the back. The most remarkable feature of these insects is the strong fore-legs, with their expanded paw-like shanks, which bear four claw-like curved and hollowed projections at the lower edge ; two of these are jointed at. the base, and are in fact claws. The feet consist of three joints, which are attached about the middle of what, by the shanks being twisted obliquely outwards, is now the outside instead of the lower side. They consist of three joints : the first and second are large and claw-like, the second the smaller but reaching almost as far as the tip of the first ; the third is very small indeed, and bears two weak true claws. The first two tarsal joints being of the shape described give great strength to the insect's " paw " when used for digging, for they lie right in front of the two articulated projections of the shank which fit closely to them, and the weak terminal joint lies between. The adaptability of these limbs for their required use is at once seen by the rapidity with which these insects dig down out of sight again when disturbed. As stated above, Mole-crickets are nocturnal in their habits. They live in moist ground and near streams, where they sink their burrows some inches beneath the surface ; but also throw up little ridges as they burrow nearer the surface, like miniature mole-rui]s. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 25 They have not the power of jumping highly developed like other crickets, but can swim with ease if they fall into v/ater. Their little shining black eyes, velvety coats and flexible bodies recall strongly the appearance of the otter, particularly when emerging from the water or crawling over stones. On the whole these interesting creatures are the most mammal-like insects I have ever seen. They keep in their burrows the greater part of the time, and I have only been able to catch sight of my specimen by going in quickly at night with a light. They move backwards with almost as great ease as forwards, the two caudal bristles being evidently very sensitive, for which reason they were designated caudal antennae by one writer. The song of the male is described as " a low, continued, rather pleasant trill, quite similar to that of the common toad, but more shrill." In Europe the Mole-cricket is described as being very injurious in certain localities from eating the young roots of plants and burrowing amongst the roots. There seems to be as much controversy, however, with regard to it as there is amongst farmers as to whether the mole is an injurious animal or not. Dr. Ritzema Bos says those who think that the Mole cricket is only injurious by burrowing beneath plants make a great mistake. The methods suggested for destroying it, should it at any time occur in large numbers, are the destrucLion of the eggs, which are laid to the number of from 200 to 400, in chambers about six inches beneath the surface of the ground, or killing the adults by means of poisoned baits, as grated carrot or potato mixed with arsenical substances. Dr. Lintner says. Rep. VI., p. 151 : "A method recommended by Kollar and approved by Curtis, as probably the best where the insect abounds, is to dig pits in the ground in the autumn, of a foot in diameter and two or three feet deep, to be filled with horse-dung and covered with earth. At the first frost all the crickets will be attracted to and congre- gate in these pits for warmth, where they can be conveniently killed." I shall be glad to hear from any reader of the Entomologist who may find this insect in his neighborhood, and also for any definite information con- cerning the food and habits. My jar is well filled with roots, and I frequently put a piece of raw meat on the surface of the ground, but I cannot say that I have ever seen that either it or the roots were much eaten. The ground is burrowed in every direction by clean burrows about as large as an ordinary lead pencil, and the Mole-cricket may sometimes be seen at night moving g.bout in these burrows apparently in good health and quite at home. 26 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. TWO NEW ORTHOPTERA FROM INDIANA. BV \V. S. BLATCHLEY, TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA. LocusTiDAE — XiPHiDiUM. Scrville. Xiphidium Saidderi, nov. sp. Female. — Front and sides of head and body dark reddish-brown ; vertex, disk of pronotum and tegmina greenish-brown in life, (dull yeiiow after immersion in alcohol). A dark reddish-brown stripe extends from the front extremity of the fastigium to the posterior border of pronotum, and contrasts strongly with the general colour of vertex and disk of pronotum. Femora greenish-brown punctate with many dark brown impressions on their upper surface ; the tibiae darker. Antennae with the basal third reddish, the remainder fuscous. The apex between the eyes rather broad, with the sides rounded ; the cone projecting strongly upward and forward and much more prominent, though narrower, than in X. strictum, Scudder. The tegmina cover two-thirds of abdomen : the wings are shorter, reaching to middle of abdomen. Ovipositor of excessive length, almost twice as long as body ; slender, and nearly straight until near the apex, where it is curved slightly upward. The posterior femora and tibiae are also longer and more slender than is usual with members of the genus. Measurements: $, length of body, i8 mm.; of antenna, 53 mm.: of tegmina, 9.5 mm.; of wings, 7 mm.; of posterior femora, 16 mm.; of posterior tibiae, 16 mm.; of ovipositor, 30 mm. A dozen or more females of this striking species were taken from the margins of a large pond in Vigo County, Ind., on October nth, 1891. Although in company with Xiphidium strictum, Scudder, and X. brevipenne, Scudder, yet it was at once noticeable on account of its dark glossy- brown colour and exceedingly long ovipositor. Careful search was made for the males, both then and two weeks later, when the pond was again visited, but none were found, and on the latter visit but one female was seen. Those taken were on the stems of the partially fallen rushes and sedges which filled the margins of the pond. When disturbed they gave two or three enormous leaps, and then moving rapidly for some little distance would endeavor to hide beneath the mass of fallen vegetation. Since the above was in MSS., Mr. S. H. Scudder, in whose honour the species is named, and tQ whom specimen.'? were sent, suggests that "HK CANADIAN KNTOMOLO<;IST 27 McNeill's XipJndium sp. ?, mentioned in Psyche, VI , 24, as being deformed and having the ovipositor two and a-half times as long as the body, may have been this species. Gryllidae — Apuhks = (Hapithus), Uhler. A pit lies McNeill i, no v. sp. Female. — Front margin of pronotum of same width (3.5 mm.) as head, slightly incurved ; posterior margin but little broader, truncate. Tegmina slightly exceeding the abdomen, entire at the tip, the dorsal field the longer. Wings extending 2.5 mm beyond the tip of tegmina. Posterior femora stoutish, exceeding the abdomen. Posterior tibiae of same length as the femora, armed with two slightly divergent rows of spines on lower face — eight on the inner margin and five on the outer, besides the three at the apex on either side, the middle one of which is twice as long as any of the others. Between each two of the larger spines in the outer row are two small ones, about one-fourth the length of the large ones. The basal joint of tarsus has also a row of five spines on either margin of its lower face, the apical pair of which are much the longer. The top of head, disk of pronotum, and the tegmina, are covered with a fine soft pubescence, visible only with the hand lens. All the tibiae and upper and lower borders of posterior femora more coarsely pubescent with yellow hairs. General colour, after immersion in alcohol, a dull brownish-yellow. A dark brown stripe reaches from eye to posterior border of pronotum. The tegmina with a small brown spot at their base, and the. vein separating the dorsal from the lateral field with a number of oblong dark spots ; the cross-veinlets are also much darker than the ones running lengthwise, giving the dorsal field a checkered appearance. All the femora are rather thickly marked with small dark spots, those on the posterior pair being arranged in regular rows. Extreme tip of ovipositor black. Length of body, 16 mm.; of antennae, 42 mm.; of tegmina, 14.5 mm.; of posterior femora, 9 mm.; of ovipositor, 12 mm. A single female, the type specimen, was taken October 21st, 1891, from the lower leaves of a golden rod, Solidago lati folia, L., which grew in a thick upland woods in Vigo County, Ind. I have named the species in honour of Prof. Jerome McNeill, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, a well-known writer on Orthoptera, and my first instructor in entomology. 28 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. SOME INDIANA ACRIDID.E.— II. BY W. S. BLATCHLEY, TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA. Since my first paper on " Indiana Acrididse," which was pubHshed in the Entomologist for April and May, 1891, was prepared, six additional species have been taken in Vigo County. Of these, one is new to science ; a second has been known in the United States only from Florida and North Carolina ; of a third, but one specimen, a female, has hitherto been recorded, and from it Dr. Thomas described the species ; while a fourth has not before been taken west of New Jersey. With the habits and local distribution, as far as noted, of these six species, together with the description of three of them, the present paper deals. The following works may be added to the list given in the preceding paper to which the synonymy refers : — Comstock, J- H. — An Introduction to Entomology, I., 1888. Fernald, C. H.— The Orthoptera of New England, 1888. McNeill, Jerome — " A List of the Orthoptera of Illinois " in Psyche, April and May, 1891. Scudder, S. H.— Boston Journal of Natural History, VII., No. III., 1862. Thomas," Cyrus H.— In " U. S. Geological Survey of Montana and Adjacent Territory," 1871. acridid.e:. ACRIDIN/E. TRUXALINI. I. Lkptysma marginicollis, Serville. Opomala jnargi?iicollis, Thomas, Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 66, 196, 250 (note). Leptysma marg'micollis, Scudder, Proceed. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XIX., 1877, 87. Leptysma marginicolle, Comstock, Introduction to Entomology, I., 1888, III, fig. 102. On October nth, and again on the 24th, a number of specimens of this slender-bodied, graceful species were taken from the tall sedges and rushes which grew near the margin of a large pond in the river bottom of the southern part of Vigo Co. Its range has heretofore been supposed to be a strictly southern one, and Thomas, in the note, loc. cit., states THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, 29 that it is doubtful if it really belongs to the U. S. fauna. Mr. S. H. Scudder has, however, since recorded it from Florida, and in a personal letter says that it has also been taken in North Carolina, but not farther north. Its occurrence in numbers as far north as Central Indiana is therefore worthy of record, and can only be accounted for by the presence of the broad and sheltering valley of the Wabash, within the confines of which it finds a climate and vegetation congenial to its taste. If its habits be the same elsewhere as in Indiana, the name " grass- hopper " is for it a misnomer, for here it is never seen on the grass or ground, and never hops when disturbed, but moves with a quick and noiseless flight for twenty or more feet, to a stem of sedge or rush, on which it alights. The instant it grasps the stem it dodges quickly around to the side opposite the intruder. Then, holdmg the stem firmly with its short front and middle legs, it draws its slender hind femora close up against the body, and folding the tibiae into position, hugs its support as closely as possible, and remains perfectly motionless. Its body is almost cylindrical, and being of the same general colour as the stalk of the plant on which it rests, it is almost impossible to detect it, unless one sees exactly where it alights. Eight times out of ten a person by approaching quietly can reach his hand about the plant stem and grasp the insect. Its habits excellently illustrate the so-called ''protective mimicry" of form and colouring, as it always seems to choose a cylindrical object, and one similar to its own colour before alighting. As the description given by Thomas, loc. cit., is the only one in American works of reference, and, moreover, is a very short and poor one, I append the following drawn from fresh specimens, and hope that collectors throughout the Northern States will be on the lookout for this interesting and peculiar species : — Body very slender, sub-cylindrical. Antennae short, somewhat ensiform. Vertex extending far forward in the form of an equilateral triangle, slightly sulcate on its anterior half. Face very oblique, median carina weak, narrowly sulcate for its entire length ; lateral carina; slight and straight. Pronotuni almost cylindrical, slightly diver- gent on posterior half; median carina present, distinct only on posterior lobe; lateral carinre obsolete. Prosternal spine short and rounded. Face, vertex, occiput, and disk and sides of pronotum densely punctured. Tegmina exceeding the abdomen by 3 to 5 mm. Wings equal to tegmina in male, slightly shorter in female. Posterior femora very slender, not reaching tip of abdomen. Anal cerci of male slender, tapering, and bent abruptly upward and forward near the base. Sub anal plate narrow, upturned and tapering to a point. The ground colour is a fawn, unbroken except by a narrow, yellowish stripe, ex- tending from the hind border of eye, along the lower edge of pronotum to coxa of hind 30 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. leg In living specimens this line is bordered above by one of dark Ijrown. When the insect is dried the brown fades and the tips of legmina become darker. Length of body to tip of tegmina, male, 30 mm.; female, 37 mm,, of antennns, male, 8 mm.; female, 6 mm.; of tegmina, male, 20 mm., female, 26 mm.; of posterior femora, male, 14 mm., female, 17.5 mm. OEDIPODINI. 2. Spharagemon bolli, Scudder. Spharagemon bolli, Scudd., Proceed. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII., 1875, 469. McNeill, "Orthop. of 111.," Psyche, VI., 1891, 64. Dissosteira bolli, Fern., Orth. of N. Eng., 1888, 43. This species is much less common than S. balteatum, Scudd., but three specimens having been secured. It may be readily known from balteatum by the higher crest of the pronotum, by the general colour being darker, the bands across the tegmina more distinct, and by having the tip of wing as black as the median arcuate band. It frequents high, dry woods, and moves with a quick, almost noiseless flight, but is clumsy as a hopper. Sept. ist, Oct. 17th, in copulation. ACRIDINI. 3. Melanoplus griseus, Thomas. Caloptenus griseus, Thos., Geol. Surv. Terr., 187 1, 454. Id., Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 165. A single ^ of this handsome Mela?ioplus was taken in Putnam County, on August 25th. It hopped across a roadway in the woods in company with numerous specimens of M. femur-rubrutn, and was at once detected on account of its peculiar coloration. On October 17th, a $ and % were taken from near the base of trees in a high woodland pasture in Vigo County, and again on November 15 th a single female was found in a similar locality. These four are all that I have ever seen. No one of them took to flight, and their movem-^nts on the ground were exceedingly clumsy, they being easily captured with the hand. As Thomas, loc. cit., described the species from a single 9 taken in Ohio, and as I can find no reference to the species other than those cited above, I add the following description of the ^ , drawn from a fresh specimen, together with accurate measure- ments of both sexes. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 31 The length of M. femnr-rnbrinn but thicker bodied. Head rather large with the occiput elevated ; eyes prominent. Vertex very narrow between the eyes ; the fastigium deeply sulcate ; foveola ]jre,-;ent but minute, their outline circular. Frontal ridge rather broad, sulcate at the ocellus, convex between the antenuce, punctate with black depressions along each margin for its full length. Lateral carinte prominent, but little divergent. Pronotum nearly uniform in width, expanding slightly pos- teriorly ; the median carina distinct only on the posterior lobe, and deeply cut by the three transverse sulci ; posterior lobe punctate with dark impressions. Tegmina extending 5 mm. beyond the tip of abdomen ; wings but little shorter. The terminal ventral segment turned up, narrow, acuminate, entire. The anal cerci are strongly bent upward near their middle, and bear on their lower edge a broad, triangular, wing-like expansion, the apex of which is opposite the bend. Colour. — Face, occiput, and disk of pronotum a grayish-lilac with numerous fleckings of sooty black. A broad stripe of black starts from the eye and extends back along the upper side of pronotum to the posterior transverse sulcus. Tegmina grayish-olive, marked regularly over almost their entire surface with subquadrate fuscous spots which are much larger than those possessed by femur-rubriim. Wings transpar- ent, tinged with pale yellow on basal third, the veins of apical fourth fuliginous. Three bands of black cross each femur and are alternated with bands of grayish-blue of the same width. Posterior tibiae with the basal third red, the remainder gray with black spines ; knees black ; venter pale yellow, (alcohol changes the black to a reddish-brown, and the grayish hues to a dull yellow). Dimensions : — Length of body, $ 24 mm., $ 27 mm.; of tegmina, ^ 20 mm., ^22 mm.; of antennte, $ II mm., $ 12 mm.; of posterior femora, $ 14 mm., % 15 mm. The peculiar mottled appearance, and the broad expansion of the anal cerci of the $ , serve to distinguish this species from all other Melaiiopli of the E. U. S. 4. Pezotettix hoosieri, nov. sp. Antennae of $ very long, exceeding the length of posterior femora. Vertex between the eyes narrow, scarcely as broad as the basal joint of antennae, (broader in the 9 )> expanding and prominent in front of the eyes where it is broadly but shallowly sulcate ; foveola about twice as long as wide, slightly narrowed in front, more prominent in the 9 • Frontal ridge rather broad, regular, scarcely if at all sulcate below the ocellus ; 32 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. lateral carinse well developed, but little divergent. Pronotum broadening slightly on posterior half, (more noticeable in the ? ) ; median carina distinct and equal throughout, the transverse sulci scarcejy noticeable in the $ , distinct but shallow in the ($ ; the lateral carinae present but rounded obtusely off; the disk and sides of posterior lobe densely and rather coarsely punctate. Tegmina oblong, two and a-half times as long as broad, reaching to middle of abdomen and slightly over-lapping on the median dorsal line, the wings but little shorter. Last ventral segment of the abdomen of ^ broader than high, tumid posteriorly, the lateral edges higher and flaring slightly outwards. Cerci long and slender, gently incurved, narrowed at the middle, with the apical third flattened and slightly hollowed on the exterior face. Colour of living specimens : — Male — Antennae rufous, infuscated at tip, and with the apical sixth of each segment yellowish. Face green, clypeus and mouth parts yellow. Vertex, disk of pronotum and tegmina plain olive, immaculate. Lateral lobes of pronotum greenish-yellow below ; above with a broad, shining, black line reaching from the eye to their posterior edge. The venter pale yellow, and the meta-pleural episterna with an oblique yellow line. Femora green ; knees black ; posterior tibiae greenish, rufous at base, with black spines. Female — Duller; the disk of pronotum and tegmina sometimes with minute fuscous spots ; a black stripe on the sides of abdomen, above which are numerous small black blotches. Measurements :— Length of body, S 22 mm., $ 31 mm.; of antennai, S ^5 mm., ? 11 mm.; of tegmina, ^ 10 mm., ? 13 mm.; of hind femora, i 14 mm., ? 17.5 mm. 13 (?'s, 11 ? 's. About the margin of the pond above mentioned, this Pezotettix was found in numbers on October 17th. It was at once noticeable on account of the length of the male antennae, and the black stripes on the sides of the abdomen of the female. The pond was almost dry, and the dense growth of sedges and rushes which had filled its shallow margins, were, in some places, burned away. Over the burned spots had sprung up a dense green vegetation, and here this Pezotettix flourished in company with Truxalis brevicornis and Chrysochraon viridis, while a iow feet away Leptysma marghiicolli?. found a suitable home amongst the rushes and sedges still standing. Both sexes of P. hoosieri were very active, leaping vigorously when approached, and difficult to capture except by throwing the net over THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 33 them as they rested on the ground. The females were exceedingly difficult to kill in the cyanide bottle, " coming to " after having been kept in it for several hours, although the males and the other insects above mentioned were killed in a few minutes. On Oct. 27th the spot was again visited, and, although several heavy frosts had occurred, yet the species was still fairly common. At this time, however, they were all found in the small patches of grass which grew among the fallen leaves a few yards from the edges of the pond proper, TETTIGINiE. 5. Batrachidea carinata, Scudder. Batrachidea carinata, Scudd, Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist., VII., 1862,479. Thos. Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 190. Fernald, Orth. N. E., 1888, 49. Tettix cristaius, McNeill, Psyche, May, 1891, 77. Two males of this species were taken, in company with numerous young and adults of ^. cristata, Harris, from a grassy hillside on April ist, 1 89 1. Although Bolivar, according to McNeill, has made carinata a synonym oi cristata, yet, in my opinion, the two are as distinct as are the two common species of Tettigidea. Carinata has the pronotum extending 3 mm., and the wings 4 mm. beyond the tip of abdomen, whereas cristata has the pronotum of the same length as the abdomen and the wings lacking 2 mm. of reaching its tip. Moreover, the median crest of the pronotum is not so prominent nor so strongly arched in cari?iata 3L?,m cristata. Length of pronotum oi cristata, $ 7 mm.; of carinata, c? 9-5 nim. Carinata has not before been reported west of New Jersey. 6. Tettix cucull.vius, Burm. Tettix cucullata, Scudd., Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist., VII., 1862, 475. Thos., Syn. Acrid. N. A., 1873, 1S5. Tettix cucullatus, Fernald, Orth. N. E., 18S8, 47. McNeill, Psyche, VI., 1891, 77. Several half-grown young and two adults of this species were taken on April ist, and on Sept. 15th a large number of adults were secured. It appears to be widely distributed over the Eastern U. S., its occurrence having been observed from New England to Sherman, Texas, at which latter locality I took a number of specimens on July nth. It is evidently a water-loving species, as those taken in Texas, and most of tjiose secured 34 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. in Indiana, were found along the damp, sandy or muddy margins of small streams, in company with Galgtilus oculatus, a common Hemipteron, which abounds in like situations. Cuaillatus, when disturbed, has a more prolonged flight than any other of our Tettigince. The life-history of the " grouse locusts " is, as yet, very imperfectly known. In the proper localities mature specimens of most of the six species so far noted in Indiana can be taken almost any day in the year. Tettix ornata, Say, and Tettigidea polyrnorpha, Burm, were found in copulation on April i8th, and the latter species again on May 31st 3 while, as noted above, the half-grown young of two species were collected on April ist. No. 18, Pezotettix- viridipes ? Walsh, Mss., of my first paper, is Pezotettix viriduhis, Walsh, as I have since determined by comparison with specimens of the latter taken by Prof. McNeill at Moline, 111. It was the third full-grown species, other than Tettigitice taken last season, having been preceded by Chortophaga viridifasciata, De Geer, Apr. 26th, and Arphia sulphiireus, Fab., May 20th. Two mature males of P. viridtilus were taken on May 30th, and others were found at intervals throughout June, but it is by no means a common species in this locality. FURTHER NOTES ON GELECHIA GALL^DIPLOPAPPI, AND DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF BRACON. BY REV. THOMAS W. FYLES,. SOUTH QUEBEC. In a paper entitled "A Day in the Woods," I brought under the notice of the Entomological Society of Ontario, at its annual meeting held in London, on the 27th of August, 1890, the galls formed by G. gallce- dip/opappi, and gave an account of the chrysalis and perfect insect. I also alluded to two kinds of parasites preying upon the species. The description of the moth was reproduced in the December number of the Canadian Entomologist of that year (Vol. XXIL, p. 248). The insect has again come under my observation, and I am able to furnish these further particulars concerning it : — The larva of the species when full grown is four lines in length. Its colour is light seal-brown, and it has a dorsal line of darker brown, and a few dark patches on the three last segments. Its head is black. There are a few bristles on the head and along the sides. It assumes the chrysalis form in the beginning of July. I'HE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 35 The moths continue to appear from the ist of August to the close of the month. At least three kinds of parasites molest the species ; — • 1. Pimpla pterelis, Say, which, in August, issues in its perfect state from the chrysalis of the moth. (See 22nd Ann. Rep., Ent. Soc. of Out., p. 18). This species was identified for me by Mr. Harrington. 2. An insect which, in its larval condition, leaves the chrysalis of the moth about the loth of July, The larva is nearly four lines in length, and is white with a tinge of pink. It spins a white cocoon within the gall. I have two or three of the cocoons, and hope to obtain the perfect insects in due course. 3. A Bracon. — The larvse of this, numbering from four to ten in a batch, consume the remains of their host at the end of July, and then spin their light drab cocoons in a cluster at the bottom of the gall. The flies appear about the loth of April. The perfect insect has the head and thorax black. The abdomen, which is somewhat spindle-shaped, and is attenuated at the junction with the thorax, is honey-yellow, with a brown patch on the upper part of each segment — in some instances the upper part of each segment is entirely suffused with brown. The mouth organs are honey-yellow, and the legs, with the exception of the tarsi of the hindmost pair, which are light brown, are of the same colour. The ovipositor of the female is longer than the abdomen. Its sheath is blunt, hairy and black at the tip, and does not divide in drying. I cannot learn that this insect has hitherto been described or named. I would therefore suggest for it the appellation Bracon furtiviis. NOTES ON THE LIFE-HISTORY OF AGALLIA SANGUINO- LENTA, Prov.* BY HERBERT OSBORN AND H. A. GOSSARD, AMES, IOWA. This leaf-hopper is considered a clover pest, but is also known to feed on btets, rutabagas, cabbages and blue grass. It is active even in midwinter on sunshiny days. The eggs are thrust beneath the epidermis of the food-plant, and the first brood of larvge appears from the middle of May until July ist. The earliest individuals of the brood are nearly mature by the first of July and are supposed to begin egg-laying a little later. Larvte can be found in all stages of growth from this time until the advent of winter, but most of the individuals are believed to be included in two broods. 36 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. ON THE ORTHOPTEROUS FAUNA OF IOWA.* BY HERBERT OSBORN, AMES, IOWA. The Preliminary List of the Orthoptera of Iowa, published by Prof C. E. Bessey in the Seventh Biennial Report of the Iowa Agricultural College, is revised, a number of species being added and a number of names taken from incorrectly determined specimens rectified. The revised list is represented thus in the following families : — Family Forficididce. Family Blattidce. Family Phasmida. Family Acrididce. One species. Four species. One species. Forty-one species. Family LocustidcB. Twenty-three species, probably twenty-four. Family Gryllidce. Ten species. Total, eighty or eighty-one species. HOW THE FEMALE OF CACOECIA SEMIFERANA PRO- TECTS HER EGG-CLUSTERS.* BY C. P. GILLETTE, FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. The Box Elder Leafroller, Cacoecia semiferana, was very abundant in many places in Colorado last summer, and in July the moths were swarming in the trees in the evening, presumably to deposit their eggs. The eggs were found beneath a gluey mass, somewhat similar to that used by the tent caterpillar in protecting her eggs, but it was largely covered with what appeared to be scales from the moth, placed like the shingles on a roof A careful examination of these shingled patches under the microscope makes it seem certain that the eggs are first all deposited, the glue is then added, and after this the abdomen is laid at full length in the sticky substance until it hardens, when the abdomen is removed, and the scales covering its under side are drawn and left covering the eggs. *Abstracts of entomological papers read l:)efore the Iowa Academy of the Sciences, Des Moines, Iowa, December 28 and 29, 1S91. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 37 NOTES ON COLEOPTERA.— No. 9. BY JOHN HAMILTON, M. D., ALLEGHENY, PA. FhUydrus, Can. Ent., XVI., 186. — The paragraph commencing with " Philhydrus " should be corrected as follows : — Philydrus perplexus, Lee, and P. Hami/toni, Horn, are found [on Brigantine Beach] in the fresh water pools which form at the base of the sand-hills, with Hydro- philus glaber and Copelatus glypkicus; while Phi/ydrus reflexipennis occurs in the salt marshes under pieces of wood and recent tide-drift, seeming to inhabit salt or very brackish water, as it has not been taken in fresh water with the species mentioned. When the paragraph was penned P. Hamiltoni, since described, was supposed to be reflexipennis^ and the true reflexipennis a variety of ochraceiis. Philydrus fimbriatus. Can. Ent., XX., 63. — The variety noticed as inhabiting hill and mountain rivulets has recently been described as a species, and is Cymbiodyta Blanchardi, Horn. Cercyon iittoralis, Gyll. — This nice species occurred very abundantly in September at Longport, near Atlantic City, New Jersey. It inhabits under the softer grass washed from the Bay deposited on sand flats, and which has remained there long enough for breeding purposes. Though represented as very variable in colour and markings, the only differences observed in several hundred individuals examined was that about one half were entirely piceous black, while the remainder had the posterior fourth of the elytra pallid. Cercyon has heretofore been much neglected by most American collectors, but the genus having been recently monographed by an able hand, and the species defined by characters usually of easy observation, they are likely to become better known. All things con- sidered, this species seems to be native in North Ahierica as well as in Europe. Here it has been taken on Magdalen Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence ; Coney Island, New York ; the New Jersey sea coast, and in Illinois (Horn, monograph). In Europe, skirting the Western Mediter- ranean shores, it follow the Atlantic Coast to N. Lat. 66° 50', and also occurs in Northern Asia on the shores of the Obi. The Cercyons, so far from being despicable, are very interesting beetles, and no genus of equal extent contains so many forms common to the Old and New Worlds. In fact, of the 25 American species monographed by Dr. Horn, 14 like- wise occur in Europe. Trogophloeus convexulus, Lee. — Several examples (it occurred abundantly) of this minute beetle were taken on the salt marshes near I 38 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, Longport, New Jersey, in September. The identificalion is due to Mr. H. Ulke, confirmatory of a like diagnosis by myself. The most, or in- deed all of the species of Trogophloeus which I have heretofore taken, occur wandering about in very wet places, taking refuge under leaves, sticks, &:c.; but the present species differs in being found in places com- paratively dry, and in constructing surface galleries like many of the species of Bledius, some of which it closely resembles. Dr. Leconte described the species from an individual from New York, and another from Kansas, which, till the present time, do not appear to have been duplicated. These two examples, measuring each .07 inch in length, represent the smallest individuals ; the length of a number taken together averaging over .09 inch. There are no thoracic impressions whatever visible in the great majority of individuals, but occasionally one of the larger ones bears indistinct traces of the usual basal marks, barely discernible in certain lights. The smooth thoracic line is usually conspicuous, which, with the piceous or black antennae and parti-coloured feet, make this species of easy recognition. This species likewise occurred on Brigantine Beach, and may be looked for in the salt marshes anywhere along the Atlantic Coast. Callichroma splefididum, Lee. — This well-known and highly-prized beetle is distributed along the Atlantic coast from Delaware to Key West, Florida, around the Gulf of Mexico to Southwestern Texas, and northward along the Mississippi to Arkansas. It is known to breed in the trunk and immense roots of a tree growing in the Southern swamps, especially in such as sustain Cypress, and is known in different places by such names as Sour Tupelo, Large Tupelo, Wild Olive, Wild Lime, Gum Elastic Tree, &c., being the Nyssa uniflora, Walt., congeneric with N. inultijlora, Weng., the abundant and well-known Gum Tree, or Pep- per idge, common in many of the Northern States. The leaves and fruit of this tree, with several of its brilliant inhabitants, were recently received from Alabama, by which I am able to confirm the one or two observed records of its larval habits. It may, however, breed in other species of trees, as the first example in my collection was presented by a young naval surgeon, who took it on Key West, Florida, a place where Nyssa probably does not grow. The individuals of this species vary considerably in size, the sculpture of the thorax, and the colour of the elytra. An individual from Delaware measures. 85 inch in length; the one from Key West and another from Texas 1.70 inch each, but the average THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 39 appears to be near 1.30 inch. The colour of the thorax is uniformly a brilliant fiery copper, with green reflections when seen after night or in certain lights, and is a specific character ; the thorax differs in individuals from being deeply rugous to comparatively smooth, and in the promi- nence of the lateral spines and tuberosities. The elytra in the large majority are deep sericeous green, but in some examples, more or less shot with copper, which in some individuals becomes the prevailing colour, known in some collections as virescens. Some time ago I had an opportunity to examine several examples of each of two species of Callichroma taken in Cuba, one of which, labelled columbina, Dej., seems only to differ from splendidum by having the thorax colored coppery bluish or violet ; if other differences exist they escaped observation. This species was described very briefly by Dr. Leconte under Dejean's catalogue name splendidum, with Cerambyx elegans. Fab., Oliv., Hald., in synomymy (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil., 2d Ser., II., 37). Dr. Asa Fitch, however, states (Rep. 4, 711,) that Linnaeus had previously described it under the name suaveo/ens, from an example sent him from Carolina by Dr. Garden. (Appendix to last Ed. Syst. Nat., III., 224, 1770.) At one time this species was considered an inhabitant of the West India Islands, being probably mistaken for coltimbhia or some allied species. In fact, some of the species of Callichroma, of which I have seen nine, are uncomfortably close, and separated by characters which, in many genera, are of little moment. C plicatuffi, Lee, is strikingly like splendidum, but the green colour of the head and thorax is constant and devoid of any coppery reflections. The habits of the two species, if I am rightly informed, are more confirma- tory of their being specifically different than anything yet observed in their external structural characters. A friend (not an entomologist), from Hamilton County, Central Texas, says this species breeds in old cactus. While requiring further confirmation, this statement is probably correct, from the fact that there has been no record observed of its having been taken in swamps with splendidum, and from the fact that it occurs only in cactus regions in Texas to Arizona, where it was taken near the south- eastern boundary at Camp Bowie. (Wheeler's Reports on Exp. and Surv., Vol. v., Zoology, p. 821.) Eupogoniiis tomentosus, Hald. — Here this species is not common • 40 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. till recently all the examples in my collection were bred from dead hickory limbs (once). All other observed records of its habits represent it as inhabiting in its early stages pines. This is with scarcely a doubt the species Dr. Fitch describes under the name "■' E. pinivora, Pine-eating Gay-beard" (Rep. iv., 712), which he says differs from E. tomentosus by the erect hairs on the body and antennse being black, a different form of spots on the elytra and the smaller size. The last two are of no value, as the length of iofne?itosus varies from .20 inch to .33 inch, and the elytra from having scarcely perceptible patches of pubescence to the high ornamentation of Dr. Fitch's pinivora, while the black colour of the erect hairs was very probably an optical deception, from a perhaps care- less comparison of bright fresh examples with older faded ones ; any one who has the msect can readily see how this might occur, by examining a specimen after night, or by a dull light. This species is distributed from Florida to Canada, occurring in New York and Michigan. The locality from which the hickory limbs from which my examples were bred were obtained is remote from any place growing pine, and the occurrence can scarcely be regarded as fortuitous. E. vestitjis is very commonly bred here from hickory. Elieschiis, Can. Ent., XVI., 106. — The Elleschiis bipuficiatus, mentioned at the place cited, proves to be one of the forms of E. scanicus, Payk., as determined by Dr. W. G. Dietz on comparison with authenti- cated European examples. The colour and the elytral markings of this species seem to be locally variable, and in the present instance scarcely or not differing from those of bipunctatus. This form has been sent me from Europe as bipunctatus, but an examination of the structural characters shows it to be the same as my American form. The typical form of PaykuU was rufo-testaceous with fasciate elytra, and a similar form was taken by Dr. Dietz at Hazleton, Pennsylvania, from which a redescription of the species was made and a figure drawn (Tr. Am. Ent. Soc, 18, 264, plate vii., fig. 35, 35a). As he had not then seen this form it is not mentioned in Dr. Dietz's excellent paper, and from his descrip- tion and figure of the species it would not be readily recognized as the same. Some individuals have no markings whatever, not even a trace, and all others have, more or less visible, the small spot on the disk of the elytra before mentioned, any others being attributable to abrasion. The colour varies from piceous to pale. This species is only known from here, and at Hazleton certainly. Common throughout Europe on willow. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 41 Dr. Dietz records E. biptinctatus as occurring in Canada ; HubbarJ and Schwarz, in Northern Michigan. Ant/ionomus musciilus. Say. and A. signatus,^z.y. — In 1831 Say pub- lished in his Curculio, p. 15, a description of A. muscuius, and on p. 25 that of A. signatus, and from the descriptions it is evident he had before him two distinct species. In Leconte and Horn's Rhyncophora, a species is assigned to each name separated by definite characters ; and in Dr. W. G. Dietz's elaborate revision of the tribe lately published, tTiese are still more clearly defined. One of these species is of economic import- ance, being occasionally exceedingly destructive to the cultivated straw- berry. Owing to the diflficulties encountered in attempting to separate them, some economic entomologists now solve the matter by uniting the species, unfortunately, under the name of the one having typographical precedence — muscuius. Prof. C. V. Riley devotes several pages in one of the Government agricultural reports (1885, p. 276-282,) to the discussion. The true tnusculus is not very common here, and is usually found in colonies on huckleberry blossoms — I have never taken a specimen on anything else — and occurs here from the middle of May till the first of June. Whole acres may be hunted over without obtaining a single specimen. The individuals seem to vary only from degrees of maturity. Say's description having been drawn from examples recently disclosed, while his variety is the more mature. A. signatus, on the other hand, is protean in colour and elytral ornamentation, so much so that judged by this alone it might be divided into several species. It appears about the first of June, and may be found more or less abundantly all summer. It eats the leaves and blossoms of many species of trees and shrubs. I have taken it abundantly on Tilea and Rhus, and it seems to have a decided taste for certain Rosacei^ — notably, Rubus. Diligent search has several times been made in the fields of the cultivated strawberry without finding any Ant/iono7nus, and efforts to obtain the strawberry form from correspondents have equally failed. A. signatus, however, is often seen on the leaves of the wild strawberry, through which it eats holes like it does to the leaves of Rubus. Both species may possibly depredate in strawberry plantations, but it would be a wide departure for the true muscuius from any of its known habits. From the unanimity of systematists in maintaining the distinctness of the species, it will be necessary for economic entomologists, if they care 42 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. for accuracy, to make further investigation and ascertain which it is by which the mischief is done, or whether both species may not be concerned in different places. There will be little trouble in doing this, provided the huckleberry insect can be found with which to make the comparison, as they are only moderately difficult to separate when both forms are at hand. NOTES ON THE ^GERIAD^ OF CENTRAL OHIO. BY D. S. KELLICOTT, COLUMBUS, OHIO. The Lepidopterous family to which these notes pertain is a homo- geneous and distinct one, clearly and sufficiently separated from other families. The larvae, so far as known, are borers in roots, stems, branches, or excrescences of trees, shrubs or annuals, yet all strictly retain the structure and appearance of the young of their order. Most of them pass the winter buried in the food plant. A few, however, hiber- nate as pupje or as larvae, protected by cocoons. The most remarkable variation of the adolescent period is in the variable length of time from egg to pupa. Certain wood-boring species, Harmo?iia pini for example, pupate and disclose the imago the third year from the egg : others complete their changes in a few weeks. The pupae are quite similar. The clypeus is usually armed with a protuberance, and the abdominal rings with transverse rows of spines, agreeing in this respect with normal pupae of Tortricidae, Cossidae and Hepialidae. The moths are among the most beautiful of insects, and in other ways they are no less attractive. Their exquisite form, coloration and graceful- ness of motion appeal to every one permitted to see them, but the highest enjoyment is reserved for those who appreciate the extent and exactness of protective nmnicry exhibited by these insects. So intimately do they simulate the appearance, aided many times by sounds, odours and attitudes of wasps and bees, that the very elect in entomology are often deceived and cheated. Again, their habits render many of them grave pests, compelling attention from horticulturist and economic entomologist. In spite of these reasons, and more that might be alleged for their collection and study, they are not well represented in collections. In fact, in a majority of collections which I have had the pleasure to examine JEgeriad*, like Odonata, are few and ill-favoured. This is to be regretted j but since we have the material in abundance, the defects ma}' THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 43 and will be remedied. The situation is relieved somewhat by the thought that there is certainly one unique collection of the ^gerians in this country, namely, that of the late Henry Edwards. What disposition is to be made of it I know not. Perhaps no one does. All sincerely hope that it may speedily find a safe resting-place, accessible to the interested student, and where it will be properly cared for, and will duly honour our foremost student of this group. The list of species of this family thus far collected at Columbus, I am aware, is only a partial one — one which it is hoped may be greatly increased in the near future. Such facts as are at hand, it is hoped, will prove interesting and suggestive. I follow the generic arrangement of Henry Edwards in Grote's Check List of N. A. Lepidoptera. Melittia ceto. West., (cucurbitce, Harris). — The squash-borer occurs abundantly in Central Ohio, and, indeed, throughout the State. In localities where cucurbitaceous plants are cultivated on a commercial scale it is a veritable pest. Is it double brooded ? Since Dr. Harris's account of its habits more than sixty years ago, it has been regarded as single brooded, the moth, appearing in early summer, the mature larva enter- ing the soil in July and August, enclosing itself in a gummy cocoon in which it remains until the following spring, when it completes its trans- formations. During the last days of August Prof F. M. Webster and' myself found in squash vines on the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station Farm larvae of different sizes ; a few inches below the surface cocoons containing larvae were found, and one fresh imago was taken resting on the leaves. By September 20 all the larvae were out of the stems and could be found in their dark, oblong cocoons from two to four inches beneath the surface. My friend Webster asked me if the species was two-brooded. I replied by asking him the same question. At the time I did not recall the paper by Prof. S. H. Scudder in Psyche, vol. iv., p. 303, in which he recounts finding in squash vines on Cape Cod in September two larvae, one much larger than the other and apparently specifically distinct. He describes each and raises the question, Is Af. ceto double brooded or are there two species passing under that name ? Only the larger forms found by the writer were preserved and carefully examined ; they were typical Melittia ceto. The single imago was likewise a typical example of that species. It seems probable from the facts at hand that in Central Ohio and South the species is double brooded. 