PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLC GIG AL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON Volume PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, WASHINGTON, D. C. 1918 TABLE OF CONTENTS OF VOLUME XX Page AINSUE, C. N.: A note on the economic importance of Samia cecro- pia. (Lep.) 150 BAKER, A. C. : The identity of Aphis circezandis Fitch. (Horn.) 130 BARBER, H. G.: The genus Plinthisus Latr. (Lygaeidae-Hemiptera) in the United States 108 CAUDEU., A. N.: Two new species of the Blattid genus Arenivaga. (Orth.) 154 CocKRELL, T. D. A. : A new Colletid bee from Ecuador 206 Some Halictine bees in the United States National Museum. (Hym.) 1 77 CRAMPTON, G. C.: The thoracic sclerites of immature Pterygotan in- sects, with notes on the relationships indicated . . o9 CUSHMAN, R. A.: A convenient method of handling large numbers of individuals in life-history studies of insects 112 Notes on cocoon spinning habits of two species of Braconids. (Hym.) 133 The correct names for some of our common Ich- numonid parasites. (Hym. ) 9 and ROHWER, S. A. : The genus Ephialtes first proposed by Schrank. (Hym.) 186 DUNN, LAWRENCE H.: A new mosquito (Aedes whitmorei) from Col- ombia 1 28 ELY, CHAS. R.: Recent entomological chemistry and some notes con- cerning the food of insects 12 FISHER, W. S. : A new species of Agrilus from Florida (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) 67 Chrysobothris tranquebarica Gmel. versus impressa Fabr. Coleoptera: Buprestidae) 173 GAHAN, A. B.: A synopsis of the species belonging to the Chalcidoid genus Rileya Ashmead. (Hym.) 136 Description of a new Hymenopterous parasite (Bra- conidae ) 18 Propachyncuron Girault (Hymenoptera : Chalcidoidea) 66 Three new Chalcidoid egg-parasites 23 GREENE, CHAS. T.: A note on the habit of Pegomyia affinis Stein and other Anthomyid genera 160 Three new species of Diptera <>9 HEINRICH, CARL : A new genus of Lepidoptera allied to Leucoptera Hubner 21 On the Lepidopterous genus Opostega and its lar- val affinities 27 HYSLOP, JAMES A., with POPENOE, C. H., and SANFORD, H. L 185 I CONTENTS McATEE, W. I/., and WALTON, W. R. District of Columbia Diptera: Tabanidae 188 MCGREGOR, E. A. A new host plant of the boll weevil 78 MALLOCK, J. R.: A revision of the Dipterous family Clusiodidae (Heteroneuridae) 2 The genus Cnemedon Egger in North America. (Diptera : Syrphidae ) 127 MosiER, C. A., and SNYDER, T. E.: Notes on gadflies in the Florida Everglades. (Dipt.) 115 Further notes on Tabanidae in Florida Everglades. (Dipt.).. 182 NELSON, JAS. A. : An eyeless drone honeybee 105 PiERCE, W. DWIGHT: Medical entomology a vital factor in the prose- cution of the war 91 The case of the genera Rhina and Magdalis . . 72 POPENOE, C. H., HYSLOP, JAMES A. and SANFORD, H. L. : Allen Bowie Duckett ... 185 RoHWER, S. A.: A note on Chalcis abiesae Girault. (Hym. Chalci- didae) 18 New sawflies of the subfamily Diprioninae. (Hym.) Notes on and descriptions of sawflies belonging to the Tenthredinid tribe Hemichroini. (Hym.) 161 The North American species of the sawfly genus Laurentia. < Hym.) 157 with CUSHMAN, R. A 186 Rules of publication in the Society Proceedings 1 SANFORD, H. L., with POPENOE, C. H., and HYSLOP, JAMES A 185 SNYDER, T. E-, with MOSIER, C. A 115 182 TOWNSEND, C. H. T. : Some muscoid synonymy, with one new genus. (Dipt.) 19 WALTON, W. R., with MCATEE, W. L 188 WHITE, G. F. : A note on the muscular coat of the ventriculus of the honeybee (Apis meHifica) 152 II VOL. 20 JANUARY 1918 No. 1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON CONTENTS CUSHMAN, R. A. THE CORRECT NAMES FOR SOME OF OUR COMMON ICHNEU- MONID PARASITES 9 ELY, CHAS. RECENT ENTOMOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY AND SOME NOTES CON- CERNING THE FOOD OF INSECTS ... 12 GAHAN, A. B. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW HYMENOPTEROUS PARASITE 18 HEINRICH, CARL A NEW GENUS OF LEPIDOPTERA ALLIED TO LEUCOP- TERA HUBNER 21 MALLOCH, J. R. A REVISION OF THE DIPTEROUS FAMILY CLUSIODIDAE (HBTERONEURIDAE) 2 ROHWER, S. A. A NOTE ON CHALCIS ABIKSA i; <;IRAULT (lIYM. CHALCIDIDAE) 18 RULES OF PUBLICATION. . 1 TOWNSEND, CHARLES H. T. SOME MUSCOID SYXONOMY, WITH ONE NKU GEX!> HI PUBLISHED MONTHLY EXCEPT JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BY THE S'ICIKTY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 Gi;i:i;\-.M confined to that portion of the tibia basad of the annulus, wilh a faint trace just beyond the annulus, _ and frequently the tibia is entirely red, even the annulus being lacking. It is highly improbable that a South American specimen of a species would be darker in any respect than one from North America, and on this ground I ressurrect Provancher's name. Pimpla conquisitor var. rufuscula Davis is simply a large form of aequalis with an unusual amount of red on the abdomen. Davis (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1894, p. 190) syncmymi/rd Pimpla ninrtj/'nata Prov. and P. (ixhnicnili.i, Prov. with annulipes Brulle. But Mr. Kohwer, who has seen the types of both of Provancher's species, considers them as synonyms of tenuicorni* Cress. This last species is very closely allied to ntl<: Lost. 12 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 1918 fPimpla, Epiurus, or Iseropus inquisitor (Say), Authors, in part. Pimpla inquisitoriella Dalla Torre, Cat. Hym., Ill, 1901, p. 435. ? Pimpla, Epiurus, or Iseropus inquisitoriella Authors, in part. Iseropus coelebs (Walsh). Ichneumon, inquisitor var. a Say, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., I, 1835, p. 234. Type. Lost. Pimpla coelebs Walsh, Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, 111, 1873, p. 141. Type. Destroyed. Neotype in U. S. Nat. Mus. Bassus cylindricus Provancher, Addit. Faun. Ent. Can. Hym., 1889, p. 111. Pimpla, Epiurus, or Iseropus inquisitor (Say), Authors, in part Pimpla, Epiurus, or Iseropus inquisitoriella Authors, in part. Pimpla (Jtoplectis) orgyiae Ashmead, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc., XXIII, 1896, p. 213. Pimpla (urus) bruneijrons Viereck, Ent. News, XX, 1909, p. 391. THREE HUNDRED AND NINTH MEETING, JANUARY 3, 1918. The annual presidential address was given by Prof. Chas. R. Ely, the subject chosen being " Recent Entomological Chemis- try and Some Notes Concerning the Food of Insects." RECENT ENTOMOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY AND SOME NOTES CONCERNING THE FOOD OF INSECTS BY CHARLES R. ELY In treating the subject of this paper it is the intention of the writer to consider only such data as have found their way into chemical literature during the past eleven years. The reason for selecting this period of time is that the discussion is based upon the articles or papers listed in Chemical Abstracts, a journal published by the American Chemical Society, which appeared for the first time in 1907. This Journal covers the chemical litera- ture of the world in an exhaustive manner, as may be seen by the fact that the index to the first ten volumes, which is now in the course of publication, will contain about 6000 pages and about 800,000 entries. In examining the thousands of pages of abstracts listed to see which ones were of interest from an entomological standpoint, in the broadest sense, and after including everything which could be classified as falling under this head, only a few more than 800 titles were found to have been secured. In making up this list, PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 1918 13 abstracts concerning substances or compounds known to be found in, or in connection with, insects were not included, unless they had to deal with an investigation having a direct bearing on entomology. An arbitrary classification of the 800 or more titles above mentioned led to the following result: per cent Honey and beeswax 27.5 Silk 27.3 Insecticides 20.4 Biochemical, Biological and Misc : 15.7 Well known economic products 9.0 It will be seen from this list that entomological contributions to Chemistry have, in recent years at least, been made very largely by the insects themselves. The greater part of the work referred to concerning Honey and Beeswax was analytical and had to do with the examination of the purity of these substances and with their valuation. With Silk, as with honey and beeswax, there was but a small portion of direct interest to the entomologist. A large part of the work concerned the properties of silk in relation to dye stuffs and textiles. In the case of Insecticides, as would perhaps be expected, the greater number of investigations dealt with their analytical ex- amination, manufacture, etc. The above three groups are not here taken up for detailed dis- cussion, but those interested in any of these subjects will proba- bly find many valuable papers listed in the Index referred to at the beginning of this article. In fact one of the purposes the writer had in mind, in preparing this paper, was to call attention to this useful publication. Under the well known products of economic importance were included those to which several references were made. These were nutgalls, cantharidcs, lac and cochineal. As with insecti- cides already mentioned, references in regard to these produc.ls were, for the most part, concerning analytical methods for their examination and commercial valuation. Under the list entitled Biochemical, Biological and .Misc. arc included a number of references an examination of which may be not without interest. These included, on the one hand, subjects of peculiar interest to the entomologist, such as the chemical examination of cliitin from insects and concerning which if was to bs expected that considerable work would have been done in (he period covered. On the other hand, one notes unexpected and 14 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. l, JAN., 1918 curious bits of information such as that concerning the use of beetle larvae for arrow poison 1 or that in regard to the "manurial value of locusts." 2 At times there .are found references which may be regarded as of interest to the chemical investigator in a negative sense, as in the case of a paper which tends to show that insect coloration is, at times, due to physical causes rather than to the properties of definite chemical compounds in the form of pigments. 3 A few papers were found which were of interest to the collector primarily, such as those dealing with methods for preserving or protecting collections or, in one case, a paper in which it was as- serted that in baits for insects frequenting fragrant flowers it is the sugar in the bait which attracts the insects. Experiments in which various essences were used tended to show that fragrant es- ."ennces, such as that of mint or the like, were without added attractiveness. 4 The remaining investigations may be classed under the heads of biochemical and biological researches. With these we might mention a few which dealt with vegetable products, such as manna which, as with galls, may owe their formation or deposi- tion to the work of an insect or to an insect poison or stimulant. Among the biochemical references are some dealing with definite chemical compounds. Such are those giving the chemi- cal composition of substances found in the bee, in its different stages, or of the silk worm. One abstract of interest announced the finding of certain carbohydrate ferments in species of Diptera and Lepidoptera. 5 In other papers but a single compound is mentioned, as for example urea, which is stated to be found in insects generally, 6 the presence of calcium oxalate in crystals in "la Blatte" (Cockroach), 7 and of formaldehyde as a protective poison in the case of ants. 8 In some instances the investigations, while of interest, have led to less definite results, in a chemical sense, the exact nature of the substances not having been determined. Examples of this class may be found in studies dealing with pigments in beetles and butterflies, 9 and the nature of the poisons of the browntail 1 Trommsdorff, Arch. Schiffs-u-Tropenhuyg. 13, 617. C. A. G, 892. 2 Anon., Bull. Impl. Inst., 14, 290-1 (1916). C. A. 10, 3132. 3 Mallock, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond., 85, 598-605. C. A. 6, 571. 4 Plateau, Bull. Sci. acad. roy. Belg., 1910, 144-6. C. A. 4, 2664. 5 Strauss, Z. Biol., 52, 95-106. C. A. 3, 1182. 8 Fosse, Ann. inst. Pasteur 30j 642-76 (1916). C. A. 11, 1432. 7 Hallez, Compt. rend., 148, 317-18. C. A. 3, 1284. 8 Tzitovich and Smirnov, Compt. rend. soc. biol., 77, 122-3 (1914). C. A. 11, 6(>(i. 'Gortner, C. A. 5, 1921; 6, 893; Gebhardt, 7, 3797; Hasebroek, 10, 787. PROC. EXT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 1918 15 moth 10 and of the hornet. 