44 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Alcathoe caudatum, Harris. — -This unique species is the sole repre- sentative of its genus. It was described by Harris in vol. xxxvi. of Silliman's Journal. His description has been copied by many authors and nothing added. This is evidently due to the fact that the insect is rare. A number of working entomologists have assured me that they had never taken it. The latter part of August, leSg, three examples were seen by me visiting blossoms of Mileolotiis on the Ohio State University grounds ; two males were captured, the third, a female, escaped. Harris describes the forewings of the male as " transparent from the base to the middle." In both of my specimens there are only clear streaks, one on either side of the median vein ; indeed, when first taken these lines were scarcely perceptible. The coxae and femora are black ; tibiae orange, with more or less perfect black rings at base and apex of second and third ; tarsi tawny orange, with first joint of last pair surrounded by a heavy band of orange hairs and a few black ones out- wardly at the base ; the palpi are light, bright orange below, darker above, whilst the antennae are of the same shade as the upper surface of the palpi, but having the double row of fringes blackish. The caudal appendage, which is fully as long as the abdomen, is bright orange ; the caudal tufts are black and orange. Harris gave the black currant as the larval food-plant. Henry Edwards, in Transformations of N. A. Lepi- doptera, mentions the stems of Clematis also. I have not been able to find the larva in either of these plants. Bembecia marginata, Harris. — This species occurs everywhere about Columbus in the native blackberry. Thus far I have not heard that it has given trouble to the cultivator. The moths may be taken in Septem- ber resting on the foliage of plants near the food of the larva. Podosesia syringce, Harris. — As the specific name implies the larval food-plant is the lilac. If it would confine its attention to this old- fashioned ornament of lawn and garden it would have far less economic interest. But, unfortunately, it attacks and destroys the white and the European ash, as well as the mountain z.%\i, Pyi-iis Americana. Large numbers of them were found in the trunks of the last in April, 1891 ; several trees on the Ohio State University campus were found greatly damaged by them. It may, therefore, yet be found to injure other and more valuable rosaceous trees in cultivation. Satmina exitiosa, Say. — The ^gerian peach-tree borer is far too abundant wherever the peach is cultivated. Central Ohio is not an exception. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 45 yEgeria gallivora, West. — In May last I obtained from a globular excrescence on an oak twig three ^gerians — one male and two females. They were at first taken to be JEgeria hospes, Walsh, until a careful comparison was made with the original description of that species in vol. vi., p. 270, of the Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, when I found good evidence that the moths were not of that species. The following characters seem to afford sufficient grounds for this conclusion : — i. They were larger, expanse .75 inch (Hospes .57 inch ) ; 2. there is a well-marked black band at tip of hind tibiae, in the female as wide as half the length of the joint, or the whole space distal of the middle spurs (Hospes has the tibiae tipped with blackish only) ; 3. the second abdominal band of female is broad and the yellow ventral patch much longer and more clearly defined than in the male (according to Walsh, this band is not broad and the spot is only half as long as in the male) ; 4. the expanse of Hospes female is .50 inch, of these .75 inch; 5. and again, these have a yellow collar and the first joint of the antennae maculate in both sexes, whilst the female Hospes has the first antenna 1 Joint immaculate (Walshj. Are these moths Westwood's T7-ochiliiiin gallivora ? His description is inadequate, and without a comparison with the type there must always remain some uncertainty. Nevertheless, I refer my specimens to that species for the following reasons : — i. Westwood's specimens were bred from galls of Qiiercus palustris received from U. S. (Papilio II., p. 97). 2. The size is nearly the same (Gallivora, alar expanse 8 lines). 3. '■'■Legs yellow, with a dark ring around the tibice near the tips" characterizes this feature exactly, especially true of the hind tibiae ; the first and second pairs are yellow, with more or less blackish on the outside of the tibial extremities. The sexes of what I take to be yEgeria gallivora agree almost exactly in size and closely in ornamentation ; the lower part of the front and a ring about the eyes milk white, above the white of the front shades into yellow, which extends about the first antennal joint, and is overhung by rather long blue-black scales, concolorous with the ground colour of thorax and abdomen ; the palpi are yellow, blackish above ; and the abdominal bands are two in both sexes, narrow in the male, the first narrow and the second broad in the female. Although my material is scanty, I have reached the following con- clusions regarding these gall-feeding and evidently inquiline species from 46 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. oak and hickory : Hospes is a good species, but what Walsh has said about the supposed female pertains to a species as yet unnamed ; and GalUvora is now rescued from forgetfulness. yEgeria pictipes, G. & R. — This moth is quite abundant throughout this district, and does serious injury to wild and cultivated cherry, as well as the plum. I have seen at least a score of pupal skins protruding from one tree at the same time. ^geria acerni, Clemens.— Great numbers of our maple shade trees are injured, often ruined, by this species. It is, however, rarely seen in the forest. ^geria tiptili/ormis, L. — The imported currant-stem borer is said to occur in Central Ohio. I have not yet taken it. y^geria histrans, Grote. — I have two examples. The type was cap- tured by G. R. Pilate near Dayton, O., and is said to be "common in one place." The food-plant is unknown. y^geria conii, Hy. Edw. — A moth taken at Sugar Grove, O., July 3, 1 89 1, visiting the blossoms of basswood, I refer, with some hesitation, to this species. It resembles Acer?ii, but is smaller, and in every way more delicate. The agreement with Mr. Edwards's description of Corni (Papilio I, 190,) is close, except the blackish third article of the palpi is not mentioned, and the underside of the caudal tuft is reddish orange or tawny, and not "bright orange." The expanse is 18 mm. instead of 15 mm. Carmenta pyralidiformis. Walker. — Rare at Dayton. See List of G. R. Pilate, PapiHo IL, 65. Alhwia modest a, n. sp. I propose this name for a species taken on the University campus at Columbus in August last, resting on foliage. I have compared it with all of Mr. Edwards's descriptions of species in ^geria, as well as Albima, and examined as many of his types as I have been able to consult ; also the species in the National Museum at Washington. I cannot recognize it among the descriptions or specimens. The female has the head, thorax, abdomen and wings black above ; the palpi are rather long, sordid white below and inwardly, blackish above and outwardly 3 the eyes are bordered by pale yellow scales ; the antennae are black, with a white patch on the upper posterior surface one- fourth the length from the tip ; apical tufts black ; thorax and abdomen without streaks or bands above, beneath both are paler, with a few yellow scales on the sides of the metathorax. The anterior vitreous space of THfi CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 47 the fore-wings is small and triangular, the posterior one likewise small and oval ; interveinular spaces of the apical patch golden ; hind-wings with very narrow black border, fringes throughout blackish ; beneath hind- wings as above, fore-wings yellow to the discal spot, with interveinular spaces beyond of the same hue. Fore-coxse black, with pale scales, especially on lateral edges ; femora black, with more or less pale ; tibi?e black, with the spines and a few scales at tip sordid white ; tarsi blackish, ringed with dull white ; abdominal tufts slight, concolorous, with a few yellow points at base laterally. Expanse, i8 mm.; length, 9 mm. I have referred the moth to Alhuna rather than ^geria for the following reasons : i, "the head is narrower than the thorax, which is not produced far beyond the base of the wings ;" 2, " the antennae are comparatively short," not reaching to the discal spot ; 3, the legs are relatively short, on the other hand the tibite are not more than usually clothed with scales ; 4, ''the markings of the wings are heavy, the space between the submedian nervure and the inner margin is clothed ^^ith scales," except a minute clear space proximate of the clear triangle, and within the submedian ; 5, the abdomen is fusiform without the apical brush. The finding of the male may make the generic reference more certain. BOOK NOTICE. List of Lepidoptera of Boreal America, by John B. Smith, Sc. D., etc., Philadelphia, American Entomological Society, 1891. Prof. Smith divides the Lepidoptera into seven suborders : — (i) The Rhopalocera, containing four families ; (2) the Heterocera, containing twenty-three families, and comprising the Sphingidfe, yEgeriadse, Thyridee, Zygaenidse and Bombyces of Grote's list ; (3) the Noctuina, containing three families ; (4) the Geometrina, containing the single family Geometridae, divided into nine subfamilies ; (5) the Pyralidina, containing seven families ; (6) the Tortricina, containing three families: (7) the Tineina, containing twenty families. Prof Smith has been assisted by Dr. Skinner in the Rhopalocera, by Dr. Hulst in the Geometrina and Pyralidina, by Prof. Fernald in the Pyralidina and Tortricina, while the entire list of the Tineina is by Dr. Riley. The list contains 6020 numbered species, which includes the unidentified species described by Walker (243 in number) and other authors (in all, 79 names). 48 Tlffi CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. There are a few inaccuracies and omissions among the Bombyces which I should like to notice : — Family Nycteolida?, page 23, add Sarrothripa reveyana, S. V. (See Hy. Edw., Bull. 35, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 55). Family LithosiidcC, No- 966, Moia minuscu/a, Zeller, should have precedence as it was described in 1872 (Verb., d. k. k. Zool. Bot., Gesell. XXII. , ^c,^),\v\\\\q fuscula, Grt., was not described till 1881 (Papilio, I-' 76)- Family Arctiidte, p. 27, No. iii3(?, Arctia sciurus, Bdv., is given as a variety oi Euchcetes collar is. Mr. Hy. Edwards once stated to me that it was the same as his E. yosemite. This would be a more probable synonymy, sciurus having precedence. Family Liparidse, p. 28, No. 1166, \'^zWtx'% clandestiiia w2a referred to Gluphisia by Mr. Grote (Can. Ent., IX , 21), but I do not know it, and it may really be Dasychira. Family Notodontidee, p. 30, add Gluphisia avimacula, Hudson. No. 1277 is the same as No. 1285, Pheosia dimidiata, H.-S , and I am of the opinion that P. rimosa and P. cali/oniica are synonyms of this. (See Psyche, VI., 194.) No. 1289, Edema albicosta is given as a synonym of E. albifrons. The forms can be distinguished, and I am not aware that they have been proven varieties. Nos. 1300 and 1302 are better referred to Schiznra in my opinion. (See Psyche, VI., 177.) Page 31, No. 1339 is probably a synonym of No. 1345. No. J 342a is not a variety of Centra occidentalis, but of C. cinerea. Perhaps I am responsible for this error, as my table in Can. Ent., XXIII. , 87, may be a little ambigu- ous, for I placed the var. ciiiereoides before cinerea instead of after it on account of the arrangement of tiie table. No. 1343, C. sciiiscripta is given as a synonym of C. cinerea. This is surely a mistake. So far as I know it is a good species, and I have referred Candida., Lint., as a variety of it, and not of cinerea, as it stands. C. Candida, Lintn., has no afifinity with cinerea, but the three forms, sciiiscripta, Candida and multiscripta, constitute a distinct group of the genus. Add Cerura modesta, Hudson. Family Ceratocampidte, p. 32, add Dyocampa riversii, Behr. Family Bombycid^, p. 2,Z^ Hemileiica neumoegeni, Hy. Edw., seems to have been overlooked. No. 1401, Clisiocampa strigosa, Str., is a synonym of C. constricta, Str. Gastropacha alescensis, Pack., seems to be wanting. (See Stretch, Zyg. and Bomb., N. A., p. 113.) No. i^igy^ should be Jhauma rihis, to keep the original orthography. (See Hy. Edw., Proc. Cal., Acad. Sci., V., 265.) And, finally, Eutheca mora, Grote, has been left out. (See Bull., U. S. Geol. and Geog. Sur. Terr., Haydn, VI., 257.) The list will be the standard for some time to come, and should be in the possession of every entomologist. Harrison G. Dvar. Mailed February 6th. VOL XXIV. LONDON, MARCH, 1S92. No. 3. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON BUTTERFLIES, LARV^, ETC. BY W. H. EDWARDS, COALBURGH, WEST VA. 1. An albino male Colias Philodice. I received this example from Mr. H. E Wilford, of Batavia, N.Y.. last fall. Mr. Scudder, Butt. N. E., p. 1286, says: — '-Instances of albinism are confined, so far as we yet know, to the Rhodoceridi " (which term he uses to include Colias, under his name oi Eurymus), "and to the female sex." In colour this male is white, with no tint of yellow ; the borders of both wings are of median width, and solid — in all respects like the usual border of the yellow male. It was taken at Batavia last summer. Mr. Wilford wrote that at the time albino females were unusual- ly plentiful. 2. An abnormal Papilio Asterias. Mr. David Bruce sent me several larvpe o{ Asterias from Platte Canon, Colorado, ist August, 1891, and I reared them to imago. One of these butterflies is a male by its body and claspers ; female, by its wings. The male Asterias has two longitudinal abdominal rows of yellovvish spots, sub-dorsal and lateral, and this example shows these rows, and no other yellow markings ; the female Asterias has not only the same two rows, but a semi-row on either side the mid-ventral line on the three or four last segments. The hindwings are of the usual type of the female Asterias, and therefore without the mesial yellow band, which belongs to the male. The forewings are destitute of this yellow band, and also of the extra or discal row of yellow spots to be found in both sexes of Asterias. The submarginal row of yellow spots is present, but the spots are very small. So that the only yellow found on the forewing is in these submarginal spots. On the under side of the forewings, however, the extra discal spots are present, and the spots of the submarginal row are as large as is usual ini female Asterias. Mr. Scudder says, p. 1759 : "Specimens showing a ;.:'ngling of the characters of the two sexes, called 50 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. gynandromorphs, are by no means unknown." He mentions seventy- one published eximples of such, of which eight belong to the Papilioninae : ••' most of these show complete bilateral distinction, the wings of one side being of one sex, of the other of the opposite sex. Dr. W. J. Holland writes me that he has a P?pilio Polyxenes" (Mr. Scudder's name for Asterias) "collected by Mr. Mead, in which the abdomen is female, while the wings have the male colouring." The example I describe above is, then, just the reverse of the one in Dr. Holland's collection, the abdomen being male, the wings female. I hope to get this specimen, as well as the albino male Colias, figured in my Volume HI. 3. Papilio Bairdii. Mr. Bruce also sent me eggs of P. Bairdii, from West Colorado, in 189 r, obtained by cjntining the female over the food-plant ; and from these I reared several larvae to pupa and imago. The butterflies in no way differed from the typical forms. The larvae were distinctly different from the Asterias larvae, which were feeding at the same time. I have the set of drawings of them by Mrs. Peart, and shall certainly figure the stages in Butt. N. A. 4. New species, Papilio Hollandii. Mr. Bruce obtained in West Colorado three examples, male, of a Papilio wholly unknown to me, and which lies between the sub-groups of P. Zolicaon and Asterias. Like the species of the former sub-group, the abdomen is yellow. In all the members of the other sub-group the abdomen is black, with rows of yellow spots. The upper side of both wings in these examples is not distinguishable from the male Bairdii, the yellow bands and spots being of the same character, and the anal ocellus has its sub-oval pupil connected by a black ligament with the marginal stripe. On the under side the facies is quite different from Bairdii, by reason of the marginal yellow spots being very large and confluent ; the spots of the mesial band very large, fully as much so as on the upper side. The abdomen is wholly yellow, except for a black dorsal stripe and four fine lines beneath, two on either side the venter. It has been suggested that these might be hybrids between Zolicaon and Bairdii. I know nothing of hybrid butterflies, and if there is THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 51 positive evidence of such a thing in nature, I do not remember to have heard or read of it.* It would not seem very likely that a colony of hybrids, so numerous as to allow of catching three individuals in one district, would be discovered. Now, I have a female Papilio, taken in Arizona years ago by one of the Wheeler expeditions, that must be of the same species as these males from Colorado. The hindwings are wholly wanting, but the forevvings are good and agree with Bairdii ; while the body is exactly like these males, allowing for the difference of sex. This specimen had always been a puzzle to me, and I looked for light on its peculiarities to come some day. I do myself a pleasure in naming this Papilio after my dis- tinguished friend, Dr. Holland. Mr. Bruce will probably get eggs from the female of this species next summer. *Under the heading of "Hybrids" in index to Butt. N. E., I find five pages referred to. On p. 283, we read " that hybrids occur between this species ( Astyanax,^^ (i.e. Ursula ) "and Archippus" [i.e. Disippus) " is rendered probable by the remark of Mr. Mead, who found an Astyanax on whose upper surface the bhie was supplanted by fulvous," etc.; and also of Grey, who says, Can. Ent., XL, 17, he possesses "a melanitic form o{ Disippus with all the markings of Ursula on the under surface." Now these may be cases of hybridity, and may not. The American species oi Limenitis are so closely allied that they would seem to be ])ut one remove from a common parent, and as probably as not one of the black species is nearest that parent. These variations in occasional individuals of one species in the direction of another species may be cases of reversion or niere sports. Hybridity is conjectured, not proven. On p. 289 et seq. , is a discussion of the supposed hybridity by wholesale of Limenitis Poserpina (between males of Artheinis and females of Ursula, and vice versa). I have shown the improbability of this mixing up in Can. Ent., XXHL, p. 49, et seq., and that all the phenomena may be accounted for in a different way, with no violation of probabilities. On p. 445, we read : " Mr. H. Edwards describes a hybrid between Pyrameis Atalanta an 1 Carye ." " The under side is that ol Atalanta.'' Mr. Scudder adds here : "Hybrids among butterflies are of extreme rarity." Cases of copulation between butterflies of different species of the same genus have several times been observed and recorded, even of different genera. I reported one in C. E. recently between two of different families, viz., a Melita;a and Chrysophanus. But I do not know of instances (though such there may be) where such copulation has led to eggs from which the larva; were bred to pupie and butterflies produced. In only this way could we be sure of hybridity. ..... On p. 1212, we read that a Pieris Raptc paired with a Pieiis Protodice (these at least belong to different subgenera) and the female laid eggs which hatched. But the larvK all died, and so nothing came of this conjunction. On p. 1363, under Papilio Asterias ( /'olyxcnes ), we are told : " No hybrids are known"; after which it is related that "Mr. Edwards possesses an hermaphrodite " specimen, etc. I conclude, knosving Mr. .Scudder's habit of thorough research, that no other instances of possible or probal)Ie hybridity have been reported among American l)utterflies. 52 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 5. Papilio Orego?iia. Until recently this species was known only in east Washington and Oregon ; but the late W. S. Foster, two years ago, took a fine example at Park City, Utah. Mr. B. Neumoegen has sent me for inspection a male taken somewhere in Utah. And, in 1S91, Mr. Bruce found several examples in west Colorado. It is evidently a desert species, ranging from Washington to Arizona. In 1890, I had larvae sent me from east Washington, believed to be of Oregonia. But, as they were found on the plants, the sender could not be certain. I saw all the stages from second to adult larva, and obtained one pupa. Of the last two larval stages, I have drawings made under the supervision of Prof. Riley. The larval markings and colours were unlike any Papilio larvse I have known, and I think the species is certainly Oregonia; it can be nothing else, coming from that locality. But, as the pupa died before imago, I could not figure these stages on a plate as Oregonia. Now, I hope to obtain eggs and begin from that stage, and so get the set of drawings for publication. 6. Anthoc/iaris Sara and A. Reakirtii. On March 31st, 1888, I received eggs and larvae (hatched on the way) of Reakirtii, laid 22nd inst. One larva passed first moult, 2nd April ; second moult, 4th ; fourth moult, 8th April, and pupated on 13th This pupa gave a true Reakirtii iniago the next year, 12th April, 1889. On June 4th, 1888, forty-three eggs laid by Sara, in confinement, were sent me by Mr. A. Koebele, but the plant with them rotted, and not more than two larvae reached me alive on nth. Mr. Koebele wrote that Sara, of May and June, proceeds from eggs laid by Reakirtii in March ; but that some pupae went over the winter to produce Reakirtii in the early spring ; also that the product of Sara was Reakirtii of the next spring. The dimorphism is as that of Papilio Ajax. It is very common for pup^e of Anthocharis to go over two winters Mr. Koebele wrote me, in 1888, that he then had pupje of Sara and Cethura that formed in 1886, and one of the first named he sent rfie, labelled May, 1886. This, soon after I got it, gave imago Reakirtii. I have a living pupa now of Genutia of 1890, the only instance I have known in that species. A. Auso/ioides passes two years in pupa some- times. Both P. Riitulus and P. Daitnus sometimes pass two years in pupa. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 53 7. Caterpillars that go over two years. I had a larva of Coenonympha Inornata out of egg received from Mr. Fletcher, at Ottawa, go over two winters. Three larv?e hatched i8th August, 1888. One of these became lethargic after second moult and hibernated. On 6th May, 1889, it passed the third moult; the fourth, 9th June. In July was asleep again, and so passed the winter of 1890, and died in the following spring without further change. Others, of a lot from Montana, hibernated after second moult and pupated the following spring. A similar habit has been noticed in Melitaea Aiiicia, Doubleday. This species is common on the tops of the highest peaks in Colorado, and so north to and beyond Laggan Until recently, the lepidopterists of this country were uncertain what Anicia was, and the name came to be applied to a rather large red species found in Nevada and California. But Mr. Henry Edwards, on his last trip to London, examined the type specimens in British Museum, and having with him several of his own Melitceas, identified the right one, and distributed examples of it to some of his correspondents. It is a small dark and dull species, and is said by Mr. Bruce to swarm in its localities. I received eggs oi Anicia from Mr. Bean, at Laggan, 5th July, 1889. The larvae fed here on Pentstemon, and at once from the egg protected themselves under a common web. The first moult took place on nth July; the second, on 14th; third, on 20th July; and in August all were asleep and were sent to Clifton Springs. They were received again, 2nd April, 1890, and soon began to feed. On 12th April several passed the fourth moult, and near the end of the month had gone to sleep again. Up to middle of September no change had taken place, but late in the fall thev were found to be dead. In a state of nature these larvae would pass the hibernating period on the ground among leaves and rubbish, but I could not attempt to imitate the conditions without certainty of mould, and so destruction. I wrote Mr. Bean about this experience, and he replied (last of Oct., 1890,): — "My (our Anicia of 1889 still stay with me." Later, 17th Nov. : — "Two of the 1889 Anicia went into hiberna- tion alive." Whether any of the species of Chionobas in America require two years between egg and imago has not yet been ascertained. Mr. Scudder, Butt. N. E., is inclined to think ^'^w/^/ea has "a biennial cycle "; and 54 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Mr. Fletcher, that Macounii (from Nepigon), has that habit. C £rucei, allied to Semidea, has with me reached adult larva the first season, and probably the Colorado Semidea would behave the same way. But the conditions in Colorado, even on the highest peaics, are not so trying to insect life as on the White Mountains. 8. Food-plants of certain Colias larvse. The larvae of C. Scudde?'ii and Nastes feed on willow. I found those of the former would not touch white clover (or any clover) which the other alpine species, Meadii, E/is. Alexandra, eat ; and it occurred to me to try willow. I gave them tender leaves of weeping willow, and they took to it at once. Mr. Bruce saw the female laying on a species of Vaccinium at Hall Valley, caught and confined her and got twenty eggs. He told me that he had often noticed the females flying in and out the dwarf willows as if laying eggs. I got the larvae past second moult and then lost the whole of them. As to Nastes, Mr. Bean, at Laggan, wrote :— '• The larvae feed on willow, and not mountain willow only, but from the banks of the Bow. I don't find any eating Vaccinium, but a lot on Hedysarum are doing well." Messrs. Fletcher and Scudder obtained eggs of C. Interior, at Nepigon, and distributed part of them. I had fifteen or twenty, and they hatched ; but the larvae refused white clover and several other sorts of leaf which I tried them on, and all starved. I did not then know that willow was a food-plant of any Colias. Neither of the gentlemen named had better success than I had. Mr, Bean told me later that the food- plant of Interior was Vaccinium. 9. Colias Meadii and £lis. These species, in their early stages, cannot be separated. The larvie are precisely alike, even under the glass, so far as I have been able to discover, and they differ in appearance from all other larvie of the genus observed by me, being thickly coated with short, black bristles, or stiff hairs. There is a basal stripe of pure white, with no red in it, and a sub- dorsal stripe of yellow-white. Many of the imagos of Meadii taken at Hall Valley and on the higher levels, in September and October, are very pale coloured (as to both the orange and black), and are undisiinguish- THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. able from examples of Hecla from the Arctic Sea, except that the Meadii males (as well as Elis) have the mealy spot on costal margui of hind- wings, which Hecla shows nothing of. If a Hecla ever appeared with that spot, I should say the two were forms of one species. I sent a pair of these to London to be submitted to two of the most experienced lepidopterists there, and asked them to tell me in writing what the species was. I gave no information about the pair, except that they were taken somewhere in America. Both the experts replied that the species was Hecla, but they noticed the presence of the mealy spot. In the museum collection, all the male Hecla were without that spot, and I cannot learn that it is known in any collection. These pale examples are not worn but are fresh and evidently not long out of pupa. They must be the product of eggs laid by the earlier imagos the same season. Mr. Bruce wrote 7th Sept., 1890, that he had "just been up Gibson Mountain; elevation 14,000 feet; all barren and desolate. All I saw was two Alexandra and three Scudderii, half a dozen Meadii, a dozen Arg. Eurynoine, and as many P. Smintheus. I send two of the Meadii to show you the colour." These were the first examples I had seen approaching Hecla, and on calling Mr. Bruce's attention to them, he presently took several others of same type about Hall Valley. That the imagos do sometimes come out the same season the eggs are laid, appears from my experience with larvae at Coalburgh. On 23rd July, 1888, I received larvae just out of egg from Mr Bruce ; these passed the first moult, 27th ; one jiassed the third moult 9th Aug.; the fourth, 14th; pupated, 19th ; and the imago came out 25th August. The rest of the larvae passed the third moult and hibernated. I sent them to Clifton Springs, N.Y.; got the survivors back in April following, and on 21st and 23rd April they passed the fourth moult ; on sth May one pupated, and gave imago 12th May. In 18S9, on 30th August, or five weeks later than in preceding year, I received eggs. Between the 23rd and 30th of September, all the larvae were in hibernation after only two moults. The same year a second lot of eggs came ist September. The larva hibernated after second moult. In 1-890 eggs were received 8th August ; nearly all the larvae hiber. nated after second moult, but a few went to third and one to fourth, but 56 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. all these died before reaching pupa. In all cases observed the larvae hide themselves in and among the dead leaves at the base of the clover plant, and so hibernate. Of Elis, I received from Mr. Bean, at Laggan, 23rd July, 1889, several larvse just out of egg, the eggs having been laid 17th. They passed first moult 28th; second, ist and 2nd August. On 12th one passed third moult. In all, six got through third moult, and shortly after went into hibernation, and were sent to Clifton Springs. Two came back alive 2nd April, 1890, and they passed fourth moult 12th and 14th April. One passed the fifth moult on 24th ; was sent to Mrs. Peart, at Phila- delphia, and pupated there 4th May ; was mailed to me and never arrived. The other larva died before pupa. On 20th and 22nd July, 1890, eggs and larvae just out arrived. Nearly all the larvae hibernated after second moult, but two reached fourth by 20th August. One of these died shortly after that, the other went on to the end of the stage ; changed colour for pupation, and then died. But I concluded from this that in native conditions some Elis must reach imago the same year in which the eggs are laid, as with Meadii. On 24th May, 189 1, I received six larvae from Mr. Bean which had hibernated at second and third moults. They were sent just as they were taken out of the snow, and were but half awake when I received them. Had not suffered on the journey, though sealed up in a piece of cork and six days on the way. From these were obtained three imagos, i ^ and 2 $ ? , on 28th and 29th and 30th May. To me Elis is a very puzzling species, exceedingly close to Meadii in some examples, but considerably different in others. Mr. Bean, who lives in the Elis district and has caught multitudes of them and bred from the egg many, is fully of the mind that the species is distinct ; and I defer to his judgment. [to be continued.] THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 57 PAMPHILA MANITOBA, SCUD., AND ITS VARIETIES. BV H. H. LVMAN MONTREAL. In 1874 Mr. Scudder published his paper on "The Species of the Lepidopterous Genus Pamphila " in the Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, in which the following species were described as new : — Nevada, Colorado and Manitoba, and Sassacus ; Ottoe, Juba, Comma of Europe, and Sylvanoides were also treated of. None of the descriptions are detailed, but are altogether comparative, pointing out the differences between the closely allied forms, and in the case of Manitoba the comparisons instituted are exclusively with the European Comma. The four specimens, 2 c^ s and 29 s, illustrated, are all from the west of the continent, or rather, I should say, from the west and centre. One specimen was from Lake Winnipeg, one from Colorado, and two from British Columbia. The figures show specimens of which the underside of secondaries is dark greenish or greenish-brown, and with considerable variation in the prominence or restriction of the markings. Though no figure of any eastern specimen is given it is stated in the text that the species had been taken at Riviere du Loup by Mr. Couper. Since then it has been repeatedly taken on the Lower St. Lawrence by other collectors at Cacouna and Riviere du Loup, Metis, and even as far as Gaspe by myself in 1888. The form found on the Lower St. Lawrence is very uniform in colour and has the outer third of the underside of the forewings and the whole of the underside of the hindvvings, with the exception of the inner margin and hind angle, of a dark brown colour, though occasionally with a slightly greenish tinge. In 1890, on returning east from a trip over the Canadian Pacific Railway, I stopped for a day at Regina, the date of my visit being August 5tb, and as usual devoted a good part of the day to collecting Lepidop- tera. Among other things, I collected a good series of males of a Pamphila of the Manitoba group, which was new to me, but only succeeded in securing one female, it apparently being a little early for that sex. During October of that year I paid a tlying visit to New York and Boston, taking a few specimens with me for comparison, among them a specimen of this skipper, which I showed to Mr. Henry Edwards, who 58 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. said that he did not know it, and thought it must be new. Mr. Scudder said it might be new, but one needed a very full series in that group. I afterwards showed it to Mr. Fletcher, and asked him if he had ever seen that form, and he immediately said " Yes, at Regina." He added that he had sent a specimen to Mr. Eugene Aaron, who had pronounced it to be only Manitoba, but Mr. Fletcher expressed to me the opinion that it was at least a very distinct variety. The point in which this form chiefly differs from Manitoba of the Lower St. Lawrence is that those parts on the underside, which are brown in the latter, are of a very pale greenish-yellow or yellowish-green in the Regina form, but it also differs somewhat above in that the males are usually of a yellower tone while the brown of the female is decidedly darker and the spots of the forewing decidedly lighter, some of them being almost white, than in the Eastern specimens. Wishing to get further light upon the probable relationship of these forms this year, I took a number of specimens of each with me on a trip to Boston and New York before returning home from a short holiday on the Atlantic Coast, and through the kindness of Mr. Scudder was enabled to examine his original types of Manitoba. One of these agreed exactly with my specimens from the Lower St. Lawrence, while the ones from British Columbia and Colorado were greener, but none agreed with, or even approached the average of the Regina specimens. Mr. Scudder, however, on account of the close similarity of the markings, seemed to be of opinion that the Regina form must be a variety of Manitoba. At New York Mr. Neumoegen kindly allowed me to compare my specimens carefully with the Pamphilas in his magnificent collection, but no specimen was found which at all agreed with the Regina form, and Mr. Neumoegen expressed the opinion that I should be safe in describing it ; but in order to guard against all danger of being accused of rashness, I took the specimens out to New Brunswick, N. J., to Prof. J. B. Smith, who very kindly, at my request, dissected the male abdominal appendages of one of the Regina specimens, which upon examination were seen to be practically identical with the illustrations of those of Manitoba, drawn by the late Mr. Edward Burgess, and published by Mr. Scudder. The form would therefore seem to be only a variety of Manitoba, but Prof. Smith expressed the opmion that it might very properly receive a varietal name as a distinct geographical race. Mr. Scudder, however, in his " Butterflies of New England " would seem to THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 59 have adopted this form as the basis of his description of Manitoba, as he describes the underside of the hindwings as being, except for the markings, " almost uniformly greenish-yellow," although he has no specimen of the Regina form in his collection. I am, however, strongly of opinion that the difference between the Eastern specimens and those from Regina is sufficiently great to be worthy of being indicated by varietal names, and if the name Manitoba is to be restricted to the dark-brown or greenish brown specimens, as I believe it was originally applied, I would suggest the name, var. Assini- boia, for the light greenish-yellow Regina form. If, however, it is preferred to call the latter Manitoba, I should suggest the name, var. Lauren tina, for the dark-brown form of the Lower St. Lawrence. NEW SPECIES OF PYRALID^. BV GEO. D. HULST, BROOKLYN, N. Y. Myelois frudetella, n. sp. — Expands 16-18 mm. Head dark fuscous ; maxillary palpi fuscous, becoming black on end member. Antennse and thorax fuscous-gray to dark fuscous ; abdomen yellowish-fuscous, ringed with dark fuscous on anterior part of each segment ; forewings light gray, heavily marked with fuscous and black ; base to basal line, with black scales, which become very heavy within basal line along inner margin ; middle field much darkened on posterior half, with fuscous continuing along both lines, broad and black at costa along basal line, and narrow and black at costa along outer line ; outer field broadly black along costa outside of outer line, becoming lighter posteriorly and along outer margin ; fringe very light gray ; basal line white, straight in direction or somewhat dentated, near middle distinct ; outer line less distinct, with a large but not deep sinus outwardly at middle ; hindwings translucent fuscous becoming darker at edges. I have four specimens — all females — from Arizona and Texas. The insect very much resembles dark specimens of Mineola Juglandis, Le Baron. Myelois eleganicl/a, n. sp. — Expands 29 mm. Gray, more or less 60 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. overlaid with black scales. Forewings, lines white, distinct, edged narrowly on both sides with black, the basal line well out from base with two dentations inwardly at middle, the outer line with a strong subcostal dentation, then finely serrated till near inner margin. The gray of the ground colour is at places much overlaid with the black scales, becoming very distinctly black at middle of basal space, across the middle field and along outer border. The outer edge is black broken by the fine, light gray lines of the veins. Hindwings translu- cent fuscous, darker on outer edge and with a fine black border line. The aspect of the insect is much like that of a Salebria. Seattle, Wash. Myelois texanella^ n sp — Expands 19 mm. Head, thorax and forewings light gray, composed of chalk white with a light mixture of dark scales. Forewings with a blackish space at extreme base near middle ; lines faint but distinct, the inner slightly bent near costa, slanting thence outwardly to inner margin, the outer angulated outwardly at middle, rounded inwardly below costa, somewhat dentate above inner margin, outer margin with a series of black triangular points, two black superimposed discal points ; all lines white, narrowly edged with black ; hindwings translucent fuscous. Blanco Co., Central Texas. Myelois leucophaeella, n. sp. — Expands 22 mm. Head, thorax and forewings uniform dull fuscous-gray ; lines of forewings distinct but not sharply defined, both dull white, the basal running obliquely outward from costa with two large dentations, the outer well towards outer border, evenly and sharply dentate below the middle. Hindwings even dull fuscous. Iowa. Acrobasis cirro/ere/la, n. sp. — Expands 18 mm. Head light gray in front, otherwise fuscous ; palpi light gray, dark on last segments ; antennas light gray at base, beyond fuscous. Thorax dull fuscous. Fore- wings dull fuscous gray, lighter and clearer along costa, on basal and median spaces ; ridge of basal scales black, preceded by gray, not extending to costa; a black line begins at costa just above scale ridge, and bending evenly outward and downward, follows then to costa parallel with the scale ridge ; outer line very close to border, very nearly lost in the general fuscous colour, but most distinct costally, and only slightly bent medianly in its course. Abdomen fuscous, segments lined, Austin, Texas. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. HI Salebria levigatella, n. sp. — Expands 28 mm. Head and thorax blackish. Forewings smooth, of an even fuscous, the costa more rounded than usual, basal space to basal line of a dull red colour, lines indistinct, the basal faintly discernible, dentate, the outer very faint or entirely obsolete. Hindwings fuscous, darker outwardly. Amherst, Mass., from Dr. C. H. Fernald ; also from Wisconsin. Salebria purpurella, n. sp.— Expands 27 mm. Face and palpi gray, mixed with black ; the summit of head stained with reddish. Thorax and abdomen fuscous, with reddish stain. Forewings gray, heavily washed with reddish-purple, the gray being more clear before basal line and along costa before outer line. Basal line near base, apparent only on posterior half, lined on each side with black ; outer line very faint and indistinct close to margin. Hindwings fuscous, tinged slightly with reddish near anterior angle. New Mexico. Zophodia bella, n. sp. — Expands 28 mm. Head and palpi fuscous- gray ; thorax fuscous ; abdomen fuscous ; the segments lighter posteriorly. Forewings gray, clear along costa, washed with fuscous behind sub- costal vein, this running in longitudinal lines on the veins and interspaces, being especially distinct on the veins. Basal line suggested by diffuse blackish spots ; outer line quite indistinct, oblique from costa, then strongly dentated ; a subterminal line of diffuse black spots ; two discal dots black, diffuse, the anterior more distinct. Hindwings light fuscous with marginal black line. Massachusetts. Ocala, n. gen. — Labial palpi long, porrect ; maxillary palpi distinct, pencil tufted ; tongue long, antennnse bent above base with tuft of scales in bend; forewings 11 veins, 4 and 5 stemmed, 10 separate; hindwings 7 veins, 3 and 4 stemmed, 5 wanting. Abdomen in ^ tufted. Very near to DolichorrJiinia, Rag., and differing principally in the presence of the pencil tufted maxillary palpi and tufted abdomen, Ocala dryadella, n. sp. — Expands 18 mm. Palpi and head fuscous gray, thorax light fuscous or dirty white, abdomen same colour with heavy anal tufts beneath and on sides in male ; forewings fuscous gray, basal line well out near middle of wing, faint, edged outwardly with diffuse broken black, outer line close to margin, indistinct, rounded, serrated ; two black discal dots, very small ; a comparatively large, oval black spot on basal space near basal line just above inner margin. Hindwings translucent, light fuscous. 62 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Charlotte Harbor, Fla. From Mrs. A. T. Slosson to whose kindness 1 am indebted for many favours, and to whom I give my grateful thanks. Diviana iiyjuphceella., n. sp. — Expands 21 mm. Palpi very long, much exceeding head, the second member especially being lengthened, dark fuscou.';, whitish in front. Head blackish fuscous, collar blackish. Thorax dull gray. Abdomen lightish gray. Forewings fuscous gray lines indistinct, the basal indicated by a deepening of the dark colour on either side, outer line near outer edge and parallel with it ; discal spots distinct geminate, a marginal line of black spots. Hindwings light fuscous. Charlotte Harbor, Fla., from Mrs. A. T. Slosson. It was my intention to erect a new genus Palatka for this species, more especially on account of the very long erect labial palpi, but I have concluded to place it under Diviana., which it nearly approaches. I mention this, as I gave the MS. name, Palatka^ to Dr. J. B. Smith, and on this account the species stands under that generic name in his lately published " List of Lepidoptera." Chipeta, n. gen. — Labial palpi long, slender, arched on second mem- ber, horizontal at end, 2nd member very long, end member short; maxillary palpi small, ocelli distinct ; antennas crenate pubescent. Tongue short, but not obsolete. Forewings long, narrow, oval, 9 veins 5 and 8 wanting, 3 and 4 separate, 10 separate. Hindwings 7 veins, 2 at angle, 3 and 4 stemmed, 5 wanting, 8 distinct. Near to Pampa Ragonot ; the generic name from Chipeta, wife of Ouray, Chief of the Ute Indians. In Dr. Smith's List of Lepidoptera the genus is under the name Osceola., but that is preoccupied, so I change it to CJiipeta. Chipeta perlepidella, n. sp. — Expands 22 mm. Palpi, head and thorax dark red. Abdomen yellowish fuscous, with a reddish tinge. Forewings with costa narrowly white, the line not reaching apex, the rest of the wings bright reddish, quite even in colour. Hindwings white, narrow ; pointed. Fla. Lipogr aphis subosseeila, n. sp. — Expands 16 mm. Head, thorax and forewings of a dull white colour, rather evenly washed with light fuscous, giving a dirty white appearance, and this all sparingly mixed with blackish scales ; line of forewings indistinct, shown rather by a darkening of edges which give a blackish blotch by basal line near inner margin and an even subterminal dark rather broad band. Two discal dots also indistinct. A marginal line of indistinct black dots. Hindwings fuscous, darkest at THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 63 edges. Abdomen light fuscous, the segments blackish dorsally, especially anally, the extreme end yellowish. Bahama Is. West Indies. This species, while not North American, is described, as I have given it to Mr. Ragonot under this MS. name. The generic reference is by Mr. Ragonot. Paralipsa deco7-eiia, n. sp. — Expands 27-30 mm. Palpi and head whitish, collar whitish, thorax light gray, abdomen fuscous gray, antennje whitish at base becoming fuscous outwardly ; forewings gray costally, gray washed with fuscous posteriorly ; lines quite indistinct, the basal near middle of wing and strongly dentated, the outer scarcely evident ; a black stripe from base at middle reaching out to basal line and much broadening there, forming a diffuse blackish spot along costa towards apex, and the marginal space much stained with dark fuscous ; a black marginal line, fringes fuscous. In some specimens there is on the basal and middle fields a faint reddish shading, especially posteriorly. Hind- wings light fuscous, beneath nearly even fuscous on all wings. Along costa in ^ there is concealed a very large tuft of cottony hair, the hair being nearly a quarter of an inch in length, very fine and very dense. My specimens are from Buffalo, N.Y., and London, Ontario. Loxostege baccatalis, n. sp. — Expands 22-24 "^^i^- Palpi rather short, dark buff in colour stained with blackish beneath on first and second segments with rather long pure white scales. Front and antennas buff, slightly stained with blackish ; the clypeal tubercle broad, conical, not much extended. Thorax whitish below in front, dull golden yellow above, sometimes slightly shaded with fuscous. Forewings dull golden yellow generally, somewhat washed with fuscous, a little more decidedly on the central field ; lines as such indeterminate. On each wing are three sets of dull white spots, all edged with blackish, the outer and inner sides being the heavier, and these in part at least being the broken remnants of the cross lines. All the spots are behind the subcostal space, and in each case the anterior spot begins on that space. The first set is basal, the anterior spot being oval-triangular on outside of basal line, and the posterior larger, quadrate, on the inside of the basal line, not extending beyond the middle of wing. The second set is discal, the anterior quadrate oval, representing the discal spot, the posterior larger, quadrate reaching to vein i. The third set is on the outer line, the anterior largest of all the spots, quadrate, on inner side of the line. The next is below on outside of line, made into two or three G4 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. by the veins, which are fuscous, flattened basally, rounded conical outwardly,, the dark edging forming rounded dentations. The third spot is inside the line, posterior to the last, subquadrate rather large, reaching vein i. Hindwings yellowish, becoming quite whitish translucent basally, and on middle field cross lines quite distinct, the first near the middle, the outer not far removed, and having at the middle three white spots long oval, divided by the veins, and strongly edged all around with blackish. Wings beneath as above, less sharply determinate in markings, the yellow more whitish and more washed with fuscous. Abdomen yellowish, with a narrow line, more whitish on each segment. In the male the abdomen is slender, extended, the genital armour protruded, and with a long tuft of hair on either side of last segment. Blanco Co., Central Texas. Specimens taken in April, July, September and October. The single specimen taken in April is darker than the rest, and there is some variation among all in the size of the whitish spots. The generic reference is from Dr. Smith's new List of Lepidop- tera, and so on Dr. Fernald's authority. NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN TACHINID.^, WITH DE- SCRIPTIONS OF NEW GENERA AND SPECIES.— Paper V.* BY C. H. TYLER TOWNSEND, LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO. The Tachinidae herein described and mentioned are from the more northern parts of the U. S.; from Colo., Kan., Dakota, Iowa and Minn. to Ills., Mich., Pa., N. Y., N. H. and D. C. BlepJiaripeza bico/or, Mcq A small specimen from Dixie Landing, Va. (D. C), Sept. 21, is evidently this species. It measures 9 mm. Blepha7-ipeza exzil, n. sp., $ . Eyes light brown ; frontal vitta light brown, with a reddish tinge ; sides of front cinereous ; face and cheeks silvery ; facial ridges bristly half way up, sides of front bristly, sides of face bristly below frontal bristles ; antennce blackish, first two joints and base of third rufous, arista blackish ; third antennal joint little more than twice as long as the * Paper I. was published in Proc. Ent. Soc, Wash., XL; papers II. and III. in Trans. Am. Ent, .Soc, XVIII. and XIX.; paper IN', in Ent. News, III. THE CANAUIA.N ENTOMOLOGIST. 65 elongate second joint ; proboscis blackish, labella large, brownish ; palpi rufous black bristly, rather stout ; occiput silvery-gray, hairy. Thorax blackish, faintly silvery-pollinose, with five narrow black vittae, the outer pair obsolete in front ; scutellum brownish-rufous, as is also the thorax on hind margin and sides posteriorly. Abdomen dark rufous, a median broad vitta and posterior margins of segments black. Legs black, tibiae rufous, femora silvery on outside, especially front ones ; claws and pulvilli somewhat elongate, the pulvilli tawny-whitish. Wings grayish- hyaline, yellowish-brown at base ; hind cross-vein strongly sinuate ; tegulae brownish-fuscous, halteres tawny-brownish. Length of body, nearly lo mm.; of wing, 93^ mm. Described from one specimen; New Hampshire (C. W. Johnson). This species differs from B. adusta principally in the rufous basal joints of antenna, the rufous tibiae, and the brownish wing bases and tegulag. Seven specimens from N.Y. (Comstock) are perhaps this species. They are 10-13^^ mm.; the antennae are black, inclining to rufous at base ; the frontal vitla dark brown ; the cheeks, sides of face and front much less bristly. The females have two orbital bristles, and the males have the claws well elongated. Gonia sagax, n. sp., $ . Eyes brown ; front almost one-half width of head ; sides of face, cheeks and whole front, including frontal vitta, light golden-yellow ; facial depression silvery-white and about two-fifths width of face ; vibrissae decussate, inserted a little above oral margin ; sides of face, cheeks and front covered with bristly hairs ; antennae nearly as long as face, second joint rather short, third about five times as long as second, first two joints same pale yellow as front, third joint clear orange rufous ; arista brown, second joint distinctly longer than last joint ; proboscis black, tip and base brownish ; palpi yellow, curved and thickened at tip ; occiput blackish, except vertical area yellow, thickly clothed with yellowish-gray hair. Thorax shining metallic black, posterior corners and margin and scutellum testaceous, scutellum with four pairs of macrochaetae besides a discal pair. Abdomen shining black, bases of segments two to four silvery-white, or slightly golden in some lights, most broadly on anal segment ; first and second segments with a lateral macrochajta and c^, median marginal pair, third with eight or more marginal, anal with several macrochaetae. Legs black, foot-claws and pulvilli nearly as loi^g 66 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. as last tarsal joint, pulvilli smoky. Wings grayish-hyaline, costo-basal portions broadly yellowish ; tegulaj nearly white, halteres brownish-yellow. Length of body, 103^ mm.j of wing, 'jy^ mm. Described from one specimen ; Ames, Iowa (Osborn). Pseudog07iia ruficauda, n. sp., ^ . Eyes light brownish ; front more than one-third width of head, frontal vitta dark brownish ; sides of front brassy-golden, face and cheeks silvery- white, epistoma yellowish, antennae and arista deep black, first two antennal joints rufous ; proboscis black, tip and base brownish, palpi pale rufous ; occiput cinereous, thickly yellowish-gray, hairy. Thorax black, silvery- poUinose, leaving four black vittse, humeri and pleurae silvery with a brassy tinge ; scutellum testaceous, somewhat silvery. Abdomen black, first segment slightly silvery behind, second and third segments more or less thinly and anal segment thickly brassy-pollinose, tip of anal segment rufous ; first segment with one lateral macrochaeta, second with one lateral and a median marginal pair, third with a mar- ginal row of ten or twelve, anal with a marginal row of about as many ; hypopygium black, hairy. Legs black, front femora thick silvery on underside, all femora bristly, middle and hind tibiae with strong macrochsetae, claws and pulvilli elongate, pulvilli tawny-fuscous. Wings grayish-hyaline ; veins on costo-basal portions, also middle portion of marginal cell, pale yellowish ; tegulae white, halteres fuscous. Length of body, 11 mm.; of wing, 8 mm. Described from one specimen; Brookings, So. Dakota (J. M, Aldrich). I refer this species to Pseudogonia, Br. & v. Bgst. The second antennal joint is elongate, third two and a half times as long as second ; arista geniculate, second joint elongate ; sides of face bristly, as in Cnephalia and Gonia, but the second aristal joint less than half as long as third ; proboscis longer than height of head, slim ; palpi long, slender basally, thickened apically. A $ specimen from N. Y. (Comstock) differs chiefly in the anal seg- ment being wholly black at tip, not at all rufous ; the third antennal joint blackish, rufous at base, arista brown. If these differences are, as I believe, entitled to specific value, the species may be known as P. obsoieta. It is II niiii. Jong. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 67 Siphoplagia anomala, Tvvns., Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, XVIII, p. 350. This species was described from Southern New Mexico. A $ specimen from So. Ills. (Robertson) proves to be the same species. It is 8 mm. long. Plagia americana, v. d. Wulp, Biol. C.-A. Dipt., II., p. 102, pi. 3, f. 19. A specimen from N. Y. (Comstock) agrees with v. d. Wulp's descrip- tion in all except that the third vein of the wing is bristly only to small cross-vein, not beyond it. The wing, however, differs from the figure in the origin of the hind cross-vein being considerably below instead of opposite the small cross-vein. I am unwilling to consider it a distinct species without further proof, as it otherwise agrees so closely with the description, though the difference in venation can hardly be varietal. Plagia aurifrons, n. sp., $. Eyes light brown ; frontal vitta and sides of front golden, insensibly shading on sides of face into the silvery of the face and cheeks ; front one-third width of head ; three orbital bristles, the hindmost one weaker, frontal bristles descending about half way down sides of face ; antennae and arista black, the second antennal joint silvery, the third twice as long as second ; proboscis brownish ; palpi yellowish rufous, blackish at base ; occiput cinereous, gray-hairy. Thorax black, slightly silvery, with five more or less distinct blackish vittge, the middle one obsolete anteriorly ; scutellum black, more or less silvery. Abdomen shining black, bases of segments two to four broadly but faintly silvery, the silvery becoming most distinct when viewed very obliquely ; first segment with a lateral macrochaeta and bristles, second with a lateral one and median marginal pair ; third with about eight marginal, the median two more removed from margin ; anal with a median discal pair, a sub-marginal sub-lateral pair, and a marginal row. Legs black, femora and front tibiae silvery on outside, claws and pulvilli elongate, the pulvilli smoky whitish. Wings grayish-hyaline, yellowish-fuscous along veins on costal half, first vein bristly its whole length, third bristly to small cross-vein, fourth vein with slight wrinkle at bend \ hind cross-vein nearly parallel with inner- margin of wing, but its origin considerably behind the point opposite small cross-vein ; tegulse whitish ; halteres pale rufous, blackish in middle. Length of body, 7 mm.; of wing, 5^^ mm. Described from one specimen ; Pennsylvania, June 4 (Johnson). l^iD 68 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIS't. Trixa gillettei, n. sp., $ . Eyes brownish ; frontal vitta brown, narrowed posteriorly ; front very narrow behind, wide before ; face, cheeks and sides of front silvery" pollinose, latter shading to darker, cheeks with a brown area anteriorly ■» antennae and arista blackish, first two antennal joints and base of third rufous ; second antennal joint bristly, with a long bristle on front edge, third joint as long as second ; proboscis as long as height of head, rather slim, blackish ; palpi slender, brownish, rufous at tip, bristly ; occiput silvery, clothed with yellowish hairs. Thorax black, slightly silvery, with four (?) indistinct black vitt^e ; scutellum black, slightly silvery. Abdo- men black, more or less deeply silvery-pollinose according to lights, except first segment ; first two segments with a lateral pair of macro- chjetae, and a median discal and marginal pair ; third with a median discal pair, and a marginal row ; anal with a more or less regular discal and marginal row. Legs black, claws and pulvilli very elongate ; pulvilli tawny-fuscous, claws brown at base, black at tips. Wings grayish- hyaline, tawny at base, without costal spine ; tegulas nearly white, halteres rufous or brownish. Length of body, lo mm.; of wing, 9 mm. Described from one specimen ; Colorado (C. P. Gillette). This species differs from both of Mr. v. d. Wulp's Mexican species described in the Biologia Centrali- Americana, T. obsoleta and T. differens, by having discal macrochsetge on the abdomen. Miltogramma kansensis, n. sp., $. Eyes light reddish-brown ; frontal vitta nearly obsolete, concolorous with front ; sides of front, face and cheeks silvery white, the front shading to dark, epistoma and facial depression more or less yellowish ; three orbital bristles, continued in front by a row of minute bristles ; antennse orange rufous, third joint about one and a half times as long as second, arista black ; proboscis elongate, fully as long as height of head, rather slender, black, base and tip brownish, labella developed ; palpi elongate, yellow, filiform, hardly at all thickened ; occiput cinereous, black hairy. Thorax silvery, with three blackish median vittje placed closely together, the middle one obsolete in front, and two heavier vitt^ outside them ; scutellum black, silvery pollinose. Abdomen red, a median triangle on first segment and a large triangle extending from median portion of base of second to posterior lateral corners of third segment black, anal segment THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 69 black ; second and third segments silvery-white pollinose basally, anal segment wholly so ; first two segments without macrochtetse, third and anal with a marginal row. Legs black, femora silvery on outside, claws and pulvilli quite elongate, latter tawny. Wings almost hyaline, tegulae white, halteres pale yellowish. Length of body, 8 mm.; of wing, s^ys mm. Described from one specimen ; Kansas, June. Metopia lugger i, n. sp., ? . Eyes light brown ; front extremely prominent, frontal vitta obsolete before, blackish behind, the sides of front abruptly black behind and pure silvery-white before ; face and cheeks silvery-white ; antennae and arista black, third antennal joint very long, fully five times as long as second, nearly reaching epistoma ; proboscis blackish, labella brownish, palpi black ; occiput cinereous, thinly black-bristly. Thorax black, thinly silvery-white pollinose, with four black vitt^e ; scutellum' black, slightly silvery. Abdomen black, almost wholly silvery-white pollinose, except ■first segment and hind margins of others ; first two segments with a median marginal pair of macrochaetas, and some lateral bristles ; third segment with a lateral pair and a median marginal pair ; anal segment with a marginal row. Legs black, femora more or less silvery-pollinose, claws and pulvilli very short. Wings grayish-hyaline, tegulae whitish, with rust-yellow borders, halteres rufous. Length of body, 5^ mm.; of wing, 4^ mm. Described from one specimen ; Minn. (Lugger). Tkryptocera americana, n. sp., $ . Eyes bare, light brownish ; front about one-third width of head, frontal vitta light yellowish ; frontal bristles descending a little below base of antennae, four posterior pairs directed backward, two orbital bristles ; face, cheeks and sides of front silvery-white, the sides of face extremely narrow, the facial ridges bare except a few bristles next vibrissae, the latter quite strong and inserted exactly on oral margin ; antennae as long as face ; third joint very wide, rounded, and about two and one-half times as long as second, first two joints light rufous, third joint light brown ; arista somewhat rufous, brownish at tip, more or less geniculate, 3-jointed, second joint elongate ; proboscis short, fleshy, pale yellowish, labella large ; palpi pale yellow, rather long, curved, thickened distally ; occiput cinereous above, pale yellowish below, sparsely bristly. Thorax 70 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. silvery cinereous, with two narrow concolorous median vittj« reaching scutellum, humeri and pleurae silvery-white ; scutellum pale testaceous. Abdomen pale yellowish rufous, silvery-pollinose, with a median black vitta which widens over most of third segment and all of anal ; second segment with a lateral macrochseta and a median marginal pair, third and anal segments with a marginal row ; venter pale yellowish at base, darker toward anus. Legs pale yellowish, tarsi blackish, femora and tibiae hairy and slightly bristly ; claws and pulvilli very short. Wings grayish- hyaline; first, third and fifth veins spined their whole length, except tips of two latter ; apical cell narrowly open exactly in tip of wing, fourth vein roundly curved at bend, hind cross-vein slightly nearer to small cross-vein than to bend of fourth ; tegulse nearly pure white, halteres yellow. Length of body, 4 mm.; of wing, 31^ mm. Described from one specimen ; Washington, D. C., August. My obi a diadema, Wd. Mr. V. d. Wulp (Biol. C.-A. Dipt., IL) describes this species as having the epistoma "slightly prominent". A $ specimen from N. Y. (Com- stock), which I refer to this species, has the front golden like the thorax, the face silvery, and the oral margin or epistoma is what I should call " very prominent ", [to be continued.] GETTING BUTTERFLY EGGS. BY W. G. WRIGHT, SAN BERNARDINO, GAL. It is generally understood, I believe, that to get eggs the requisite plant must be also enclosed in the gauze bag with the female insect. Such is often, but not always the fact, and it will lighten the labours of the biologist and simplify his methods if a more correct statement be made. That one genus of butterflies should not use or require living plants to receive their eggs, while others will fret and die without ovipositing if their peculiar plant be withheld, indicates a relationship, or gives a hint as to grouping of genera upon natural lines. But if so, it plays havoc with existing groupings, and will cause the arbitrary to give place to the natural when these things become better understood. The genera of butterflies, with the living forms of which I am acquainted, and of which the females do not require plants in ovipositing, are as follows : — Parnassius, Argynnis, Euptoieta, Neonympha, Coe- THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 71 nonympha, Hipparchia, Satyrus, Chionobas, and in part, Chrysophanus. Females of all other genera, so far as I know, will die rather than oviposit when their respective plants are not present, and it is necessary also that the plants be bright and fresh ; when even slightly wilted the insects will ignore them, and die without ovipositing. Having thus stated the matter generally, let me now give more in detail the habits of some typical species of both groups as to ovipositing, and my experiences in getting eggs from them. Parnassius Hermodur, when ovipositing, alights upon the ground among the grass and crawls about in a restless way at random, dropping egg after egg as they mature indiscriminately upon the bare ground or dead rubbish or wherever they may chance to fall. When thus engaged she is as readily approached as if feeding on flowers. When tne $ is confined in a bag she is not unruly but remains rather quiet, scattering her eggs about, singly, as they ripen, and most of the eggs attach to the gauze of the bag, to which they adhere but slightly. I have never observed ovipositing of F. Sminthetcs, but believe it to be identical with Hermodicr, as related. The habits of all the other genera named are the same in this particular, that the eggs are laid singly, and not in masses, as is the habit of some genera. Different species of Argynnids have different methods of ovipositing, but none that I know of require a plant. A. Callippe goes crawling about on the ground and under bushes like a Parnassian, and oviposits by extending the abdomen down among the dead twigs and dry leaves like a grasshopper. This habit renders the species somewhat difficult to manage in a bag, as the eggs will be pushed down into the ground if possible. Other species, as Semiramis, oviposit on the wing without ever alighting, but hovering over suitable places and dropping the eggs at pleasure. The reason for this peculiar habit seems to be to avoid small lizards, which abound and which are alert to seize any flying insect. Se/niramis is a difficult species to manage in confinement. Lively, vigorous and restless, they take confinement hardly. When ovipositing in a gauze bag they drop the eggs at random, and only a few become attached to the gauze, but most of them drop to the bottom, where they are likely to be lost unless precaution be taken. A. Leto also oviposits on the wing. In 1890 I took a fine ? Leto near Mt. Shasta, in northern California, and as I was on my journey southward and could not well wait to get eggs in the usual way, I put her in a small tin box without any food or plant except a few blades of grass to 72 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. serve her as a foothold, and putting the box in a hand-grip carried it home, a distance of 900 miles, and with stops taking five and a-half days. Upon reaching home I opened the box, gave Leto sun and air, then fed her with sweetened water, then put her in gauze bag in the open window without any plant in sight or other thing which could remind her of the home she had left so far behind, and she lived several days and gave me a nice lot of fertile eggs. This Leto was not fractious, but as she had been shut up in a dark box nearly a week it could hardly be called a fair test. Z^/(7, of all Argynnids, is a strong and tireless flyer, vigorous and full of life and activity, and seldom at rest. It is, therefore, but reason- able to suppose that they would rebel if confined. I have had other ? Letos in confinement, but out in the open country, and unattended, so that I could not watch them. Coenonymphas are very gentle and tractable. They worry but little, and remain very quiet. As the eggs mature and become ready to deposit they are stuck on to the gauze singly, adhering rather firmly. These eggs are rather small, but are safely taken in a coarse netted bag, as they are coated with a glutinous substance, by which they adhere at once to any fibre, and so do not fall away and get lost. The greatest difficulty I have had with Ctenonymphas is in the matter of shade. A little too much shade and she will not lay her eggs ; a little too much sun and she incontinently dies. A piece of thin muslin makes a better shade than a leafy twig. • One would think from the Ornithoptera-like shape of the wings of Chionobas that they were of rapid flight, wild, and generally unreasonable. But such is not the case. They are very gentle, flying about but little, and usually returning to the spot they started from, where they settle down again slowly and deliberately. I have found C. Gigas to be easily handled in captivity, and have got eggs without difficulty. In the interior of Vancouver Island I took a $ upon the top of a high hill, and immedi- ately put her in a bag and laid it down on the grass by the side of a big rock where it would be sheltered from the cold wind, and with no shade from the sun, as it was not hot at that height, and did not go to it again for thirty-six hours. Then, when I went to it I was delighted to see some eggs sticking to the gauze. I could not remain any longer, nor could I return another day. So I took a small tin box and carefully put the bag, insect, eggs and all together in it and tied it to my belt for safety in going away through several miles of dense thicket, and so carried it to my hotel, THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 73 and thence by rail to Victoria. There I removed the eggs already laid, and placed the bag in the sun in the open window, staying the gauze with pins to keep it steady in the breeze, and so I got another lot of eggs in the middle of the city and without plant or other accessory Of genus Chrysophanus I can speak but with some doubt. Some of the species, as Gorgon and Xanthoides, appear always to oviposit like the Argynnids upon the ground or among dry rubbish, while Helloides always uses a plant, Polygonum aviculare, or in Alaska, where this poly- gonum does not grow, on some allied plant. It is thus seen, in short, that these enumerated genera of butterflies which require no plant are most of them easy to manage, and that they can be safely and readily carried a long distance alive and well, and eggs afterward obtained at the home of the student, with little trouble ; and that course I advise in all such cases. On the other hand those butter- flies which require a plant on which to deposit their eggs are more difficult to handle, because you have not only the butterflies to manage but must provide a fresh plant as well. Yet the difficulties are not so great as is feared. I have found it best, usually, when a suitable $ is caught, to tie the bag at once upon a living plant, and then put in it the 9 , and arrang- ing suitable shade leave it for a day or two. These plant-loving butter- flies all lay their eggs upon the plant, and not upon the bag, except accidentally. Ants, birds and boys must be guarded against — a trio of terrors. I do not use a large bag ; one large enough to hold a quart or two is large enough, either with the plant or without. It is not best that the butterfly should be able to fly about and flutter in its bag ; they become much more quiet and reasonable in a small one. The plant problem is often the one most difficult of solution. Cuttings from delicate plants and such as speedily wilt and perish, can be carried home in a tin box in which they will keep fresh for several days. In that way I have gotten eggs and raised larvae in my laboratory when the plants grew ten miles away, by going once a week for fresh cuttings. But some cuttings wilt immediately if exposed to the air. To avoid this, put the cuttings into a glass fruit jar, then put in the ? and shut it up tight. The closing of the jar prevents the plant from wilting, and by that method I have had good success in getting eggs, notably from the large Papilio Kiitu/us, and in raising larvse. This F. rutulus gave me no end of trouble to get eggs in the open air, but oviposited freely when shut up with, willow twigs in a half-gallon fruit jar. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. When you know months beforehand what plant you will require, it is best to transplant them to your own grounds, and so hav'e them at hand fresh and growing. By such means I have successfully handled, both for eggs and for larv?e, such species as Colias ciirydice and Lyccena soiiorensis, both of which species it would seemingly ha v^e been impossible to manage otherwise. Breeding is the touchstone which tests all species of butterflies, and by it must they all stand or fall. The larva is as much the individual life as is the imago, and we cannot thoroughly know a species unless we have seen its earlier as well as its later stages. Therefore anything which simplities the management of the early stages is of interest to the bioiouist. CORRESPONDENCE. PROF. J. B. smith's list OF LEPIDOPTERA. Dear Sir : Prof. French in the January number criticises in some points Prof Smith's catalogue of the Catocalse in the New List of Lepidoptera. As I was primarily responsible for the list of the Catocalre, will vou and Prof. French kindly allow me an explanation? ist. Prof French says " var. Vireus is not a variety of Cordelia, Hy. Edw., but of Amasia; and Cordelia is not the one figured by Dr. Strecker, pi. 9, f. 12." But Cordelia, Hy. Edw., is a synonym oi amasia. Ab. & Sm., and Dr. Strecker's figure is not aviasia, Ab. &: Sm. The error comes from the fact that Abbott & Smith figured two species as ^ and $ of aviasia, the description being of the upper one only. The insect represented by the lower figure of Abbott & Smith was distributed by Mr. Grote, and figured by Dr. Strecker as amasia. Of course the name attaches to the figure described, as afterwards Guenee located it, calling the lower figure c07inubiaHs. The lower insect I afterwards described as sancfa, regarding Guenee's name as without authority, as the description was froia a picture. Whether I was right or not I will not here say, but the insect distributed by Mr. Grote, and figured by Dr. Strecker as ainasia, is either connubialis, Gn .,or sancta, Hulst ; while the a?nasia of Abbott & .Smith is the cordelia of Hy. Edwards, as Mr. Edwards afterwards acknowledged to me. Virens was put as a variety of amasia, Ab. iK: Sm., because Prof. French thus located it, and I supposed he meant amasia. Ab. &: Sm. 2nd. Prof. French says " there is no good reason for separating the two forms of retecta.'" I am not sure what he THE CA.NADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 70 means by the "two forms of 7-ctecta;" but if he means retecta, Grt., and liicttiosa, Hulst, then, in view of what he says after, luduosa becomes a variety of retecta, Grt. 3rd. Prof French says " Flebilis is not a variety of retecta,^' etc. " Dr. Strecker's figure, pi. 9, f 4, is not flebilis^ but a small form of Desperata'' etc. Dr. Strecker does not call figure i^, flebilis, but a variety of it. It is, however, except in the black dashes, as near as can be the exact counter- part of pi. 9, fig. 3, which is flebilis, taken from Mr. Grote's type. Also these two, save in the black dashes, are the counterparts of pi. 9, fig. 2, which is retecta, and which is from Mr. Grote's type. Having seen the types of both retecta and flebilis I can bear witness that the figures are very excellent. Mr. Grote had among his types of retecta one or more specimens of luctuosa, Hulst, but his description is of the form figured by Dr. Strecker. 4th. I am glad to learn more of Uluhime, Streck. I have seen the type, have one of the specimens from which the description was made, and so know the insect. At the time of publishing my synopsis in the Brooklyn Bulletin, Vol. Vll., 1884, pp. 13-56, I regarded it as a variety of lacrymosa, as did also Dr. Strecker. Let me add that very few of all the so-called varieties of the U. Catocalae are varieties in the scientific sense. They are simply colour variations, and the continuance of their names is, in the majority of cases, only a convenience, and without scientific authority. Geo. D. Hulst, Brooklyn, N. Y. SECTION F OF THE A. A. A. S. Dear Sir : In the January (1892) number of the Botanical Gazette, Dr. B. D. Halsted, Secretary of Section F of the Association, suggests the formation of a Botanical Section, to be separated from Section F. This is a matter in which entomologists have some interest, and concerning which it might be well to have an expression of opinion. All who have attended recent meetings of the American Association must have noticed what a remarkable development of interest there has been in both botany and entomology, and how crowded were the programmes, not only of Sec- tion F, but of the Clubs. At the Washington meeting the writer was on the Sectional Committee, which passed on the papers offered, and even after excluding all of doubtful value or interest, it left so many that a proper presentation was out of the question. A most interesting series of papers on parasitism in insects was read at breakneck speed, and not a word of discussion was allowed. I myself had three papers, for which I had prepared charts in illustration, and which 76 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLGIST. presented the results of original work. I barely had time to hurry through the abstracts, and could not even explain my charts. The botanists occupied fully one- third of the time of Section F, and had a large programme for the Club besides. The entomologists had many papers before the Club which were well worthy of presentation to Section F^ Botany is quite sharply separable, has a sufficient number of members to present a full programme as a section, and would leave Section F for zoology in general with more time for the proper discussion of papers. As matters now stand, papers are grouped — botanists desert Section F when entomological papers are read, and entomologists usually do as much when botanists hold forth. In the orderly evolution of the Associa- tion botany is entitled to a separate section, and entomologists should aid the botanists in securing the necessary action at the next meeting. John B. Smith, New Brunswick, N. J. NOTES. ADDITIONAL NOTE ON AMBLYOPONE PALLIPES, HALD. On page 138, Vol. XXIII. , is mentioned the finding, in rotten logs, of colonies of this species. The fate of the specimens taken on 30th April may be related. Unfortunately the individuals then taken were not counted, but they consisted of workers and larvae, the latter being more numerous. The box was examined on ist June and it was found that many of the larvae had formed cocoons, and that the remainder were feasting on a green caterpillar, which had been dragged down into the nursery. The larvae were thickly scattered over it, evidently sucking the juices from it, and it was much shrunken. On 21st June another examina- tion was made and a census taken of the inhabitants, which numbered 27 adults (all workers), 23 pupae (in cocoons) and 48 larvse. There were also a number of empty cocoons. On 5th July the numbers were reduced to 23 workers, 1 1 cocoons and 15 larvte, and, what was a surprise to me, about 30 eggs, cylindrical in shape, with rounded ends and about twice as long as wide. On 13th July there were 23 workers, 7 cocoons, 1 3 larvae and about 1 5 eggs. When I left home shortly after this the box was placed outdoors, and during my absence the insects all died or wandered off I was disappointed in not obtaining specimens of the ^ and (^ , and regret that the colony was not housed so that continuous observations could have been made of the inmates and the doings. W. Hague Harrington, Ottawa. Mailed Marcd 9th. / TS.Y.,iic, _ \j\\t faiiailiatj Jntomolo^bt. VOL. XXIV. LONDON, APRIL, 1892. No. 4. NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN TACHINID^E, WITH DE- SCRIPTIONS OF NEW GENERA AND SPECIES.— Paper V. BV C. H. TYLER TOWNSEND, LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO. Loewia rtificornis, n. sp., ^. Eyes cinnamon brown ; frontal vitta brown, much narrowed poster- iorly, front at narrowest point about one-half its width at vertex; sides of front, sides of face and facial depression black, thinly silvery-poUinose ; cheeks blackish posteriorly, thinly silvery, the pregenal area very broad, brown, extending upward between sides of face and facial depression ; antennas and arista rufous, third antennal joint little more than one and a half times as long as second, with a somewhat darker shade on outer side ; proboscis brownish, palpi rather fuscous, tips rufous ; occiput black, black-hairy. Thorax and scutellum shining black, black-hairy and bristly. Abdomen shining dark metallic-green ; second segment with a median marginal pair of macrochseiae, third with six or more marginal, anal with about six marginal ; hypopygium rather exserted, concolorous. Legs black, knees slightly rufous, front femora bristly ; claws and pulvilli elongate, pulvilli smoky -whitish. Wings slightly grayish, nearly hyaline, costo-basal portion and veins golden ; tegulee rather smoky-golden, translucent; halteres clear yellow. Length of body, 6^ ram.; of wing, 5^2 mni. Described from one specimen; Constantine, Mich., August 27. This species seems to connect the genera Loewia and Ejuiyoinma. The species of Loewia usually have the eyes contiguous in the male, while in this species they lack considerably of meeting, and the apical cell, though it cannot be said to be open, is rather widely closed in margin, if the expression may be allowed. In Ennyotnma the apical cell is open. Loewia nigrifrons, n. sp., $. Differs from Z. globosa Twns. (Ent. News, III.) as follows : Sides of front and sides of face shining black, not silvery ; facial depression slightly silvery; pregenal area light-brownish; proboscis and palpi blackish. rr ry /8 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIbT Wings smoky golden, all except internal border; tegulae golden fuscous, halteres concolorous. Length of body, 5 mm.; of wing, 4)^ mm. Described from one specimen ; So. Illinois (Robertson). Efinyomma clistoiJes, Twns. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, XVIII, p. 371. A ^ specimen from So. Dakota (Aldrich), August 12. Measures 7 y^ mm. Clista america7ia, n. sp., $. Eyes brown ; frontal vitta dark brown, blackish, averaging one-third width of front, front averaging one-third width of head ; sides of front, sides face and facial depression black, thinly silvery-pollinose ; cheeks posteriorly black, thinly silvery, rest included in the large brown pregenal area, an angle of which runs upward between sides of .face and facial depression ; sides of face fringed with bristles on inner border, cheeks on lower border ; antennae entirely rufous, third joint about twice as long as second, arista brownish ; proboscis and palpi brown or blackish, the proboscis fleshy, not as long as height of head, the palpi curved and thickened at tip ; occiput black, black-hairy. Thorax and scutellum shining black, the thorax in front slightly silvery, leaving three black vittse which become lost near suture. Abdomen shining black, with a hardly greenish reflection, broad, flattened, rounded ; first two segments with a lateral and a median marginal pair of weak macrochsetee ; third with about eight marginal, and anal about six marginal macrochaetae of normal size. Legs black, claws and pulvilli only a little elongate, pulvilli smoky-yellowish. Wings grayish-hyaline, base and veins yellow ; tegulse brassy-yellow, front scales white on outside, the rest transparent ; halteres yellow, tinged with rufous toward base. Length of body, 63^ mm.; of wing, 5^ mm. Described from one specimen ; So. Illinois (Robertson). 