11 To a less extent also this is true of two papers dealing with "chrysalis oil" obtained from the pupae of the silkworm. 1 ' 2 Under the head of biological chemistry may be found some interesting results of experiments in feeding, some of which will be referred to later. The changes caused in chlorophyll by which a red pigment is produced is noted, in the case of Lepidoptera 13 and, in another instance, it is shown that the so called "grass- hopper green" is not chloroplryll, as had formerly been supposed to be the case. 14 One reference deals with the effect of starving in regard to certain physiological compounds in the eggs of a species' of bark beetle. 15 \Yith silk worms the effect of feeding glycocoll on the properties of the silk which is produced, is shown 16 and, in another investigation, the influence of lime, in the food, upon the insect and its silk. 17 The latter experiment is a very interesting one and the claim is made by the investigator that silk worms which have had calcium salts added to their food thrive upon this diet better than upon a natural one. It is stated that larger pupae and cocoons are produced and a greater weight of silk. Two investigators have occupied themselves with the problem of immunity shown by certain insects to the alkaloid poison strych- nine. ls When several workers are engaged upon the same problem it sometimes happens that their results lead them to make deduc- tions which are widely divergent or even contradictory. A case in point concerns the question of whether the chrysalids of but- terflies have the power of obtaining carbon from the carbon dioxide of the surrounding atmosphere. A number of references were found concerning a controversy over this question which extended from 1907 to 1912. l9 One of the authors referred to 10 Lyzzer, J. Med. Res., 16, 43-64. C. A. 1, 1293. 11 Bertarelli and Tedeschi, Centr. Bakt. Parisitenk, 1. Abt., 68, 309-17. C. A. 7, 2433. 12 Lewkowitsch, Nahr. genussm., 12, 659-60. C. A. 1, 786. Tsujimoto, J. Coll. eng. Imp. Univ. Tokyo, 4, 63-74. C. A. 2, 2024. 13 Petersen, Naturwiss. Wochsohr., July, 1913. C. A. 7, 4019. 14 Przibram, Ges. Physiol., 153, 385-400. C. A. 7. 15 Knoche, Verb. Deut. Zool. Ges., 18, 224-30. C. A. 3, 2312. 6 Pigorini, Arch. farm, sper., 20, 225-57, 1915. C. A. 10, 74. 17 Hatano, Bull, de 1'Assoc. sericole du Japan, March, 1916, 1-4. C. A. 11, 1491. 18 Juckenack and Griibel, Z. Xahr. Genussm., 19, 571. C. A. 4, 2339. J. C. de Ruijter de Wildt., Nahr Genussm., 20, 520. C. A. 5, 751. 19 a. M. von Linden, Bonn. arch. Physiol. (Engelmann). 1907, 162, 208. C. A. 1, 2801. b. M. von Linden, Arch. anat. physiol., Suppl. Bel. 1910, 153-98. C. A'. 6, 2795. c. E. T. v. Briicke, Arch. Nat. Phys., Waldeyer-Engolmann., Physiol. Abt., 1908, 431-44. C. A. 4, 1190. d. Buytendijk, Biol. Zentr., 31, 643. C. A. 6. 16 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 1918 also claimed that there was evidence showing that four-fifths of the newly formed protein in the chrysalids obtained its nitrogen from the surrounding atmosphere. 20 These claims are most unusual and the present writer is not aware that the original claimant has received the support of other investigators. An interesting case of a single problem attracting the attention of a number of investigators is shown by the references to papers regarding fire flies and other light producing insects. These papers began to appear, in the literature under discussion at least, in 1911 and have continued to appear up to the present time. The work referred to covers the manner in which light is produced, the nature of the light, and that of the substances concerned in its production. 21 One of the main purposes in publishing this paper, and in reviewing the work that has been done recently, in the field of entomological chemistry, is to call attention to the fact that this field is not overcrowded and that it affords many attractive opportunities for study and experiment. It is very gratifying to note that one of our most eminent scientists, Jacques Loeb, during the last three years has been engaged in researches which come within the scope of this review. In 1915 there appeared an article by him on the simplest constituents required for growth and the completion of the life cycle in an insect. 22 In 1916 another was published on the salts required for the growth of insects 2 * and, in 1917, a third in which he shows, in an investigation re- garding the growth of certain flies, that yeast is a necessary food for species of the genus Drosophila, and that, while these flies may be kept alive on other foods, yeast is necessary for the pro- duction of offspring. 24 The very broad nature of the problem which Loeb is helping to solve should be here noted. What is required in the food of insects for their growth and reproduction? This is indeed a difficult question and one which may never be completely an- swered. It would seem however, judging by Loeb's success with the lesser problem, in the case of Drosophila, that the necessary food of a particular insect may in some cases be determined. In the case of the Lepidoptera, with which the writer is more familiar, one finds at his disposal a vast amount of data with regard to the food of a very great number of the species listed. That these lists of foods, supposedly required, are not always satisfactory is a matter of common knowledge. 20 M. v. Linden, same as (19) b. above. 21 Thirteen references may be found in Chemical Abstracts in volumes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. 22 Loeb, Science, 41, 169-70 (1915). C. A. 9, 1944. 83 Loeb, J. Biol. Chem., 23, 431-34. C. A. 10, 354. 24 Loeb, J. Biol. Chem., 27, 309-12. C. A. 11, 851. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 1918 17 The writer remembers his disappointment when, upon first becoming interested in entomology, he had the good fortune, as he then regarded it, of having a fine lot of larvae of the common luna moth. Upon having to move to another locality, and not finding the food plant available upon which the colony was being fed, he changed to another food plant which the text books said was also a customary food for this species. The colony flourished and in time a goodly number of cocoons and, finally, of adults was secured. Hoping to obtain a much larger number of speci- mens, some of the moths were mated and the eggs kept for further experiments, but, much to the surprise and disappointment of the experimenter, none of the eggs hatched. It is of course quite possible that the disastrous results in this case were due to the sudden change in diet, rather than to its unsuitability, and that satisfactory results might have been secured had the second food been used from the beginning. In an experiment carried out during the past summer with what appeared to be the same species of saw fly, an Argid, found upon Amelanchier and also on Crataegus, a portion of the larvae were in each case transferred to the other food plant. It was found that, in this instance, the larvae in both cases throve on Crataegus while unsatisfactory results were obtained on Amelanchier. While not conclusive, this experiment is used to illustrate the fact that the food plant, upon which a larva is found to be feeding, may be one which will not enable the insect to undergo its later transformations. Another series of experiments were carried on several years ago with some larvae of another saw fly, Croesus latitarsus Norton, which were believed to feed on two species of birch, B. lenta and B. populifolia. Larvae were at this time found in great numbers on the latter but none on the former food plant and some at- tempts were made to rear larvae by transferring them to B. lenta. It was found, in all cases, that the larvae if transferred when very young would die, while if they were changed during one of the later stages they could sometimes be brought through satisfactorily, at least so far as securing adults is concerned. Such instances as those given above are probably familiar but are given to illustrate certain points in regard to the question of what should be considered a "food plant." Starting with a case in which the larva lives for a short time only, whetherthe egg be deposited on the plant itself, or whether the larva begins to feed upon it in one of its later stages, we may have instances in which the larva feeds upon it throughout all its stages, but dies in the pupal state or, if it produces an adult, is infertile. Finally we may, conceivably, have a case where for several gener- ations the insect may feed upon the same food plant and then 18 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 1918 die out. Wherever the line is to be drawn it would appear that there is need that our lists be more carefully kept, than is usually the case, for the purpose of determining for a given species what are the satisfactory or the necessary food conditions. All of the above has probably been stated by others in a much more satisfactory manner than in the present instance. The writer wishes to emphasize this matter, in connection with the subject of this paper, in order to urge that our entomological records be so kept that those who may in the future be engaged in investigations concerning the food of insects, from the chemi- cal standpoint, may have helpful and, in so far as possible, accurate and reliable data at their disposal. THREE HUNDRED AND TENTH MEETING, FEBRUARY 7, 1918. A NOTE ON CHALCIS ABIESAE GIRAULT (HYM. CHALCIDIDAE) . BY S. A. ROHWER, Specialist in Forest Hymcnoptera, Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. Chalcis ovata abiesae Girault, Descriptiones Stellarum novarum, 1017. p. 19. (This is a privately published leaflet dealing with descriptions of new chalcids.) The form which Mr. Girault described as variety abiesae may perhaps better be treated as a species. Besides the characters given in the description this form differs from the typical eastern form in the closer punctures on the scutum, in having the median lower notch in the carina denning the antennal foveae broader and U-shaped, and in having the sypraclypeal carina less strong^ arched medianly; these characters hofd for a series bearing the same data as the type series and also for a series collected at Palo Alto, California on the foliage of Quercus agr/folia, by F. B. Herbert. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW HYMENOPTEROUS PARASITE (BRAGONIDAE). BY A. B. GAHAN, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. The new species of Microbracon described below is, according to Mr. C. N. Ainslie, an important parasite of the western grass-stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 1, JAN, 1918 19 Microbracon cephi, new species. This species resembles M . lisi Ashmead and M .furtlrns Fyles but maybe distinguished by the shorter ovipositor. The male is very similar to .17. rhyssemati Ashmead but may be separated by the longer antennae and smoother .propodeum. The cocoons of rhi/xxciiifili arc dark brown with thicker walls than in this new species which has pale parchment-like co- coons, squarely truncate at each end and placed singly in the burrows of its host. Female. Length 4.1 mm. Antennae 38-jointed in the type; frons and face very delicately and faintly shagreened, remainder of head and thorax polished; propodeum faintly sculpture at posterior middle on each side of the incomplete median carina; abdominal tergites all granularly opaque; suturiform atriculation deep, crenulate, and scarcely at all angled at the middle but curving forward slightly at the margins of segment; ovipositor exserted not over half the length of abdomen. Color reddish testaceous; antennae, eyes, ocelli, ovipositor sheaths, apex of hind tibiae, their tarsi, and the apical joint of fore and medium tarsi black or blackish; wings sub- hyaline, the stigma blackish, venation brownish. Male. Length 3.5 mm. Antennae 40-jointed in the allotype, and dis- tinctly longer than the body; posterior tibiae and their tarsi only slightly infuscated; otherwise like the female. Type locality. Bottineau, North Dakota. Type. Cat. No. 21772, United States National Museum. Host. Larva of Cephus cinctus Norton. Type and one female paratype reared by Mr. Ainsliefrom Cephus cinctus infesting stems of 'Agropyron and recorded under Webster No. 14788. Allotype and a male paratype bear Webster No. 13734 and were reared by the same collector at Minot, North Dakota from the same host in stems of Elymus. Two female paratypes are from the same host in stems of Bromus from Rugby, North Dakota, and are recorded under Webster No. 14786. One female paratype was reared by Mr. Norman Griddle at Treesbank, Manitoba, from Cephus cinctus in the stems of Elymus canadensis and is recorded under Webster No. 14788. The last mentioned paratype has the head above the mesoscti- tum for the most part and the propodeum blackish, showing that the species is variable in color. SOME MUSCOID SYNONYMY, WITH ONE NEW GENUS. BY CHAKM:S II. T. TOWXSEND. The following synonymic notes hav.