2'ryphera amerlcana^ n. sp., $ . Eyes bare, brownish; front more than one-third width of head, frontal vitta velvety brown ; frontal bristles descending to base of third antennal joint, vertical bristles strongest, and with three next pairs directed backward, two orbital bristles ; sides of front shining black ; facial depression and sides of face black, somewhat silvery, epistoma pale luteous ; cheeks shining black, anteriorly somewhat rufous ; facial ridges bare ; vibrissas decussate, inserted on oral margin ; antennae rufous, more or less blackish, third joint blackish-brown in some lights, fully two and one- half times as long as second, somewhat widened ; arista brown, 3-jointed, often some- THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 79 what geniculate, second joint slightly elongate ; proboscis short, fleshy, dark brown ; palpi yellow, a little thickened at tip j occiput shining- black, somewhat bristly. Thorax, scutellum and abdomen wholly shining greenish-black, scutellum with a weak apical decussate pair of bristles, a sub-apical decussate (?) pair of macrochaets, and two lateral pairs. First abdominal segment with one or more lateral macrochaetse ; second with a lateral marginal one, a lateral discal pair, a median discal and a median marginal pair ; third with a lateral discal pair, three lateral marginal ones, a median marginal and a median discal pair; anal segment with a discal row and a few marginal macrochaetae. Legs black, claws and pulvilli short. Wings grayish-hyaline, basal portion and costal border yellowish, with small costal spine, third vein bristly at base ; apical cell closed in tip of wing, fourth vein curved, hind cross-vein nearer curve ; tegulte pale tawny, halteres brownish. Length of body, 3^ mm.; of wing, 3 mm. Described from one specimen ; So. Illinois (Robertson). Tryphera polidoides, n. sp., %. Eyes light brown, thinly hairy ; frontal vitta light brov/n ; apparently three orbital bristles amongst other weaker bristles ; sides of front shining black ; sides of face and facial depression black, thinly silvery, epistoma paler ; cheeks and occiput shining black, with slight greenish lustre, hairy, cheeks bordered anteriorly with a narrow brownish prtegenal area ; antennae and arista black, first two antennal joints rufous, third joint about three times as long as second, moderately wide ; proboscis brownish, palpi yellowish. Thorax, scutellum and abdomen dark metallic green ; first segment with a lateral marginal macrochaeta ; second with a lateral discal and marginal one. or pair, and a median discal and marginal pair ; third with a lateral discal and median discal pair, and a quite distinct marginal row; anal with a discal and marginal row. Legs blackish) claws and pulvilli only a little elongate, pulvilli tawny-whitish. Wings slightly grayish, nearly hyaline, veins yellow, third vein spined at base ; tegulse dull whitish, translucent ; halteres brownish. Length of body, 5I/3 mm.; of wings, 3^^ mm. Described from one specimen ; N. Y. (Comstock). Clistomorpha, n. gen. Much the general form of Clista, but greatly resembling Hyalomyia in the form of the head. Belongs in Phytoince. Head in general profile triangular, the fronto-facial profile sinuate in outline, bulging above. Front not prominent, very narrow in $ , the eyes closely approximated in 80 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. front of ocelli but not contiguous, front a little widened at vertex, more so at base of antennas, face widening at same angle, about one-half width of head at widest which is the lowermost portion ; frontal bristles weak, in single row, terminating at base of antennae, directed forward and inward, decussate, except vertical bristles which are directed backward and hardly stronger than the others ; no orbital bristles ( S )■ Face not receding, rather advancing, nearly perpendicular, epistoma prominent, oral profile long; facial depression about four-fifths width of face, rather triangular in online, very shallow ; facial ridges bare except some very small bristles just above vibrissa, only a very little constricted a good distance above oral margin where the weak non-decussate vibrissae are situated, the latter being distinct from the shorter bristles below which make up the uniform row on the cheek borders ; sides of face very narrow, bare ; cheeks very narrow, bare. Eyes bare, descending far below vibrissae and about as low as oral margin. Antennae inserted nearly on a line drawn through middle of eyes, short, about three-fifths length of face, third joint hardly longer than second, elongate-round ; arista bare, apparently only 2-jointed, basal joint short, terminal joint thickened at base. Proboscis nearly as long as height of head, rather slender, labella somewhat developed ; palpi small, slender, filiform, but slightly thickened at tip. Thorax not so wide as head ; scutellum with an apical decussate, and two lateral pairs of macrochsetye. Abdomen rather wider than thorax, much rounded, somewhat flattened, but convex above, first segment not shortened ; macrochaetae weak, discal and marginal ; hypopygium concealed. Legs not long, not stout, very little bristly, claws and pulvilli of ^ only a little elongate. Wings much longer than abdomen, without costal spine, third vein without bristles at base ; apical cell closed in border at tip of wing, fourth vein curved, apical cross-vein nearly straight ; hind cross-vein nearly straight, about in middle between small cross-vein and bend of fourth. Type C. hyalomoides, n. sp. Clistomorpha hyalomoides, n. sp., $ . Eyes cinnamon brown ; frontal vitta velvet-black, narrowed pos- teriorly ; sides of front, face and cheeks silvery-poUinose ; antennae and arista blackish, second antennal joint more or less brownish ; proboscis brown, palpi pale tawny ; occiput black, silvery below. Thorax soft black, humeri broadly silvery-cinereous, continued backward on sides of thorax to scutellum, pleurae silvery ; scutellum black. Abdomen black ; second segment narrowly at base and with median line, third more broadly at base and broadest on sides and in middle, and anal almost THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 81 wholly except tip, silvery cinereous ; macrochaetse weak and more or less bristle-like, first segment with a median marginal pair, second with a median discal and marginal pair, third with a median discal pair and a marginal row, anal with a marginal and two discal rows. Legs blackish, femora more or less brown, claws and pulvilli but little elongate. Wings grayish-hyaline, very faintly tawny at base, veins brownish ; tegulse smoky yellowish-gray ; balteres rufous, knobs flesh-coloured. Length of body, 53/^ mm.; of wing, 43^ mm. Described from one specimen : N. Y. (Comstock). Phyto senilis, n. sp., $ . Eyes brown ; frontal vitta velvet-blackish ; sides of front black, more or less silvery-pollinose ; face and cheeks blackish, silvery-pollinose ; antennas and arista blackish, first two antennal joints rufous, sometimes also base of third ; third joint hardly one and one-half times as long as second ; proboscis brown, palpi yellow ; occiput blackish, black-hairy. Thorax and scutellum shining black, with an opaque more or less distinct median pair of vittse lost at suture. Abdomen black, hairy ; first three segments with a marginal row of macrochaetae, anal cjegment tipped with weaker ones ; hypopygium rather exserted. Legs black, femora hairy, tibiae bristly, claws and pulvilli elongate, pulvilli tawny fuscous. Wings grayish-hyaline, basal portions and veins pale tawny ; costal border of wing swollen on second costal cell, costa drawn in at termination of auxiliary vein ; tegulae whitish, margins yellow; halteres blackish. Length of body, 63^ mm.; of wing, 53^ mm. Described from one specimen ; N. Y. (Comstock). Macquartia johnsoiii, n. sp., $ . Eyes light brown, rather thickly hairy ; frontal vitta black, about one- third width of front, narrowing behind as front grows narrower, the front about one-third width of head before ; frontal bristles strong, not descending below base of antennae, three posterior pairs directed backward, decussate except second pair divergent, others directed forward and decussate ; two orbital bristles ; vertex golden ; sides of front, face and cheeks silvery- white, not hairy nor bristly ; facial ridges bare, vibrissas strong, decussate, inserted on oral margin ; antennse blackish, first two joints and base of third rufous, third joint about two and a half times as long as second ; arista blackish, pubescent basally ; proboscis blackish, labella and palpi rufous yellow ; occiput silvery or brassy pollinose, golden above, thickly gray hairy. Thorax brassy-golden pollinose, with two median vittae which 82 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. become obsolete about halfway between sucure and scutellum, and a heavier lateral vitta which is interrupted at suture ; scutellum brassy pollinose. Abdomen shining black, bases of second to anal segments broadly silvery pollinose with a brassy tinge, also sides of first segment ; first segment with a lateral macrochseta and bristles, and a median marginal pair; second with a lateral one, and a median marginal and discal pair ; third with a median discal pair and a marginal row of about eight ; anal segment with a discal and marginal row 1-egs black, tibiae rufous, bristly, femora silvery on outside, claws and pulvilli quite elongate, pulvilli yellowish. Wings grayish hyaline, tegulge whitish, halteres yellowish. Length of body, Sj4 mm.; of wmg, 7 mm. Described from one specimen ; Penna. (C. \V. Johnson). Polidea americana, n sp., ^ . Eyes nearly black, pubescent; frontal vitta back, one-third width of front, front one-third width of head ; one orbital bristle on left side, none on right ; frontal bristles descending below base of third antennal joint ; sides of front shining dark green as far down as lowest frontal bristles ; sides of face and facial depression silvery-poUinose ; cheeks and occiput shining dark green ; antennae and arista deep black, third antennal joint wide, two and a half times as long as second ; proboscis brownish, palpi pale rufous, darker at base. Thorax, scutellum and abdomen dark metallic green ; first segment with a lateral marginal macrochpeta amongst other bristles ; second with a median discal and marginal pair, and a lateral marginal and discal one, or pair ; third with a median discal and lateral discal pair, and a marginal row ; anal with a discal and marginal row ; hypopygium somewhat brownish. Legs black, knees hardly rufous, claws and pulvilli only a little elongate. Wings slightly grayish, nearly hyaline, veins yellow, third vein spined nearly or greater way to small cross-vein ; tegulse nearly white ; halteres rufous, knobs black. $ . Diff"ers as follows : — Frontal v/idth about the same, two orbital bristles (only one on right side in one specimen) ; third antennal joint not widened. Claws and pulvilli not quite so long ; front tarsal joints widened. Length of body, cj 6 mm., $ 5/'2 to 5; 3 mm.; of wing, ^ 4 mm., ^ 4j/^ to 43^ mm. Described from one male and two females; Constantine, Mich., August 34. I have also a ^ from Orono, Maine (Harvey), which I doubtfully refer to this species. It has no orbital bristles, and the apical cell is very narrowly open. It measures 5 V3 mm. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 83 CLERCK'S ICONES. BY W. J. HOLLAND, PH.D., D.D. Under the title "/cones Iiisectoruin Rariorum citm Nomiiiibus coruin trivialibus, locisque c C. Lmncci Arch : R : et Equ : Aur : Sys^ : Nat: allegatis'' Charles Clerck, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Upsala, commenced the publication at Stockholm, in the year .1759, of a series of plates intended to illustrate the species of exotic lepidoptera recently named by his distinguished fellow-countryman, the immortal Linnseus. About a month ago I received from Mr. Felix Dames, the well-known bibliopole of Berlin, a letter informing me that he had succeeded in securing a remarkably fine copy of this exceedingly rare work, which he held at my disposal. I immediately cabled to him that I would become its purchaser. But six or seven copies of the book are known to be in existence, and not all of these in perfect state. The one I own, which has just come into my hands, and which is the only copy which has ever crossed the Atlantic, is in superb condition, and enjoys the distinction of being, with the exception of the copy in the library of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, the only example in which there are the plates, so far as published, of the Third Section of the work which Clerck did not live to complete. He died on July 22nd, 1765. Hagen, in his Bibliotheca Entomologica, states that the work consists of two sections, the first of which, in addition to the title page and dedication, has eight pages of Swedish and Latin text, together with sixteen plates ; and the second, in addition to the dedication, contains three pages of text, thirty-eight plates, and an index of three pages. The copy lying before me contains, in addition to the parts described by Hagen, seven plates, numbered from 4 to 10, of which the first two are coloured, and the next to the last (pi. 9) is partly coloured. The extreme rarity of the book is well known to lepidopterists. Gottlob Wilhelm, in his " Unterhaltungen," Ins. H.. page 16, published in 1779, is quoted by Strecker in his " Butterflies and Moths of North America," p. 218, as having described the work in the following terms : — " Fifty-five pages large 4to, a simple register, together with a dedica- tion and preface, compose the whole work, which, at auction, was sold for 600 Swedish dollars." Hagen tells us that the book was distributed by the Queen of Sweden in the form of presentation copies, and that it 84 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. was never put upon the market, and hence became scarce. Linnaeus, in his Systema NaturcC I., ii. p. 535, speaks of it in laudatory terms as '' Clerckii icones i?isect07-um, pulcherrimum opics, quod etia??inujic vidit orbis literatiisr Prof. Zeller, in the Stettiner Entomologische Zeitung, Vol. XIV., p. 199, after describing at length the longing desires he had felt to get a glimpse of the work, and how at last, through the kindness of Alexander von Humboldt and the Librarian of the Royal Library at Berlin, the wish had been gratified, and how it happened at the same time that he was allowed the use of a mutilated copy belonging to Dr. Herrich-Schaeffer, of Regensburg, goes on to state his disappointment with that part of the work which is devoted to the illustration of the European Geometridse and Pyralidae. He says : — " Welches wa?- abe?- der Eindruck, den das pulcherrimum opiis, als ich es nun e?idlich vor Augen hatte, auf fjiich machte ? Haite ich auch keine Bilder ivie in British Entomology oder wie in der Exploration Scientifique de I'Algerie erwartet, so wusste ich mir doch nicht sogleich Rechenschaft zu geben, wie Linne so j'aemmerliche Malereien fuer etwas so Herrliches erklaeren konnte. Das ergab sich denn wohl, dass nicht die Abbildungen Euiopaeischer Nachtfalter sodern die der grossen, bunten Exote7i Linn'es Augen bestochen ufid ein so viel sagendes Urtheil hervorgerufen hatten.'" While it is undoubtedly true that the figures of the smaller forms are measurably disappointing, and are not to be for a moment compared with the splendid productions which have come to us in recent years from the press of Europe and America, yet as a whole they compare very favourably with the illustrations given in many of the works of the older authors. They are equal to those given in Drury's illustrations, and are vastly superior to the great majority of the figures given by such an author as Cramer. Zeller calls attention to the fact that there are differences in the two copies which he had under his eye at the time he wrote his critique, due to the work of the colourist. The uncoloured plates in the copy before me explain the manner in which these variations came to take place. The figures prepared by the engraver were simply outlines done in copperplate, and all of the shading, as well as the colouring, was left to the artist who wielded the brush, and who can have had nothing to guide him in his work except the original drawings, or the insects themselves. Under the circumstances it is very plain that minor discrepancies must have inevitably occurred. The North American insects figured in the work are the following : — THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 85 Papilio glaucus, P. aster las, figured under the name P. Ajax. Vic- torina sieneles, Coicefiis dido, Gycencia dirce, figured under the name Papilio bates, Agrauiis vanillce, Danais plexippiis, Deiopeia ornatrix, Samia cecropia, Pachylia ficus, Erebus odorata. (sic)., Actias tuna, Nyctate7tion lunus. The latter is common in Jamaica. The insects figured in the supplementary plates which are found in my copy, and to which there is no reference made by Kirby in his Synonymical Catalogue," are the folUowing : — PLATE 4. Fig. I, Papilio (Argyntiis) niphe. 2 figs, Upper and lower sides. " 2, " (Precis) almana, vera. 2 figs. " " " 3, " ( Grapta) c-atireum. 2 figs. " " " 4, " (Junonia) xjioiie. 2 figs. " " PLATE 5. Fig. I, Papilio (Danais) plexippus. 2 figs. Upper and lower sides. " 2, " (Danais) chrysippus. 2 figs. " '•' " 3, " (Precis) almana, XXX. 2 figs. (This is the wet season form known by authors as P. asterie, L.) " 4, Papilio ( Neptis) leucotoe (sic). 4 figs. Upper and lower sides. (Athyma) (The two left hand figures represent Neptis leucotJioe, and the two right hand figures represent Athyma perius, which has been confounded by synonymists with the preceding species, which in turn has been unaccountably given by Kirby, who refers to Cramer's figure as a synonym for N. aceris, Lep. Neptis leucothoe, figured in Cramer, and in the unedited plate of Clerck, whose figure is a good one, is a Celebesian insect.) PLATE 6. (Uncoloured.) Fig. I, Papilio Demoleus. 2 figs. Upper and lower sides. " 2, " ^gistus. 2 figs. " " " 3, " (Delias) pasitea (sic). 2 figs. ■' " " 4, " (Terias) hecabe. 3 figs. " " (Two forms of this species are given, one with the black marginal border not quite as broad, nor as deeply sinuate inwardly as the other.) 8 very short, sparse white pilose ; first joint of antennae one and a fourth times as long as the second, the third joint one and a-half times as long as the first two, in profile scarcely more than twice as long as broad, tapering slightly to the apex, which is obliquely truncated and bears a small tubercle which extends obliquely upward ; proboscis, excluding the labellae, one and a-fourth times as long as the head, tip of palpi reaching its middle, occiput light grey pollinose, and sparse white pilose. Thorax black, the margins light gray pollinose, that in middle of dorsum brown, continued in two median lines an- teriorly ; very short sparse white pilose ; pleura, coxte and scutellum light gray pollinose and sparse white pilose. Abdomen black, hind margin of each segment white, most extended on the first segment ; entire dorsum light gray pollinose and sparse white pilose ; venter white, sparse white pilose. Legs black, light gray pollinose, apex of each femur narrowly, basal half or more of each tibia, and base of each metatarsus, yellow, the 126 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. pile sparse, white ; no bristles nor spurs. Wings pure hyaline, veins yellow, the costal from apex of auxiliary to apex of fourth vein brown ; small cross-vein at or slightly before the middle of the discal cell, great cross-vein straight, last two sections of the third vein subequal in length, apex of second submarginal cell half as long as the last section of the third vein. Length 2^ to 4 mm. Merced County, California. Five males and four females in x\ugust. Geron capax, n sp. — Black, light gray poUinose, that in middle of dorsum of thorax brown, in the $ continued anteriorly as two median lines, but in the $ the entire dorsum is brown, with the exception of two indentations on the front end and a smaller one each side, situated on the thoracic suture : pile of entire body sparse, whitish. First joint of antennpe nearly twice as long as the second, the third joint twice as long as the first two, in profile four times as long as wide, of nearly an equal width, the upper corner cut away for half the width of the joint, leaving the lower half projecting far beyond it, the apex broadly rounded. Pro- boscis, excluding the labellse, one and a-half times as long as the head, tip of palpi reaching its last third. Base of each abdominal segment darker than the remaining portion. Wings hyaline, apex of subcostal cell yellow, the veins brown ; small cross-vein slightly before middle of discal cell, great cross-vein bisinuate, last two sections of the third vein subequal in length, apex of second submarginal cell one-third as long as the last section of the third vein. Length 6 mm. Orange County, Cali- fornia. Two males and three females. The colour of the halteres is not the same in any two specimens. The relative length of the proboscis is also variable ; in one of the males it is fully two and a-half times as long as the head. A SARCOPHAGID PARASITE OF CLMBEX AMERICANA. BY C. H. TYLER TOWNSEND, LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO. Recently Professor Aldrich, of Brookings, So. Dakota, sent me two specimens of a Sarcophagid which he had bred from Cimbex. They prove to belong to the old genus Sarcophaga, and are described below. It seems impossible to identify them positively with any of the published descriptions. Sarcophaga cimbicis., n. sp. $ . Eyes dark brown, bare ; front one-fifth width of head, silvery white, TriK CANADIAN KNTOMOLOGiST. 127 frontal vitta slate-black, about one-half width of front ; sides of face and facial depression silvery white, with a brassy lustre; the sides of face with a row of bristles below near the eye-margin ; cheeks silvery, wide, bristly ; vibrissie stout, decussate, inserted on oral margin, facial ridges bare except several short bristles above vibrissfe ; frontal bristles descending to base of third antennal joint, two posterior pairs directed backward, no orbital bristles ; antennae blackish, third joint hardly twice as long as second, moderately wide ; arista concolorous, 3-jointed, thickened on basal third, plumose on basal half or more ; proboscis brownish, almost as long as height of head, stout ; palpi blackish, moderately stout, bristly ; occiput silvery white, covered with black bristles. Thorax silvery white, with three heavy black vittse ; scutellum silvery white, with a subapical divergent pair of macrochaetce, a very weak decussate apical pair of bristles between them, a decussate weak subdiscal pair of bristles, and two lateral pairs of macrochaetae. Abdomen about as wide as thorax, silvery, marbled with gray, with a more or less distinct median dark line ; hypopygium rufous yellow ; first and second segments with a lateral macrochceta ; third with about three lateral, a median marginal pair, and some shorter marginal bristles between ; anal with a marginal row of about twelve. Legs blackish, femora silvery white, tibiie bristly, claws and pulvilli elongate, pulviili smoky black. Wings grayish hyaline, longer than abdomen ; apical cell widely open before tip of wing, fourth vein with wrinkle and slight stump at bend ; apical cross-vein deeply bowed in, hind cross-vein sinuate, nearer to bend of fourth vein ; tegulte nearly white, halteres tawny yellowish. 9 . Differs as follows : Front nearly or quite one-third width of head, frontal vitta about one-half width of front '; three hind pairs of frontal bristles directed backward, the hindmost pair much the longest and the forward pair of the three much the shortest ; two stout orbital bristles directed strongly forward. The weak decussate apical pair of bristles on scutellum is apparently wanting (there are no scars apparent), the weak subdiscal pair of bristles are not decussate. Abdomen broadened, much wider than thorax, macrochsetae nearly the same ; anus rufous-yellow, fringed with marginal bristles. Claws and pulvilli much shorter. Length of body, 7 to 8 mm.; of wing, 6^^ to 7 mm. Described from one male and one female, bred by Professor J. M. Aldrich from cocoons of Cimbex Americana. Issued May 30 and June 2. Brookings, So. Dakota. 128 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. OVIPOSITING IN THE GENUS ARGYNNIS. BY HENRY SKINNER, PHILADELPHIA, PA. I wish to make a contribution to the literature of the subject of " egg dropping," and place on record in an entomological journal an observa- tion I made nine years ago. I do this with the object of calling general attention to this subject, which I think an interesting one, and in hope that lepidopterists may be on the look out for this method of ovipositing in all the species of the genus. In the Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil., vol. 35, p. 36, I called attention to the fact that Argynnis cybele deposited its eggs while on the wing, or in other words, dropped the eggs from a height to the herbage below. Mr. Scudder in Butt. East. U. S. and Can., vol. I, p. 560, says : "The eggs are laid upon the leaves and stalks of the food plant, and not, as stated by H. Skinner, dropped from a distance upon the herbage." He further says : " It is not an altogether uncommon thing for an egg to become attached to the scales at the top of the abdomen of a butterfly, or upon one of the hind legs ; and it is possible that in the movement of the wings in flight or poising, such an egg might have been swept or brushed off during Mr, Skinner's observa- tion." Mr. Scudder tries to disprove my statement by a very ingenious supposition. I call attention to the method of ovipositing he describes, to see if anyone has ever observed it. I did not state that Argynnis cybele invariably dropped its eggs, but I have since learned that this method is by no means uncommon in the genus. I have repeatedly observed A. myrina hovering over wet fields, where violets grew in the herbage, dropping its eggs indiscriminately about. In this journal, vol. XXL, p. 130, will be found some remarks on this subject, and in a foot note it is stated that Mr. Aaron has observed the same habit in A. bellona, and is strongly of the opinion that strange motions frequently observed in A. diana in Tennessee are to be accounted for in the same way. The subject under discussion was brought fresh to my mind by reading the very interesting article by Mr. Wright (Mar. No., vol. 24) who says : — " Different species of Argynnids have different methods of ovipositing, but none that I know of require a plant. Other species, as semiramis, oviposit oti the wing without ever alighting, but hovering over suitable places dropping the eggs at pleasure." I was greatly pleased too, on read- ing the above, to find my early observation confirmed by such an acute observer. I can give no reason for this method, and Mr. Wright's reason for such actions would hardly hold good here. He says : — "The reason THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 129 for this peculiar habit seems to be to avoid small lizards which abound and which are alert to seize any flying insect." The species which have been observed dropping their eggs are cybeie, seiniramis^ niyrina, bellona, diana (?). Are there others ? NOTES ON MELITTIA CETO, WESTW. BY JOHN B. SMITH, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. The notes on this species by Dr. Kellicott, in the February number of the Canadian Entomologist, induce me to place on record some of the observations made by me during the past year and used in my annual report ; and also to call attention to a very old record that in part answers the question— Is the species double-brooded ? Looking over the MSS. drawings by Abbot in the British Museum, I found a picture of this species, and to it the following note : — •" The caterpillar of this sort lives in and eats the stalk of Cymbling vines, pale brownish white, resembling a maggot j spun up in the ground i6 July, bred nth Aug, Also taken 19th July. It flies in the day, frequents cymbling and pampion vines ; not common." This record refers to the vicinity of Savannah, Georgia, and is definite enough to prove that an early brood comes to maturity in July and August, leaving quite a sufficient time for a second brood of larvae to ma- ture in early October. I believe the occurrence of Dr. Kellicott's speci- men in late August to be abnormal, and not a usual thing in that locality. In New Jersey I feel convinced that we have but a single brood, one that has a long period of flight and is of slow growth in the larval stage. Near New Brunswick, N. J., the moth does not appear until the middle of June, and on Long Island, as I am informed, the latter part of June and early July is the date of the first appearance. A much earlier date would be destructive to the species since squash vines are not planted here until about the middle of May or later, and do not begin to be of size to support larvai until June or July. On the 26th of June I found eggs numerous, but not until July 6th did the first larva appear, and the last of the eggs collected on the 25th June, hatched on July nth, giving at least a 15 day period for the egg. Moths were still flying at that time and continued for some days later. It is interesting to note that just about the time eggs begin to hatch generally in New Jersey, Abbot records his larva as full grown and ready to spin up. The record of the 130 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. capture of the imago on July 19th raises the other question : — Were these belated individuals of the spring brood, or abnormally early specimens of the summer brood ? Eggs laid at about the middle of July would not hatch until early in August, at a time when those first hatched would already be nearly one month old. In September I found full grown and less than half grown larvae together in one stem, and the full grown larvse were getting ready to spin up. Those half grown at that time increased very slowly, and up to the first weeks in October were still feeding. Meanwhile, the larvae that spun up early in September were quiescent within the cocoon, and up to date — February 23rd — none of them have transformed to pupae. To get two broods into one season, all the periods must be considerably shortened and the development must be much more rapid. For these reasons I believe that we have in New Jersey and north- ward one brood only ; that the time of appearance of the imago extends over nearly if not quite one month, and that six weeks may be the period of flight; that at least 15 days are required for the eggs to develope ; that the larva requires from seven to eight weeks to come to maturity ; that the larva remains unchanged within the cocoon during the winter. The date of pupation and the period passed in that stage has not yet been ascertained. I hope Dr. Kellicott will be able to ascertain this posi- tively, and thus complete the life history of the insect. The economic problem of how best to deal with the species need not be discussed in this connection, but is much simplified by the better knowledge we have of its habits. OBITUARY. THE ABBE PROVANCHER. It is our painful duty to record the death, in his 72nd year, of the Abbe Leon Provancher, who for many years, despite great discourage- ments and disadvantages, laboured zealously and assiduously to develope and disseminate a knowledge of the natural history of Canada, and especially of his native province. He was born in 1820, at Becancour, Que., and for some years was Cure of Portneuf, and one of his earlier entomological writings was a list of the Coleoptera of that district. Compelled by enfeebled health to relinquish the regular and more active duties of the ministry, he removed to Cap Rouge, near Quebec, and THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 131 devoted his remaining time and strength almost entirely to the study of the natural sciences. In 1869 he commenced the publication of the Naturaliste Canadien, and, notwithstanding many discouragements, completed in 1891 the twentieth volume, when its issue had reluctantly to be abandoned, through the Quebec Government refusing to continue the scanty annual grant it had received. As early as 1858 Provancher published an elementary treatise on botany, and in 1862 his Flore du Canada. Subsequently he devoted his attention specially to entomology, and in 1874 commenced his Faune Entomologique du Canada. Vol. I., treating of the Coleoptera, was completed in 1877, with three supplements in 1877, 1878 and 1879. ^^^- ^^- ^^^^ commenced in 1877 and completed in 1883, and contains the Orthoptera, Neuroptera and Hymenoptera, In 1885-1889 he published Additions aux Hymenopteres, and issued Vol. III. upon the Hemiptera, which was completed in 1890. He was also an enthusiastic conchologist, and his last publication was a treatise upon the univalve molluscs of the Province of Quebec. His writings include the account of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, an excursion to the West Indies, treatises on agriculture, etc. He will be best known, however, by his entomological work, and as he described a large number of new species and genera, particularly of Hymenoptera and Hemiptera, it is sincerely to be hoped that his collections may be placed where the types will be carefully preserved and be accessible to students of ento- mology. There is a disposition on the part of some American students to ignore the work of Provancher, and to accuse him of want of care, etc., in the determination of genera and species. The enormous disadvantages under which he laboured must, however, be considered, for he was remote and isolated from libraries, collections and fellow-workers, and in his writings he often laments the fact that so few could be found to take any active interest in his pursuits, or to assist him in his labours. His entomological work would have been more exact and complete had not the publication of the Naturaliste greatly interrupted his investigations, and forced him to spend much of his time in other directions. His labours had the result of starting natural history collections in some of the colleges in the Province of Quebec, but our French citizens do not appear to have»any special leaning to the sciences he loved, and he has left behind him no entomological student of any distinction. Above all Provancher was an ardent Canadian, strongly imbued with love of his race, language and religion, and often in his writings he impresses these sentiments upon his readers. A few years ago he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and he was also a member, active or honorary, of many other societies. W. H. H. 132 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. A NEW ISC H ALIA FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND. BY W. HAGUE HARRINGTON, OTTAWA. Ischalia Vancouverensis, n. sp. Length yj^ mm. Flavo-testaceous, abdomen, disc of elytra and middle of antennae purplish-black. Head deflexed, polished, prominently rounded between antennae ; eyes moderate, emarginate, coarsely granulated ■. antennse reaching to apex of humeral pale spot, stout, first joint swollen, second small, remaining joints more elongated, gradually shortened, terminal joint acutely pointed, three basal and two terminal joints rufo-testaceous, intervening six blackish or piceous. Thorax bell-shaped, about as broad as long, rounded and elevated anter- iorly with a shallow median sulcus, from which a carina runs to the posterior margin and projects in a sharp point ; a deep transverse im- pression in basal third ; base biemarginately truncate, with angles produced in blunt points ; scutellum prominent, rounded at apex. Elytra with disc depressed, flattened, strongly confluently punc- tured, a prominent humeral costa extending nearly to apex, marginal costa prominent, acute, disc purplish-black, elongate humeral spot and all the margin testaceous. Abdomen purplish-black, alutaceous. Described from six males from Comox, Vane. Isd., received from Rev. G. W. Taylor in a very interesting and valuable collection of Coleoptera of Vancouver Island. Differs from Ischalia costata, Lee, in having the head unicolorous with thorax and legs, the abdomen entirely purplish-black, etc. CORRESPONDENCE. THE CUCUMBER MOTH.- Dear Sir, — I have the pleasure of announcing the addition to the Canadian list of that attractive Pyralid Eudioptis nitidalis, Cram., captured by Mr. T. H. Hill, of this place, in his garden last summer. It is known as the Cucumber Moth, in distinction to iis congener the Melon Moth, E. hyalinata, Linn., both of them reported to be at times quite destructive to these crops in the Southwestern States. Ic is now over ten years since I captured the first known Canadian specimen of E. hyalinata, and it has been rarely taken since, and it is not known to be spreading, so that E. nitidalis may never become to us anything more than an exceedingly desirable cabinet specimen. Mr. Hill has kindly surrendered his unique to the interests of the Society. He has also most generously contributed his only specimen of that rare beetle Hydrophihis ovatus, which was wanting in the Society's collection. J. Alston Moffat, Curator. London, Feb. i8, 1892. Mailed April 28th. I'lie faaailiaii Jntomoloiiist VOL. XXIV. LONDON, JUNE, 1892. No. 6. SYNONYMIC AL NOTES ON SOME HETEROCERA IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. BY JOHN B. SMITH, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. During the latter part of September, and early ii spent two weeks in London, and most of the tirna^fSdi^BAiDi^G rooms of the British Musemn. My aim was, J^'l^ily,-ttrT^Tn;ify noctuids described by Walker, and in this I s\ porating the notes there made being now in the large is the material in this magnificent collection, for only a very hasty glance at other families of the Heterbcera. and on a few species only I made brief notes. So far as they are synonymic they are here given. Alypia crescens, Wlk. 1856— Wlk., Cat. Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. vii., 1774. This is the same as Alypia grotei, Bdv., Lep. Cal, 1868, 70. Walker's name has priority. I have not the reference to Herrich-Schaeffer's Agarista bimaadata, which Mr. Grote, Bull. Buff. Soc. Nat. Sci. i, 31, doubtfully refers here. Mr. Stretch in 1876, Wheeler's Rept. v., 802, gives biviaciilata, H.-Sch., as the species, and cites grotei as a synonym of it. Alypiodes flavilinguis, Grt., Trans. Kans. Ac. Sci. viii., is another synonym, fide Mr. Henry Edwards in Papilio iv., 13. The genus Alypiodes is probably a good one, and it is also probable that Herrich- Scha?ffer's name will be found to ante-date Walker's, so that the species will probably remain as given by me in the recent List. Eudryas Stce /ohafinis, Wlk. 1856 — Wlk., Cat. Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. ix., 144. The type is marked " Taken on the church door at Horsley Downs." There is nothing in the specimen or record to authorize the reference of this species as North American, and yet this is probably correct. The insect is like gi-ata, with slightly suffused primaries and deeper yellow immaculate secondaries. It is probable that in some \vay the pupa of 134 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. the insect was transported to England and through the vicissitudes encountered an aberration was produced. I have no hesitation in referring the species as a suffused aberrant grata. Comacla simplex., Wlk. Coniada 7mirina, Wlk. 1865 — Wlk., Cat. Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. xxxi., 276, Both the above species are the same as Vajiessodes clams, G. & R., Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, iii., 176, and Walker's names, generic and specific, have priority. The reference above given refers to C. 7niirina, Wlk. The reference to C. simplex, Wlk., I have mislaid in some way, and have not at present access to the books to replace it. The name is earlier than murijia, however, if uiy recollection serves, and must stand for the species. This unites numbers 994, 995 and 991 of my list. East Florida is given by Walker as the locality for the species ; but the specimens are probably from Texas. Quite a number of species credited to " East Florida " in the British Museum are almost certainly from Texas. Cothocida nigrifera, Wlk. 1865 — Wlk., Cat. Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. xxxii., 499. This was described among the Limacodidse by Walker, and is No. 1 2 13 in my list. The type specimen is a species of Crocota with very dark primaries and almost black secondaries. I cannot recollect having before seen any species quite so dark in colour. The locality is given as " North America." Arctia rhoda, Butler. 1881 — Butler, Ent. Mo. Mag. xviii., 135. Arctia ochreata, Butler. 1 88 1. — Butler, Ent. Mo. Mag. xviii., 135. The types of the above species are usual forms of nais, Dru., easily matched in any good series of specimens. The term ochreata applies to the common yellow form. These references are made in my list from the descriptions, and are now justified by the comparison of the types. Arctia radians, Wlk. 1856 — Wlk., Cat. Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. iii., 632, Apantesis. The type is that form of decorata, Saunders, in which the primaries are almost immaculate, the pale colour reduced to a forked line on the median vein. If this lorni is distinct from nais Walker's name hag priority, Mr, Saunders's specieg having been described in 1863. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 135 Arctia dodgei, Butler. 1 88 1 — Butler, Ent. Mo. Mag. xviii., 135. This is a poor specimen o( phy//irai unworthy of even varietal rank. Mr. Butler suggested that this might be the Mexican representative of phyllira, though the specimen bore no locality label ; but it is Drury's species itself, and not a representative of it. Aiitarctia walsinghami, Butler. 1881 — Butler, Ann. and Mag. N. H. ser. 5, viii., 311. This is a strongly marked, deeply tinted rubra, perhaps worthy a varietal rank. The Museum specimen of rubra is almost as far from the normal type in one direction as the type of walsinghami is in another. Acherdoa, Wlk. 1865 — Walk., Cat. Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. xxxii., 451. A, ferraria, Wlk. 1865 — Wlk., Cat. Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. xxxii., 452. This is the Farina oriiata of Mr. Neumoegen, Papilio iv., 94. Among the Abbot drawings in the Museum is an excellent figure of this species, noted as " Taken 27th March flying at night in a swamp near Savannah River. The only one I have met with." It is probable, from the close correspondence of the figure with the Walker type, that the latter is the original of the drawing. According to Mr. Kirby some of the Abbot specimens are in the British Museum, and doubtless this is one of them. Bellura gortynoides, Wlk. Described as an ally of Datana, but is a noctuid, and is an earlier name for Arzama densa, the generic term also being earlier than Arzattta. Hat una setnirti/escens, Wlk. 1865— Wlk., Cat. Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. xxxii., 450. This is Schizura unicornis^ A. & S. In the Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, ii., 86, Messrs. Grote and Robinson cite Edema semirufescens, Wlk., xxxii., 424, to u7iicornis, and this species with the same specific, but other generic designation is referable to the same form. Psaphidia reswnens, Wlk., placed near Edema, is a noctuid, and is Dicopis viridescens, Wlk., = D. muralis, Grt. Edema ? iransversata, Wlk. 1865— Wlk., Cat Lep. Brit. Mus., Het. xxxii., 427. This is the same as E//ida gclida, Grt. In the Trans. Am. Ent. 136 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Soc. ii., 86, Messrs. Grote and Robinson make this Walker species a synonym of Ja?iassa ligiiicolor ; but this is an error. The species is a very well marked one and not easily mistakeable for any other. It must be known in future as Ellida transversata and the specific name is not entirely inappropriate if the maculation be used as guide. Heterocampa semiplaga, Wlk, 1861— Wlk., Can. Nat. and Geol. vi., 37. This is Heterocampa pulverea, G. & R., Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. i., 185, pi. iv., f 32. The type of this species is in the collection of the Entomological Society of Ontario, part of the D'Urban material determined by Walker. In the 9th volume of the Canadian Entomologist Mr. Grote gives some notes on a number of the species named by Mr. Walker, but he seems not to have had all of Walker's i)apers, as he omits all reference to the species described in the one above cited. To the courtesy of Mr. J- Alston Moffat I owe an opportunity of examining these omitted species, and the above is one of them ; the others are noctuids. to be elsewhere commented on, Cossus basalis, Wlk. Mr. Henry Edwards has published the synonymy of this species, and I desire here to merely call attention to the fact that the specimen described by- Walker is figured by Abbot, who took it "19 August in oak woods." The synonymy is given under No. 1434, in my Eist of Lepidoptera. Zeuzera pyrina, Linn. Walker gives North America as a locality for this insect. This would be interesting if true, and would prove that the insect is not a compara- tively recent importation as has been supposed. I have not been able to find anything either in the British Museum collection or in the records to warrant Walker's citation, and I am not willing to accept it as evidence without some decided support. The above comprise all the notes made by me on the earlier series of Heterocera. The time at my disposal was limited, and it would require three or four days work at least to look over the material carefully. It is more than likely that some of the species which I did not see have been removed to other series where I did not keep a lookout for them. A k\v at least of the names are disposed of here. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 137 CANADIAN GALLS AND THEIR OCCUPANTS— EUROSTA SOLIDAGINIS, FITCH. liY WM. BKODIE, TORONTO. " Attacking the Solidago or Golden Rod." " Quite common in eastern New York." " Slender, straight, smooth stalks of the Golden Rod quite often have one and sometimes two large, round galls or ball-like swellings upon them, an inch in diameter, when the stalk above and below is less than a quarter of an inch." " In the winter season most of them are found to be empty, with a round hole perforated in them, the worm having completed its growth, and the winged fly having come out through this perforation the preceding autumn. But occasionally one of these balls is found at this season without any hole in it. In these the worm is still remaining to complete its changes and continue its species the coming summer." Fitch, ist N. Y. Report, 1855. Galls spherical, from i5-3omm. in diameter. Average of 50 specimens 23 mm.; on stems and panicle branchlets of Solidago, sp. ? ; outside of gall hard and smooth ; colour pale straw ; interior uniform white, spongy, dense ; larva occupying a small, irregular, nearly central space j from i-io galls on a plant, usually 2-3. "This fly measures from 0.35 to 0.40 inch to the tip of the wings. Its body is of a pale brownish-yellow or a tawny whitish colour with two darker brown stripes above upon the thorax. The antennse, mouth and legs are dull yellow, the face white, and the top of the head yellowish- brown, with a blackish spot at base where the three ocelli or simple eyes are situated. The wings are tawny brownish-yellow, with blackish clouds, and with several dots and veins of a lighter yellow. On the outer margin beyond the middle are two small triangular hyaline spots, and a third longer one inside of these. A large transverse hyaline spot on the apex and two large triangular ones upon the inner margin, the inner one being larger and prolonged upon the margin of the base. Upon the margin of the wing, in these large hyaline spots are some tawny yellowish dots or small spots, namely, three in the apical spot, one in the small triangular one, one or two in the larger triangular one, and three where this last spot is prolonged in the axilla." Fitch, ist N. Y. Report, 1S55. " Brownish-ferrugineous with the head and legs more yellow ; front very broad ; scutellum very convex, with two bristles. Wings reticulated with fuscous having one limpid space at the costa and two at the posterior 138 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. border scarcely dotted with fuscous. Long. corp. 0.26. Long. al. 0.26 inch." Loew. Mon. Dip. N.-A, Vol. L p. 82. I received a collection of these galls made at Carberry, Manitoba, by W. G. A. Brodie in Nov. '82, from the upper part of the stems and branches of a species of Solidago very common on the open prairie. These galls were unusually large, measuring 27-30 mm. in diameter. The producers, Eurosta soHdagi?iis, Fitch, began to come out at Toronto May 2, '^T), and parasites, Eiirytoma gigaiitea, Walsh, a few days later, and also a parasite beetle bred from an Eurosta pupa case and identified by Dr. Hamilton, of Allegheny, Pa., as Mordellistena nigricans, Melsh. A collection of these galls made at Crowfoot Crossing, N. W. T., by W. A. Ducker, D. L. S., Nov. 'Zt^, reached Toronto Dec. 25, 'Zt,, gave producers and parasites May 22, '84. A collection made 50 miles north of Crowfoot Crossing, N. W. T., by W. A. Ducker, D. L. S., Dec. '83, producers, E. solidaginis, Fitch., came out at Toronto May 25, '84-May 29, '84; parasites, E. gigantea, Walsh, May 27, '84-May 31, '84; also three specimens parasitic beetle. A collection made 50 miles south of Crowfoot Crossing, N. W. T., by W. A. Ducker, D. L. S., Dec. 'Zt^, gave at Toronto the usual proportion of producers and parasites, E. gigantea, Walsh, but the parasitic beetles were numerous. A collection of 87 galls made at Oak River, Manitoba, by Mr. Harry Leigh, in the fall of '84, gave 50 specimens E. giga?itea, Walsh, at Toronto, June i, '85-June 6, '85. No producers nor beetles. A collection made at several points between Clearwater, N. W. T., and Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, by W. A. Ducker, D. L. S., in August, '87, arrived at Toronto during Industrial Exhibition, '87, gave producers June 4, '88-June 10, '88, and parasites a few days later. The lot consisted of 183 galls and gave 83 producers, 38 specimens of E. giganfea and 7 beetles. I have had over 500 specimens of this gall from Manitoba and the Northwest provinces, and I think it very certain that none of the occu- pants come out in the fall season. I never found more than one occupant in a gall, producer or parasite. The larva makes no preparation for leaving the gall, the exit is made invariably by the imago after leaving the pupa case. The boring is done with the front, and it is very interesting to see the soft, flabby looking mass assume the shape of tools, square and triangular brotches, gouges, chisels and lancet-like points, and surprising to see how rapidly the hard shell of the gall is cut away. This gall seems to have a wide range over the Northwest provinces. In addition to the THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 139 localities already given I have evidence of its occurrence at Turtle Mountain, Pelly, Edmonton, Regina, Prince Albert, and Calgary. This gall is not found in the vicinity of Toronto nor in the adjacent counties ; but I am informed by Mr. Jas. Fletcher, Dominion Entomologist, that it is more or less common in the Ottawa region. In May '84, 1 liberated ten pairs of E. solidaginis, in an untilled field, densly grown up with Solidagos, north of the city, but found no galls afterwards. In June '88 I liberated six pairs in a field east of the city, but no galls have been found. Dr. Fitch gives the habitat " New York," and Osten-Saken, " Wash- ington " (D. C.) There can be little doubt of the parasitic habit of the M. nigricans larvse. None of the galls gave both beetle and fly ; the cells in the galls which gave beetles were similar to those which gave flies, and in all the galls examined — out of which came beetles — there were found fragments of Enrosta larvae or pupae. The M. nigricans larvae are most probably external feeders. It is very desirable that some observer should take up this investigation, and from a careful examination of the immature galls determine the relation between the beetle and the fly. A NEW DASYLOPHIA FROM FLORIDA. BY ANNIE TRUMBULL SLOSSON, NEW YORK CITY. Dasylophia puntagorda, n. sp. $ . — Head and thorax appearing palest gray from admixture of pure white with cinereous. Abdomen, secondaries and ground colour of primaries sordid white. Primaries streaked longitudinally with blackish, which contrasts violently with ground colour. A diffuse, heavy, blackish shade runs obliquely from apex inward. A curved blackish line, reaching neither costa nor internal margin at outer three-fourths of wing. Sub- marginal row of distinct, blackish spots, two of which are much larger than the rest and margined with white. Costa interrupted near apex by white spots. Fringe sordid white, interrupted by blackish. Somewhat smaller than D. anguina, S. & A., and differing markedly from that species in its sharp contrasts of colour, which make it appear like a purely black and white insect. It has no ochreous shade. The antennce resemble those of D. ajiguijta, the pectinations not as long as in those of D. interna, Packard. Described from two males taken at light. Punta Gorda, Florida. 140 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. EARLY STAGES OF INDIAN BUTTERFLIES. A new contribution to our knowledge of the early stages of butterflies has come from Bombay^ where Messrs. Davidson and Aitken have published (Journ. Bomb. Nat. His. Soc, Vol. 5,) half a dozen coloured plates, excellently drawn by Mrs. Blathwayt, representing the transforma- tions of sixteen species. Their published notes, however, cover no less than 94 species and run through all the families, and among them will be found many interesting things, — a chrysalis of Elymnias " suspended by the tail only, but in a rigidly horizontal position," a species of Abisara, one of the Lemoniinae, whose larva has the head free, a gregarious Delias where the eggs are laid "in parallel rows with equal intervals," a Papilio laying, like our species of Polygonia, ten eggs in a column, HesperidaJ with fluffy secretions, and some where the transformations are open, and which in some cases have and in some have not a median girth. When we find this as the result of two seasons' work, and most of it of one, we can but wish long life to the authors. Seventy species of butterflies were reared the first year. The course of insect life in India is so different from that with which we are familiar, and yet has so many points of contact, that it is worth while to transfer the following passage to our columns : — " In the case of a great many, perhaps the majority, of species, larvae are found plentifully in June or July, that is, a short time after the monsoon bursts and vegetation starts into growth. These become pupse, and for a time not a larva is to be seen ; then the butterflies of that brood emerge and lay their eggs and larvae begin to appear again, but this time they con- tinue for two or three months, in some cases until the end of the year. Then they cease and the butterflies also disappear, but a number of pupa?, and perhaps eggs, remain, to start into life when conditions are again favourable, which will be in March if the food-plant sprouts then, otherwise in June. Of these dormant pupffi a few come out at odd times, but the butterflies thus sent into the world out of season doubtless perish without offspring. This seems to be something like the order of events with many of the common species of Papilio, the Danainre, the Junonias, and others ; but there are many species which do not follow this rule, and some seem to have only one short season in the year." THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 141 DESCRIPTION OF FOUR INSECT MONSTROSITIES. BY H. F. WICKHAM, IOWA CITY, IOWA. The following cases of insect monstrosities have come under my notice, and I have thought it best to make them known in order that those interested in this work might have access to the descriptions. While but little seems to have been written on the subject in this country beyond the describing of a number of interesting forms by Jayne (Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, VIII.) and Henshaw, Scudder and Hagen (Psyche), it has attracted considerable attention in Europe, many writers having published accounts, with figures, of more or less interesting cases. With this prelude I offer the following descriptions and figures. All the specimens are in my own cabinet, deposited in the Museum of the State University of Iowa : — Fig. a represents the thorax of a specimen of PtcrosticJms validus^ Dej., in which the left side is much shorter than the right. There is nothing in its appearance that would indicate this malformation to be the result of an injury to the pupa, so it has been con- sidered worth while to let this case go on record. In fig. b is shown a rather curious though not particularly uncommon structure. It is the right anterior leg of a specimen of Trichodes mittalli, taken at Iowa City in July, 18S5. Here the tibia is somewhat stouter than normal, and from near the tip on the outer surface springs a branch, as shown in the cut, having a tarsus which, except for being a little slender, is almost identical with the other. The claws on this supplementary tarsus are, however, not well formed. Aside from this leg the specimen shows no departure from the average individuals of the species. A curious monstrosity is seen in a specimen of Polyphylla hammondi^ Lee, which I have tried to reproduce in fig. c. Here the right middle tibia (which is just perceptibly more slender than the normal left one) bears a five-jointed tarsus of the remarkable form shown. The first joint is sub-pyriform in shape, the smaller end articulating with the tibia ; the remaining joints are smaller, and decrease regularly in width, also slightly in length excepting the last ; there are no claws. The large basal joint has on the under surface a transverse impressed line runriing aboiit half 142 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. way across it a little before the middle ; the base is smooth for half the length, the remainder with rather large, tolerably close punctures ; near the tip is a small spine, not more than one-third of the usual size. The upper surface is covered with dense, recumbent, somewhat golden pubes- cence which obscures the sculpture. The remaining joints are all more or less scabrous, the second covered above with pubescence like that of the first, but the third, fourth and fifth only bear a few scattering hairs. The specimen is a male and is one of a number taken by me at Albuquerque, New Mex., in 1888. The remaining example (fig. d) is that presented by a Macrobasis tenella, Lee, from Tucson, Arizona. The left middle leg is here affected, the femur having two tibi«, each having its tarsus. What we may con- sider as the normal one departs but little, if at all, from the usual type, though it is possibly a little more bent ; the other is more slender, its tarsus weaker, the last tarsal joint being more like that of an antenna than of a leg. The accessory member is less perfectly chitinized than the other. Both tibiae have the usual spurs at the apex, though they are partially hidden in the figure. NEW SPECIES OF PHORA. EV J. M. ALDRICH, BROOKINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA. The following table includes only the species of Phora described by Loew, and four new ones — ten in all. Phora atra of European ento- mologists, together with P. cor?iuta, Bigot, fuscipes, Macq., and rufipes, Meigen, are said to occur in North America — the second in Cuba, the last two in the Hudson Bay region — but I have not seen the descriptions : 1. Middle tibi^ armed with bristles on the outer side below the knee ; frontal bristles all pointing upward, - - - - - 2 Middle tibiae unarmed on the outer side below the knee ; bristles of the lower edge of the front pointing downward, - - - 6 2. Halteres black or blackish, ------ - 3 Halteres white or whitish, ------ - 5 3. Second heavy vein very thick and stout, - pachyneura, Lw. Second heavy vein not unusually stout, - . . - 4 4. Second heavy vein simple, the apex dilated, - - clavata, Lw, Second heavy vein forked, .... cimbicis, n. sp. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 143 7- 8. Hind tibife armed with two bristles below the knee, - luggeri, n. sp. Hind tibije armed with one small bristle below the knee, microcephala., Lw. Hind tibiae with a row of small bristles down the outer side, incisuraiis, Lw. Head yellowish, .--.-.. Head black or blackish, - - - Legs pale yellowish, - - - - Legs brownish or blackish, . . . . The four lower frontal bristles strongly convergent, The four lower frontal bristles parallel, scalar is, Lw. iiigriceps, Lw. imnuta, n. sp. setacea, n. sp. Fig. I. Phora cimbicis, female. A. A. amenn.-E. E.E. eyes. Fig. z. Front of Phora setacea, female. F.G. ^. Front of Phora setacea, male. Phora cimbicis, n. sp. Head black, front broad, nearly square, comprising about half of the width of the head, below with an obtuse prolongation in the middle ; no ocellar prominence ; at the extreme lower edge of the front in the middle, are two bristles, directed upward and strongly outward. A iew minute hairs, arising from coarse punctures, lean toward the middle line of the front. Antennae brownish black. Palpi longer than antennae, of the same colour, oblong, at the tip with about six stiff, short bristles. Probo- cis short, stout, yellow. Dorsum of thorax black, the humeri distinctly separated ; beginning at their posterior corners, a row of small bristles borders the dorsum. In all my specimens the region of the scutellum is injured by the pin ; there is a longer bristle, however, on the dorsum, at the corner of the scutellum, and the latter is bristled behind. Pleurae 144 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. black, a little shining • a group of two or three bristles just below the prothoracic spiracle, and a pair at the base of the forecox?e. Abdomen wholly satiny black like thoracic dorsum, except the first segment, which is whitish above in the middle ; the last joint longer than the preceding. Halteres black, the pedicel a little yellowish at base. Fore and hind tibiie with one, middle tibiae with two, bristles on the outer side a little below the knee ; the hind tibiae have also a scattering row of three smaller ones, running down to the tip ; the tips of middle and hind tibiae armed with long spurs. The legs are wholly satiny brownish-black, except that the front ones are from the coxae gradually lighter, ending in brownish- yellow tarsi, and that the middle tarsi, and sometimes the tibiae, are also brownish yellow. Wings subhyaline ; the second heavy vein is forked ; the first light vein is nearly straight, and ends a little before the apex. Length of body, 3 mm.; of wing, 2 mm. Brookings, South Dakota. Three female specimens, reared from Cimbex americana. Leach. Dates of emerging. May 24, 26, 27. Phora setacea, n. sp. ? . Head black, front very wide, at the middle of the lower border with two pairs of small bristles pointing downward, the smaller pair difficult to make out. Ocellar tubercle bounded by a suture which extends as a delicate line down the front. Antennae fuscous. Palpi yellow, with black bristles. Proboscis yellow. Thorax black, with a few scattered bristles along the dorsal margin. Abdomen black, tapering, the last seg- ment cylindrical, more or less retracted, the extremity yellow. Halteres very light yellow. Front and middle legs yellow, the hind ones more brownish. One spur at the apex of the tibia, except in the front legs, where there are none. Wings hyaline, the second heavy vein forked, the first light vein nearly straight, rather long bristles on costal border to end of second heavy vein. $ . General colour same as ? , but the bristles everywhere noticeably longer. On the lower edge of the front both pairs are quite prominent, leaning down but Httle. The coxae have a few bristles on the outer and apical portions ; the posterior coxae have a conical protuberance on the hind side. The genitalia are exserted, lying close up under the back part of the abdomen. They consist of some shriveled clasping organs, the structure being unrecognizable. They arise apparently from the next to the last segment, leaving the last one projecting downward and backward THE CANADIAN KNTOMOLOGIST. 145 from their base. The bristles upon the costal margin of the wing are unu-^ually long. Length of body, 1.2 mm.; of wing, i mm. Brookings, South Dakota. Four $ and one ^ specimen, reared from Ciinbex americana, Leach. Dates of emerging, June i, 2 and 8. Phora lugger i, n. sp. Head brownish black, front very broad, at the lower border with two small, widely divergent bristles arising a little below the edge of the front. Antennae and palpi brownish-yellow, the former with a yellow bristle, the latter with stiff black ones. Thorax brownish-black, with few and small bristles. Abdomen more or less yellowish at base above, the remainder brownish-black, the seventh segment long and tapering. Wings hyaline, the heavy veins yellow, the second hairy on the upper side to the point of division, which is near the end, the two branches so little divergent as hardly to be made out with a simple lens. First light vein strongly bowed at base, straight for the remaining two-thirds of its course, ending at the apex. Halteres wholly yellow. Legs wholly yellow ; the front tibiae with a bristle on the outer side below the knee, the middle and hind tibiae with two each in the same situation. Middle and hind tibite with spurs at apex. Length of body, 2.2 to 2.6 mm.; of wing, 2.5 to 3 mm. Two female specimens from St. Paul, Minn. (Lugger). In the other three new species the second heavy vein is bare, except a single fine bristle near its base. Fig. 4. Front of Phora luggeri, female. FiG. ■;. Front of Phora miniita, female, 146 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Phora minuta, n. sp. Head black the front broad, convex, with a few minute hairs slanting towards the middle line ; the usual bristles rather small, arranged as shown in figure. Ocellar prominence defined by a very fine impressed line, which continues down the front. Antennte brownish-black. Palpi brownish, with a few black bristles at tip. Proboscis small, yellow. Thorax uniformly black, with but few bristles. Abdomen black, tapering, the last segment slender and cylindrical. Halteres light yellow. Wings a little infuscated, except toward the posterior border. Second heavy vein forked near the end. Light veins four in number, the first nearly straight ; costal margin with fine bristles to the end of the second heavy vein. Front legs yellow at the coxae, gradually browner toward the tarsi, without any conspicuous bristles. Middle legs brown, one long spur at the apex of each tibia. Hind legs black, apex of each tibia with one long spur ; about seven short bristles form a row down the back side of the apical half of the tibiae. Length of body, 1.2 mm ; of wing, 1.3 mm. Brookings, South Dakota. One $ specimen, reared from Cimbex atfiericana, Leach. Date of emergence, June i. In preparing these descriptions I have been unable to make much use of the characters of the dorsum of the thorax, because this region is injured by the pin in most of my specimens. The smaller points of structure were determined with a compound microscope, mostly at 60 diameters, but occasionally with a higher power in the smaller species. The accompanying sketches, though somewhat rough, will serve to show the number and arrangement of the frontal bristles. Frontal sutures, where present, are also shown. No attempt was made to draw to a uniform scale ; and, as the point of view was necessarily not quite the same in all cases, the outlines given are not to be relied upon for the comparative shape of the fronts. I shall be glad to receive specimens of Phoridae from any North American locality, and will try to return any favours of this kind. As the species are all very small, the best method of mounting is as follows : — Cut a piece of cork (or pith) yi inch square and }l inch long ; near one end of this run through a No. 00 Klaeger pin till it projects nearly j^ inch ; cut off the head end close to the cork (with scissors, most conveniently) ; lay the little fly on its back on a smooth surface, and using a lens if necessary, introduce the point of the pin into its body between the middle legs until it has just reached the dorsal surface ; then stick a stouter pin through the other end of the cork in the opposite direction from the first one, far enough so that about half will project below. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 147 THE MOLE CRICKET— GRYLLOTALPA BOREALIS. BY E. W. DORAN, COLLEGE PARK, MD. In the January Canadian Entomologist Mr. James Fletcher had an interesting article on his "pet" mole cricket. At his suggestion I send a few notes upon the larval form of the same species. On January 4 last, Mr. A. I. Hayward, connected with our State Experiment Station, brought me five larvae of the mole cricket, which were found in rather a peculiar situation. He had a number of men putting up ice. The ice had been removed from a considerable space, when, wading around in the water with tall rubber boots on, he found the young mole crickets swimming around upon the water. It seems there was no connection between the open space and the land ; besides, as the weather was very cold, they could not live upon or near the surface of the ground. The only reasonable theory in regard to the matter is that they were buried in the mud at the bottom of the pond, which is a temporary one, having been flooded with water only a month or two. The wading through the mud dislodged them, when they at once came to the surface. However, there are some difficulties in the way of accepting this hypothesis. For example : Could the crickets exist beneath the water in the soft mud so near the surface for so long a time ? Westwood says in regard to the European mole cricket, G. vulgaris, that the villose coating of the body and wings appears to protect them from the water. Our species has a similar coating of fine hairs ; but in the larvae especially it seems scarcely sufticient to protect it from the effects of the water in a prolonged submersion. Besides, could it live so long entirely surrounded by water, cut off from the air? They must have been in the thin mud very near the water to have been thus stirred out. They seemed very little affected by the cold or their bath ; in fact, they were as '' lively as a cricket," and were apparently very much at home upon the water. The life history of our American species, G. borealis, seems not to have been studied extensively. At any rate I have been unable to find figures or descriptions of the preparatory stages. It is stated that G. vulgaris requires three years to come to maturity, and borealis seems of very slow growth, When these specimens were taken they were but little more than half an inch in length. They are at this time (March 15) about .7 inch long. In two and a-half months they have increased in length but little over one-tenth of an inch, though they have been kept in 148 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. a warm room and supplied with plenty of food, consisting chiefly of the roots of growing wheat, earthworms, etc. As the female deposits her eggs in early spring, they are probably nine or ten months old now. The mature insect is an inch and a-half long, while these are but little more than a third as long. Westwood says that vulgaris is inactive in winter. These have been active at all times ; that is, not in any sense torpid, nor were they when taken. When I first secured them I put them in a jar of earth, and gave them no further attention for several days. In the meantime one disappeared, and probably served to satiate the appetite of the rest, as they are known to devour their own kind sometimes when they can obtain no other food. Since then, in exhibiting another before my class, it was accidentally injured and died. I shall try to rear the remaining three to maturity, and figure the various stages. I cannot say what stages they have already passed through. The larvae of tnilgaris are white before the first moult. These were dark velvety, and had moulted once or twice, I suppose. They have not moulted since. I have written these notes in the hope of calling out other observations upon the early stages of the insect. And I should be glad to know of any one who has studied or figured the preparatory stages. FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS. In accordance with an action of the Association, taken at the Wash- ington meeting, the Fourth Annual Meeting will be held at Rochester, New York, two days prior to the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. All members intending to present papers are requested to forward titles to the undersigned before August ist., in order that the programme may be prepared in proper season. The proceedings of our meetings are attracting the attention of working entomologists of other countries, and it is to be hoped that members will spare no efforts to make the coming meeting even better than those which have preceded it. Owing to the continued ill-health of President Lintner, and in order to relieve him of as much labour as possible, all correspond- ence, unless of a nature necessitating his attention, may be addressed to the Secretary. F. M. Webster, Secretary, Association of Columbus, Ohio, May lo, 1892. Economic Entomologists, THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 149 NEW NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF GORYTES. BY WM. J. FOX, PHILADELPHIA, The monograph of this genus, pubUshed by Handlirsch,* necessitated the working-up of the unidentified species in the collection of the Ameri- can Entomological Society. This author' has merged several genera into Goryies, viz., Etispongus, Hoplisus, etc. I have followed him, as several of the species described herein belong to what was once the genus Hoplisus. There are several other new species contained in the Society's collection, represented by single specimens only. The following table will separate the species described herein : — First abdominal segment not petioliform, nor coarctate. Inner eye-margins almost parallel ; antennaj entirely yellowish. tricolor, Cr, $ Inner eye-margins distinctly converging towards the clypeus. Flagellum long and slender, not or scarcely thickened towards the apex ; markings yellow. Posterior face of metathorax not rugulose, 7ievadensis ? $ Posterior face of metathorax strongly rugulose. atrifrons $ $ Flagellum distinctly thickened towards the apex ; markings whitish. albosignatus ? $ First abdominal segment petioliform ; joint lo of the antennae incised beneath, mirandus $ First abdominal segment coarctate ; black, with the second abdominal segment red, rufocmcttis ? GORYTES TRICOLOR, Cr, G. tricolor, Cr., Trans, Am. Ent. Soc, I., p. 380, ^, (non 5), 9 . — Head not as broad as the thorax ; ocellar region rather distinctly raised, the ocelli forming a curve ; frontal furrow well marked ; clypeus with large, sparse punctures^ convex, transversly-ovate, the fore margin a little incurved ; eyes almost parallel within ; front, vertex and occiput with strong, separated, punctures ; the cheeks smooth ; flagellum but little thickened towards the apex ; scape much longer than the clypeus is wide medially ; third antennal joint but little longer than the fourth, joints 4-6 about equal, the fourth if anything a little longer than the »S. B. Akad, Wien, XCVII., Heft. 6 & 7, pp. 316-562, pis. 1-3, 1 150 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. fifth. Thorax with very strong separated punctures, those on the scutellum very sparse ; basal triangular space of metathorax well marked, divided medially by a furrow, almost smooth (some specimens show traces of longitudinal and others transverse striae); four posterior tibiae and tarsi strongly spinose ; the anterior tibiae strongly ciliated ; spur of anterior tibiae obliquely truncate ; wings hyaline, a fuscous cloud covers the marginal, upper portion of third submarginal, the second submarginal and parts of the first, second and third discoidal cells ; stigma and costal nervure yellowish ; transverse medial and the cubital nervures of the hindwing interstitial. Abdomen with strong, separated punctures beneath the middle of the second and the basal half of the third and fourth segments, impunctate ; pygidium short and broad, the lateral carinas or margines not extending to the base of the segment. Black ; a broad elongate mark on the cheeks, prothorax, dorsulum and mesopleurte in part, the metathorax, except enclosed space at base and a somewhat similarly shaped mark on the posterior face, the legs, variegated with yellow, the first abdominal segment above, except apical margin, and the last two segments, all rufous ; face, clypeus, basal half of mandibles, antennae, prothorax above, a large blotch on the mesopleura anteriorly, scutellum and a broad band on apical margin of segments 1-4 above, and on segments two aud three beneath, all yellow ; the antennae slightly inclining to brownish. Length, lo-ii mm. Var. — One specimen from Colorado, instead of being black, is entirely rufous, but with the same yellow ornamentation. Montana and Col. GORYTES NEVADENSIS. $ . — Head as broad as the thorax ; ocellar region rather distinctly raised ; ocelli forming a low triangle ; frontal furrow distinct, but not Strong ; eyes distinctly converging towards the clypeus ; clypeus convex, with large, scattered punctures, the anterior margin, a little incurved; scape of antennae not as long as the width of the clypeus medially, the flagellum long, not thickened ; third antennal joint about one-third longer than the fourth ; front strongly punctured, the occiput finely and sparsely so. Dorsulum with sparse, large punctures, with four impressed, parallel lines basally, which do not extend beyond the middle ; mesopleurae with exceedingly fine punctures ; suture between dorsulum and scutellum foveolate ; enclosed space cf metathorax strongly sulcate medially, with 9-10 strong radiating strise on each side of the sulcus, the striations THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. . 151 extending slightly over the margin of the enclosure ; the posterior face is divided by a very strong sulcus, which begins at the apex of the basal enclosure ; with the exception of a few coarse rug^e at the apex the posterior face is smooth, or with exceedingly fine punctures ; the meta- thoracic stigmas are covered by a strong, somewhat flat-like production ; wings sub-hyaline, with a yellowish tinge, the marginal, a part of the three submarginal cells fuscous, the veins enclosing the marginal, second and third submarginal and the outer vein of the third discoidal cells are black, the rest yellowish ; transverse medial vein received by the externo medial nervure before the apex of the submedian cell of the hindwings ; legs stout, the four hind tibice sparsely spinose ; anterior tarsi distinctly ciliated, the bristles sparse and short, about half as long as the first joint. Abdomen glabrous,'beneath with a few scattered punctures. Black ; scape beneath, manibles medially, prothorax above, tubercles, two spots on mesopleuriB, broad line on scutellum, post-scutellum, two large ovate spots on the metathorax, femora beneath, except base, the base of tibiae, the posterior coxcC beneath and the apical margins of abdominal segments 1-5 above, those on segments one and two emarginate in the middle, the base of the last segment laterally, beneath the apical half of the second, the third fourth and fifth entirely, all yellowish ; tegulae, tibiae beneath and the tarsi more or less brownish. Length, 12 mm. S. — Differs from the ? as follows: Frontal furrow indistinct; the four anterior tibiae and tarsi entirely yellowish ; all the cox^e spotted with yellow beneath and ventral segments of the abdomen 3-5 not entirely yellowish ; the third antennal joint about one-fifth longer than the following one. Nevada. Two specimens. GORYTES ATRIFRONS. ? . — Resembles iievadensis very much, but differs as follows : Front finely and closely punctured ; third antennal joint about one-fourth longer than the fourth; labrum ciliated with silvery hairs; metathorax posteriorly strongly rugulose ; the first joint of the anterior tarsi is about equal m length to the three following ones united, whereas in nevadensis it is longer than the three following joints ; the bristles with which the joints are ciliated are more than half as long as the first joint ; the yellow bands of the abdomen are narrower, and the pygidium is larger ; the scape and joints 3-8, beneath, brownish; the legs are yellow in a greater extent than 152 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. in nevadensis ; the head has, in addition to some spare pale hairs, which are prominent on the c]ypeus,a brownish-sericeous pile. Length, lo-i 2 mm. $ . — Flagelkim longer and more graceful than in the $ , not brownish, the third joint a little longer than the fourth ; clypeus, labrum, face, inner orbits broadly, scape and following joint beneath, yellow. Length, 10 mm. Nevada. Four females and one male. Two of the females have the metathorax destitute of the yellow spots. GORYTES ALBOSIGNATUS. ? .—Similar to atrifrons, but is at once distinguished by the markings being whitish; the flagellum is gradually thickened; the ninth to eleventh antennal joints are not much longer than broad, the third joint about one- third longer than the fourth ; the posterior face of metathorax strongly rugulose, having the appearance of being rugged ; wings subhyaline, with scarcely a yellowish tinge j abdomen with the two basal segments shining, the remainder with a slight pile and a few indistinct punctures ; pygidium short, a little longer than it is broad at the base, with large, scattered punctures ; basal portion of clypeus, face, inner orbits — broadest beneath — scape, and following joint beneath, and a spot on the second and third ventral segments laterally, whitish ; the apex of the femora tibiae and tarsi, except the outer side of the two anterior pair, brownish. Length, ro-12 mm. ,^ . — Flagellum long, not thickened, the third joint very little longer than the fourth; four anterior tibite and tarsi entirely whitish; the clypeus is not strongly punctured, as in the ? . Length, 8 mm. Montana. Four females, two males. This and the two preceding are closely aUied. GoRYTES MIRANDUS. ^.— Head a Httle broader than the thorax ; front depressed medially, with strong, separated punctures, the impressed line distinct; eyes scarcely converging towards the clypeus ; clypeus convex, rather strongly and sparsely punctured, the anterior margin incurved ; flagellum long, thick- ened medially, but again narrowed to the apex, the third joint much longer than the fourth, the tenth joint excised beneath. Dorsulum and pleurje with large, scattered punctures ; the sutures of the pleurae with short, strong striae, or marked by foveae, being strongest between the meso- and metapleura ; scutelium punctured like the dorsulum ; basal triangular space of metathorax well marked, strongly furrowed medially, obliquely THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 153 Striated, at the apex of this space there is a strong pit or excavation ; the posterior face irregularly striated; on the sides punctured, with an obHque, foveolate furrow ; hind tibiee and tarsi distinctly spinose ; the anterior femora much broadened, flattened or depressed on its inner side on the basal portion ; wings subhyaline, iridescent ; the marginal cell and the apex of the wing, fuscous. Abdomen shining, petiolate — that is, the first segment is much narrower than the second, broader at the apex than at the base, segments 3-5 above and 2-7 beneath with large, scattered punctures, those on the first segnient dorsally and ventrally, and on the second segment above, not so distinct ; last ventral segment bifid. Black; clypeus, labrum, mandibles, except apex, face, inner orbits broadly, scape and third antennal joint beneath, the second joint entirely, posterior orbits, anterior margin of collar, prothorax above, tubercles, anterior portion of mesopleurpe, spot beneath tegulse, an oblique line on the dorsulum by the tegulae, scutellum, post-scutellum, a large spot on each side of the posterior face of the metathorax, legs, except the upper surface of the coxse, trochanters and femora, a broad band on apical margins of all the abdominal segments above, the one on second segment broadest, and on the ventral segments, with exception of the base, all yellow ; the greater part of the antennae and the posterior tibiae and tarsi, in part, brownish. Length, 9 mm. Nevada. Four specimens. Related to notabilis, Handl., from Mexico, but differs in having the tenth antennal joint excised beneath, etc. GORVTES RUFOCINCTUS. 5 . — Ocelli placed in a triangle, the posterior pair connected by a curved furrow; clypeus with large punctures, its anterior margin incurved; eyes diverging towards the clypeus ; front having the appearance of being exceedingly finely granulated, the furrow distinct ; antennae long and slender, the third joint much longer than the fourth. Thorax shining, the dorsulum with exceedingly fine and close punctures; the mesopleune with large, shallow, scattered punctures ; sutures between the dorSulum and scutellum, and the scutellum and post-scutellum, distinctly foveolate ; en- closed space on metanotum large, channelled medially and covered with beautiful, radiating striae ; apical portion of posterior face roughened, the basal portion smooth, shining ; wings subhyaline, nervures and stigma black ; a fuscous cloud fills the marginal, second submarginal and part of the third discoidal cells ; transverse medial nervure of hindwing confluent with the cubital nervure ; medial and posterior tibiae and tarsi distinctly 154 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. spinose ; anterior tarsi ciliated with long, white bristles. Abdomen with strong, sparse punctures ; the first segment strongly coarctate, before the apex above, with a deep wide, transverse furrow, which extends from side to side ; ventrally, the punctures are more distinct, especially on the last segment; last segment above strongly and sparsely punctured ; deep black ; shining; the flagellum beneath and the tarsi slightly brownish ; inner side of anterior tibiae yellowish ; apical margin of the first segment and the second segment, except apical margin, rufous. Length, lo mm. One specimen. Washington (State). A very distinct species. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW ANTHOCHARIS. BY W. G. WRIGHT, SAN BERNARDINO, CAL. A. Flora, n. sp. ^, expanse i. 40-1. 75. White. Forewings blackish at base; many black scales along costa ; bar broad, at costa reaching inwards, and at the middle with an angle outwards into the orange, with a broadening, vaguely-edged stripe connecting it to the margin near inner angle ; orange patch very large, deep reddish coloured, the colour extending to costa and also to outer margin near the angle ; apical margin black with obtuse serrations inside, the lower end becoming maculate or merely of roundish spots in the edge of the orange patch ; fringe white and black. Secondaries white, seldom faintly tinged with yellow ; base blackish ; eight or nine relatively large black spots at end of nervules ; fringe white with a kw black filaments at the venules. Under side : bar separated by a deep sinus on the outer side into two ovoid spots ; the orange paler, followed by faint pink, then by pale blue ground, with blackish spots along nervures. Secondaries : veins yellow ; a dense marbling of black relieved by scattered yellow scales ; the pattern of marginal marbling is of even-sized spots along the venules, with narrow interspaces white. $ , expanse i. 40-1. 70. Yellow ; orange patch much smaller and a little paler than in the $ ; a yellow sexual stripe, sometimes maculate, next to the orange and scarcely separated from it by indefinite cloudy spots ; the apical margin becoming but a series of connected blackish points projecting sharply into the yellow. Hindwings yellow, with marginal spots as in the $ . Under side : similar to the $ , but more deeply yellow. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 155 Habitat, Western Washington. Described from 55 (? , 21 $ . This is the most northern of the orange tipped group of Anthocharis. It is found from the Willamette Valley in Oregon to Vancouver in British Columbia, and from the Pacific Ocean to the Eastern slopes and spurs of the Cascade Range of mountains in Central Washington, but in Eastern Washington and Idaho it is replaced by A. stella. Its metropolis is in the densely fir-forested country west of the Cascades, and about Puget Sound, where it is fairly abundant. The (J is a little larger than A. reakertii, and with broader wings and more pronounced black markings ; and the marginal marbling in even blocks along the venules is distinct. The $ is deep lemon yellow, the colour being even and uniform rather than discal. This species is also rather peculiar in that the ? is of smaller average expanse than the ^ . CORRESPONDENCE. CATOCALA AMIGA, HUBN. Z>ear Sir : I notice that Mr. Hulst refers luieella as a synonym of this species. It is not a synonym, but a well marked variety, constantly recurring with the typical form. I remember that my earlier opinion that it might be a distinct species was shared by W. H. Edwards, as well as other lepidopterists. On the other hand Mr. Hy. Edwards's herissa, referred by me as a variety, Check List, p. 40, is a suffused Southern form of Arnica, no two specimens being exactly alike (as is the case with lineelia), and giving one the impression as if the species had run out in Texas. I do not know if it is found in Mexico. Lineelia must be restored as a perfecdy recognizable variety of Arnica. I embrace this occasion to repeat my opinion that Alabamce is a valid species, as also to protest against the identification oi fratercida, G. & R., with micronympha, Guen. I believe also that when residua and Meskei come to be bred, their specific validity will abundantly appear. I have had to rescue praedara, dulciala, crataegi, and other species from Mr. Hulst's errors in cabinet opinion. It is not necessary for me to lose one word over Mr. Hulst's rejection of Euparthenos and Audrewsia as valid genera. Very respectfully, A, R. Grote. 156 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. A CORRECTION. Dear Sir : In my paper on " New North American Homoptera," in the May number of the Canadian Entomologist, on page 115 occurs a typographical error that calls for a prompt correction. The name Athysaims obtiisus there applied to a species described as new should have read obtutus. The name obtusus was long ago preoccupied for a well-known European species in this large genus. The similarity of these names is only in their form, and need not be confusing. Buffalo, N. Y., April 29th, 1892. Edward P. Van Duzee. BOOK NOTICE. Special Report of the State Board of Agriculture on the work of Extermination of the Ocneria Dispar, or Gypsy Moth. Boston : Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1892. This official pamphlet gives an interesting account of the very remark- able and unique effoits that are being made in the State of Massachusetts to exterminate the Gypsy Moth. This insect, imported from Europe, was accidentally permitted to establish itself about twenty years ago, and has now multiplied to such an extent as to be a very serious pest through- out a considerable area of the State. In March, 1890, the Legislature passed an Act appointing three commissioners to " provide and carry into execution all possible and reasonable measures to prevent the spread- ing and secure the extermination of the Ocneri dispar or Gypsy Moth in the commonwealth". The sum of $25,000 was also appropriated for the work. Last year the commission was merged into the State Board of Agriculture, and a further grant of $50,000 was made to it. The report before us gives the details of the work carried out and the modes adopted for waging war against the insect. They were very largely under the direction of Prof Fernald, as Entomological Adviser, and Mr. Forbush as Superintendent of field work. The number of men employed varied with the season, and at one time, in June last, was as many as 242. The work began with the destruction of the eggs ; when these proceeded to hatch out, spraying the caterpillars with insecticides was adopted, and towards the close of the season the eggs were again made the objects of attack. An enormous number of the insects were thus destroyed and a perceptible diminution in the amount of injury was observed in some places. We shall look forward with great interest to the results of the present year's operations, and hope in time to be able to record a great victory in this field of practical entomology. Mailed May 30th. Cattittlimi Intoi«ul(j0bt VOL. XXIV. LONDON, JULY, 1892. No. NOTES ON COLEOPTERA— NO. 10 BY JOHN HAMILTON, M. D., ALLEGHENY, PA. Platynus reflexiis, Lee, and variety a. — This species may be found in some abundance when sought for in its natural habitat : under stones in the bed of nearly dry hill-side streams and the debris along their banks, June being the time of its greatest abundance. In Dr. Leconte's synopsis oi Platynus (Bull. Brook. Ent. Soc, IL,) a variety is noted as a, with four elytral punctures, while reflexus has but three — nothing further being stated. This form occurs here, not as an individual variation, but at least as a race, perhaps a species. It is more elongate, narrower and smaller than reflexus, the latter being from .44 to .48 inch, in length, while the variety a is from .35 to .38 inch.; the head is narrower and longer behind the eyes, and a little longer than the thorax ; the thorax is narrower, less rounded on the sides, more gradually narrowed to base and about as long as wide ; the base of the elytra is less emarginate, and the humeral angles more obtuse ; the general colour is much less piceous. These comparative differences, it will be seen, enable these forms to be separated at sight. The anterior three elytral punctures are usually placed at uniform distances, either in the third stria or on the external side of the third interval, though the third is occasionally placed on the internal side of this interval ; the fourth puncture is situated in the second stria about one-fifth from apex — sometimes on inner side of the third stria. There are now before me twelve examples of reflexus and twenty of var. a. While reflexus is liable to turn up in any spring run during the summer, I know of only one locality for var. a — that from which the above examples were taken May 4th. This is in the bed of a spring run which is dry all summer except during a rain. Whether this form occurs elsewhere is unknown, and it is probable the examples seen by Dr. Leconte came from here. Liparocephalus brevipemm, Meek., Bull. Mosc, 1853, 193. — The examples on which this species as well as genus were found^^^fe, * l58 fnt CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGlSt. on the coast of the Island of Chtagaluk, under sea drift. When Dr. Leconte reviewed the genus (Tr. Am. Ent. Soc, VIII., 177,) there was before him a small male example from Unalaschka. also a male from the coast of Mendocino, Northern California ; and on the latter a species was erected, the two forms being separated thus : — " Head not wider than the prothorax, which is feebly narrowed behind, and not sinuate on the sides ; basal angles obtuse, rounded, length 2.7 mm. [that of type 2 lin=, 1775 tnc/i.] — drevi^enuis." " Head wider than the prothorax, which is strongly narrowed behind, with the sides subsinuate near the base ; basal angles rectangular, very slightly rounded ; 3.6 mm. — cordicoUis." There are before me 3 $ and 2 $ examples of brevipemiis ; one of the males has the head scarcely as wide as the thorax, another subequal to and a third greatly wider ; in this example the thorax is narrowed to two- thirds at base, with the angles somewhat rectangular ; in the others as well as in the females it is more or less narrowed, with the basal angles varying from obtuse to strongly rounded. The females have the head and thorax subequal and the last ventral segment rounded. In both sexes the dorsum of the thorax is widely arcuate, and more or less deeply concave from the base to the middle. The characters relied upon by Dr. Leconte to establish his species seem to be inherent also in Mseklin's. These examples are from the Queen Charlotte Islands, the fauna of which, judging from the portion of it seen, or lately recorded, appears to be identical with that of the neighboring Alaskan Islands. Deiidrophagus glaber, Lee. — An example of this wide spread northern species occurred here in April of this year, and I saw another taken near the same time in Elk County, Pa. Brontes dubiiis^ Fab., truncatus, Mots., and debilis, Lee. — Mr. T. L. Casey (Tr. Am. Ent. Soc, XL, 99) says oi debilis : "This is the common northern species, while dub ins is more plentiful at the South." This remark, which is probably a clerical error, is occasioning trouble among a certain class of collectors who have Mr. Casey's paper. The fact seems to be the reverse. While dubius is excessively abundant here and north- ward, debilis has not occurred, neither is it on any of the northern cata- logues, with one exception, which examples from its author show to be an error. I cite Leconte in Agaz. Lake Sup., No, 61 (Hamilton and Henshaw's Cat.); Harrington, No. 34; Brodie and White, No. 12; THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 159 Hubbard and Schwarz, No. 54 ; Reinecke (J debiiis), No. 107 ; Dury, No. 27, — all the Canada label lists. If Mr. Casey's statement cited is not an error, the localities of its northern distribution are not on record. B. debiiis was described from Georgia, with the remark : " not rare." B. truficattis, Mots., from Alaska and California, is very easily separated from the other species, and, though catalogued as a variety, seems to be as good a species as debiiis. The name i?