> been held in manuscript for a year and should be puNis'inl without further njilt>j>i/'j. genus and species. 20 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 1918 Oppiopsis sheldoni Coq. Synonym, Harbeckia tessellata Aid., op. cit., genus and species. Wohlfahrtia opaca Coq. -I consider this species distinct from the European meigenii Schiner, which it represents in western America. It furnishes another example of west American species closely resembling European congeners. Synonym, Wohlfahrtia meigenii Aid. (nee Schiner), op. cit. Wohl "ahrtia chittendeni Coqi This is evidently distinct from vigil Walker. The holotype has red hypopygium and the other characters do not accord. Paraphrissopoda lamanensis RD. 'Synonym, Sarcophaga wiedemanni Aid., op. cit., 193-6. Paraphrissopoda auribarbata Towns. 'Synonym, Sarcophaga coty- ledonea Aid., op. cit., female only. Aldrich's allotype is identical in every character with the holotype of auribarbata. Aldrich's holotype is evidently specifically distinct from the allotype, as it does not agree in various characters. The holotype may be conspecific with circumcisa Rdi., or chrysostoma Wied. It is evidently not otiosa Willist., which, like auri- barbata, has the first hypopygial segment red. A male from Mayaguez, Porto Rico, October 31, 1913 (Van Zwaluwen- burg), agrees exactly in pollen, pile color and bristle characters with the females from Peru. The species is distinct from otiosa, which has the abdomen bluish silvery-white pollinose. Synonym, Sarcophaga capitata Aid., op. cit., male only, being the hblotype. Paraphrissopoda otiosa Willist. I determine a male from Barbados as this species. The cotype specimens, male and female, studied by Aldrich, may not be the same form as the holotype. It seems very doubt- ful if the females mentioned by Williston under concinnata are this species. Sarcophaga amoena Aid., op. cit., is very likely this species. Sarcophaga capitata Aid., female, allotype, is same as amoena allotype. Paraphrissopoda hillifera Aid. 'The three females referred to spec- tabilis Aid., op. cit., are this species. The chaetotaxy of anal segment shows this. They are TD 1246, 1289, etc.. Oxysarcodexia ochripyga Wulp 'Synonym, Sarcophaga australis Aid., op. cit. Argoravinia argentea Towns. 'Synonym, Sarcophaga fissa Aid., op. cit. Spirobolomyia basalis Walker 'It is almost certain that singularis Aid. is a synonym of this species. The peculiar color characters given by Walker seem to fix the determination. Sarcophagula occidua F. ! am unable to identify Tachinn pusilla Wied., type of Sarcophilodes BB., as distinct from occiilua. Wiedemann's description agrees exactly with material. Protodexia hunteri Hough Synonym, P. synthcllca Towns. Euphyto subopaca Coq. 'Described as Leucostoma subopaca, 1897. Made type of Euphyto Towns., 1908. Synonym, 7Y//v<;w.v moilcxlu Coq., 1910, genus and species. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 1, JAX., 1918 21 Pseudomyothyria ancilla \Valker Tachina ancilla, Dipt. Saund., 299, is certainly this genus. P. indecisa Towns., described from Illinois, is probably only a subspecies of ancilla. P. perplexa Towns., measuring 3.5 mm., described from Peru, is nearly as small a species as ancilla, which measures 2.5 mm. This is not Frontinu nn cilia Coq., for which see the following. Frontiniella pararcilla Gen. et sp. nov. New name for Frontina ancilla Coq., 1897, Rev. Tach., 106 (nee Walker, Dipt. Saund., 299). Holotype, No. 21593 U. S. N. M. Measures 4.5 to 5 mm. in length. Twenty specimens, both sexes, reared by Mr. H. G. Ingerson, Benton Harbor, Michigan, June and July, 1916; transmitted through Mr. W. R. Walton. Differs from Frontina as follows: 'Second antennal joint shorter in proportion to third joint. No discal macrochaetae on abdominal segments. Frontalia much narrower. Facialia not ciliate over about one-half way. Arista not so long, thickened on basal half only. Male front narrower. No median marginal macrochaetae on first abdominal segment. No decussate apical scutellar bristles in either sex. The great disparity in size caused me to doubt Coquillett's determina- tion of this species as ancilla Walker. Comparison of specimens of this and the preceding disclosed the fact that Walker's description fits Pseudo- myothyria closely in structural details, such as length and thickening of arista, apical, crossvein not bent in, fourth vein very obtuse at bend, third antennal joint linear and slender, etc., in all of which it disagrees with the present form, FrontinicUn. A NEW GENUS OF LEPIDOPTERA ALLIED TO LEUCOPTERA HUBNER. BY CARL HEINRICH, Specialist in Forest Lepidoptera, U. S. Bureau of Entomology. Paraleucoptera gen. nov. Ti/pe: Cemiostoma albella Chambers. In 1902 (Jn. N. Y. Ent. Soc., Vol. X, pp. 98-99) Busck erected the genus Proleucoptera with smilaciella Busck as the type. He included in his new genus (Cemiostoma) albella Chambers calling attention, however, to its more advanced neuration. In the 22 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 1918 foregoing paper I had occasion to mention the differences in the maxillulae of the larvae of the two species. These are shown in figures 28 and 29 (Plate IV). There is also quite a striking difference in the relative position of the setae on the ventral side of the epicranium. In albella 80-3, SO-2, and 0-2 (Plate IV, fig. 34) are well separated and in a line close to the lateral margin while in smilaciella SO-3 has moved forward until it is on the level of SO-2 (between SO-2 and the hypostomal ridge). 0-2 and A -3 have also moved further forward on the head in smilaciella. In venation the two species agi'ee in having l-b of forewings furcate at base, but smilaciella has an extra vein (3 of FW) not found in albella, 11 is present and strong and all veins are separate. In albella 6 and 7 are long stalked, the base of 5 is weak, 11 nearly obsolete and the cross vein of the cell between 2 and 7 very weak and obsolete between 7 and 9. While no two species of the old genus Leucoptera (Cemiostoma) have identical venation, the amount of difference which justified the separation of Proleucop- tera from the group should also exclude albella from Proleucoptera. The larval differences offer a very strong argument for their separation. On the other hand if the erection of Proleucoptera was valid we cannot associate albella with the type of Leucoptera (spartifoliella Hubn.). The latter has Ib of the forewings sim- ple at base, 7 is obselete or nearly so, 5 is absent or very weak, and the cross vein of the cell is lost, between 2 and 6 but fairly strong between 6 and 9. I am therefore proposing- Paraleucoptera as the name of a new genus for albella Chambers. The European susinella H-S would also go in this genus. The complete venation of albella and spartifoliella is shown in the following figures. olbc'/a Chambers \- pTer eucoTera ifclitjia. Dale of Pii!>ll.-nlinii Xc.plcnihcr 27, 1918. VOL. 20 FEBRUARY 1918 No. 2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON CONTENTS ^ GAHAN, A. B. THREE NEW CHALCIDOID EGG-PARASITES ' 23 HEINRICH, CARL ON THE -LEPIDOPTEROUS GENUS OPOSTEGA AND ITS LARVAL AFFINITIES .27 PUBLISHED MONTHLY EXCEPT JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BY THE SOCIETY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 GREENMOUNT AVE. BALTIMORE, MD. EDITORIAL OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C. Entered as second-class matter February 28, 1913 at the post office at Baltimore, Maryland, under the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 3, 1918. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday of each month, from October to June inclusive, at 8'p.m. Annual dues for members are $3.00; initiation fee $1.00. Members are entitled to the PROCEEDINGS and any manuscript submitted by them is given precedence over that submitted by non-members. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1918. Honorary President E. A. SCHWARZ President E. R. SASSCER First Vice-President FREDERICK KNAB Second Vice-President W. R. WALTON Recording Secretary A. B. GAHAN Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROHWER U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Editor A. C. BAKER East Falls Church, Va. Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Science W. D. HUNTER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. THE OFFICERS. A. N. CATTDELL. A. L. QUAINTANCE. CHAS. R. ELY. PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published monthly, except July, August and September, by the Society at Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D. C. Terms of subscription: Do- mestic, $4.00 per annum; foreign, $4.25 per annum; recent single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. All subscriptions are payable in advance Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Advertising rates on application to the Corresponding Secretary. Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS will be entitled to 25 separates of each contribution, free of charge, provided the Editor is notified before page proof is returned. Additional copies may be had at rates fixed by the Society. Certain charges are made on illustrations and there are rules and suggestions governing the make-up of articles published. Contributors may secure information on these points by ap- plication to the Editor or Corresponding Secretary. oc PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOL. 20 FEBRUARY, 1918 No. 2 THREE NEW CHALCIDOID EGG-PARASITES. BY A. B. GAHAN. In this paper will be found descriptions of two species of My- maridae and one species of Trichogrammatidae. Family MYMARIDAE. Tribe Gonatocerini. Gonatocerus ornatus, new species. This species should be easily recognized by the pallid lines on the head and thorax. No other species known to the writer is thus ornamented. Female. Length .9 mm. Head and thorax smooth and polished, only the face below the antennae weakly sculptured; abdomen apparently smooth (wrinkled somewhat in drying). Antennae not quite as long as the body; scape flattened, slightly swollen beyond the middle and rounded at apex, narrowly spatulate in outline; pedicel very slightly longer than broad at apex; funicle gradually thickening fpom base to club; joints one and two of the funicle subequal, slightly longer than broad, together about equal in length to the pedicel and approximately one-third as thick as the pedicel at apex; funicle joint three about one and one-half times as long as thick, shorter than joint four which is twice as long as thick; joints five, six, and seven subequal and each distinctly longer than four; joint eight slightly shorter than seven; club solid and a little longer than the three apical joints of funicle combined; face below antennae with a distinct fold extending from the base of each antenna to the clypeus and converg- ing slightly anteriorly; antennal grooves narrow and shallow but distinct and well separated below, converging above at the front ocellus; pa- rapsiclal grooves impressed; propodeum apparently smooth; forewing moderately broad with dense evenly distributed cilia, the longest marginal cilia equal to less than one-fourth the greatest breadth of wing; subinarni- nal vein with a single stiff bristle basad of the middle; abdomen rather robust, longer than the head and thorax, the ovipositor sheaths extending very slightly beyond the apex of abdomen. General color shining black: the antennal grooves, a narrow line on vertex from lateral ocellus to eye- 23 24 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 2, FEB., 1918 margin, a narrow curved line on occiput connecting the lateral ocelli, a line on each lateral margin of the praescutum following the parapsidal grooves, a broader line on the lateral margins of the scutellum, and a spot on each side of the postscutellum pale yellow or whitish; frequently also an obscure longitudinal pale line on each side of the middle of propodeum; antennae brownish black, the scape at base and the pedicel brownish testaceous; coxae entirely and all femora and the hind tibiae for the most part blackish, the trochanters, apices of all femora, fore and middle tibiae and all tarsi pallid, the middle tibiae more or less stained with fuscous; wings uniformly subhyaline. Male. In sise and color markings agrees with the female. Antennae slightly longer than the body, the scape short, about twice as long as the pedicel which is barely as long as thick; first funicle joint slightly the shortest of the funicle joints and about one and one-half times the length of pedicel; joints beyond the first funicle joint subequal in length and tapering slightly in width toward the apex; club not differentiated. Other- wise like the female. Type locality. Tempe, Arizona. Type. Cat. No. 21698 U. S. N. M. Host. Eggs of Stictocephala festina Say. Nineteen females and eighteen males, all from the type local- ity, and reared by V. L. Wildermuth under Webster No. 6190. Eighteen of the females bear, in addition to the Webster number, the label Tempe No. 2739 while one female and all of the males bear Tempe No. 2738. The type and allotype are mounted in balsam on slides for better preservation. All paratypes are on card points. The description was for the most part drawn from the types before being mounted on slides. Polynema imitatrix, new species. Very similar to sibylla Girault but differs by being smaller in size, the abdomen shorter and more robust, the marginal cilia of the forewing two-thirds as long as the breadth of the wing or a little moro than two-thirds as long, ths ovipositor not or barely exserted. Differs from piceipes Girault by having much longer marginal cilia on the forewing. Distinguished from maculipes Ashmead by having fine and moderately dense discal cilia on the forewing. Female. Length .95 m. Smooth and polished without apparent sculp- ture. Antennae about as long as the he'ad, thorax and abdominal petiole combined; first funicle joint very slightly more than half as long as the second; third funicle joint approximately two- thirds as long as the second; the joints beyond the third subequal and about the same length as the first joint but distinctly thicker; club rather robust and nearly as long PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 2, FEB., 1918 25 as the three last joints of the funicle combined; forewings moderately broad with short moderately dense discal cilia; abdomen a little longer than the head and thorax and rather robust; legs slender. Head, thorax, and abdomen except the petiole polished black; antennal funicle and club black or blackish, the basal joints of funicle often slightly testaceous; scape, pedicel, legs including all coxae, and the basal joint of abdomen pale testaceous; apical joint of all tarsi blackish; the middle and front femora sometimes slightly infuscated; wings hyaline, venation testaceous. Male. Length .88 m. Antennae much longer than the whole body, the first funicle joint very slightly shorter than the second; second and third funicle joints nearly equal, the joints beyond the third to apex of antennae tmbequal and very slightly shorter than the third; other characters as in the female. Type locality. Tempe, Arizona. Type Cat. No. 21703, U. S. N. M. Host. Eggs of Stictocephala festina Say. Eighteen females bearing Tempe No. 2739 and twelve males bearing Tempe No. 2738, all reared by Mr. V. L. Wildermuth and recorded in the Bureau of Entomology under Webster No. 6190. Type, allotype, thirteen female paratypes, and nine para- type males mounted on slides in balsam. Four female and two male paratypes mounted on card points. The type series was evidently reared along with the types of Gonatocerus ornatus Gahan, ante, and from the same material, since the rearing num- bers are identical for both series of specimens. Family TRICHOGRAMMATIDAE. Abbella (Ittys) perditrix, new species. Very similar to Abella (Ittys) ceresarum (Ashmead) Girault but differs by being smaller in size, paler in color, the forewings distinctly less strongly ciliated discally, the fuscous stain below the stigmal vein entirely absent, the discal dilation of hind wing more re- duced. Differs from sub/lava Girault and allies in having the funicle joints distinctly longer, and a transverse row of discal cilia behind the stigmal vein. Differs from nympha Girault in the shorter marginal cilia of the forewing. Female. Length .85 mm. Antennae rather long, scape normal, pedicel longer than the whole funicle, approximately twice as long as broad; one distinct ring-joint and what appears to be a second which is distinctly separated from the base of the first funicle joint; first funicle joint longer than broad, the apex somewhat obliquely truncate, its upper margin longer than the lower; second funicle joint not longer than broad, nar- rower at base than apex; club long, narrowly fusiform, slightly thicker at base, distinctly three-jointed; the joints subcqual in length, joints one 26 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 2, FEB., 1918 and two of the club combined about equal to the combined funicle and pedicel; forewing broad, evenly rounded at apex, the discal cilia sparse and arranged in several distinct rows as follows; a row from the uncus of stigmal vein to the anterior margin of wing near apex and corresponding to the radial vein of some Hymenoptera, the area before this row with only three or four irregularly placed cilia; a very distinct row from the apex of stigmal vein to the apical middle of wing and between this row and the one corresponding to radius lie about five shorter rows of less regularly arranged cilia; behind this median row and extending to the apex of the wing is a moderately broad nearly hairless streak bounded caudad by another distinct row of cilia; the ciliation behind this row sparse and consisting of about three or four more or less poorly defined rows with some irregularly placed cilia between; transverse row of cilia behind the stigmal vein composed of about six hairs; longest marginal cilia of the forewing equal to approximately one-fourth to one-fifth the greatest breadth of wing; discal ciliation of the hind wing very weak and apparently consisting of a very obscure row along the anterior margin, and a somewhat more distinct row medially, otherwise entirely bare; marginal cilia on the posterior margin of the hind wing fully twice as long as the width of wing, those on the front margin hardly half as long as the wing breadth; front tibiae slightly swollen with three obscure tooth-like projections on the anterior margin each bearing a short spine or hair; abdomen longer than head and thorax, pointed at apex; ovipositor barely exposed at apex. Color very pale lemon yellow, the eyes and ocelli reddish when mounted in balsam; mandibles brownish; first joint of funicle and the first and last joints of club blackish; pedicel also slightly fuscous above; apex of ovipositor sheaths black; apical tarsal joints blackish; wings hyaline, the venation pale. Male. Length .71 mm. Except for the slightly smaller size and the fact that the abdomen is slightly shorter and not pointed at apex the male agrees with the female. Type locality. Tempe, Arizona. TypeCat. No. 21699 U. S. N. M. Host. Eggs of Stictocephala festina Say. Described from nine females and twelve males reared by V. L. Wildermuth under Bureau of Entomology WebsterNo. 6190, Tempe No. 2740. Type, allotype, and seven paratypes mounted on slides. Others on card points. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. '2, FEE, 1918 27 ON THE LEPIDOPTEROUS GENUS OPOSTEGA AND ITS LARVAL AFFINITIES. BY CARL HEINRICH, Specialist in Forest Lepidoptera, U. S. Bureau of Entomology. It has been the writer's good fortune during the past year to be able to study the larvae of two species 1 of this interesting genus and to ascertain certain facts in regard to the modification of the head capsule and trophi which throw considerable light on its relationship to other bark and leaf-mining Microlepidoptera. The proper position of the genus Opostega in lepidoptera classi- fication has been uncertain. Meyrick (6-7) associates it with Bucculatrix, Lyonetia, Phyllocnistis, Leucoptera, etc. in his con- cept of the family Lyonetidae Spuler (8) places it in the sub- family Oposteginae under the Nepticulidae. Busck (2) likewise connects it with the Nepticulidae and our latest list (1) follows him in this; but in all late classifications, Leucoptera (Cemiostoma) and Lyonetia with which Opostega has much in common are placed far from Nepticula. Both groups have a number of char- acters in common, the large developed eye caps, maxillary palpi, and the short drooping labial palpi. Both show a corresponding advance in venational development. On the other hand the Nepticulidae as well as the Tischeriidae, Opostegidae, Adelidae, Prodoxidae, Incurvariidae and Micropterygidae all possess certain aculei on the wings which are lacking in the Leucopterygidae (Cemiostomidae), and it is the retention of this primitive and significant character which has largely determined the placing of Opostega with Nepticula and away from Leucoptera. The venation of Opostega is the most advanced in the Lepidoptera. The forewings have no cross veins and only three horizontal veins, and in the hind wings the venation is reduced to six veins, (3 and 4 absent, and the cell open between 2 and 5). If \vc compare this venation with that of any species of Nepticula or with that of Leucoptera (L. spartifolieUa Hbn. for example) we can easily understand how it could be derived from either one. Both in the Leucopterygidae and Nepticulidae reduction in vena- tion is going on at a rapid rate, but by methods somewhat dif- ferent. In Opostega the result has been achieved and nothing remains to show if it has followed the tendencies exhibited by the one or the other of the two groups or, for that ma 1 1 rr, followed a course different from either. And this is significant; for it 1 An unnamed ()/HI.I< i, and <>. nonstrigella < Miami)., larva found mining stems of Kibis and mot lis reared by .Mr. J. (', . < irossenbacker (Geneva, X. V., 1910). 28 PEOC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 2, FEB., 1918 must be remembered that these forms, however primitive they may be in group origin, are all highly specialized representatives upon whom biological influences have produced a startling and wide variety of modifications. What is lost, or retained, or changed is therefore of considerably less significance than how the loss or change came about or how adverse or favorable the biological conditions have been to any character that has been retained. The tendency to lose certain veins rather than others where either could be sacrificed to the same advantage, or the tendency to modify certain parts of the larval head rather than other parts when either modification would produce a form equally suited to conditions is more important than the mere form that results. One is distinctly an inherited character, the other often merely biological. This brings .us to our consideration of the larva of Opostega (Plate I) with which we are here chiefly concerned. In general appearance it resembles nothing in the Lepidoptera except in a very superficial way certain sap-feeders of the Gracilariidae with which it has in reality nothing in common. The head (figs. 8, 9) is oval, wedge-shaped, widest near the hind margin, flattened to a extreme degree, with two long, thin blades (Bl) articulated to the dorsal hind margin at the posterior extremities of the adfrontal ridges (ADFR) and extending into the pro- thorax. The frons (FR) is widest at the hind margin, narrow- ing slightly anteriorly and bearing the two frontal punctures (Fa) just back of the anterior margin. The frontal setae are absent as are also the adfrontal areas with their setae. There is nothing to correspond to the bridge (Ob, figs. 16, 33) connecting the posterior dorsal extremities of the adfrontal ridges in so many leaf and bark miners, and so conspicuously developed in the sap-feeding Gracilariidae. The articulation between frons and epistoma is very decided and the latter part greatly developed, fused with pleurostoma (EP + PLR) and completely enclosing all but the anterior margin of the labrum. The labrum (L, fig. 1) itself is very peculiar. It is thin, weakly chitinized, and capable of little or no movement. There is one median and one lateral, hairless tubercle on the anterior margin on either side of the epipharyngeal shield. Both the epipharyngeal teeth (ET) and the epipharyngeal shield (ES) are enormously developed and thrust well forward of the limits of the labrum. The shield might easily be mistaken for the labrum itself save that it bears no setae or punctures and has none of the muscle