-uncatus is some- times applied to certain individuals oi dubiiis'vn. which there is an evident sinuosity at the apex of the elytra, but this is different from that in the true iruncatus, and other secondary characters are absent Rhopalophora longipes, Say, and R. Afeeskei, Casey, (Ann. w. Y. Acad. Sci. VI., 30. — R. longipes occurs here occasionally in June ; when found it is in abundance, and twenty-eight examples are before me. There are also before me from St. Fe Canon, N. M., seven examples of what Mr. Casey describes as R. Meeskei, but which can scarcely be con- sidered more than a slight geographical variation of longipes. Although Mr. Casey states he had before him a good series of lofigipes from Indiana, it could not have been such a miscellaneous lot as is before me or he would scarcely have written the conspectus. " Prothorax narrow, truncate at base, not impressed dorsally. — lojigipes.^^ " Prothorax broader, feebly biimpressed dorsally, broadly, strongly emarginate at base ; form more robust. — Afeeskei. The twenty-eight examples before me exhibit great instability in length, breadth and sculpture of the thorax ; in some of the (^ (^ it is fully one-third longer than wide, and in others, both $ and $ , subequal ; in the majority of individuals of both sexes however it is evidently longer. As to sculpture, all the individuals have a wide constriction at apex occupying about one-third of the length of the thorax, and more or less evident, which is sometimes interrupted at middle by a dorsal subcarina ; the transverse basal impression is narrow, and in all there is an obtuse tubercle on each side behind the middle more or less prominent. Some individuals have a carina between these tubercles extending from near the base to the apical constriction, often continued forward obtusely ; on each side of this carina is a broad oblique impression which connects behind the carina with the other and the transverse basal ; the tubercles mentioned are situate behind this discal impression and appear more or less elevated according to its depth ; the punctuation becomes coarser a§ 160 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. the sculpture of the thorax becomes deeper ; the h'nes of pubescence are too variable to be considered, and the truncation, or emargination of the base of the thorax in a large series is evanescent. In a systematic point of view the separation of these forms into species seems inadmissible. Remove the locality labels from a mixed lot, sufficiently numerical, and how all could be replaced again with certainty is not evident. Psenocertis supernotatus, Say, and P. iristis, Casey. — This last seems to be the black form oi supcrnotatus mentioned (Can. Ent., XVIII., 113) as found on wild gooseberry (Ribes Cyjioshati). In comparing the only example of this form left with Mr. Casey's description (1. c. 46) it seems to apply very fairly ; the elytral basal tumidity is, perhaps, a little more pronounced, but this can scarcely be considered essential, as this is quite obsolescent occasionally in examples of supernotatus. I once supposed this might be a species, but a study of the variableness of supernotatus in connection with the colour changes in Clytanthus albofasciatus, Cyrtophoriis verrucosus, etc., led to a different result. Sphcenothecus suturalis, Lee, and rubens, Casey (1. c. 34).— The latter is a form which has been distributed as a variety of S. suturalis, being identical in form, size and colour, and chiefly differing by the nature of the thoracic and elytral punctuation. The few examples seen do not connect by intermediate forms, though in a large series, judging from what occurs in some other Cerambycid?e, as Leptura canade?isis, such may exist. They are easily separable, the most reliable method being to observe the difference of the elytral punctuation. Whether systematists may regard this form as varietal, racial, or truly specific, collectors here- after can give it a name. My examples are labelled " El Paso, Tex," — Casey, Southern Arizona and California, Suturalis was described from the Staked Plains, now probably in Lincoln Co., N. M. My examples, Deming, N. yi.— Casey, Tucson, Arizona, Leptura serpentina, Casey (1. c, 41), greatly resembles 3-0 alt eat a, Lee, but examples from Idaho exhibit it clearly a valid species, which is readily separable by its rufous antennae. Orsodachna atra, Ahrens. — This species has always been perplexing to Inexperienced collectors ; no other on the list presents more variety in size, sculpture and ornamentation. It varies from .13 to ,30 inch in length ; the sculpture of the thorax and elytra may be rough and with coarse punctures, or smooth and finely punctate ; the colotir varies from THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 161 entirely piceous black to entirely yellow through all modifications of these colours , the elytra may be vittate, maculate, or unicolorous. A recent study by Dr. George H. Horn gives the first intelligent account of the species as a whole. He mentions six varieties by name separated for convenience by colour characters, though others are not wanting, and : there may possibly be two others entitled as validly to the same rank. It is distributed generally from the Atlantic to the Pacific and far northward. Here the species appears in April on wild plum, and later on pear and apple blossoms where the trees are near a wood or forest. Two varieties occur together at this time, neither of which seems to be as mature as the individuals taken later in the season. One of these is the pale or dusky form of atra, which is assumed to be the entirely black form with a rough uneven thorax, often with some small, smooth facets. This form is taken sparingly by bush beating as late as August ; it is usually coarsely sculptured, and one large example has three evident costal lines on the elytra ; all the spring brood of whatever colour with the uneven rough thorax are referred to this variety. The other is the typical hepatica^ Say, " head black, thorax rufous, elytra brownish." This is as abundant as the brown form of atra, and can best be separated from it by the com- parative evenness and smoothness of the thorax ; later, by beating, an apparently maturer form is taken with the elytra piceous black and the thorax orange-red, named by Newman ruficollis ; without care this form may be readily overlooked in collecting, from its resemblance to Corphyra terminalis with which it frequently occurs. No black example of this variety have been observed. Of the van vittata^ Say, few examples have been seen ; the thorax is rougher than in hepatica, but less so than in atra, is shorter than in either, and entirely rufous ; the elytra are piceous with a narrow dorsal stripe, yellow. The var. armeniacce, Germ., is not common ; in it the thorax is entirely piceous black, as rough as in atra and more convex, narrower to base and apparently more elongate ; the elytra are narrow, piceous, with a uniform moderately wide dorsal vitta yellow. Length, .26 inch. This is a fine variety ; none of the others mentioned by Dr. Horn have occurred here. Of var. childreni many examples have been seen from New Mexico, Colorado and Vancouver Island ; in general it is less coarsely punctured than the fqrms mentioned ; the colour is perhaps more variable, there 162 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. being pale, piceous and vittate forms ; from Vancouver I have two examples, one entirely luteous yellow, the other piceous black. An example from New Mexico differs greatly from any of the varieties mentioned by Dr. Horn. The surface of the thorax is entirely smooth, even, polished and shining ; convex, sparsely and finely punctured ; the elytra are also smooth and shining with a fine but sparse punctuation ; the antennae are ferruginous, and the legs variegated with pale and fuscous. General colour of the insect chocolate-brown. Length, .29 inch. Set beside the atra of the same size with semi-costate elytra, it is difficult to believe them to belong to the same species. Zeugophora consafiguinea, Cr. — This is a form of varians in which the thorax is entirely rufous. In collecting varians, perhaps one example in twenty will be so coloured. I do not know of its occurrence except with varians. Bruchus obsoletus, Say, B. rufitnanus, Bohm., B. lentis, Bohm. — The American history of these unwelcome foreigners has been presented in a very masterly and satisfactory manner by Mr. J. A. Lintner (Seventh Rep. on the Injurious and other Insects of the State of N. Y., 1891). B. rufijiianus, it appears, is not known to be naturalized, though bred twice, or oftener from peapods or beans brought from Europe, and is the B. granarius of Mr. Fletcher's Report (1888). B. lentis occurred at Buffalo, N. Y., in a provision store where imported lentils were kept on sale, and was distributed to cabinets under the name of B. rufimajiiis, but did not acclimate. B. obso/etus, Say, is discussed in twenty-five pages. It was first discovered at Providence, R. I., in i860. The beans supplied to the soldiers of the armies during the war of the Rebellion were largely infested with it. It spread slowly westward to and beyond the Mississippi and northward but is not known to have entered Canada so far, Mr. Lintner. B. obsoletus was prevalent here several years ago, but has entirely disappeared, none having been observed by cultivators in its old haunts for about five years. No means of extermination, nor to prevent its spread, were employed. It is certainly extinct here. That it may likewise become extinct from climatic causes, at least in the Northern States, is far from improbable. According to Mr. A. Fauvel this Bruchus is of Neotropical origin and native in Central and South America. This clearly accounts for its non-acclimatization in Canada, and holds out a hope of its eventual extinction here. Through favouring conditions it was spread very widely, but except in a few localities it is titE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 163 now scarcely known. Some climatic condition may likely make it a thing of the past. How, whence, and when it was introduced along the Atlantic sea coast is unknown ; it could scarcely have been from Europe, as it is little known there where it is a very recent importation. If the " buggy'' beans fed to the soldiers in the North and South during the war of the Rebellion were raised in these respective regions, it is evident the insect must have been widely spread previously to i860 ; if beans were imported' in large quantity, it would shed much light, were the countries known from which they had been brought. It is quite probable the present invasion is not the first visit this insect has made to North America, but on any former occasion it could not have met with so good entertainment. Through commercial intercourse with southern countries it probably reached Louisiana during the first part of the present century, and was transported northward as far at least as the State of Indiana, where Say found it. Whether the insect described by Say was the same species which depredates on beans is sometimes questioned, because the examples from which he made the description were obtained from the seeds of a something he terms Astragalus. . His description is, however, so appli- cable in many points to the bean Bruchns that had he written "obtained from beans," the question would likely never have been raised. Besides it is neither food habits nor locality which constitutes a species. What Say meant by an Astragalus is uncertain, probably the Wistaria frutescens^ as none of the species of the genus Astragalus as now constituted, which grows in that part of Indiana has seeds sufficiently large to breed the insect. Much more might be said. Suffice it to say that if the examples Say described belonged to the foreign species, that species existed there only temporarily, and long ago disappeared, as it has certainly lately done from this locality. If it is a native species, then it is almost certainly in existence in that part of Indiana, depredating as in Say's time on Astragalus, whatever that may be. To reject Say's name before a species of ^rz/^/;«5 shall have been found in Indiana raised from some native Siliquose plant or tree to which his description shall apply as well or better, would seem, to say the least, an arbitrary and unnecessary pro- ceeding. This species is now widely distributed through the warm countries of' the globe : Central and South America, West India Islands, Madeira, the Canaries, the Azores, the countries of Europe, Africa and Asia border- ing the Mediterranean, Persia, etc. 164 THE CiLNADIAlC ENTOMOLOGIST. A NEW SPECIES OF EUDAMUS. BY HENRY SKINNER, M. D., PHILADELPHIA, PA. Eudamus coyote : Expands 2^ inches. Primaries dark glossy brown, several shades darker than Eudam. bathylhis ; fringes of same colour as the wings. The apices of the wings run more to a point than in other species of the genus. There are no markings on the primaries, although there are some very faint indications of markings, which are not brought out by transmitted light. Secondaries immaculate and same colour as primaries, but with well marked dirty white fringes. The secondaries are not tailed but are somewhat pointed as in E. epigena. Underside: Primaries lighter in colour than above with some light coloured scales along the costa which faintly indicate a spot about the middle of costal margin ; directly below this in the cell is another very faint spot. There are three dark spots between the subcostal nervules, extending downward in a row and about an y% inch from the exterior margin, the upper spot not being in an exact line with the two lower ones ; just below these, but further from the margin are three others in the spaces between the discoidal nervules. These spots are lighter coloured in the centre and the central spot of the three is not in line with the other two but nearer the body of the specimen. These spots are not very well defined and vary somewhat in the individuals. Fringes same colour as wings. Inferiors are crossed by two bands of darker colour which are about ^th in. in width and they extend from costal margin almost to the inner margin; the upper band is broken by having one of its spots in the cell and above this in the cell is another dark spot. The fringes are white as above and the white terminates at junction of exterior and inner margins ; fringes on inner margin are very dark, almost black, as is also the point of the wing and adjacent parts. Body, head, legs, etc., dark brown; palpi distinctly gray ; there is a gray white line made up of short hairs, extending around the under side of the eyes. Described from five speci- mens from Southern Texas in collection of author. The specimens are, not in very good condition and the description is taken from the most , perfect one. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 105 NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN TACHINID^, WITH DE- SCRIPTIONS OF NEW GENERA AND SPECIES.— Paper VI.* BY C. H. TYLER TOWNSEND, LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO. This paper contains descriptions entirely of Southern New Mexican forms, with the exception of two from the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. Sarcomacronychia sarcophagoides, n. sp. $ . Eyes brown ; frontal vitta narrow, blackish, front one-fourth width of head ; sides of front, face and cheeks silvery-white ; the double rows of frontal bristles nearly equal ; vibrissa3 distinct, short, decussate, inserted well above oral margin ; antennae and arista blackish, second antennal joint slightly rufous at ends, third one and a-half times as long as second ; proboscis black, labella brown ; palpi slender, brown ; occiput cinereous, short black-bristly. Thorax, scutellum and abdomen cinereous, more or less faintly brassy, with three blackish vittae, the middle one continued over scutellum and abdomen, the lateral ones more or less distinct on sides of scutellum and more broadly and irregularly continued on sides of abdomen to anal segment, the abdomen more distinctly brassy or golden, anal segment wholly rufous, deep golden poUinose at base, hind margin of third rufous ; humeri and pleurie silvery-whitish ; second segment with a pair of median marginal macrochaetas, third with a marginal row of twelve or more, anal with about four marginal. Legs black, femora silvery on outside, claws and pulvilli a little elongate, pulvilli whitish. Wings hyaline, veins more or less brownish, teguUie white; halteres rufous, knobs yellowish. Length of body, 73^ mm.; of wing, 5 mm. Described from one specimen ; Las Cruces, New Mexico. June 9. This species bears a striking superficial resemblance to one of the smaller Sa rcoph agidce. Brachyconia chihua/mensis, n. sp. S Eyes brown ; frontal vitta dark brown ; front about one-third width of head, frontal bristles in a single row descending to base of third * Paper I. was published in Proc. Ent. Soc, Wash., II.; papers II. and III. in Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, XVIH. and XIX.; paper IV. in Ent. News, III.; paper V. in Can. Ent., XXIV, 166 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. antennal joint, no orbital bristles ; sides of front, sides of face and occipital orbital margins silvery-white ; facial depression and cheeks silvery-gray ; cheeks pubescent, facial ridges bare save some weak depressed bristles above vibrisste ; antennre entirely light rufous, arista brown, third antennal joint hardly twice as long as second, quite peg- shaped ; proboscis fleshy, shorter than height of head, blackish, palpi pale rufous ; occiput cinereous, gray-hairy. Thorax cinereous, with five black vittse, the middle one arising at suture, the outer ones rather heavier than the inner pair ; scutellum rather silvery, testaceous or tawny at apex. Abdomen shining black, anal segment rather dark rufous, whole abdomen faintly cinereous pollinose. Legs black, claws and pulvilli elongate, pulvilli fuscous. Wings grayish-hyaline, veins tawny ; tegulse white, halteres tawny. Length of body, fully 8 mm. ; of wing, 6 mm. Described from one specimen ; Chihuahua, Mexico. Mex. Cen. R. R., August 4. This specimen apparently shows a very faint rufous tinge on sides of abdomen. Hypertrophocera parvipes^ Twns. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, XVIIL A specimen taken June 26, Las Cruces, N. M., was damaged by moisture. It shows scutellum and abdomen wholly rufous, except a heavy median black vitta on latter. It measures 6^ mm. EUCNEPHALIA, n. gCH. Facias of Cnephalia, with head (except arista) of Gonia. Belongs in PhoroceratincE. Head rather quadrilateral in profile. Front (?) one- half width of head, narrower at vertex, face a little wider ; frontal bristles in two rows, descending about to base of third antennal joint, with smaller bristles among them which are continued in broken rows on the wide sides of face and cheeks, as in Cfiephalia ; two orbital bristles ( $ ). Face nearly perpendicular, epistoma prominent ; facial depression a little more than one-third width of face, shallow ; facial ridges with bristles more than half way up, constricted considerably above oral margin where the short decussate vibrisste are inserted ; sides of face very wide, cheeks nearly two-thirds eye-height. Eyes bare. Antennae inserted above median line of the eyes, shorter than face, second joint slightly elongate, third about three times as long as second ; arista shorter than third antennal joint, thickened its whole length, bare, 3-jointed, second joint elongate- Proboscis shorter than height of head, rather stout but not fleshy, THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 167 labella present; palpi long, rather slender, thickened and curved at tip. Thorax and abdomen not quite as wide as head ; scutellum with a strong sub-apical and two strong lateral pairs of macrochaetae, and a shorter discal pair. Abdomen elongate oval, not flattened, first segment a little shortened; macrochaetae only marginal. Legs moderately long, femora rather stout and bristly, middle and hind tibiae spiny ; claws and pulvilli of ? a little elongate. Wings longer than abdomen, without costal spine, third vein bristly at base ; apical cell open, terminating before tip of wing ; fourth vein bent at obtuse angle, with a wide, shallow wrinkle at bend appearing as a slight cloud, apical cross-vein a little concave ; posterior cross vein curved or sinuate, nearer to bend of fourth. Type E. gonoides, n. sp. This genus differs from Cnephalia in the character of the antennae and arista, and in the facial ridges being bristly. It differs from Frontina in having the sides of face bristly, as in Cnephalia and Gonia. Eucnephalia gonoides, n. sp. 9 , Eyes light brown ; frontal vitta brownish ; sides of front, face and cheeks silvery white ; antennae pale rufous, blackish on apical half more or less of third joint, arista black ; proboscis blackish, palpi light rufous ; occiput silvery, rather thickly clothed with yellowish gray hair. Thorax silvery pollinose, with five narrow black vittae, the middle one obsolete in front, the inner pair obsolete a little behind suture, others reaching scutellum, eight rows of macrochaetae on thorax ; scutellum silvery pollinose, blackish at base, testaceous at tip. Abdomen black, reddish on sides of first to third segments, second to fourth segments silvery- white pollinose except the more or less narrow posterior margins ; first two segments with one lateral macrochaeta and a median marginal pair ; third with a marginal row of ten or twelve ; anal segment with a marginal row of eight or ten ; venter reddish, with median vitta and anus blackish. Legs black, femora silvery below, tibite with spiny macrochaetae except front ones, claws and pulvilli only a little elongate, pulvilli yellow- ish fuscous. Wings grayish, tegulae white, halteres brownish. Length of body, 97^ mm. ; of wing, 73^ mm. Described from one specimen ; Dona Ana County, New Mexico. Apache Canon. Oct. 18. Rhi7iophora valida, n. sp. $ . Eyes brown ; frontal vitta light rufous, front narrowed before ocelli to 168 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. about one-fifth width of head ; sides of front, and face silvery-white ; cheeks long and wide, compressed, silvery cinereous behind, pale rufous anteriorly, the under side of head below eyes having a singularly narrowed and elongate apperance in front view ; antennae and arista black, first two antennal joints and base of third light rufous, arista long pubescent ; proboscis blackish, labella light brownish, palpi pale yellowish rufous ; occiput silvery cinereous. Thorax and scutellum silvery cinereous. Abdomen black, silvery cinereous, hind margins of segments usually blackish ; second segment with a median marginal pair of macrochaetae, third with a median discal pair, anal segment armed with discal and mar- ginal macrochaetse and bristles. Legs blackish, front femora slightly silvery cinereous, claws and pulvilli elongate, pulvilli tawny fuscous. Wings grayish-hyaline ; veins blackish, especially cross- veins ; apical cross-vein sinuate, fourth vein bent at an angle with slight stump at bend, hind cross-vein very near to small cross-vein ; tegulse nearly white, halteres yellow. Length of body, 4 mm.; of wing, nearly 3^ mm. Described from one specimen ; Las Cruces, New Mexico. San Andreas Mts. August 21. Rhinophora viexicana, n. sp., $ . Eyes light brown or dark brown ; frontal vitta deep blood-rufous, front about two-ninths width of head behind, wider in front, face widening at about same angle .• sides of front, sides of face and facial depression silvery-white, more or less golden on front, the sides of face with some bristles which are longest below, frontal bristles not descending below antennae, no orbital bristles ; cheeks nearly all comprised in the rufous- brown pregenal area, which is always bare ; antennae short, pale rufous or yellow, the third joint almost wholly or only at tip blackish, little longer than second ; arista blackish, pubescent ; proboscis brownish, about as long as height of head, palpi small, yellow ; occiput cinereous, somewhat brassy or golden, black-bristly. Thorax and scutellum silvery-gray poUinose, more or less golden, with four darker vittae interrupted at suture. Abdomen silvery-gray pollinose, more or less distinctly golden, first segment blackish at base ; first segment with a lateral mocrochaeta and bristles ; second with a lateral marginal pair, usually a weaker lateral discal one or two, and a median marginal pair ; third with several lateral discal ones and a more or less complete marginal row ; anal segment with a more or less regular discal and marginal row. Legs black, femora more or less tItE CANADIAN KNTOMOLOGIST. l60 silvery, libias bristly, claws and pulvilli elongate, latter smoky tawny. Wings grayish-hyaline, transverse and fourth veins black, other veins more or less tawny ; tegulse nearly white, halteres light rufous. $ . — A specimen which I take to be the female of this species differs in having no golden shade, except very faintly on scutum ; the front is hardly one-fourth width of head, and there are no orbital bristles. Macro- chaetas hardly as thick ; claws and pulvilli scarcely shorter. Length of body, ^J , 5 to 6^ mm.; $ , Gys mm.; of wing, ^ , 4^ to S^ mm.; ?, s}4 mm. Described from six males and one female ; Las Cruces, N. Max, June 3. Leucostoma neomexicana, n. sp. $ . Eyes brown ; frontal vitta velvety black ; sides of front, face and cheeks silvery-white, the sides of front shading to dark, epistoma whitish ; antennae and arista black, the third antennal joint no longer than second ; proboscis about as long as height of head, blackish, labella brownish ; palpi rufous yellow ; occiput black, black-hairy. Thorax and scutellum dark bluish-black, shining. Abdomen shining black, last two segments thinly silvery pollinose ; first segment with a lateral pair and a median marginal pair of macrochaetas, other segments with a marginal row ; whole abdomen clothed with long macrochaeta-like bristles, making the real macrochaetae difficult to distinguish, whence the first segment might almost be said to have a marginal row. Legs black, claws and pulvilli elongate, pulvilli silvery. Wings almost hyaline, veins tawny at base ; tegulae very large, pure white ; halteres blackish. Length of body, 4}^ mm. ; of wing, nearly 4 mm. Described from one specimen ; Las Cruces, New Mexico. June 29. This species has the third antennal joint no longer than the second, and is therefore distinct from the species described by v. d. VVulp and doubt- fully identified by him as L. ana/is, Meig. (Biol. C.-A. Dipt. IL), His species is perhaps a Leucostoma, but the second species, Z. gravipes, v. d. W., is probably a Phyto. Leucostoma should be restricted to the smaller species with unusually large tegulae. 170 THE CANAD1A.N ENTOMOLOGlSl', Phyto nigricornis, n. sp. $ . Eyes very dark brown ; frontal vitta soft black, sides of front shining black, more or less silvery, the front about one-third width of head in middle ; tace and cheeks black, thinly silvery pollinose, the cheeks black hairy and with brownish pregenal area ; frontal bristles rather thick and strong, no orbital brisdes ; vibrissae inserted considerably above oral margin, strong, decussate ; antennae and arista black, second antennal joint brownish, third joint no longer than second ; proboscis black, labella brownish, palpi light rufous ; occiput black, more or less silvery or cinereous, black - hairy. Thorax shining black, very faintly, almost imperceptibly, grayish pollinose ; scutellum black. Abdomen shining black, first segment faintly, others more distinctly, yet thinly, silvery or grayish pollinose ; first segment with two or three lateral macrochaetse and four median marginal ones, segments two to four with a marginal row ; hypopygium more or less exserted. Legs black, rather stout, claws and pulvilli elongate ; claws blackish, pulvilli smoky-whitish, black at base. Wings grayish-hyaline> slightly tawny at base, veins brownish ; teguljB whitish, shining, borders narrowly tawny ; halteres rufous, knobs blackish. $ . — Front about one-third width of head but nearly equilateral, while in the (^ it is much wider before than at vertex ; two orbital bristles. Abdomen terminated by a forceps, the whole abdomen shining black, not pollinose ; the macrochaetas weaker, and second segment with same number as first. Claws and pulvilli much shorter, yet somewhat elongate. Length of body, (J , 5 to 6 mm.; $, 4^ mm.; of wing, ^, 4 to 5 mm.; ? , 3^ mm. Described from seven males and one female ; Las Cruces, New Mexico. One male taken Sept. 20, all the others Oct. 25. MuscoPTERYx, n. gen. Belongs in Phytomce. Head more or less rounded in profile. Front of $ averaging about one-third width of head, gradually widening from vertex forward, face widened at same angle ; frontal bristles in single row, descending on sides of face not quite to lower border of eyes, those on front stronger, vertical bristles strongest and, with next pair, directed THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 171 backward, others more or less forward, inward, decussate ; two orbital, bristles in ^ . Face somewhat receding, epistoma not prominent ; facial depression about one-half width of face, shallow ; facial ridges bare except a bristle or two next vibrissas, latter rather strong, decussate, inserted at a very slight constriction of the ridges a little above oral margin ; sides of face of moderate width, bare except for frontal bristles ; cheeks hardly one-fourth eye-height, bare except row of bristles on lower margin. Eyes thinly hairy. Antennae short, hardly two-thirds length of face, second joint slightly elongate, third joint hardly as long as second, rounded ; arista thickened on basal third, nearly bare, apparently two- jointed, basal joint short. Proboscis short, about two-thirds height of head, fleshy, part below geniculation hardly longer than that above, labella developed ; palpi small, very slender, filiform, bristly. Thorax about as wide as head ; scutellum with an apical decussate, and two lateral pairs of macrochaetse. Abdomen narrower than thorax, ovo- conical, first segment not shortened ; macrochaetse marginal and discal, strong ; hypopygium concealed. Legs moderately long and stout, bristly ; claws and pulvilli of $ quite elongate. Wings longer than abdomen, with costal spine, third vein bristly at base ; apical cell closed in border very little before tip of wing, fourth vein bent at angle without stump or wrinkle, apical cross-vein a little concave ; hind cross-veia sinuate, nearer to bend of fourth vein. Type M. chcetostila, n. sp. Mtiscopteryx chaetosida, n. sp., (^ . Eyes dark brown, blackish ; frontal vitta brownish, silvery ; sides of front, face and cheeks silvery-white, the pregenal area extensive, brownish, silvery ; antennae and arista blackish, first two antennal joints rufous ; proboscis dark brownish, palpi pale tawny ; occiput silvery, gray -hairy below. Thorax densely silvery-gray pollinose, with five rather indistinct cinereous vittae, the middle one obsolete before suture, the outer ones interrupted at suture ; scutellum, humeri and pleurae silvery. Abdomen almost entirely silvery pollinose, the hind margins of segments darker, slightly brassy in some lights ; first segment with a strong lateral macro- chaeta, besides other bristles and a median marginal pair ; second with a lateral pair, a median marginal, and a weaker median discal pair ; third with a weak median discal pair, and a marginal row of very strong macrochaetae ; anal segment with niore or less irregularly placed marginal 172 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. and discal ones. Legs black, femora silvery on outside, pulvilli whitish. Wings grayish-hyaline, tegulce nearly white, halteres pale rufous. Length of body, 6 mm.; of wing, ^y^ mm. Described from one specimen; Chihuahua, Mexico. Mex. Cen. R.R., August 4. Vanderwiilpia seqtiens, n. sp. $. Eyes brown ; frontal vitta dark brown ; sides of front, face and cheeks silvery-white, the sides of front slightly brassy next vitta ; two orbital bristles; antennae blackish, slightly rufous at end of second joint, arista blackish ; proboscis black, palpi black, rufous at extreme tip ; occi- put silvery-white, brassy above, gray-hairy. Thorax silvery-white, with two heavy deep black vittse reaching scutellum, portion between vittae more or less brassy ; scutellum silvery, edged with black on sides con- tinuing on sides of thorax posteriorly. Abdomen shining black ; bases of segments two to four narrowly silvery-white poUinose, faintly so on basal half, first segment faintly silvery, anteriorly on sides and beneath ; first two segments with one lateral macrochaeta and a median marginal pair ; third with eight marginal, and anal with about as many marginal, which are not so strong. Legs black, femora silvery beneath, especially front pair ; front coxae long, silvery ; middle and hind claws and pulvilli a little elongate, anterior ones minute. Wings golden fuscous on costal portions, grayish internally, more smoky towards apex, apical and hind cross-veins smoky ; fourth vein with decided wrinkle at bend, apical cell extremely short petiolate ; tegulse white ; halteres black, rufous at base. Length of body, 2,}i mm.; of wing, 6}i mm. Described from one specimen ; Las Cruces, New Mexico. August 26. This species differs from the type species of the genus V. atro- phopodoides, Twns., in having the apical cell not moderately long petiolate, but closed immediately before margin. The arista is long pubescent, and this genus belongs in the Dexiidce ; although the genus Atrophopoda, so closely allied to it in the structure of the front feet, belongs by the character of the arista in the Tachinidce s. str. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, 173 INSECTS ATTRACTED BY FRAGRANCE OR BRILLANCY OF FLOWERS FOR PURPOSES OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION. BV RICHARD E. KUNZE, M. D., NEW YORK. Nowhere in the flora or insect fauna do we see it better illustrated than by some of our Argyjuiids and Asdepiadacece. It must therefore be admitted that these Asclepiads are striking examples of entomophilous or insect-loving plants, and anyone in quest of insects will not be disap- pointed by dilgently studying the distribution of the Milk-weed family. Lepidoptera and hymenoptera visit these plants. Some flowers attract insects for the purpose of cross-fertilization, and these are either showy, brilliant in colour, or more or less fragrant. All other flowers are either wind-fertilized or self-fertilized, Insects resort to flowers for the purpose of obtaining honey — their food, secreted by the nectaries, or to take pollen found on the stamens of flowers ; the former constitutes their staple of life and the latter furnishes wax to others for utilitarian purposes. Lepidoptera take food by suction and it must be of a liquid nature. Thus it will be seen that the relation of certain insects to flowers is really of absolute necessity. Darwin's attention was early drawn to flowers of Asclepias, because the mass of pollen grains was borne on a foot-stalk, which had a sticky gland at the end of it, as found in Orchids. Modern geological research has demonstrated that lepidoptera first made their appearance during the Tertiary period, when true flowers began to be abundant. And so it is to this day. Bright-coloured and highly perfumed flowers are always associated with myriads of insects, of which butterflies and moths con- tribute a large number. This is the reason why some of the larger Argynnids, such as A. idalia and A. cybele, are found to the best of advantage on flowering Asclepiads. When the various species of Asclepias are in full bloom, the Argynnids mentioned and even A. aphrodite may be looked for in more or less abundance. Red Clover blossoms are resorted to by Argynnids before the advent of Milk-weed flowers, but I have never observed them there in such numbers. Another drawback to collectors, for reasons well understood, is that he must visit the locality when the owner of it is at church or taking his meal ! I have seen a i^^^ A. cybele as early as May, on the azure flowers of Echium vulgare, known as Blue-weed and Viper's Bu- gloss, a very prickly plant introduced from Europe, found on poor, sandy 5pil. Papilios as well as Argynnids visit all these plants, in company witl^ 174 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. many other insects. When Milk-weeds are past bloom these Argynnids visit Cnicus pumihim or low Pasture-thistle, and other species. Later on they betake themselves to the gardens, and visit the flowers of Zinnia elega?is and Verbenas. In the latitude of Long Island and Northern New Jersey the Asclepiadacecp. flower in the following order : — First of all, Asclepias corjiuti, Silk-weed or Common Milk-weed ; then comes A. purpnrascens, or Purple Milk-weed ; next A. tuberosa, or Butterfly-weed ; and finally A. incartiata, the Flesh-colored Asclepias or Swamp Milk-weed. I have found that A. purpurascens and A. incarnata will attract more of Argynnids, Danaids, Hesperids, Macroglossids and Hymenoptera than the other plants mentioned, when two or more species are in bloom at one time. Of these, A. tuberosa, with its orange-colored flowers, can be farthest seen, but comparatively speaking it is not fragrant to our senses, or very faintly so. A. purpurascens, the most fragrant, is much visited by Argynnids and Pamphilas, and after that comes A. incar- 7iata. The last is the more plentiful plant, and inhabits swamps and margins of streams. It is not an uncommon sight to behold a corymb of either of these Asdepiadacece in the possession of two or three Argynnids, several Skippers and Hymenoptera at one and the same time. All but the Swamp Milk- weed affect a gravelly or poor sandy soil, and may be found along the roadside, on railroad embankments, in fallow fields or skirting sylvan paths. To obtain the sweets from the innermost recesses of the five-lobed corolla, the lepidopterous insect almost buries its head within the flower. Those with a very long proboscis keep a weather eye open, so to speak, to warn them of approaching danger. This nectar must exert an almost intoxi, eating effect on the insectiferous sense, else Argynnids would not suffer one to approach them so closely while extracting honey from the nectar- iferous glands. The flowers of A. cor?iuti have longer pedicels than any other species, and the umbels do not present so compact a head of flowers as in the other mentioned species This drooping of flowers may be of disadvantage to diurnals with long probosces, and is, I believe, a good reason why Argynnids prefer to explore the more upright-standing flowers of other Asclepiads. The flower of A. cornuti, or Milk-weed, is not brilliant, a greenish-white delicately tinted with purple, but emitting a powerful fragrance. Although the larva of Danais archippus feeds on the leaves of ^. corfmti, yet the imago takes its food very seldom from this flower, vyh^n other species are conveniently near. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 175 The flowers of A. tuberosa can be recognized at a long distance, and are readily singled out by Lepidoptera. Though almost devoid of perfume* it abounds in honey. This proves that both colour and frag- rance of flowers draw heavily on the senses of Lepidopterous insects. Many Nymphalidse also visit the flowers of Milk-weeds. Even on a windy day numbers of Argynnids and other Nymphalids, Hesperids. etc., may be found on these Milk-weeds, but rarely in the open. Patches of or single plants must be searched for in sheltered, wooded regions of fen and forest. To illustrate, I will state that the day after that Jamesburg, N. J., 4th of July, entomological field meeting, I went up to Westchester County, N. Y., just north of the city line. I netted a few Argynnis cybele from isolated plants of Purple Milk-weed, found in a grass-covered lane of the forest It was as windy, if not so noisy, a day as it had been in Jamesburg, and the flowers of the open field were devoid of insects. Emerging from the forest, I entered a bog weU hedged in by tall shrubs and young trees, and suddenly came upon a patch of very tall Asclepias purpurascens. These grew in the midst of a clump of Black Alder, Bayberry, Tall Blueberry bushes and Blackberry briars. The flowers were from five to six feet above ground and partially hidden by shrubbery. In passing close by I started up a large number of frightened A. cybele, which kept me busy for some time afterward. To get at the flowers I had to cut away branches and briars, and before leaving took a dozen and a-half of fine A. cybele, one A. idalia and numbers of Hesperidse. I could have obtained more, but it grew to be rather monotonous work and went home. This may seem rather " windy " for a day when the Zephyrs blew small guns. But anyone can do the same, if not better, by studying the physical geography of locaUties. It repays for all the trouble. In the Western Catskills one of my nephews takes A. aphrodite, A. cybele and A. bellona sometimes in numbers on a fragrant species of Solidago or Goldenrod. In the autumn I examined many of the asclepiadaceous plants, where last summer I had secured most of my Argynnids and other diurnals visiting Asclepias. Those species bearing the largest number of fruit pods corresponded with the plants on which I observed the most lepidopterous insects. There were single stems of Asclepias incarnata, on the tops of which I counted fifty-two seed follicles, and some of its flower-heads had from six to twelve seed-pods thereon. On Asclepias * The sense of smell is very acute in insects, and they are attracted to nidorous flowers by a faint odour of the honey, which is imperceptible to mankind. 