attachments peculiar to that organ. Of the epicranial setae only three re- main, two on the dorsal surface (representing most probably A-l, and A -3) and one on the ventral surface (one of the larger of the sub-ocellar or ocellar groups, either SO-3 or 0-5) . There are PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 2, FEB., 1918 29 no traces of either ocellar pigment or lenses. The lateral margin of the epicranium is thickened into a conspicuous, dark, heavy endoskeletal ridge (LtR) articulating at the lateral angle of the antennal ring and continuing back to where the dorsal and ventral hind margins unite on the lateral edge; from here it divides apparently into two arms, one curving around the dorsum and forming the dorsal hind margin and finally fusing without ap- preciable articulation with the adfrontal ridge, the other curving similarly on the venter and fusing (also without articulation) with the long ridge (Hr) of the hypostoma. This lateral ridge, the peculiar development of the hypostoma. and the modification of certain of the mouth parts are the most striking and significant characters of this unique head. The triangular plates of the hypostoma (Hp) which in most Lepidoptera are well back on the ventral surface of the head, are in Opostega thrust forward until they lie immediately under the epistoma and pleurostoma. The endoskeletal ridge of the hypostoma (Hr) extends back- ward from the triangular plates to the ventral hind margin rather than forward from them as in normal generalized forms, almost the entire mid-ventral surface of the capsule being occu- pied by a thin transparent gula (GL). The tentorial bridge (TR) of other lepidoptera is in Opostega a complete ring set well back in the head. The articulation of the ventral arms of tentorium (VaT) are at the extreme posterior limits of the hypostoma 2 and the epicranial fossa (Fs), for the mandible, which in all other forms is a socket in hypostoma at the anterior end of the hypostomal ridge is, in Opostega, a hole in hypostoma partially or perhaps completely limited by the triangular plate. The condyle of the mandible is thrust into this hole and the mandible thus firmly locked into the head, a specialization, which as far as I know, is not found in the Lepidoptera outside this family. There is also a very unique structure on the mandibles. In place of the two dorsal setae commonly found on most lepidop- terous mandibles we have in Opostega a long, thick, tapering, membraneous cone (Cn, fig. 7) projecting well forward of the mandible. From its structure and position we may assume that it is used as a brush to sweep into the mouth the fine, torn frag- ments that are not carried in by the mandibular teeth, or that it is used to sweep and clean the dorsal surface of the lower mouth parts. The mandibles themselves are broad and considerably flattened. They approach somewhat the flat mandibles of cer- - In normal forms the attachment of tentorium to hypostoma is to the triangular plates (the inner invaginated area of hypostoma). hi (>/>< Phyllocnistis indicates that Phyllocnislis is a true C.racilariid. This skives us another defining character for t lie family for nowhere else, as far as I know, has the sap-feeding lialiii developed. Tragardh i(), p. .'!.">) with his usual kceness in such matter,- notes the exceptional character of the stipes of Li'iico/ilcni (Cemiostoma) and con- siders ihat it is their greater development which is responsible lor their peculiar form. He notes that an even higher degree of development along (lie same lines lias taken place in Lithocolletis. \ ihink the lines of progress are.]".-' opposite in theuhli<-. :{, MAR., 1918 49 lateral wings forms the laterosternites Is of figs. 14, 15, text-fig. 1, etc.) should supplant the designation "sternum" used in the restricted sense. Snodgrass, 1910, however, substitutes the term "eusternum" for the third sternal subdivision, without giving any reason for so doing; but, since he has applied his terms to no actual sclerites in any insect (other than the use of the terms presternum? " sternum " and sternellum cited above) it is impossible to determine to what sclerites his terms should be applied, and the designations presternum, basisternum, furcasternum, and spinasternum remain as the only terms 'actually applied to the consecutive sternal subdivisions figured or de- scribed in any insect, and they are the only terms which can be used without specifying that they are employed in this or that sense, and not as applied by this or that entomologist! Further- more, since such terms as furcasternum and spinasternum could not possibly be applied to the wrong sternites (since the names imply that the sternite in question bears the furca or spina), it is preferable to employ these purely descriptive terms. The advisability of using purely descriptive terms is at once apparent, if we consider the possibility that the sternite ss of figure 14 (i.e., the spinasternum) may prove to be the anterior- most sternite of the segment behind it, instead of. being the posteriormost sternite of the segment in front of it (as here given) for the musculature would admit of such interpretation, and the fact that in the mesothorax .of Corydalis the so-called spinaster- num of the prothorax is attached to the front of the mesosternum, instead of being associated with the pro thoracic region, points to the possibility of the spinasternum being the anteriormost sternite, as also does the fact that it is located between the sub- spiracular plates which are portions of the segment behind them instead of the segment in front. If it should thus be the anterior- most sternite of the segment behind it (from an embryological study of the formation of the spinasternum), the designation "poststcr- iium" or "poststerncllum" would hardly be appropriate, while the purely descriptive term spinasternum would be equally applicable in either case. It is also evident that it is inadmissi- ble to apply the same set of terms to entirely different sclerites in adults and larvae when it is perfectly possible to homologize the sclerites in all stages. Since Hopkins, 1909, has applied the terms stemelluni and poststerncllum, etc. to subdivisions of the basisternum and furcasternum alone of the si emit es, in adult Goleoptera, these terms should Ue applied to homologous regions in larval Coleoptera also, if used at all, and therefore cannot be applied to the regions here recognized, which are not subdivi- sions of the basisternum and furcasternum. This, however, 50 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAR., 1918 does not apply to the term presternum, which, unlike the terms sternellum and poststernellum, had practically always been used to designate the plate ps (of fig. 14) alone (Meinert, 1867, Corn- stock and Kochi, 1902, Crampton, 1908, etc.), and its application was therefore fixed by general usage before Hopkins attempted to apply it to the sclerites of the Coleoptera. If the previous usages of the terms sternellum, poststernellum, etc., were disregarded, the equivalence of the terms here employed, as expressed in the terminology of McLeay, 1830, might be tabulated as follows. Presternum . . Praesternum Basisternum "Sternum" (Basisternum or Eusternum) Furcasternum Sternellum Spinasternum Poststernum or Poststernellum Pleural Subdivisions. The entire lateral region of a segment, including both the sclerites and t-he more membranous region as well, is called the pleuron i.e., the region between the alar area, al and the coxa ex, in figures 18, 19, 21, etc. In the pleural region of many insects, there occurs a distinct plate called the pleural plate or eupleuron, ep of figures 18. 19, etc. As first pointed out by the writer (Crampton, 1908, page 14) the pleural plate becomes divided into an episternal region, es, and an epimeral region, em, by an inpocketing, or infolding of the integument, possibly due to the stress of the muscles attached to this region. The internal fold forms the apodeme for muscle attachment, while the external lips of the pocket meet to form the pleural suture, or dividing line between the episternum, es, and the epimeron, em. Beiiese, 1909, considers that the epimeron, em of figures 18, 19, etc., is a detached portion of the tergal region, while the epi- sternum, es, is a portion of the sternal region. It is not clear, however, how he arrived at the conclusion that the episternum and epimeron are not portions of a single plate, for this can be readily seen in both adult and larval insects, and none of the ob- served facts is in harmony with his view. Boerner, 1903, at first thought that the episternum and epi- meron are detached portions of the sternal region, and Craig- head, 1916, came to a similar conclusion from a study of the mus- culature of larval Coleoptera. Boerner, however, later discarded this view in favor of Heymons' idea of the pleural plate represent- ing a basal portion of the leg. Miall and Denny, 1886 (page 61), suggested that the p!ur:i] plate represents the basal segment of the log which has "become PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAR., 1918 51 adherent to the thorax." The embryological investigations of Heymons support this view, and Boerner adopts it in his later publications. In the early embryonic stages, there is no clear line of demarca- tion between the base of the leg and the pleural region, and this may have given rise to the idea that the pleural plate represents the basal portion of the leg. At any rate, a further study of the embryological development of the region in question should be carried out before this point can be definitely decided; and even if it should prove to be the case that the pleural plate represents a detached basal portion of the leg, it is none the less true that the pleural plate occurs as a separate and distinct plate in the lowest Apterygotan insects, and in many of the immature Ptery- gotan forms, and must therefore have occurred as a distinct plate at a very early stage in the evolution of insects. On this account, I formerly maintained that it probably occurred as a distinct plate from the very beginning, having been formed by the greater deposition of chitin and pigment, due to the stimulus of muscle stress, friction, or other mechanical causes. Although the plural plate occurs as a separate and distinct, plate in many immature insects, this is not the case in most adults, and the question naturally arises as to whether the epi- sternum es and the epimeron em of a larval insect, such as that shown in figure 18, really represents the episternum and epi- meron of the adult. A comparison of the larval and adult stages of the same insect would indicate that the pleural plate of the larva merely increases in size (encroaching more and more on the membranous region of the segment) to form the correspond- ing regions of the adult, and that a union of plates originally distinct frequently take place by the further chitinization and pigmentation of the membranous region between them. In some cases, new lines and sutures are formed in the adult stages, thereby tending to mask the original condition, but the principal landmarks usually remain but little changed, and the parts can be homologized by referring them to these landmarks in both adult and larval stages. It may be further remarked, that the larvae usually retain the plates in a condition approximating that found in the lower Apterygota, much more closely than the adults do, and, in most cases, the condition found in the larvae must therefore be considered as much nearer the original one, although the more primitive, rather than the more highly special- ized larvae, should be considered in this connection. The pleural plate in some cases is connected with the basi- sternum, bs (figs. 4, 5, (i, 7, etc.) by a continuous chitinous region forming a connecting bridge between the sternal and 52 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAR., 1918 pleural region, and extending in front of the coxae. In the prothorax of the Plecopteron Capnia (fig. 14) that portion of the connecting bridge which is of strenal origin (i. e., Is of fig. 14) is still attached to the basisternum 6s; but in the mesothorax of a nymph of the Plecopteron Perla (fig. 15) it becomes detached to form the distinct sclerite Is, as is also the case in the Forficulid Arix- enia ,(fig. 13, Is}. In the adult stages of Perla, however, it is still united with the basisternal region. As shown by Voss, 1904, in the thorax of Gryllus, the apodeme of the pleural plate is connected with the furca of the sternal region by the furco-apodemal muscles. Epimero-subalar and epimero-scutal muscles connect the epimeron with the subalar and scutal regions, while the trochantero-episternal, coxo-epi- sternal and trochantino-episternal muscles connect the trochanter, coxa, and trochantin, with the episternum. As pointed out in a recent paper (Crampton, 1917 a), in prac- tically all of the thoracic segments of Apterygotan insects (fig. 12), and in the prothoracic region of the most primitive of the Pterygotan insects, such as the Plecopteron Capnia (fig. 14), the Embiid Embia, the Grylloblatticl Grylloblatta, the Forficulid ' Echinosoma, the Blattid Blaberus, the Phasmid Simema, the Mantid Stagmomantis, various Isoptera, etc., there intervenes between the true pleural plate ep and the coxa ex a plate labeled et (in figs. 12, 14, etc.), which has been designated as the eutro- chantin, or true trochantin (figs. 12, 24 and 25, et shaded in all figures). As seen in figure 25, the shaded eutrochantin breaks up into an anterior portion labeled tn, which remains distinct to form the plate commonly called the trochantin in higher insects, while the posterior portion unites with the pleural plate above it to form the lower portion of the episternal and epimeral regions. The steps in the process of the fusion of the posterior portion of the eutrochantin with the pleural plate are admirably shown in a series of illustrations of the sclerites of Dennaptera recently published by Pantel, 1917. As shown in plate III of Pantel's extremely important monograph, the posterior portion of the eutrochantin, which is distinct in Allostethus, Echinosonni, etc., becomes partially united with the pleural plate in Labidura, though still partially demarked by an incomplete "fissure divi- sante," while in Anisolabis and Calocrania only the faintest traces of the "fissure divisante" are retained, the fusion being practically complete in the latter insects. The plate et of figs. 24 and 25 may possibly represent a basal portion of the leg (since certain embryologists maintain that the trochantin is a basal segment of the leg) or it may have had an origin similar to that of the pleural plate ep mentioned above. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAR., 1918 53 I Berlese, 1909, on the other hand, maintains that the trochantin is a lateral portion of the "sternellum;" but there seem to be no adequate grounds for maintaining this view. The trochantinal plate tn, of figure 18 is not the exact equivalent of the sclcrite designated as tn in figures 21 and 15, since the anterior portion of the region tn marked off by a dotted line in figure 15 (which is demarked by a well defined suture in some Plccopteron nymphs) corresponds more nearly to the plate tn of figure 18. For the sake of convenience, however, the sclerites labeled tn in the different figures will be referred to simply as the "trochantin." In the 'thorax of Gryllus, the trochantin is connected with the episternum and with the praesternum by the trochantino-episternal and the trochantino-prescutal muscles. The trochantin (or eutrochantin) and the pleura! plate (which is divided by an approximately vertical suture in most of the in- sects studied figs. 2, 9, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, etc.) apparently repre- sent the original sclerites of the pleura! region, since they are present in many Apterygotan and larval Pterygotan insects. In certain larval forms, however, there occur in the pleura! region several other sclerites whose homologies and phylogenetic significance are not always clear. Thus, in the mesopleural region of the Tenthredinid larva shown in figure 17, there occurs a true pleura! plate ep divided by the typical suture as in the larva of Corydalis (fig. 18, ep) and other lower forms. In the Tenthredinid larva, however, in addition to the true pleura! plate (fig. 17, ep) there occurs a sclerite labeled pp which bears no suture, and is situated immediately above the coxa. Simi- larly, in the Lepidopteron larva shown in figure 20, there occm> a siircoxal plate labeled pp, which bears no typical suture, and is also situated immediately above the coxa, while in the Panorpid larva shown in figure 23 a non-suture-bearing plate labeled pp is found immediately above the narrow band ex! (which 7 apparentlv represents the chitinized portion of the coxa of the Lepidopteron larva, fig. 20, ex). The various sclerites labeled pp in figures 17, 20, and 23, may not be strictly homologous in every case, but the correspondence is sufficiently close for all practical purposes. In the mesothorax of the Calosoma larva shown in figure 18, there occurs immediately below the alar area - subalar muscles of such insects as Grylli<*) are not attached to the plate d? (of fig. 21), but extend to a point above it, along the 54 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAR., 1918 lower margin of the alar area al. It is possible for muscles to shift slightly in certain cases, however, as may be seen by com- paring the muscles attached to the subalar plate in the meso- thorax, with those of the metathorax, in the figures of the mus- culature of Gryllus, by Voss, 1904. At any rate, the location of the plate d? of figure 21 corresponds so closely to that of the typical subalar plate of adult insects, that I have provisionally homologized it with the true subalar plate. On the other hand, the plates labeled d in figures 17, 20, and 23, may not be strictly homologous with plate df of figure 21, but since my material of these insects is too shrunken and poorly preserved to permit a study of the muscles, this point must await further investigation. With regard to the true pleural plate ep of figures 18 and 21, which is divided by an internal ridge, or apodeme, and an exter- nal suture, into two regions es and em, it would appear that the plate in question comes to occupy a much greater area in the adult than in the larval condition; so that the region es of figure 18 corresponds only in a general way to the episternum of the adult, as es does to the epimeral region of the imago. The apodeme of the pleural plate in Gryllus, is connected with the furca by the furca-apodemal muscles. The epimero-subalar and epimero-scutal muscles connect the epimeron with the subalar plate and scutum; and the trochantero-episternal, coxo- episternal, and trochantino-episternal muscles connect the epi- sternum with the trochanter, coxa, and trochantin in Gryllus, as shown by Voss, 1904. Tergal Subdivisions. The entire dorsal region of a segment, including the more membranous as well as the more heavily chitinized portions, is termed the tergum, or notum. When the longitudinal dorsal muscles are developed, they are usually attached to phrogmas, or transverse shelf-like internal structures of the tergal region, which serve to demark the limit; of the metameres. The alar area ' al' of figures 18 and 21, in which .the wing develops, is tergal in nature, according to Craighead, 1916 a view which is in harmony with the modern conception of the nature of the wings (see Crampton, 1916). As pointed out by Verhoeff, 1904, and Snodgrass, 1909, two .principal plates occur in the tergal region. The anterior one of these two plates (en of text-figure and figs. 18, 19, 21, etc.) is usually the only one developed in larval forms, while the posterior plate (psl of text-figure), which is the postscutellum of adult in- sects, usually found in the region psl of figures 22 and 18, when the muscles of flight have developed: to it are attached the prescuto- postscutellar, scutello-postscutellar, and other longitudinal mus- cles, as in GryUns. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAR., 1918 55 Snodgrass, 1909, refers to the plate en of figures 18, 19, 21, etc., as the "notum," in the restricted sense; but the term notum has always been used as a synonym of tergum, and refers to the entire dorsal region (both membrane and the more heavily chitinized sclerites) of the segment. On this account, the term "scutoscutellum" was applied to the plate in front of the post- scutellum (Crampton, 1914, Martin, 1916, etc.) but since this term is somewhat cumbersome, the simple designation eunotum, which has been suggested for the plate in question, has been here adopted. In the young of certain of the more primitive insects, a mar- ginal region extends entirely around the eunotum, as in the pro- notal region of the nymph of Perla (fig. 24, per}. In the meso- notum of the Carabicl larva shown in figure 21, this marginal region is incomplete, only the anterior portion prt having been retained, although this region extends backward for a short dis- tance along the sides of. the plate. In the mesonotum of the nymph of Perla (fig. 15) the anterior transverse region prt, and in the pronotum of the Trichopteron larva shown in figure 19, the posterior transverse region pot, are all that remain of the mar- ginal region per of figure 24. The anterior transverse marginal region /;// of figures 15, 18, etc., is apparently homologous with the preterbite of adult insects, and the posterior transverse mar- ginal region pot of figure 19 is apparently homologous with the postergite of adult insects. The anterior region prt of figure 15, occurs in many Lepismids and other Apterygotan insects, as well as in the pronotum of many Pterygotan forms, such as the Grylloblattids, Embiids, etc. (see figures by Crampton, 1917 b), and may therefore represent the primitive condition, rather than the remains of a marginal region originally extending completely around the normal plate. The region prt (fig. 15, 18, 21, etc.) does not represent the prescutum, but is formed in front of the latter region; similarly, the region pot of fig. 19, does not repre- sent the postscutcllum, which is formed behind the latter region. In the mesonotum of the Coleopterous larva shown in figure 22, there occur three regions psc, sc, and psl, which are demarked by wrinklings of the integument. The region psc apparently represents the true jtrcxcutum, while the region .sc corresponds in a general way to the scutum of the adult. Concerning the region psl, there is some doubt. That it contains the postscutellar region is quite certain, but the true postscutellum is extremely small in the mesothoracic region of Coleoptera in general, thus suggesting that the region psl of figure 22 may possibly contain a portion of the scutellum also. An examination of the sclerites of Apterygotan insects would indicate that the condition shown in figures 24, 21, and 18, more 56 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL.' 20, NO. 3, MAR., 1918 nearly represent the original one, while the sclerites of the higher forms, such as those shown in figures 17, 20, and 23, present some variants of the original condition, as might be expected. In figures 20 and 23, the dorsal plates labeled b form the apical tergal plates, while the plate labeled c is the lateral tergal plate. In figure 17, the plate labeled a is apparently an additional an- terior dorsal tergal plate of the mesonotum, and the plates labeled c appear to be additional upper and lower anterior and posterior lateral tergal plates. Intersegmental Region. In figures 18, 21, etc., there occurs an intersegmental region labeled int, in which the spiracle sp is located. In some instances, a subspiracular plate (fig. 21, ip) occurs below the spiracle. These plates are not always associated with the spiracle (fig. 12, ip), and are apparently homologous with the inter pleurites, which, in the neck region, form the lateral cervical plates (figs. 23, 24, 16, 17, etc., Ic), while the other intersegmental plates form the dorsal and ventral cervicals, as has been discussed in a recent article (Crampton, 1917 a). An examination of figures 23, 20, 17, etc., would lead one to believe that the first spiracle (fig. 23, sp) is prothoracic, since it is apparently located in the prothoracic region. Embryology, however, shows that the spiracle originates in the anterior portion of the segment behind it, and later appears to migrate to an inter- segmental position, or even into the posterior region of the seg- ment in front of it. In such cases, there is frequently an impressed line, or fold, in front of the spiracle, marking it off from the remainder of the segment in front of it, although this is not always the case. The intersegmental region (figs. 18, 21, etc., int) is doubtless a demarked region of the segment behind it, although a portion of it may belong to the segment s in front. The spinasternite (figs. 7, 6, 4, etc., ss) for example, is located between the intersegmental plates ip near the spiracles; but, while the spiracles