1*76 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST purptirasce7is I observed from one to five seed-pods on a plant stalk. But it was the exception to notice a plant of Asclepias tuberosa which bore any fruit at all, and perhaps only one on half a dozen flowering stems given off by a single root. The scarcity of silk pods on this species was indeed very noticeable. Plants of Asclepias cornuti are not very well covered with fruit. I examined a large number of plants late in October, 1891, and found only from one to four seed foUicles on large plants. The flowers of this species of Milk-weed are drooping from the axils of very large leaves, and are more or less hidden by the latter. Asclepias phytolaccoides, or Poke Milk-weed, another fragrant species with long-peduncled umbels of greenish-white and purplish colour, grows in most woods. Its nodding umbels and dependent flowers are of disadvantage to the visits of the larger diurnals. The plant is less abun- dant than other species referred to. It prefers dense copses and is visited more perhaps by nocturnals than diurnals. Height from 3-5 feet. Asclepias qtiadrifolia, or four-leaved Milk-weed, known by its whorls of leaves, is met with in dry woods overlying limestone rock. It also has loose-flowered and long-stalked umbels, and is fragrant. Flowers, pale pink with a white crown. Height of plant 1-2 feet, our smallest species. In colour and the shape of its flower-heads, also drooping, it much resembles A. cor7iuti, our tallest of the Milk-weeds found on the roadside. Asclepias curassavica, or Bastard Ipecac and Blood-weed, is a prominent landmark of the West Indian Islands. It is the gayest and commonest weed of Trinidad, and found also in So. Florida. Jamaican negroes call it Redhead. It has a scarlet corolla and yellow appendages ; flowers borne erect on umbels ; grows about three feet high. Nymphalids and Danaids, as well as Lycsenids, frequent its flowers. Inasmuch as all these Milk-weeds can be classified under bee-food, they are much visited by insects. Dr. J. E. Taylor, of Ipswich Museum, England, thinks that mostly all the white or light-yellow flowers are cross-fertilized by night flying moths. Not only can they be distinguished at a greater distance on account of their luminosity than those of more brilliant hues, but their sweet-smelling properties Avill be a guide to moths. A larger proportion of white flowers emit fragrance than that of any other colour. And he tries to substantiate his conclusions by the following statement : " If we could take a census of British wild flowers, we should probably find that the most numerous colours are in proportion to their lu?ninosiiy, or the THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 177 ease with which they can be seen from the greatest distance. There are about twenty-five times more species of British moths than butterflies, and they are of all sizes, so that in this respect they suit all magnitudes of white flowers." Koehler and Schubler long ago made the same obser- vation regarding colour and odour of flowers. I think that in the case of the Asdepiadacece this holds good, because those preponderating in whitish or yellow flowers are less visited by diurnals than the red and purple-coloured species. I must mention here another curious circumstance relating to the aversion that Argynnids and diurnals exhibit toward white Zinnias, and Verbenas of the same colour. In August or September of each year I look for Argynnids on these plants, when Milk-weeds are past bloom. In the season of 1890 I made numerous trips to a horticultural garden, where Zinnias, Verbenas and other plants were cultivated by the acre. There were beds of Zinnias, seventy-five feet long by twenty in width, of separate and mixed colours ; five large beds, three of separate and two of mixed colours, all starting from a summer-house to the points of the asterisk, on a lawn 4-5 acres in extent, could be readily observed from the centre of this floral star. One bed contained fulvous-tinted Zinnias, another white, the next crimson, and two beds were planted with Zinnias of mixed colours, all but white. I have repeatedly watched these gorgeous flower-beds from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., in warm, calm and clear weather, with the following result : To the bed of white Zinnias only Pieris and a few Colias made their visitation, and but on a single occasion have i observed any other diurnal on these white flowers, and it was a single specimen of Papilio turnus. The two beds of fulvous and crimson Zinnias attracted many of the Argynnids, three of the large species, different Pyrameis, many Papilios, L. disippus, some Hesperidfe and day-flying moths. The other two beds of Zinnias, made up of mixed colours, in addition to lepidoptera mentioned, also attracted Colias and Pieris (a few) to their sulphur-coloured flowers, four species of Papilios and a few Euptoieta Claudia. Zinnias are inodorous to our sense of smell, but the honey they contain and the fiery colours of their flowers are very attractive to lepidopterous ^insects. In the case of Zinnias and Verbenas, another brilliantly flowering and nidorous plant, it v/ould seem that the gorgeousness of blossom serves the purpose of attracting diurnals for purposes of cross-fertilization. Plots of Verbenas, an acre and more in extent, I have watched with similar result. One man had more than two acres planted with only white Verbenas, and it was in possession of Pieris rapje principally. The other contained all known colours, including a few white, and the plants were freely visited by Argynnis, Papilios and a number of other diurnals, as well as by Hemaris thysbe. The last mentioned appeared a little before twilight, about seven o'clock. 178 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. NEW NORTH AMERICAN MICROLEPIDOPTERA. BY PROF. C. H. FERNALD, AMHERST, MASS. Pyrausta iiigralis, n. sp. Expanse of wings, i8 mm. The entire body and wings above and beneath, black ; pectus and base of the palpi, snow white. The outer line is represented by a nearly straight, snow white stripe, which starts from the outer third of the costa and extends nearly half way across the wing and a spot on the fold near the outer third of the hinder margin below a similar spot on the end of the cell. There is also a white spot in the fringe below the apex and one at the anal angle, and the costal cilia are snow white. The hind wings have a small white spot at the base, another a little beyond the cell and an oblique stripe extending up from the anal angle. All these white spots and stripes are reproduced on the under side. Described from three examples : — One in the collection of the National Museum, collected by Boll in Texas ; one in the collection of Rev. Geo. D, Hulst, and one in my own collection. The last two were taken in March at Cold Harbor, Fla. 'Teras angnsana, n. sp. Expanse of wings, 17 mm. Head, palpi and thorax, pale reddish- white. Fore wings, pale red with a somewhat darker red stripe extending from the middle of the base to the apex and edged with white on each side, but more prominently on the hinder side. An inconspicuous elongate spot of a leaden blue colour rests on the middle third of the hinder margin. Fringes, concolorous. Hind wings and abdomen above, silky gray, lighter beneath. Under side of fore wings, pale grayish-red. Described from one specimen received from Mr, James Angus, for whom I have named the species, and one taken by myself in Orono, Me., Aug. I, 1884. Stega7Wptycha lindana, n. sp. Expanse of wings, from 18 to 20 mm. Head, palpi, thorax and hinder part of fore wings, pale gray, the latter somewhat sprinkled with brown. The outer sides of the palpi, front of the head and forward part of the patagia are more or less tinged with purplish brown. The costal half of the fore wings is dark brown with purplish reflections and darker oblique costal streaks. The darker portion of the wing sends two very dark brown triangular prolongations backward to the fold, one at the basal third and the other a little beyond the middle. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 179 The fringes are gray and flecked with brown. The hind wings and abdomen above are silvery gray, and the under side of the hind wings is the same as above, but reticulated with darker gray on the costa and the outer border. The under side of the fore wings is somewhat darker than the hind wings and shows the markings of the upper side to some extent. Described from one specimen taken in Hamilton, Ontario, and one taken at light in Amherst, Mass., Sept. i8, 1887. I take great pleasure in naming this beautiful insect for Miss Rose Linda Davis, who has ably assisted me in my entomological work for the last three years. NEW FORMS OF ICHTHYURA. BY HARRISON G. DYAR. Ichthyuj-a ?m{ltnotna n. sp. Ground colour of primaries dark "ecru drab" (Ridg. iii., 21, * but much darker), heavily irrorate with "clove brown" (Ridg. iii., 2.) scales which almost entirely obscure the ground colour at the basal portion of the wings as well as outside the third and fourth lines. First (basal) transverse line faintly yellowish, inwardly arcuate from internal margin to median vein, then rectangularly bent towards the base and following the median vein for about 1.5 mm., when it is again bent at right angles and proceeds straight to costa. Second line before middle of wing, consisting of a line of the ground colour bounded outwardly by a narrow clove brown line, straight across wing from internal margin to costa. Third line slightly yellowish, outwardly arcuate from internal margin to vein 2, just beyond its origin, faint across cell, consisting there of a line of the ground colour appar- ently running straight to costa. Fourth line starting on internal margin, near origin of third line, and running slightly obliquely, but nearly straight to the costa subapically. It is undulated across the subcostal nervules, but is not broadened at costa nor marked with white, being uniformly yellow- ish. Outside this line subapically, an irregularly triangular rusty brown patch, and another fainter patch on the middle of external margin. A submarginal row of clove brown spots, distinct only below vein 2, being elsewhere lost in the general dark shading of the terminal half of the wing. Thorax dark gray ; the vertex of head and central thoracic patch, deep blackish brown. Abdomen, secondaries and whole under surface, *Ridgway's nomenclature of colours, plate iii,, fig. 21, 180 THE CANADIA.N ENTOMOLOGIST. nearly uniform seal brown (very near Ridg. iii., i, perhaps of a colour between figs, i and 2). Expanse, 31 mm. Described from 2^^, Portland, Multnomah Co., Oregon, April 23. Ichthyura albosigma. Fitch., var. specifica n. var, I apply this name to the form of /. albosigma from the Rocky Moun- tains, which differs from the type by its much paler colour. Specimens taken at Manitou, Colorado, May 2. In accordance with my custom in describing new forms, I give below a table to separate the species of the genus. Under the term " vau Fitch and allies," I refer to the nominal species mversa, Pack., van Y\X.c\\,brticei, Hy. Edw.. bifiria, Hy. Edw., astorice, Hy. Edw., ornata, G. & R., and inortiata, Neum. I have not at present the necessary material to form a positive opinion as to the synonymy involved here, but I doubt if there are more than three good species, the other names referring to geographi- cal varieties of much the same rank as the var. specifica above described. The names apicalis, Barnst., and incarcerata, Bd., included in Prof. Smith's list, I have not considered here ; but I hope to be able to offer a complete revision of Ichthyura at a subsequent time. The following table will show the relationships of the new forms described in this paper. §1. Third transverse line running from internal margin at or near the origin of the fourth line and joining the second line at or about its middle. Fourth line widened and white at costa. A series of subterminal interspaceal dots. Lines generally straight, - - inclusa, Hb. Lines more or less, waved, vau. Fitch and allies. Same produced into a series of dashes. With usual thoracic mark, - - strigosa, Grt. This mark absent on thorax, incuienia, Hy. Ed. No white on fourth line at costa - j'ocosa, Hy. Ed. §2. Third transverse line free from internal margin to costa. General colour, dark grayish or clove brown. Fourth line not widened on costa, multnoma, Dyar. Fourth line widened and forming a white S-shaped mark, . - - - albosigma, Fitch. Qeneral coloiir, much paler, -^ - var. specifica, Dyar, THE CANADIAN" ENTOMOLOGIST. ' 181 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL CLUB OF THE A. A. A. S. FOR 1892. The Annual Meeting of the Entomological Club of the A. A. A. S. will be held during the meeting of the A. A. A. S. at Rochester, New- York, August 17th to 20th, 1892, at such times as will least conflict with other features of interest to members. The meeting of the Association of Economic Entomologists, which will be held at the same time and place, will add to the attractions for all interested in the science, and it is hoped that members will make it a point to be present and assist in making the Rochester meeting a successful reunion of all the working entomolo- gists of America. It is urged, also, that every member prepare a paper or papers for presentation before the Club, furnishing the Secretary with the titles in advance, so that a preliminary programme may be drawn up. As most of the members of the Club are also members of the Association of Economic Entomologists, it is suggested that subjects relating to applied entomology be presented before the latter society, reserving for the Club matters of a more purely scientific interest. Systematic, biologic or anatomical studies, together with collecting notes, are especi- ally desired and appropriate. C. L. MARLATT, Sec. Entomological Club Washington, D. C, June 15th, 1892. of the A. A. A. S. OBITUARY. DR. CARL AUGUST DOHRN. Entomologists generally will regret to hear of the death of Dr. C. A. Dohrn, which happened on the fourth of May, in his eighty-sixth year, at his home in Stettin, Germany. Dr. Dohrn was born in 1806, and his youth was passed amid the stirring political events with which this century opened on the continent. He visited the University of Berlin in his sixteenth year with the intention of studying the law, but soon devoted himself to literature and music. His translations of dramas from the Spanish attracted attention, and, as a man of letters and musician, he enjoyed the protection of the late King of Prussia, Frederick William IV. Dr. Dohrn was thrown into the society of many eminent persons, and became the friend of Mendelssohn and Alexander von 182 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Humboldt. His taste for natural history was shown early in life, and he Anally devoted himself to the study of the Coleoptera, of which he has left a collection containing many varieties. Dr. Dohrn's literary and descriptional articles upon entomology appeared in the Stettiner Entomo- logische Zeitung, the organ of the Entomological Society of Stettin, over which he presided for more than a quarter of a century. He was a friend of Zeller, and drew the latter from his pedagogic labours in Meseritz to the scientific circle in Stettin, where he closed his career. It was a custom of Dr. Dohrn to give a New Year's greeting in verse to the readers of the Zeitung. These effusions were both genial and humorous, but, as might be expected, invited criticism, and drew from Lederer, on occasion, a bitter remark. Dr. Dohrn's life in his native city was devoted to many interests, and he was made a member of the legislative body. His son, the well-known professor, is the Director of the Marine Zoological Station in Naples, whom I visited so many years since in Jena. Dr. Dohrn was a man of good presence and engaging manners, and has left behind him many friends in many circles. To the general notice, which his death will thus occasion, I may add my little tribute to his worth. Not so long since he sent me greetings through a traveller, and I was glad to hear of him as still hale and hearty. Everything passes in this world, but One is apt to remember gratefully such personal kindness as Dr. Dohrn extended to me. Bremen, May 6th, 1892. Aug. R. Grote. CORRESPONDENCE. A CORRECTION. Dear Sir : In my article on " Insect Monstrosities," in the June number, occur some clerical errors that require immediate correction. In line six of the text, dele " and Henshaw, Scudder, and Hagen ^Psyche)," and read instead, Scudder (Psyche, VI., pp. 89-93) and Hagen (Memoirs of the Museum of Comp. Zool., II., pp. 5-22). I made a mistake in copying my MSS. for the printer, and made it worse trying to correct it by mail. H. F. Wickham. GASTROPACHA ALUCENSIS. Dear Sir: With regard to the omission of this species from " Mr. •Grote's lists," I would state that I was informed that the entire edition of THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 183 the Chicago Academy Transactions, in which the description appeared, was destroyed in the Great Fire, and that Dr. Packard in consequence regarded his paper as unpubHshed. The species Leucophcea Neinnoegeni^ Hy. Ed., belongs to my genus Argyrmiges, Can. Ent., XIV., 215, and is in my opinion sufficiently structurally distinct from Hetnileuca Maia and allies, a genus in which the common pattern and antennal colour and structure show that the forms have become but recently separated and hardened into species, as seems to be the case with Datana, and, perhaps, Clisiocampa and Platysamia. A. R. Grote, Dear Sir : I wish on behalf of the Entomological Society of Ontario, to make public acknowledgment of the eminent services rendered to it, and the lasting benefit conferred on the Canadian members of it especi- ally, by Professor C. H. Fernald, who has reviewed the Society's entire collection of Pyralidse and Crambidas, at a great expenditure of labour and valuable time to himself, and with no hope of reward, except the con- sciousness of having performed an enduring work for the advancement of our science. I forwarded to the Professor, at his own suggestion, the Society's drawers containing these insects, and a box of duplicates, that he might see just how they stood in regard to nomenclature. In due time they were returned, preceded by a communication indicating that they had received the closest scrutiny, pointing out errors, and conveying informa- tion which enabled me to bring the collection into harmony with his recent revision of these families^ as published in Prof. J. B. Smith's " List of Lepidoptera of Boreal America." The most important of the errors corrected, which may have spread from this to other collections, are two : What was under the name Cr ambus prcefeciellus, Zink., proved to be C. Leachellus, Zink., and what was under the name of C. sericineilus , Zell., he pronounced to be but rubbed specimens of C. albellus, Clem. The Professor kindly sent to me an example of C. i?motateiltis, Walk., of which sericinellus is a synonym, that I might see what it was like ; it was a species that I had not seen before, and may not properly belong as yet to our list, and the same is possibly true oi prcefedellus. We have now a collection in these families which may be pronounced a correct standard for comparison and identification as far as it goes, and the guarantee for its reliability is the work done upon it by Professor Fernald. All our members are cordially invited to make use of it. J. Alston Moffat, Curator. 184 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. NOTES. We have much pleasure in recording that on the 20th of April last the Degree of " Doctor Philosophiae Materialis" was conferred (honoris causa) upon Baron Charles Robert Osten Sacken, by the University of Heidelberg. This recognition of an Entomologist who has done such eminent service in North America will, we are sure, be very gratifying to our readers. Mr. C. H. Tyler Townsend, of the Agricultural College, Las Cruces, New Mexico, has gone on a field trip by wagon to the Grand Canon of the Colorado, in Arizona, and expects to be away till the middle of August. The Royal Society of Canada held its Annual Meeting in Ottawa on the 31st of May and two following days. The sessions were well attended, and many papers of much value and interest were read. A committee was appointed to investigate the condition and prospects of the marine fisheries of the Dominion. The Rev. Dr. Bethune, President of the Entomological Society of Ontario, was elected a Fellow. BOOK NOTICE. The British Nocture and their Varieties, by G. W. Tutt, F E. S.: Vol. II., London, Swan, Sonnenschein & Co.: 1892. The second volume of Mr. Tutt's work is equally carefully compiled with the first, already noticed in these pages. It deals with Guenee's " family " Noctuidcp., a group in which the varieties of the species are numerous — not always easy to seize or characterize. By relying apparently on the incorrect statements of Butler, Mr. Tutt refers our North American Agr. tiirris and texana as varieties of Agrotis saucia. The first, as shown by Smith, is probably the Agr. ochrogaster of Guene'e, whose description was unidentified by me ; the second is undoubtedly a distinct species, differing structurally somewhat also, from saucia. This volume of Mr. Tutt's is a most useful compilation, showing great industry and the marks of a careful research into the literature of the subject. I can heartily commend it to the attention of specialists. Aug. R. Grote. Mailed July 4th. ^!|ij ^aiiatliiiit |intiunnlaj(ibt, VOL. XXIV. LONDON, AUGUST, 1892. No. 7. THE FIRST LARVAL OR POST-EMBRYONIC STAGE OF THE PEA AND BEAN WEEVILS BY C. V. RILEY, WASHINGTON, D. C. In No. 9-10, Vol. IV., of " Insect Life," an account was given of the post-embryonic larva of the Bean Weevil, attention being called to some most interesting characteristics of this larva, which is possessed of temporary thoracic legs and some other structures which admirably serve its locomotive needs until it has entered the bean, when, with a cast of the skin, they are lost and the larva assumes the ordinary apodous form of weevil larvse. The Bean Weevil ( Bruchus fabae, Fitch [Riley],) goes on breeding in stored beans, in which respect it differs from the Pea Weevil, as also in the fact that a number of individuals, owing to their smaller size, will develop in the same bean, as many as twenty-eight having been found in a single bean. The eggs are primarily laid upon the bean-pod in the field but chiefly, if not entirely on those which are already mature and ripening, and the larvae enter the same very much as does the Pea Weevil. But whether laid upon the pods in the field or laid upon the stored beans, the newly hatched larva has to eat its way into the bean and it is able to move about quite briskly by the aid of these temporary legs. Four rather stout but short spines or spurs on the prothoracic shield and four smaller spurs on the anal plate facilitate the penetration of the smooth and rather thin skin of our ordinary beans. The temporary legs are curious in appearance, consisting of three joints, the second long and slender and doubtless corresponding to the fused femur and tibia. The third, which corresponds to the tarsus, is slender and broadened at the tip into a flat pulvillus bearing at the heel a single delicate spur. Having recently ascertained these facts upon more careful study of the habits of the Bean Weevil, I was curious to learn whether or not the Pea Weevil (Bruchus pisi, Linn.,) had similar structures in its newly- hatched larval condition. It has long been know that the egg of the Pea Weevil is laid on the outside of the pod, being fastened thereto, and the 186 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. newly hatched larvje recently studied show that in this species also we have the same characteristics that I have referred to in the case of the Bean Weevil, The temporary legs are much shorter and stouter, but similarly constructed, the tarsus proper being merely a spatulate pad. The spurs on the prothoracic segment are more elaborate and more con- spicuous. They consist of about six strong retrorse spines anteriorly, succeeded by two more prominent plates, also pointing posteriorly and strongly toothed along their exterior border. There are no anal spurs or spines. An interesting fact connected with this larva is that while ordinarily entering the pea direct from the amber-coloured egg, as previously recorded, it sometimes enters the pod in the neighborhood of the egg and then mines along the inside of the pod for some distance, being quite active and moving rapidly and with ease. This doubtless occurs wherever the egg hatches before the peas are sufficiently developed, the larva living as a miner until the pea is nearly full grown. The entrance of the larva into a pea in such case would seem to be rather by chance than design. As in the case of the Bean Weevil, how- ever, the larva molts and loses its legs and other post-embryonic charac- ters as soon as it has penetrated the pea. SOME NOTES ON THE MARGINED SOLDIER-BEETLE (CHAULIOGNATHUS MARGINATUS). BY C, v. RILEY, WASHINGTON, D. C, Since the larval history of this beetle was published by Walsh in 1868 it has been generally known that the larva is carnivorous, feeding, as Walsh showed, upon the Plum Curculio, and, as I showed, on the Apple Worm among other insects, so that it must be included among our beneficial species. The larva is also one of those which is quite often found during the winter months upon the surface of snow. The beetle is one of the most common species during the summer months upon many kinds of flowers, but particularly upon those of Yucca, feeding principally on pollen, but also sipping the slight amount of nectar which is found at the base of the pistil, or the sweetened exudation which is also quite frequent upon the tip of the petiole of the flower after this has dropped. It is quite frequently found in pairs, and there is no difficulty in getting the female to lay her eggs, but so far as I know the eggs have hitherto THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 187 been unknown, and no record of them made. It occurred to me, there- fore, that a brief statement might be interesting. The eggs are laid, not in the ground, but on the surface of the ground, and preferably under some shelter, as a stone or a piece of wood. In the vivarium pieces of crockeryware have been made use of In nature the shade afforded by the dense, more or less recumbent foliage of Yucca filamentosa doubtless' furnishes a desirable situation. The eggs are laid in clusters, some of them as large as an ordinary pea. They are very pale yellowish, almost white, highly polished and faintly rugose. They are nearly globular, or but very slightly ovoid. I have counted over 300 eggs in a single mass, and each egg measures 0.25 mm. in length and 0.27 in diameter. The newly hatched larva is pure white but otherwise has the same form and general appearance as when full grown. THE SPECIES OF MAMESTRA. BY A. R. GROTE, A. M. By favour of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, I have received a copy of the " Revision of the species of Mamestra by John B. Smith, Professor of Entomology, Rutgers College, Washington, 1S91 ". There are one or two points only upon which I desire here to comment. As a whole the determinations agree with my own. The genus Diajithoecia is merged with Mamestra, as I at one time proposed from the variability in the same species of the ovipositor. But, as I pointed out in my last Check List, p. 13, the characters of Dianthoecia, Bdv., are taken from the habit of the larva, the button-like termination of the wing cases in the chrysalis and the extended ovipositor in the moth. The American forms have been only incompletely studied for these characters. The genus is universally adopted in Europe, and our " cabinet opinions " will doubtless be modified when we come to know the preparatory stages of our species. So far as the Revision is concerned, I may discuss the following synonymical points. And first, on page 218, my M. vittula is very fully described from my type, shown to the author of the Revision by Prof Snow. Yet, on page 268, this same species is stated to be " unknown ", and is further unfavourably commented on as too near to 4-Iifieata, while on page 219 the type is said to be " much more nearly allied to capsularis 188 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. than to 4-lmeata". With reference to snbjuncta, G. & R., I repeat that Guene'e himself determined our type as belonging to an undescribed species, received also by him since the issue of the Species General, and for which he had a collection name which we adopted. It seems thus not likely that the W-latinum of the Species General could be our species ; but much more likely that it is my atlantica. On page 233 cristifera, Walk., is preferred for liibefis, on the faith of Mr Butler's reference. I have seen none of Mr. Butler's papers. My collection has been distributed without my consent or knowledge, nor have I ever been consulted in the slightest way by the British Museum authorities. I saw the type oi cristifera, Walk., and it was not hibens. As stated by me, and cited in the present Revision, the type of Acronycta cristifera is not an Acrofiycta^ but a stone-gray Hadenoid form unknown to me. I did not examine the eyes, but I should have suspected them to be naked, not hairy, and the type wanted all the brighter shades of lubetis, while the markings did not suggest to me iubens at all. It seems to me that Mr. Butler is in error. According to the Revision, " the type of cor?iis is a very bright, strongly-marked specimen, like (?) typical o/ivacea, but so spread that the insect appears more plump, shorter winged, and differently marked ". As the type was one of the specimens marked to be returned to Mr. Hy. Edwards, and was, with all others, so marked so returned, it is possible that I have been momentarily deceived by the brighter tints and peculiar setting. But I knew olivacea well, having originally deter- mined the species for Mr. Morrison as then undescribed. It appears that Prof. Smith had re-described piirpurissata as a Hadena, and that the fusion of the stigmata entitles the retention of this name as varietal. On page 262 I am credited with a species, M. dodgei, which I never described, and which is one of Mr. Morrison's synonyms that I did not refer in my lists, but of which I remember to have had a note. I did not know Mr. Morrison's ectypa, nor, from the description, could I have suspected it to be my bella, which has a close ally, as I pointed out, in the European Dianthoecia magnolii. The author of the Revision has compared the types, and the reference is to be accepted. With the exception of egens, I believe I am responsible for the use ot Mr. Walker's names in this genus adopted in the Revision. The condition of the specimens representing Mr. Walker's types of Ce/aena was so indifferent that it appeared to me they could not be determined, while the descrip- tions are quite useless. In the list of species of Mameslra, p. 274, the THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, 189 errors as to vittula and dodgei are repeated. I do not find in the list my J/, niimula (also omitted in my late Check List) nor Dr. Harvey's D. pallilis. Hiibner's confusa and mucens are much like Hy/omiges, and I so referred them in my Check List, 1875-6. Otherwise the species of North American Mamestra and Dia/tt/wecia known to me seem to be all included in the Revision, which credits me with thirty-three species and two varieties. I would correct this so far that lube?is should be restored and that oregonica should be added as a variety of trifolii. Three well- marked species, sutrijia, ferrealis and Dinimocki, are unknown to the author of the Revision. The latter should be recognizable since it is a peculiar form, and the type was in my collection, which latter ought rather to have been preserved as I left it, intact, in the true interests of science. What I must have suffered at having my Noctuidae overhauled by Mr. Butler may be imagined. MR. WALKER'S TYPES. BY A. R. GROTE, A. M., BREMEN, GERMANY. In the Can. Ent., p. 136, Prof. Smith says that our reference of Edema 2 transversata, Walk., in 1868, Xo lignicolor is an error. In other cases e. g. Apa/Uesis radians, etc., our testimony is borne out, and now comes up the question of a changing in specimens since 1S68. Mr. Walker's specimens are not marked type, but placed merely above the label. They can have been changed, and the question is, whether a name of Walker's can be employed which in any way contradicts in its descrip- tion the supposed species. In my Revised Check List 4, 1 say : '• Clearly there is room for misapprehension of what specimens are really types had we not a check for the reference. This is the criterion for types, that they do not contradict the original description," Can. Ent., XX., 75. If the description of Edema ? transversata contradicts Ellida gelida in any particular it should not be accepted. If it agrees well with ligfiicoior, our original reference is probably correct. I do not now recall this particular reference, and a possible error in our notes, or their transcriptions, might have occurred. But we knew lignicolor very well, and I am the first to restore and interpret this name, reducing virgata to a synonym and giving the correct synonymy of the species. I do not object to as rigorous a use of Mr. Walker's names as is consistent with the law of priority. But I object to the putting forward of this or that supposed type of Mr, Walker's without reference to the description. The proposal by Stal and others to 190 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. ignore the British Museum Lists from their defective composition has been answered by us, with subsequent American lepidopterists, in the negative. I may say that American lepidopterists have made visits at a considerable sacrifice to London for the main purpose of finding out what Mr. Walker described, and they have always accepted cheerfully the result of these visits. It was necessary to build up in America a stable, specific nomenclature. As to the generic, it will always be unstable, partly from the difference in opinion as to what constitutes a genus, partly that here tradition has been stronger than priority. In vain I have shown that Jaspidea is older than Bryophila, Heliophila than Leucania, Graphip/iora than Taeniocampa. At least the acceptance of these names is but partial, and I myself have hesitated to use two of them. The necessity for a stable basis for our specific nomenclature is clearly greater than necessity for ideal justice towards this or that American describer, and he must bear his synonym, as he has to bear other injustice in this world. One word as to the employment of double names in the Noctuid?e, and I have done. It is extremely desirable that no two Noctuids should bear the same specific title. The value of a Check List is largely dependent on the carrying out of this rule. Guenee went so far as to change all double names. In the more than seven hundred species of N. Am. Noctuidas I have described, I have never used a name twice except by accident. Of late there has been an unnecessary dupli- cation of such names. The coat of ice, which the works of European writers on North American Lepidoptera laid upon our knowledge of the scientific titles of our insects has been broken, and to this freeing of our literature I have assisted to the extent of my ability. A responsibility now rests with future American students that they keep the current clear and take large and philosophical views in their classifications. OVIPOSITING OF MELIT^A CHALCEDON IN PAPER ENVELOPES. BV RICHARD E. KUNZE, M. D., NEW YORK, N. Y. In March number, Vol. XXIV, of Canadian Entomologist, Mr. W. G. Wright, of California, mentions a number of genera of diurnals not requiring plants for ovipositing thereon. Those enumerated belong to Parnassius, Argynnis, Euptoieta, Neonympha, Ccenonympha, Hipparchia, ■I'HE CANADIAN ENTOMOLUGiST. 191 Satyrus, Chionobas, and, in part, Chrysophanus. I can add Melitcp.a to his list, which oviposited on two different occasions under circumstances extraordinary but exactly the same. Two years ago I received from a friend, who collects for me in California, but is not a practical entomo- logist, a lot of M. chalcedon papered up. My instructions to kill specimens with chloroform by brushing a little of it over head of each, and at once paper the same after capture, were carried out to the letter. How much or how little each received I do not know. I received the specimens after being in the mail bag six or seven days on their journey from Oakland to New York. On opening paper box I found a lot of little, hairy, black larvie crawling over contents of box, and soon traced them to an envelope containing a ? J/", chalcedon, with quite a number which had not yet escaped therefrom. There must have been more than fifty living larvae, which, not knowing their food-plant, I placed in my garden or back yard, so to speak, scattering the lot over cultivated and wild plants, including a White Birch, in the hope that some might find suitable food, and then watch their progress. But all soon died. In another envelope I found a second ? of M. chalcedon, which had laid quite a number of eggs, and which I kept a few days pending development of those living larvse. When those perished I threw away the ova oi chalcedon. Both females were found dead in their envelopes. But out of some half a dozen females received I found one alive which had to be put into the cyanide bottle. Another instance of similar ovipositing was that of a Dioptid, Phryganidia cali/ornica, received in the same way from the same party two years ago. This was not discovered until I took the specimen in original envelope with a lot of other California specimens to my friend, Mr. Charles Palm, of this city, for identification. Most of the larvse of F. cali/ornica appeared to have died during period of hatching or shortly afterward, inasmuch as many were not freed from shell of ovum. A number of ova, but very few out of a total number of fifty-three counted, were not hatched or possibly sterile. I did not discover the dead larvae of this Californian Bombycid until a few months ago while trying to get it determined. I should also state that the females of M. chalcedon, which oviposited in envelopes, were taken a week apart during a period covering two weeks, and would allow about twenty-one days or less for hatching of ova. 192 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. LEPIDOPTERA FROM MARSHALL PASS, COLORADO. The late Mr. W. S. Foster sent me some years ago a lisl of Lepidop- tera taken by himself in 1888 at Marshall Pass, Colorado, which deserves to be put on record as a contribution to the knowledge of alpine ento- mology. The collecting was done at altitudes from 10,000 to 13,000 feet, on the slopes of the Continental Divide and Mt. Ouray, on the north side of the railroad track. This is in Saguache county, and about forty miles from the district in Custer county, of which the alpine insects are recorded in Can. Entom., 1890. The list is as follows : — Papilio zolicaon^ Bdv. Pyravieis kwitera, Fb. " asterias, Fabr. Ccefionyjnpha ochracca, Edw. Parnassitis sminthetis^ D. & H. Erebia viagda/ena, Strk. Pieris sisymbri, Bdv. Chionobas clwyxus, Westw. " protodice, B. & L. " taygete, Hbn.? " oleracea, Bdv. Lyccetia shasta, Edw. Colias meadii, Edw. Chry$opha7ius snotvi, Edw. " alexatidra, Edw. Lycxtia melissa, Edw. *' scudderii, Reak. Pyrgiis centaurex, Ramb. " eurytheme, Bdv. Deilephila liiieata, Fb. Argynnis freya, Thunb. Alypia lorquinii^ G. & R. " eiayjioffie, Edw. Gnophaela vermiculata., G. & R. " heletia, Edw. NemeopJiila pianiaginis, Auctt. Eiiptoieta claudia. Cram. Plusia Jiochenwarthi., Hoch. Melitcea brucei, Edw. Drasteria erec/itea, Cram. " atiicia, Auctt. Amer. Botis tiirjualis, Grt. " palla, Bdv. Afel. briicei is the real anicia, and anicia, Auctt. Amer., should appar- ently be called i/ieglashanii, concerning which see 12th Rept. Colo. Biol. Assoc. Mem. plantaginis of the Colorado Mountains would now, I suppose, be referred to peirosa, Walk. In Prof. J. B. Smith's list of Lepidoptera, while petrosa is accepted as distinct, " hospita, Schiff." is referred to it as a variety. This latter is, however, a variety of the European JST. plantaginis, L., and consequently the American hospita-Wke. aberration apparently requires a new name. Boiis turmalis is now referred to itysaiis, Walk. The doubtful Chion. taygete is very possibly the species lately named C. brucei by Mr. W. H. Edwards. Of the thirty-three species enumerated, about half may be regarded as specially alpine ; the others occur also at much lower elevations. T. D. A. COCKERELL. Institute of Jamaica ; Kingston, Jamaica. April 18.. 1892. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 19 o BIOLOGIC NOTES ON NEW MEXICO INSECTS. by c. h, tyler townsend, las cruces, n. m. Hemiptera-heteroptera. All of the following species were determined by Dr. P. L. R. Uhler : — Lioderma ligata, Stal. In coitu on mesquite (P. julifloi-a), July 14. It was found numerous on Chinese cabbage on college farm July 16. Mozena obtusa, Uhler MS. Taken in July on Prosopis juliflora. In coitu July 8. Chelinidea v it tiger a, Uhl. Taken in coitu May 24 on a small fruit of Opuntia, Soledad Canon. Hadronema militaris., Uhl, Swept from alfalfa May 1 2. Nenrocolpus nubihis, Say. This capsid was beaten extensively from flowers and foliage of mes- quite (P. Juliflora) May 10. May 12 to 16 both adults and larv?e were beaten. The adults vary from a light yellowish or greenish to brown and almost black, usually more or less mottled. They doubtless grow darker with age. The larvae are of a clear, light green colour. Calocoris sziperbus, Uhler. This capsid is numerous on alfalfa, both adults and larvae, and doubt- less causes considerable injury to the plant. May 8 to 12 both stages were found in abundance. May 28 the adults were numerous, and a few nymphs were found. The adult is blackish, with orange or yellow on the sides. The larvse and nymphs are green, with the extremity of the body brown. Predaceous heteroptera and lady-birds were also swept, which doubtless prey upon the capsid. Calocoris sp. ? Beaten from scrub oak (Quercus undulatus var. Wright ii) in Soledad Canon May 24. It is very pale yellowish, with faint brownish markings. Oak determined by Mr. \V. H. Evans. Lygus pratensis, Lin. var. Adults and larvae swept from alfalfa May 12. Only adults swept May 28. The adults vary from light green or glassy to a uniform light and dark brown, and one specimen has only the posterior portions brown. The larvae are green with black dots on the thorax, and one black dot in the middle of the first abdorninal segment. This species is also, I believe, injurious to the alfalfa. 194 THE CANADIA.N ENTOMOLOGIST. Rhinacloa forticornis, Reut. Beaten from scrub oak ( Q. undulatus, var. IVrightii), May 24, in Soledad Canon. It is blackish or brownish, variegated with pale yellowish or silvery. Also beaten, May 28, from alfalfa. Halticotoma valida, Uhler. This is a stout looking, short capsid, bluish-black in colour, with the head and thorax reddish-brown. It was found very numerous from May 15 to June 2, on leaves of both Yucca august if olia and Y. macrocarpa (?). They do not fly readily, but run down to the base of the leaves and are thus hard to catch. Both adults and young were found, May 15, puncturing the leaves. The larvae are also bluish-black in colour. Macrotylus desiccaius, Uhler MS. Both adults and larvae of this capsid were found on mesa April 4 infesting plants of Senecio douglasii, which they puncture. Both larvae and adults are greenish. Plant determined by Prof. Wooton. Tuponia herbacca, Uhler MS. This small, light green capsid was beaten from mesquite ( P.JuliJlora), May 12 to 16. No larvag were found. On May 28 specimens were swept from alfalfa, which I cannot distinguish from this species. Tuponia, n. sp. A single specimen of a bright green capsid with the tips of the hemelytra brown, was beaten from Larrea mcxicana May 15. It is about 5 mm. long. Triplilcps ifisidiostis, Say. Swept in numbers from alfalfa May 12 to 28. Hemiptera-homoptera. The following named species, when not otherwise stated, were also determined by Dr. Uhler : — For notes on several new species, and one new genus of Coccidce see Bulletin No. 7 of the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station, June, 1892. PempJiigus populi-raviulorum, Riley. This twig gall is found on our cottonwoods ( Populus fremontii). Green galls were found, June 29, which contained inside small lice with cottony coverings. Winged specimens issued from the gall July 5. De- termined by Dr. Riley from galls. Pachypsylla veuusta, O.-S.? Petiole galls were found at bases of leaves of Ce/fis occidentalis THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 195 (hackberry) at Riley's ranch in the Organ Mts., May 14, which exactly resemble those of this species so far as I can determine. The galls were at that date, from one-third to one-half of an inch in diameter ; and the eggs were apparently just hatching, or about to hatch. The tree was determined by Mr. W. H. Evans. Psylla, n. sp. (?) Adults and larvae of a psyllid were beaten from mesquite ( P.juliflora) May 14 to 16, The adults are greenish or yellowish, with brown at the extremity of the wings. The larvae are entirely green. Cicada montezuma, Dist, This cicada was noticed to be very numerous on the mesas and plains from May 23 to 31. They seem to frequent especially the plants of Yucca august if olia. On May 24, while riding on horseback, I was quite sure I observed one specimen with its proboscis thrust into a leaf of this yucca. It is very probable that this cicada oviposits in the leaves of this plant, since it seemed to have such a decided preference for it. I am quite sure it also pierces the leaves and stalk for food. The specimen referred to above was motionless, and evidently feeding. A cicada was heard on the mesa May 1 7. It was either this species or the next, but was not captured. Cicada ochreoptera, Uhler. This species was found May 27 on mesa near the college. A pupa skin was also found there. On June 9 it was found very numerous on pear trees, and I was told that in former years it had damaged many of the trees by ovipositing in the twigs quite extensively. I have also found its work on twigs of young plum trees, which had been damaged by it, causing the terminal half of the twigs to die. On Feb. 4 a cicada larva, probably this species, was dug up about the roots of a young apple tree in Mesilla. It was about half an inch long, and was found at a depth of about eight inches. This cicada seems rather confined to the valleys, while the preceding and larger species is only found on the mesas and plains. Stictopelta marmorata, Coding MS. This tree-hopper was noticed July 8 on mesquite (P. jidiflora)^ in some numbers. It was also previously noticed on weeds. Determined by Dr. F. W. Coding. Publilia inodesta, Uhler. Adults beaten in some numbers from flowers and foliage of mesquite 19() THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. (P.juliflora), JNlay lo to 12. The henielytra are yellow, mottled with brown. A specimen swept from alfalfa May 9 is determined by Dr- Uhler, with a query, as this species. Cyrtolobus a?inexus, Uhler. Quite a number of this small brown tree-hopper were beaten from flowers and foliage o{ P.juliflora May 10 to 12. Two larvK, apparently belonging to this species, were beaten May 10. The larvae are also brownish, Stidocephala inermis, Fab. Quite numerously swept from alfalfa May 9 to 28. The adults vary from wholly green to largely reddish on upper portions. No larv^ foimd. Gorgora atlas, Coding. Adults beaten, May 13 to 15, from twigs and leaves of Larrea mexicana. Larvae were beaten May 15. The adults are of a rich dark brown colour, and peculiar form. The larvae are greenish. Both adults and larvae are not readily dislodged from the Larrea twigs or leaves, and the adults rarely take wing. This was formerly determined by Dr. Uhler as Ceiitrodojitus bimidulatus, Uhl. (prob. MS.). A specimen was sent to Dr. Coding for insertion of the species in his catalogue, and he wrote me that he had already described it as above, under a new genus. TypJilocyba vitifex, Fitch. I notice in Bulletin 19 of the Colorado Station that specimens of the vine leaf-hopper, as it exists in Colorado, have been sent by Professor Cillette to Professor Osborn and Mr. E. P. Van Duzee, who have determined it as T. vitifex, Fitch. Our species in New Mexico is apparently the same. I had always noticed the marked difference between this and T. vitis in the markings of the hemelytra, but from the fact that many authors accepted these as varieties of one species, I had preferred to consider our form as a variety of the eastern one. Our form does not possess the black spots at base of scutellum, as in var, coloradoensis, Cillette. The larva is pale yellowish, with four black spots on the thorax. Agallia 4-pufictata, Prov. This small, short, grayish leaf-hopper was swept in large numbers from alfalfa May 9 to 28. Larvae were swept May 12 to 28. In coitu, May 28, The larvae are also grayish. Gypona angulata, Spang. Several of this species were swept from alfalfa May 12 to 28. It is THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 197 light green in colour, and about 8 mm. long. It probably punctures the alfalfa. Platy7netopius acutus, Say. Swept from alfalfa May 1 2. It is small, brownish or grayish in colour, with pointed head. Oeclens decens, Stal. Found, May 15 to June 2, on leaves of both Yucca a?igusttfolia and Y. macrocarpa (?), in which its egg-punctures were very numerous, Thysanoptera. The following species were determined by Professor H. Osborn : — Thrips triticii Fitch. Swept in great numbers from alfalfa May 12 to 28. It undoubtedly does much harm to the plant. The same species was also beaten in countless numbers from mesquite ( P. jiilifiora). May 16. Thrips, sp. (?) On May 5, 1891, some curious cluster-like galls were noticed on our cottonwoods ( Populus fremontii). At first they were noticed only on staminate trees, and consisted of clusters of staminate flowers reverting towards a leaf-development. More staminate galls were found on May 7, and also two or three pistillate clusters. On all of these gall-clusters there were present large numbers of an immature thripid, which Professor Osborn says appear to be different from Thrips tritici, and possibly belong to a different genus. Whether this thripid has anything to do with these abnormities must be proved by future investigation. It did not seem to be found on the foliage, but was perhaps found on all the flowers. Coleothrips trifasciata, Fitch. Swept from alfalfa May 28. Doubtless causes more or less injury, though it was by no means so numerous as Thrips tritici. Orthoptera. Homeogamia, n. sp. ? This is a whitish roach which is sometimes attracted to light in the evening, if I remember rightly. It is quite different in appearance from its eastern allies. Determined by Prof. Bruner, Ceuthophiius pallidus, Thos. (?) This is a white cricket which was found, June 10 to 27, in houses eating holes in lace curtains and other fabrics. It is reported to cause 198 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. much damage in this way. Prof. Bruner writes that it does not quite agree with Thomas's description. Acridiuni shoshone, Thos. For a week or two during the first part of July, I noticed the mesquite (F. jtiliflora) to be greatly infested with this large greenish locust, which was so numerous as to almost defoliate some bushes. On July 14 many nearly leafless bushes were seen, from which, on one's approach, would fly swarms of these locusts. Melanophis, sp. A number of specimens of our ordinary species of Melanoplus were put in a breeding cage with earth June 28 and 29. On July 24 the cage was full of young locusts. The old ones had been transferred to another cage a couple of weeks before. No eggs were taken up with the earth put in the cage, since this was dry sand which had been carefully looked over. Bootettix argentattis, Bruner. This locust was found in large numbers on Larrea mexicana July 17, 1 89 1, and on no other plant. It is of a beautiful rich green, variegated with velvet-brown, black and silvery-white, and apparently lives only on the Larrea on the mesas. Its colour assimilates well with the peculiar green of the Larrea leaves. On May 13, 1892, I foimd on Larrea some very small locusts of a general greenish colour, which I am quite sure are the larvae of this species. The creosote bush is in all probability the food-plant of this locust. Determined by Professor Bruner. Lepidoptera, Synchloe crocaie, Edw. The red and black, more or less spiny caterpillars of this butterfly were found, about June 5, on Helianthus, sp. They live in colonies. The last of June they were not to be found. Again, on July 28, a good number were found and transferred to a breeding-cage, in which they pupated July 30, suspending themselves from the top of the cage inside as chrysalides. A half dozen imagoes issued August 3. This butterfly is, therefore, two-brooded, and very likely three-brooded. Determined by Mr. W. H. Edwards. Triptogon modest a, var. occidentalism H. Edw. A large, light green sphingid larva was found, August 29, on the Cottonwood ( Fopulus /remontii). On being placed in jar it immediately went into the earth. The imago of this species issued March 25 follow- ing. Determined by Dr. J. B. Smith. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 199 Sannina, sp. (?) On July 7 a great number of pupa skins of what seemed to be an .■Egerian were found sticking out of the ground near roots of mesquite ( F. juliflora), on the mesa near college. The perfect insects had all emerged. Digging in the ground failed to disclose any pupse. I believe this is a sesiid which bores the mesquite roots. Thyridopteryx, sp. Our native bag-worm is found here principally on small trees of black locust ( Rob'mia pseudacacia), which have been brought in. It is also found on apple, and I have found its bags on tornillo ( Frosopis pubes- cens). The bags of those on locust are woven on the outside with the leaf-stems of the locust ; those on tornillo have the thorns of the tornillo beautifully woven in. A large number of bags cut open, March 15, 1891, revealed only larvae, which are thick-bodied, brown or black, and an inch or more in length. Through September it was noticed that many of these larvfe, with their cases attached, were crawling on the ground in the vicinity of locust trees. October 5 a large number of these were placed in a breeding cage. They crawled to the top of the cage, and there fastened their bags by spinning a small quantity of silk. In this suspended condition they passed the winter. Nine male moths issued from May 24 to June i, 1892. The males are of a soft, light, brownish colour, and possess remarkable genitalia. The pupa skins were usually almost entirely extruded from the bag, showing that the pupa works itself nearly out, only retaining its hold by fastening its extremity into the silken lining of the bag near the lower orifice. The adult females may or may not be fertilized in their bags. All the females I have observed were found to have dropped from the bags to the earth of the cage. Some were simply a skin stretched over a mass of eggs, indicating that fertilization had been accomplished, while others showed no such indication. Four females issued from their bags, as well as their pupa skins, May 27 to 31, and were found upon the earth. The female is almost entirely whitish, and grub-like in appearance except the head and genitalia. There are some rings of brownish hair near the posterior extremity of the body. June 9, on cutting open the remaining bags, a live male pupa was found, several larvae, and an adult female. The latter was dead and contained eggs apparently half formed, as though developed to a certain stage but not fertilized. In one bag, with a dead larva, there was found the puparium of a tachinid parasite with the contents dead and more or less decomposed. Hemileuca juno^ Pack. On June 15, 1891, a number of large, spiny, warted bombycid larvae were found on willow (Salix, sp.). They were nearly full grown. June 24 to 30, the same larva was found on cotton wood (Fopulus fretnontii). 200 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. One changed to a pupa in ground July 6, and another was at that date burrowing in the earth. The two pupae were sent to Dr. Packard, who wrote me under date of April 20, 1892, that one pupa had disclosed a female moth, which proves to be probably this species. The other pupa was a male and had not yet burst. May 22, 1892, half-grown larvae, apparently this species, were found on willow. May 31 larger specimens were found on cottonwood (P. fremontii). Eucaterva variaria, Grote. This moth was bred from thin net-like cocoons found on terminal shoots of Chilopsis saligna, August 25, the moths issuing Aug. 28. The cocoon is very thin, formed of silk, with the nearest leaves fastened to it on the outside. (See Psyche, April, 1892.) The moth is silvery, speckled with blackish. I have noticed the Chilopsis, through September and October, both near Mt. Picacho and about the entrance to Soledad Canon, to be full of the empty cocoons of this moth. A tachinid was bred from the cocoons about Sept. 5. (See Psyche, 1. c.) Determined by Dr. Skinner. Hymenoptera. Afidricus, sp. (?). While looking over, in March, specimens of plants collected the previous summer, Prof. Wooton handed me some scrub oak leaves, one of which possessed on the underside a reddish, woolly, hymenopterous gall. Each section of the gall contained a perfect gall-fly, which had transformed within, but had been unable to escape while the plant was in press. Determined by Dr. Riley. The oak is Q. utidulatus var. wrightii ; determined by Mr. W. H. Evans. Synergus, sp. (?). Scrub oaks (Q. uiidulatus var. wrightii) near Riley's water in the Organ Mts. were found hung full of a large and very hard twig-gall about the size of an apple. From a large gall which was brought home to breed the flies, there issued, from April 6 to 20, about two dozen gall-flies. The gall was 2 1/^ inches in longest diameter, and 2 inches in shortest. It contained twenty-three exit holes April 20. The flies are brown or blackish, with hyaline wings. Determined by Dr. Riley. Decato?na, sp. (?). From the last mentioned gall there also issued, on April 20 and May 19, two apparent inquilines of this genus. They are of a brownish flavous colour, and the eyes are of a beautiful light carmine in life. De- termined by Dr. Riley. Chalcididce (?). Prof. Wooton handed me in April a pod of a native species of Lotus, with some chalcid (?) flies which had issued therefrom in his herbarium. The pod is very small, and the plant was collected the preceding June. The flies are black, and several holes in tlie pod show where they had issued. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 201 A LIST OF THE BUTTERFLIES FOUND AT MARSHALL, MISSOURI, AND VICINITY. BY OLIVER J. STALEY. Marshall is the county seat of Saline county, about twenty miles south of the Missouri River and eighty-nine miles east of Kansas City, and situated among woods and fields ; on the west and south open farm- ing country, and on the east and north for three or four miles woods. I have been collecting here for three years, and believing that a list of butterflies which are found here may be interesting to others I present this list. By vicinity I mean five miles from town in any direction. Danais archippus, Fab. This is about the most common butterfly. I have taken it from April to November. D. beretiice I have never found here. Euptoieta claudia, Cram. Rare; have taken but four or five specimens. Found chiefly in July. Argynnis cybele, Fabr. This is the only species of Argynnis which I have found here, and usually It is common, but last year (1891) I only saw one specimen. It is here from April to the middle of October, Phyciodes nycteis, Db.-Hew. I have taken a number of specimens, but it cannot be said to be common. They are found here during the summer months. Phyciodes tharos, Dru. This species is common from the middle of April to October, and may be taken in almost any numbers. Grapta interrogationis, Fabr. Both varieties are very common, but Umbrosa, Lint, most so. I have never seen any later in the fall than the last of October, which is the month in which most of our butterflies disappear. Grapta comma, Harr., var. Harrisii, Edw. One specimen taken in September near Shackleford, about five miles west of here. Grapta progne. Cram. This is found all through the summer, but is most common during September. 202 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST Vanessa atitiopa, Linn. Very rare ; have seen but three specimens, one in March, one in July and one in November. Pyrameis atalatita, Linn. Very common from April to October. Pyrameis huntera, Fabr. The least common of its genus but not uncommon, and is found from May to October. Pyrameis cardui, Linn. Very common during the same months. Juno7iia ccenia, Hbn. Uncommon, but a few specimens seen every year from July to October. Limenitis Ursula., Fabr. Not uncommon from May to October. Limenitis dissippus, Gdt. Found mostly in August around maple trees ; not uncommon. Apatura celtis, Bd.-Lec. Not common and is found in numbers only in a yard in town which has a hackberry tree. August is when most are seen. Debis portlandia, Fabr. Common all through the summer months. JSfeonympha eurytris, Fabr. Common from May to September, and is found chiefly near the bottom of gullies which have grassy sides. Satyrus alope, Fabr., var. Olympus, Edw. Very rare : have seen but two specimens. Libythea bachmani, Kirtl. Usually not uncommon through the summer months. Thecla meli>ius, Hbn., var. Humuli, Harr. Very rare ; have taken but one specimen. Feniseca tarqui?iius, Fabr. Very rare ; took one specimen, somewhat broken, in an opening in the woods in September. Chrysophayms thoe, Bd.-Lec. Rare ; a few specimens were captured by a friend west of Marshall in September. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 203 LyccBtia pseudargiolus, Bd.-Lec. The form Pseudargiolus is very rare ; found mostly in July and August. Var. Violacea, Edw. This form is common and seems to be found at all times through the spring and summer. Var. Negiecta, Edw. This also is common and most so during the summer months. LyccBJia coiny?itas, Gdt. Common, and is found as late as October. Lyccena isoia, Reak. or A/ce., Edw. I have taken a few specimens but only in October ; have not seen anything of them at any other time. Pier is protodice, Bd.-Lec. Common through the summer. Pier is rapcB, Linn. Too common from April to October. Nathalis iole, Bdv. Rare ; found only in September. Colias eurytheme, Bdv. Very common, from April to November ; have taken a few Albinos of this species in October. Var. Keewaydin, Edw. Not uncommon ; a few taken in August, but most in latter part of September and October. Colias philodice, Gdt. This is our most common butterfly, and is found from early in April to middle of November. It is more common than C. eujytkeme. Colias caesonia, Stoll. Common through summer months. Terias nicippe^ Cram. Rare ; have taken but one specimen, but that was perfectly fresh ; October. Terias lisa, Bd.-Lec. Common, but most so in September and October. Have taken white females of this species. Papilio ajax, Linn. Not uncommon in variety marcellus, Bdv., but telamonides is rare. This species I found very hard to capture on account of the colour and the skill they have in dodging the stroke of the net. 204 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Fapilio turfius, Linn. Common all through the summer. Fapilio cresphontes, Cram. Common from April to September. Fapilio aster ias, Fabr. Common through the summer. Papilo troilus, Linn. From April to October may be seen ; not very common at any time. Fapilio philenor, Linn. Common ; found from April to middle of October. Ancyloxypha numitor. Fabr. Not uncommon in the fall. Famphila zabuloti, Bd.-Lec. Common. Famphila httron, Edw. Have taken a few specimens in October. Famphila peckius, Kirby. Common in latter part of summer. Famphila certies, Edw. Common ; most so of its genus ; found all through summer and fall. Famphila verna, Edw. Nearly as common as " cerfies", and found with that species. Fyrgus tessellata, Scud. Common in October — not very much before. Nisoniades Juvenalis, Fabr. Common on liowers in September ; seen occasionally during the summer. Fholisora catullus, Fabr. Not uncommon ; found principally on flowers. Eudamus bathyllus, S. «& A. Rare. I have only found this east of Marshall, along the C. & A. R. R., and only in October. Eudamus tityrus, Fabr, Common all through summer. Faphia troglodgta, Fabr. Not uncommon ; mostly seen in September, and delights in resting on dead brush, where it may be easily taken. Callidryas sermce, Linn. Rare through summer, and very hard to capture ; but in latter part of September is common, and while resting on flowers may be taken with the thumb and finger. Mailed Aug. 2ntl. Cauailiait Xntoinolagbt VOL. XXIV. LONDON, SEPTEMBER, 1892. No. 9. FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS. The fourth annual meeting was held in the University building, Rochester, N. Y., on Monday and Tuesday, August 15th and i6th, the President, Dr. J. A. Lintner, of Albany, N. Y., occupied the chair and Prof F. M. Webster, of Wooster, Ohio, filled the office of Secretary. The following members were also present : — C. V. Riley and L. O. Howard, Washington, D. C; D. S. Kellicott, Ohio ; John B. Smith, New Jersey ; E. B. Southwick, New York ; H. E. Weed, Mississippi ; M. V. Slinger- land. New York ; H. Osborn, Iowa ; J. Fletcher and C. J. S. Bethune, Ontario ; C. H. Perkins, Vermont ; P. H. Rolfs, Florida ; S. A. Forbes, Illinois. Owing to the ill-health of the President, the annual address was delivered by the Vice-President, Prof Forbes, in which he treated especi- ally of the work that has recently been done on the contagious diseases of insects, and the satisfactory results that have thus far been obtained. He also referred to the successful importation of several insect parasites, and drew the attention of the meeting to the desirability and importance of studying the aquatic insects of America and their relations to fish culture. This able and highly interesting address was subsequently reported upon by a special committee who warmly commended it, and urged upon the attention of economic entomologists the recommendations in regard to " Aquatic Entomology " and its bearings upon fish culture. Prof. Kellicott read a paper upon " Hypoderus Columbas ", a mite which is parasitic upon pigeons. A paper by Mr. C. H. Tyler Townsend was read on " The possible and actual influence of irrigation on insect injury in New Mexico ", in which he showed that in that region of the country irrigation may be made to exert a valuable influence as an adjunct to the proper use of arsenites and kerosene. 206 THE CANADIA.N ENTOMOLOGIST. Prof. Kellicott read •' Notes on ^geriadae of Central Ohio, No. II.", which is published in full. Prof. Smith said that adults of the Squash borer, M. ceto, from last year's larvie were now flying on Long Island, and that all stages of the insect might be obtained in the same field. The moths gather in the evening on the upper sides of the leaves, and are collected in great num- bers by the farmers. Messrs. Forbes, Slingerland and Smith stated that in their experience the ^gerians were not attracted by electric light. A paper on "The Bean WoevW, Bri^c/ius obsoletiis'\ was read by Mr. V. Slingerland, in which he described the mode of ovipositing, and gave a brief account of the life history of the insect. He stated that bisulphide of carbon will destroy the insect in all stages. He also read a paper on "■ Drasteria erechtea'\ in which he stated that in 1889 ^^^^ two thousand specimens were taken by means of trap lanterns at Ithaca, N. Y. Last year he bred a number of specimens, and as a result ot the study of the material thus obtained, together with about three hundred specimens sent him from all sections of the country, he came to the conclusion that there are two species, about equally common, included under the name erechtea, and that these should be called D. erechtea, Cram., and D. crassiuscula, Haworth, with ochrea and distinct a as varieties of the latter. He then proceeded to describe the differences between the species, and recommended the plowing of infested fields in order to destroy the larvae and pup^ A paper by Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell, of Kingston, Jamaica, on " Orthezia insignis as a garden pest ", was read by the Secretary. The writer stated that the insect was first observed on a variety of exotic plants in the hot houses at Kew and elsewhere, and that he now found it injurious to several garden plants in Jamaica. A paper by Dr. F. W. Coding on " The Food Plants of North American Membracidpe " was next read. This was followed by Prof J. B. Smith's paper : " Notes of the Year in New Jersey ", in which he referred to the principal insect attacks that had come under his notice. In the discussion that followed remarks were made by Mr. L. O. Howard, Prof. H. Osborn, Dr. Lintner, and Prof. F. M. Webster. Mr. Webster drew attention to the occurrence of Phytonomus punctattn: to an injurious extent in North Eastern Ohio, and of Hylastes trifolii THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 207 attacking peas in Northern Ohio. He stated further that Oiior/iyncus ovaius was found feeding upon the foliage of musk melons. A paper on "Two Serious Pear-tree Pests" was read by M. V. Slingerland, of Cornell University. I The Pear-tree Psylla ( Psylla pyricola). — This insect is described as one of the most serious pests that pear growers have to fear. It had appeared in the valley of the Hudson in enormous numbers during 1891, orchards which had given promise of 1,200 barrels of fruit having perfected less than one hundred barrels. The Pear-tree Psylla, when mature, is scarcely 3 mm. in length, and shaped like a miniature Cicada. The nymphs are oval and very flat, and produce a great deal of honey-dew, which renders the trees unsightly. There are three and perhaps four broods in the year, and it is in the perfect state that the insect hibernates. As a remedy Mr. Slingerland had found that the nymphs were easily destroyed by a very weak kerosene emulsion (two per cent.) Washing the trees in winter to destroy the adults was also recommended. 2. The Pear-leaf Blister mite ( Phytoptiis pyri), was alarmingly on the increase in the United States and Canada. It is a very small mite, which hibernates beneath the bud scales of the pear tree, and comes out when the leaves expand in spring and forms blister-like galls on the foliage. Spraying the trees during the winter with kerosene emulsion had been found successful. Prof Lintner stated that F. pyri was very abundant in Eastern New York. Prof. F. M. Webster had also found it abundant in Ohio. Spraying with Bordeaux, mixture had shown no effects in reducing the leaf-blisters. Prof J. B. Smith had found that in orchards sprayed with the ammoniacal solution of carbonate of copper, mixed with London purple, the pest was perceptibly lessened. Mr. Southwick read a paper w^oxi Depressaria heracleana, the Parsnip web worm, and gave an interesting account of the war waged upon it by the " Potter Wasp ", Eiunmes fraterna, and stated that he had bred from it a Hymenopterous parasite, a species oi Limneria. Mr. Howard read a paper, " An Experiment against Mosquitoes," which was listened to with great interest. A small quantity of coal oil was distributed over the surface of a small mountain lake, and enormous numbers of the larvge and perfect insects were destroyed. 208 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. Interesting notes of the year were read from Mississippi by Prof. Howard Evarts Weed. With regard to the Horn Fly, Prof. Smith stated that it was not more abundant in New Jersey than the ordinary cattle fly (Stomoxys calcitrans). Prof Kellicott said that his son had found it very abundant in Central Michigan. Mr. Weed thought that dark coloured cattle were most subject to attack. He also recorded that the insect now occured in Louisiana. Dr. Bethune stated that the Horn Fly had this month been noticed for the first time in the Province of Ontario at Oshawa, Toronto and London, and was creating some alarm among stock owners. Mr. P. H. Rolfs had found the Horn Fly in Florida. Mr. Osborn read Notes on Injurious Insects in Iowa. For want of time the discussion on this interesting paper was deferred. Prof. C. V. Riley read a paper on Rose Saw-flies, in which it was shown that there were three distinct species attacking roses. AFTERNOON SESSION. On reassembling the following members were elected : — Prof P. H. Rolfs, of Florida ; Mr. H. A. Gossard, of Iowa, and Mr. C. F. Baker, of Colorado. A paper on Plant Faun^ by Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell, of Kingston, Jamaica, was read. Mr. James Fletcher read a paper on Injurious Insects of the year in Canada. This gave rise to a long and interesting discussion on several points brought up in the paper, particularly with regard to the life history of Gortyna immanis, the different kinds of Knapsack sprayers, and the most practical remedies for the Horn Fly. Prof Webster read a paper on the Aphidivorous Habits of the Com- mon Slua (Limax campestris), which was discussed by Messrs. Riley, Smith and Howard. Dr. Bethune had found slugs upon trees he had sugared for moths. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year : — President, Prof S. A. Forbes, of Illinois; ist Vice President, Dr. C. J. S. Bethune, of Canada; 2nd Vice-President, Dr. J. B. Smith, of New Jersey; Secretary, Prof. H. Carman, of Kentucky. The meeting then adjourned. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 209 NOTES ON AEGERIAD.E OF CENTRAL OHIO— II. BY D. S. KELLICOTT, COLUMBUS, OHIO. The first collection of notes on the Aegeriadfe of Central Ohio was published in the current volume of the Canadian Entomologist. Since the former notes left my hands additional observations have been made, and a few more species collected. Inasmuch as I shall have something to say of the destructive habits of the larvse of these species, this seems to be the appropriate place to present these notes. Melittia ceto, West. — Concerning this species, in view of the facts cited, I said in the former paper, "It seems in view of the facts at hand that in Central Ohio and South it is double brooded." In the May num- ber of the Canadian Entomologist, Prof. J. B. Smith has an interesting note throwing light upon this question. His quotation from the MS drawings by Abbott clearly proves that in Georgia it has two annual broods He also cites the facts of his own observations in New Jersey, and expresses his disagreement with my inference for the latitude of Central Ohio. He may be right ; I am simply waiting to see. I still think there is something in its Hfe-history not yet explained. Larvie put into breeding cages in September last gave imagos in May and June. Larvae were found destroying the squash plants early in July ; by the 15th to 20th I transferred the plants to breeding cages, with larvae of different sizes. These shall be carefully watched, and the result reported.* Sciapteron tricincta, Harris. — This species was reared by me several years since at Buffalo, N.Y., from enlargements of the branches and stems of Fopuhis candicans and Salix caused by the larvae of Saperd% moesta and Saperda concolor. The present season I have found it at Columbus, with similar habits, in the stems of the willow injured and enlarged *NOTE, Aun. 8. — By August 1st a few larvre had left the stems and entered the ground ; by the 8th, the day of last examination, many had done so. Small ones are comparatively few. Among the smaller ones there was an abundance of that second form described by Prof. Scudder, in Psyche, Vol IV., p. 303. Some of these were isolated, and after a few days they moulted, giving the typical form. This seems to prove that there is but one species. It may be interesting to note that these larvs; will feed in the stems and roots of Echinocystis lobata ; also in the fruit of the musk melon. I have not watched them to maturity in either. Note 2, August 26. — On my return to Columbus, August 25, I found that three examples of the imago had emerged in the vivarium from the larva; placed therein between July 15 and August l. My son had noted the dates of appearance, as follows : — One each on the 20th, 21st and 23rd ; to-day a fourth emerged, and three fresh ones were captured in the field. These facts I consider sufficient to prove that in Central Ohio there may be a second brood, 210 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. by the larva of S. concolor. The beetles appeared from the middle of May to the middle of June ; the female gnaws deeply through the bark into the wood, generally near a branch, and places an egg at the bottom of each pit ; the larva is soon burrowing under the bark and into the wood ; there are often several at the same point. The Aegerians appear later in June and July and place their eggs in the excrescenses caused by the boring young of the beetle. I have not yet found instances in which it was clearly apparent that the young Sciapteron had made its own way into uninjured stems. This fine moth is seldom seen on the wing, but is easily obtained by gathering the stemi infested by Saperda in May and keeping them moist for a few weeks. Aegeria corni, Hy. Edw. — The trunks of the maples at Columbus are greatly disfigured by the larvie of Aegeria acerni. The branches also suffer to a large extent by the action of another aegerid infesting them. The former pest is confined almost wholly to the trunks of shade trees ; the latter occurs in both shade and forest trees — most numerously in the latter or perhaps in isolated trees in the fields. The branches ranging from mere twigs to those an inch or two in diameter are found much enlarged, often at several different points, into rough barked and gnarled excrescences ; these are often nearly globular, more often, however, oblong, and frequently there are openings into the centre of the stem. On cutting into the wood it is found to be mined in various directions and decaying ; this often causes the branch to die or so weakens it that the winds throw it down. There may be one or more larvi>i in a single excrescence. The mature larvae are 12 to 15 mm. long; body slender, white; the skin is transversely folded, especially in the thoracic rings, and there is a strong longitudinal subsligmatal fold. The head is smooth, pale brown, with the anterior edge of the clypeus, labium and mandibles black; the thoracic shield smooth, broad and colourless ; feet pale yellow ; stigmata small, round, pale yellow ; piliferous spots scarcely perceptible ; fine, short hairs chestnut. The larva changes to pupa in a thick, gummy cocoon, strengthened exteriorly by bits of wood and placed in cells just under the bark, with a thin shell remaining to be broken up by the pupa at the final change, the pupa skin remaining protruded. The pupa measures 10 mm , slender, light brown, with the usual transverse denticles on the dorsal abdominal segments and a circle o^ THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 211 Stouter teeth about the abdominal tip ; the clypeus is armed with spine or tooth. The moths issued this year from May ii to July 15. It is a pretty species, the sexes differing somewhat in appearance, the female being easily mistaken for that of acerni, although smaller. The male expands 17 mm.; the colour deep black with some metallic scales ; the narrow clothed margins of the wings and heavy discal bar deeper than the apical patch which is more bronze-brown ; fringes con- colorous except the anterior third of inner margin which is yellow. Clypeus with white lateral lines ; palpi light orange except the blackish third joint and outer side of second apically ; collar same colour as palpi ; antennae black, slightly washed with white on outer edge of apical third. The thorax yellow below, black above, with long golden cilia about the insertion of the wings. Abdomen black above, same below, with more or less of golden scales running up on the sides at edges of rings, and on fourth ring giving a narrow band, in some seen faintly on other dorsal rings. Anal tuft ample, black above and laterally at base, below deep reddish orange. Claspers yellow. Legs : coxae golden, other joints black out- wardly, golden inwardly to claws, last pair with middle of tibia and tips of tasal joints ringed with golden ; the inner side of fore tibiae is light orange ; spurs concolorous with the golden yellow legs. The female expands 20 mm. General colour the same as male, but differs in having less black at tips of palpi, in having much more golden beneath abdomen, in having the same extending over dorsum so that nearly all the rings are faintly edged, and the fourth with a broad band, and in having no black in the ample caudal tuft which is deep reddish-orange. I have compared the moth with Henry Edwards's description of Aegeria and conclude it is his Aegeria corjii, although one cannot be positive without comparing the type. He had before him only one male taken in Purgatory Swamp, Mass., and the description is not all that could be wished. My specimens differ slightly from the description and vary considerably, frequently more than some of Mr. Edwards's species differ from one another. I will point out some differences which it seems to me are easily reconciled. He gives expanse oi corni 15 mm.; the smallest of mine (males) is 15 mm., the largest 18 mm., average 17 mm. He says, " No bands," Some of mine are scarcely banded after storage in the cabinet a month. He says " spurs light orange." In mine they are not, the only real difference between his descriptions and my moths. Before our next annual meeting I shall try to compare my moths with the type, and shall take pleasure in reporting the results. Is the moth an inquiline ? It would seem so, yet after much search- ing I have found only one beetle borer that would probably serve as a forerunner ; this was found in an excrescence of Acer dasycarpum. The Aegerian is far more abundant in Acer saccharifium. Aegeria riibristignia, n. s. — Whilst searching in excrescences on the oak for examples of Aegeria gallivora, I came upon the present species, 212 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. which is less common than gallivSra; it is a perfectly distinct species and apparently undescribed ; hence I propose to describe it under the name given above. One male and one female obtained. Female. — Fore- wings purple black, with red scales between the veins and the square stigma at end of cell red ; borders of hindwings very narrow, costa reddish ; fringes ample, black, yellow at basal third of inner margin of hind pair • beneath forewings yellow to stigma, which is deep orange, beyond the borders and veins black with reddish between ; hindwings with costa yellow, also anterior third of inner margin. Head all blue- black, with milk-white lines before the eyes ; collar yellow ; palpi with basal joint black, second black except the front margin, which is yellow, as is the whole of the third joint ; the antennae are wholly black, except the under side of the basal ring which is yellow. Thorax uniform blue- black, with colour extending upon the base of wings ; metathorax golden yellow ; beneath colour as above, with a light yellow almost white spot under the insertion of the wings. Abdomen concolorous with thorax above and below ; the second segment has a narrow dorsal band, the fourth a wide one, extending entirely around the body, and the last a narrow band all golden-yellow ; tuft at end of abdomen concolorous above and below with a line of yellow hairs laterally. Legs blue-black, varied as follows : Fore-coxae, outwardly, fore-tibise, all the tarsi, the spurs and a band at the middle and apex of the hind tibiae yellow ; the tarsi, however, have some dark, scales sometimes appearing faintly banded. The male agrees with the foregoing except that the abdominal bands are less distinct and the yellow in the caudal is wanting. Expands 17 mm. Obtained from Cynips gall on twigs of Qiiercus palustris, collected l)y my friend, E. E. Bogue, at Sugar Grove, Ohio, and by myself at Central College, Ohio. One imago appeared June 10 and one July 15. The pupa has the usual form, length 12 mm., armed, clypeal spine flattened to a cutting edge apically ; there is a median ridge on the dorsum of mesothorax and on either side of it a parallel grove. The pupa cell is excavated in the pithy substance of the gall and lined with silk. This moth should be compared sufficiently for separation with other species from Quercus galls. It differs from Ilospes and Gallivora as follows: Front blue-black, whilst they have front white : legs black \ they have legs yellow : palpi black and yellow ; they all yellow with mere tip black. Rubristigma has red bar ; they black. Compared with Aegeria querci trom galls on live oak it is twice as large. Querci has lemon-yellow lines on side of thorax, antennae brown, yellowish beneath ; has nearly all the abdominal rings with bands costa lemon-yellow beneath, leg-jomts whitish, pectus lemon-yellow ; in all these points Rubristigma differs decidedly. The differences are also as striking with Nicotiance, with which Henry Edwards compared Querci, a species having a fiery-red discal mark. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 213 ENTOMOLOGICAL CLUB OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE— ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. BY E. A. SCHWARZ. At the Ann Arbor meeting of our Club, in the year 1885, Prof. John B. Smith proposed as a subject of discussion " How shall we create and foster an interest in the study of Entomology ?" In the discussion a rather gloomy view was then generally taken by the members regarding the general lack of interest in entomology in this country, Prof. Riley alone expressing himself hopefully as to the future outlook. As the best means for creating such interest the production oi a. popular compendium of North American insects was recommended, but the discussion only dwelt upon the difficulties in the way of producing a popular and yet valuable work. Now, no one can deny that within the few years that have elapsed since 1885 a great change has taken place, a change which has been alluded to by others, and among them by Prof A. J. Cook in his presi- dential address delivered at the Indianapolis meeting of this Club in 1890. Many new and conscientious workers in the various branches of both pure and applied entomology have appeared ; orders or families of insects hitherto sadly neglected have found competent students ; the life histories and earlier stages of a multitude of insects have been studied and recorded with a thoroughness and exactitude previously rarely attained ; entomo- logical instruction, both of a scientific and practical nature, is now given by competent teachers in many colleges ; the increase in popular interest in entomology is manifested in the many collections that have recently been formed by young beginners \ and, finally, even the newspapers have ceased to make fun of " bug catchers." In short, the combined work of our entomologists from the time of Say and Harris down to our day begins to bear fruit, and has enforced for entomology that recognition among the other sciences which her importance demands. An excellent illustration of this change can be found in the records of last year's meeting of our Club, held at Washington. In his admirable address as president of the Club, Prof. Herbert Osborn again proposed the production of a Manual of North American Entomology, but this time not of a popular one to create and foster an interest in the study of entomology, but of a scientific compendium for the use of the advanced 214 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. student, a work which should embody in a conveniently condensed form all those contributions to general, to systematic or to biologic entomology, which in their totality represent the present state of knowledge of North American insects, and which are now so sadly scattered through the literature. The members of the Club then present greeted the project with applause ; no gloomy views regarding its practicability were heard, the only serious objections made being of a business nature. A com- mittee was appointed, which in due time submitted a favourable report. For want of time this report could not be discussed last year, but the committee was instructed to submit a " well-digested scheme one year hence ", and I sincerely hope that the proceedings of our present meeting will contribute toward an early realization of this important plan. For my own part I subscribe to every word that has been said in its favour by Prof. Osborn in his address, and by other members during its preliminary discussion. Many of us will have given attention to this subject durii.g the past year, each in his own specialty, as I have myself. And I have more particularly considered in my own thoughts how the collated and combined work hitherto accomplished in North American coleopter- ology will compare with a certain manual on European Coleoptera, which has done eminent service, and to which I shall refer later. It is generally supposed that North American coleopterology is in a better, /. ^ , more advanced state to be represented in a compendium, than most other orders, and upon reflection I find this to be the case in some respects, but not so in others. On this subject I have noted down some remarks which I beg leave to present herewith in a condensed form. In order to study insects we must first collect them, and I have, therefore, to devote a few words to the state of exploration of our country. The history of the entomological exploration of North America has many interesting points which are not generally known, but I cannot possibly review the whole subject, and shall confine myself to the progress made since the foundation of this Club in 1874. The older members of our Club will remember that at that time, or a little previously, Coleoptera from California or even Colorado were to be found only in a few cabinets ; to-day the Coleopterous fauna of the Pacific Slope, Colorado, Kansas and some other Western States are in many of our Eastern collections by far better represented than those of Georgia or Maine. The completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad opened for easy exploration a vast extent of territory previously but imperfectly known ; coleopterists THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 215 have not been slow to avail themselves of this opportunity, and an unexpectedly large number of hitherto unknown species have been brought from that region, especially from Arizona. Skilled field coleopterists have been over the lines of all other transcontinental rail- roads constructed since 1874, including the Canadian Pacific Railroad (opened in 1886), and over most of their branches. In short, the whole country lying west of the Rocky Mountains and east of the Sierra Nevada may be said now to be explored as well as can be expected by entomo- logical travellers or expeditions. This exploration is necessarily more or less superficial, a mere skimming of the surface. What is needed for the region mentioned is the presence of a number of active resident specia