belong to the seg- ment behind them, the spinasternite has been provisionally regarded as the posteriormost sternal subdivision of the segment in front of it. The spinasternum itself, however, may possibly belong to the segment behind it also, since- the musculature would permit of such an interpretation; but, unti. an embryologi- cal study of the region in question has been made, it is impossible to determine this point. The dorsal intersegmental plates it of figure 18 appear to lie homologous with the interterbites of the adult insect. Their exact significance, however, is not clear, and until an embryological PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, X;). :i, MAR., 1918 57 study of the intersegmental region has been made, it will be im- possible to interpret the different intersegmental plates with any degree of certainty or satisfaction. Relationship Indicated. As is apparently true of many features which are of no vital importance to the organism (and would not therefore be greatly modified by natural selection or by use and disuse) the thoracic sclerites furnish many valuable clues as to the relationships of the different groups of insects. In the case of larvae, as is true of the adult forms, it is necessary to examine the most primitive insects, and these are usually too rare to be readily accessible for study. Furthermore, an insect which has preserved certain other features in a comparatively primitive condition will frequently be quite highly specialized in the particular feature one wishes to study; so that it is largely a matter of chance whether one ob- tains the proper material for his purpose, or not. Some of the con- clusions to be drawn from an examination of the larvae available for study, despite the incompleteness of this material, are in harmony with the results obtained from other sources, and may therefore be regarded as of general application. Among the most interesting of the results here obtained, are the evidences of relationship obtained from a comparison of the scler- ites of the nymphal Plecopteron Perla with those of the Euplexop- teron Arixenia. Thus, in comparing the sclerites of the nymphal Perla (fig. 15), part for part, with those of Arixenia (fig. 13), it is at once apparent that there is a remarkable similarity be- tween the two a similarity which is all the more striking when one compares the sclerites of Perla with those of other insects such as those shown in figures 10, 18, 19, 23, etc., all of which differ markedly from the Plecopteron in question. The relationships indicated by the sclerites are borne out by a comparative study of the head region in various Plecoptera and Euplexoptera, and by a comparison of the segmented cerci of certain Euplexop- tera, such as nymphs of Di-[>l!> THREE NEW SPECIES OF DIPTERA. BY CHARLES T. GREENE, Specialist on Forest Diptera, Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. While making a study of some miscellaneous Diptera in the collection of the Branch of Forest Insects, the following species, which appear to be new, were found. CHLOROPIDAE. Madiza conicola, new species. Male and female. Glossy black. Antennae brownish black on outer surface, inner surface of second joint entirely and third joint mostly dark red, upper and apical edge blackish; third joint rounded. Arista brownish black, short pubescent. Arista as long, in the male, and nearly as long in the female, as width of frons at base of antennae. Palpi black. Cheek about half as high as width of third antennal joint, anterior angle produced slight- ly, lower half of cheek finely bristled, along upper edge of these fine bristles are several much longer bristles; vibrissae present. Frons shiny black. Female, frons at vertex slightly wider than width of eye, and at base of antennae, width equal to that of eye. A narrow area above base of antennae, reaching half way along the frons, opaque blackish. Opaque area much wider in the male and frons narrower. Ocellar triangle, in both sexes, fairly well defined, finely rugose, bare, and with a single bristle on each side. Mesonotum thickly covered with short, blackish hairs; humeral and post alar callosity each have a strong bristle. Two bristles, one stronger than the other, on the mesonotum, near each corner of the scutellum. Scutellum rounded, disk covered like mesonotum. A pair of bristles at apex and a single bristle on each side along the margin. Ab- domen shiny black with a small lighter area near the base. Legs brown- black; tip of femur, base and tip of tibiae and all tarsal joints yellow; the infuscation on the middle of the front tibia is variable from a pale grayish to a brown. Wings hyaline, veins yellow; third costal section nearly or about half the length of the second; third and fourth veins parallel. Hal- teres whitish. Length 1.25 to 1.5 mm. Tiii'-lnculi,tii. Long's Ranch, Oregon, September 3, 1916. Reared November 20, 1910. Other localities are Ashland, Oregon, September 2, 1916; Quincy, California, Sept. 20, 1916. Mr. F. P. Keen, collector. Larva of tin's species feed within the cones of Abies concol<>-. T///><>. Female, Allotype male, Cat No. 21709, U. S. Mils. 70 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 SYRPHIDAE. Chrysotoxum coloradensis, new species. This species is near laterale and pubescens. Mate. Head Antennae black, shorter than head. First joint slightly shorter than second, third joint slightly longer than first and second together; bristly hairs on first two joints, black; arista deep yellow, brown- ish towards apex. Front shiny, brownish-black with numerous long brown hairs and a broad band of short, yellow pubescence along the eyes. Ocellar triangle shiny black, with numerous long dark hairs and a whitish pubescence" across the base, front ocellus yellowish.-white, basal pair quite reddish. Face pale yellow, finely pubescent and covered with numerous yellowish-brown hairs, shorter than those on the front, a black stripe reaching from antennae to the oral margin, very narrow at the antennae and much broader at the tubercle. (Sometimes this stripe is interrupted by a narrow yellow stripe between the oval margin and the facial tubercle.) Cheek yellow, with a broad, shiny, black stripe reaching from the oral margin to the eye. Thorax black, clorsum sub-opaque, Avith a bronze reflection and slightly shiny along the sides; dorsum covered with numerous, yellow hairs, more reddish along the sides. In tlie middle are two, faint, yellowish stripes extending from half to two thirds the length of the thorax; the lateral edge has a yellow stripe broadly interrupted in back of the transverse suture. Pleura black, posterior half of mesopleura pale yellow, extending up to the base of the wing. Scutellum yellow, brownish in center; bristly hairs on basal half yellow, those on apical half, brown and slightly longer. Abdomen mostly yellow. The lateral carina black on first, second and third segments, yellowish-brown on fourth and fifth and yellow on apical corner of all the segments except the first. First and second segments black, second with a yellow, arcuate fascia across the middle, broadly in- terrupted in the middle and dilated towards the outer-edge. (Extreme apical edge of segments sometimes yellow.) Third segment with a narrow black fascia entirely across the base and widening as it meets the carina; a wider black fascia near the middle extending obliquely towards, but not touching, the apical corner (the fasciae on this segment are variable in width) ; segments four and five have a very narrow black fascia of uneven width along the base, connecting with the carina; fourth segment lias a black spot in the center and a longer one towards each apical corner; fifth segment has three black spots in a triangular form. All the black mark- ings on the dorsum and the yellow on the apical part of the last three seg- ments covered with numerous, short, black, bristly hairs. Venter black, three segments visible, basal segment with a narrow yellow fascia along the apical edge, broader on the ends and sometimes interrupted in the mid- dle; middle and apical segments with a yellow fascia along the apical edge, broader at ends and two ovate yellow spots. Black, bristly hairs located PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 71 similar to those on the dorsum, with numerous longer hairs, especially down the center. Hypopygium dull yellow, with numerous, black bristly hairs and a brownish, transverse stripe across the middle of the two basal segments. Legs yellow, tarsi reddish; front and middle femora with a brownish infuscation at, the base, hind femora brownisfy on apical half, the tip yellow r . Wings faintly cinerous; costal edge lutescent on baals half and brown on apical half. Length 12 to 13 mm. Described from 3 males. Type-locality. El Paso Co., Colorado, June 7, 1914, A. B. Champlain, collector. Type Male, Cat. No. 21710, U. S. Nat. Mus. STRATIOMYIDAE. Myxosargus nigricormis, new species. Near Myxosargus fasciat us, Brauer. Male and female.' Black, dorsum of thorax deep bronze. Antennae entirely black. Female.- Head, front deep, shiny, blue-black, with numerous dark hairs with a silvery reflection; tubercle near the middle, w r eak and variable; face deep, shiny blue-black, covered with numerous, long, dark-brownish hairs with a silvery-white reflection. Thorax shiny black, dorsum micro- scopically rugose, not so shiny and decidedly bronze colored, with a brown- ish pubescence having a whitish reflection. Scutellum and spines yellow, with a narrow black area across the base of the scutellum. Abdomen shiny black, pubescence with a silvery reflection, pubescence longer on the sides of the abdomen. Halteres pale green, stem brownish at base. Legs black; front knees yellow, middle knees less yellow; apical third of front tibiae, apical half of four posterior tibiae, three basal joints of the four posterior tarsi, yellow. Wings like Myxosargus fascialus, Brauer. Wnl<\- Like the female except the dorsum of the thorax is greenish metallic. The pubescence on the front, face, dorsum of thorax and abdo- men, longer and black. Scutellum black, spines yellow. Legs entirely black except apical half of middle tibiae and two basal joints of the four posterior tarsi. Length, Female 6 mm., .Male 5.25 mm. Type-locality. Chain Bridge, D. C. Described from 22 fe- males and 3 males collected June 10th to July 19, 1912, by the author. Also a female from Plummer's Island, Afd., June 27, 1909, collected by Mi'. W. L. McAtee. Type. Female, Allotype male, Cat. No. 21711, U. S. Nat. Mus. This species was taken on low Tass in a very marshy place. 72 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 (THREE HUNDRED AND TWELFTH MEETING, APRIL 4, 1918). THE CASE OF THE GENERA RHINA AND MAGDALIS. By W. DWIGHT PIERCE. The two genera concerned in this note present a very interest- ing nomenclatorial case which the Writer has attempted to clarify. A number of authors have written on the subject, but it is also necessary to bring up the matter again because of an unfortunate error made by the writer in his paper published in the Proceedings of the United States National Museum, vol. 51, No. 2159, in which an earlier error of Latreille's was followed. Rhina Latreille (1802) does not belong to the Curculionidae, Magdalininae as there stated, but, as formerly treated, to Cos- sonidae, Rhininae. The synonymy may be stated as follows: Family COSSONIDAE. Subfamily Rhininae. Orthognalhinae Pierce, 1916, p. 465. Genus Rhina Latreille, 1802. Rhina Latreille, 1802, His. Nat. Gen. et Part, des Crust, et Ins., vol. 3, pp. 198, 199. Rhinus Latreille, 1810, Pierce, 1916. Rhinostomus Rafinesque, 1815. Type, barbicornis (Fabricius) Latreille (1802), designated by Crotch (1870) and accepted by Pierce (1916). This is a syno- nym of barbirostris Fabricius, 1775, Syst. Ent., p. 135. The original confusion in the genus arose as follows: In 1802 Latreille described Rhina with two described sections. The first contained " 'barbicornis F.," the second "cerasi (?) F." There is no Curculio barbicornis F., so the first species which is validly described, must be known as Rhina barbicornis (F.) Latreille (1802). It is a synonym of Curculio barbirostris Fabricius which was probably what Latreille meant. Crotch (1870) and Pierce (1916) fix barbicornis (F.) Latreille (1802) as type of Rhina. Latreille (1810) fixes barbirostris Fabricius as type of Rhinus. In 1804 Latreille treated Rhina with two species barbirostris Fabricius and barbicornis Latreille. The first is the same as barbicornis Latreille (1802); the second is preoccupied and is a synonym of trifoveolata Gyllenhal. From (barbicornis Latreille, 1802) = - barbirostris Fabricius, we obtain our modern genus Rhina of the Cossonidae. From (barbicornis Latreille, 1804) = tr-ifovcalntn Gyllenhal, PROG. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 73 through its synonym rhino, & Gyllenhal, we obtain the genus Magdalis of the Curculionidae. Alagdalis is fully discussed below. Family CURCULIONIDAE. Subfamily Magdalininae. Ithininae Pierce, 1916, Proc. U. S. N. M., vol. 51, Xo. 2159, p. 465. As noted under Rhina the writer was in error in above quoted work. Genus Magdalis Germar, 1817. Magdalis Germar, 1817, Mag. der Ent., vol. 2, p. 339; type (atcrima Fab- ricius) == armigera Geoffrey, designated by Leach, 1819, and 1824. Rhinodes Dejean, 1821, Cat. Col., p. 98; type cerasi (Fabricius) Linnaeus, hereby designated. Thawin>i>hilus Schonherr, 1826, Cure. Disp. Meth., p. 52 (not Vieillnt, 1816); type violaceus (auct.) Linnaeus, by original designation. Mn(/diilii:t Table of the North American Species of the group Magdalis Germar Claws toothed at base; thorax serrulate or dentate on sides in front. 1. Mesosternum protuberant; head elongate conical; scape of an- tennae not attaining the eyes; body red or black barbita Say Mesosternum not protuberant; scape of antennae attaining or passing the eyes 2 2. Hind angles of prothorax feebly laminiform, disc densely punc- tured 3 Hind angles broadly laminiform, covering the entire base of the elytra, disc sparsely punctured, opaque; body black. . . .pandura Say 3. Elytra feebly striate, intervals convex 4 Elytra feebly striate, intervals flat inconspicua Horn 4. Body and appendages unicolorous 5 Body and appendages not unicolorous 6 5. Body bronzy black aenescens LeConte Body ferruginous armicollis Say 6. a. Body piceous or nearly black, elytra pale ferruginous, legs black, tarsi piceous pallida Say }). Body black, elytra with blue reflection; eyes flat, subtincta LeConte c. Body entirely black but appendages sometimes otherwise col- ored 7 7. Tibiae, tarsi and antennae pale piceo-testaceous olijra Herbst Antennae and tarsi piceous 8 8. Head broadly conical, eyes moderately convex, scutellum densely clothed with white pubescence gracilis LeConte Head elongate conical, eyes flat, scutellum feebly pubescent. salicis Horn Subgenus Rhinodes Dejean, 1821. Genus Rhinodes Dejean, 1821, Cat. Col., p. 98; type cerasi Linnaeus. Genus Rhina (Megerle) Dejean, 1821, Cat. Col., p. 98 (not Latreille, 1802'. originally quoted in synonymy with Rhinodes; type therefore Linnaeus. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 77 Genus Anabola (Megerle) Dejean, 1821, ('.-it. Col., p. 98, originally quoted in synonymy with Rhinodes; type therefore cerati Linnaeus. Genus Porrotlmx (Megerle) Dejean, 1821, Cut. Col., p. 98, originally quoted in synonymy with Rhinodes; type therefore cerasi Linnaeus. Subgenus I'mm* Sdhonherr, 1826, Cure. Disp. Meth., pp. 52, 53, de- scribed as subgenus of Thamnophilus; type originally designated (rhina Gyllenhal) = trifoveolata Gyllenhal. Rhina bcirbicorni* Lat- reille (1804 not 1802), is a synonym of the type. Genus Panus (Schonherr) Stephens, 1829, Syst. Cat. Brit. Ins., p. 184; type rlii/iii /3 Gyllenhal. Genus Rhinodes (Dejean) Stephens, 1829, Syst. Cat. Brit. Ins., p. 183; type cerasi Linnaeus. Subgenus Panus (Schonherr) Daniel, 1903. Miinch. Kol. Zeit., band 1, pp. 231-236; type(barbicornis Latreille 1804 not 1802) == trifoveolata Gyllenhal. Subgenus Panus (Schonherr) Heyden, Reitter and Weise, 1906, Cat. Coleop. Europ., p. 695; type rhina Gyllenhal. Daniel divides the subgenus into two groups, and is followed by Heyden, Reitter and Weise. The first group is therefore Rhinodes Dejean (type cerasi), synonymy: Rhina Dejean; Anabola Dejean; Porrothus De'ean; Rhinodes Stephens; Panus group 1 of Daniel, and Heyden, Reitter and Weise. The second group is Panus Schonherr, Stephens (type rhina /3) synonymy: Panus group 2 of Daniel, and Heyden, Reitter and Weise. There are no species of the tj^pical group Rhinodes in this county. Of the group Panus we have one species recorded. Magdalis (Rhinodes, Panus) Trifoveolata Gyllenhal. ix trifoveolata Gyllenhal, 1827, Insecta Suecica, tome 1, pt. 4, p. 564. is barbicornis (Latreille, 1804 not 1802) Fall, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc., vol. 39, p. 33. See discussion under Rhina. This species is recorded by Fall from New York and Ma-sa- chusetts. Subgenus Edo Germar, 1819. Genus Edo Germar, 1819, Neu. Ann. Wett. Gesell., vol. 4; type (pruni Linnaeus) == ruficornis Linnaeus, designated by Schonherr (1826). Stirps Edo (Germar) Schonherr, 1826, Cure. Disp. Meth., p. 52; stirps 2, in Thamnophilus proper; type designated pruni Linnaeus. Subgenus Edo (Germar) Daniel, 1903, Miinc-h. Kol. Zeit., pp. 237, 238, subgenus in Magdalis; type pruni Linnaeus. Subgenus Edo (Germar) Heyden, Reitter and \\\>ise, 1906, Cat. Coleop. Europ., p. 695; type pruni Linnaeus. 78 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 Table of North American Species of Edo. (After Fall.) 1. Blue, moderately shining, first and second funicular joints sub- equal, the first not much stouter; length -5.5-8 mm. cuneiformis Horn Black species 2 2. Elytral intervals wider than the striae, except occasionally in hispoides 3 Elytral intervals narrower than the striae; punctuation coarse; size 4.5-5.5 mm perforatus Horn 3. First and second funicular joints subequal, the first not or scarcely wider than the second; strial punctures of elytra smaller, inter- vals perfectly flat and nearly three times as wide as punctures at middle of disc; body beneath densely punctate; length 6 mm. morio Fall First funicular joint much stouter than the second; strial punc- tures of elytra larger, the intervals flat or slightly convex and from one to two times as wide as punctures at middle of disc; body beneath rather sparsely finely punctate; size 3-4.5 mm. hispoides LeConte Subgenus Panopsis Daniel, 1903. Subgenus Panopsis Daniel, 1903, Munch., Kol. Zeit., pp. 237, 239; type favicornis Gyllenhal, hereby designated. Subgenus Panopsis (Daniel) Heyden, Reitter and Weise, 1906, Cat. Coleop., Europ., p. 695; typeflavicornis Gyllenhal. Subgenus Eumagdalis Daniel, 1903. .Subgenus Eumagdalis, Daniel, 1903, Munch. Kol. Zeit., pp. 238, 249; type grilati Bedel. A NEW HOST PLANT OF THE BOLL WEEVIL. BY E. A. MCGREGOR Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. The writer spent the month of November, 1917, in Sonora, Mexico, for the purpose of securing data on the possible occur- rence of the boll weevil and the pink boll worm in that region. It is of great economic interest to report that Anthonomus grandis, or what Doctor Pierce determines as the variety thurberiae, was found heavily infesting a wild littoral species of cotton, Gossypium davidsonii Kellogg. Several launch landings were made below Guaymas and, finally, at a point about 20 miles southeast of this city a large clump of this interesting wild cotton was discovered growing PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 79 on moist sand dunes almost at the ocean's edge. At the date of the visit the plant, which is a vigorous growing shrub of dense habit, was in an advanced fruiting condition, and the bolls were harboring adult weevils in abundance. An examination of the material in the National Herbarium has revealed the presence there of eleven sheets of G. davidsonii, one from Guaymas, Sonora, and ten from Lower California points as follows: Cape .San Lucas; Magdalena Island; San Jose del Cabo; Agua Verde; Cerralvo; Tres Pachitas; Valle Flojo, elev. 200 to 500 feet; Cerro Colorado, elev. 800 feet; Rodriquez, elev. 1400 feet. These distributional data indicate that this new boll weevil host occurs rather thoroughly throughout the southern portion of Lower California at elevations varying from sea level to 1400 feet, and as far northward on the east shore of the Gulf of California as Guaymas. Later, a trip was made southward from San Luis, Mexico, to a point near the head of the Gulf about 15 miles south of La Bolsa, where no sign of this cotton species was found, nor did it occur on the coast opposite Tiburon Island. It will be of great interest to determine just how far northward this new boll weevil host occurs, both in Sonora and in Lower California. NEW SAWFLIES OF THE SUBFAMILY DIPRIONINAE (HYM.) BY S. A. ROHWER. Specialist in Forest Hymenoptera, U. S. Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. For a number of years the author has been working on the sawflies belonging to the subfamily Diprioninae and has practi- cally completed a revision of the species, in which all of the species known to him are characterized and notes on their biology summarized. Because of the size and number of illustrations in this manuscript revision it seems impossible to publish it at present. It, therefore, seems desirable to publish a preliminary paper, outlining the classification used and 'describing some of the new species. Subfamily Diprioninae Enslin. The following references refer only to the more recent authors: Lophyrides Koimvv. Gen. Insect. Fas. 27, 1905, p. 41. Lophorinae -MursiUivniy, Pn.c. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 29, 1906, p. 629. Monocteninae Alar^illivrny, Proc. U. S. Nat. .Mus., vol. 2'.), lUOli. p. 634. Diprionidae Rnhwcr. Proc. Knt. Soc. Wash., vol. 13, 1911. p. 220. [)/' jtriiin inin Muslin. Dcutsdi. Knt. Zoitschr., Beihef t . T.U2. p. 38. 80 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 In a previous paper the writer had considered this group of family rank but after studying the larvae and habits it seems that the group is so closely allied with certain subfamilies in the Tenthredinidae that it should be treated as a subfamily. More- over, the differences between the Diprionids and the Tenthre- dinids is not of as much taxonomic value as the differences be- tween the Tenthredinids and Argids or Cimbicids. The writer, therefore, prefers to consider the group as a subfamily of the Tenthredinidae where it can easily be separated from the other groups by the multi-jointed antennae and well defined dorsal plate of the mesoepimeron. The difference between Diprion and Monoctenus is not, in the author's opinion, great enough to be of subfamily importance. The length of the fusing of the sub- medius and anal veins varies and in many of the wings of species of Monoctenus there is a distinct contraction in the first anal cell. In fact the anal cell in certain individuals of the subfamily differs so much that if this was the only character they would be placed in different subfamilies from their brothers and sisters. A full discussion of the variation of the anal cell and vein has been prepared but for this paper it is sufficient to say that while for most species and specimens it is constant there are some specimens in which the basal abscissa of the anal vein is nearly straight; and there are also specimens in which the interanal is wanting. 'If the Erlangen List of Panzer 1801 is treated as a publication validating the new names there proposed the genus Diprion Schrank will fall as a synonym of the older name Pteronus Panzer (or Jurine?) and the subfamily name should be changed to Pteroninae. For the time being the writer prefers to leave this matter open, but he admits that as far as he can see there is no rule of the Internation Commission which would even suggest that this upsetting, long overlooked, review of an unpublished book cannot be used for the establishment of certain generic names. The five genera which belong to this subfamily may be dis- tinguished by the following key: Key to Genera based on Adults. 1. First and second anal cells separated by the fusing of submedius and anal veins; antenna of male uniramose, of female serrated; malar space large; longer calcarium of hind tibiae shorter than basitarsus; claws with an inner tooth 2 First and second anal cells normally separated by the intcranal vein, but occasionally this is wanting and the two cells are con- fluent; antenna of male biramose, of female usually serrate but sometimes shortly biramose 3 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 81 2. Intercosta wanting; head and thorax metallic; posterior orbits as broad as cephalo-caudad diameter of eye. . .Aimonnnioclaiu* Holnver Intercosta present; head and thorax not metallic; posterior orbits only about two-thirds the cephalo-caudad diameter of eye, Mnnnclfiuix 1 I:ir1 ig 3. Malar space very narrow, reduced to a line; intercosta wanting; longer calcarium of hind tibiae subequal with basitarsus: an- tennae biramose in both sexes although the rami arc shorter in the female . . . AY.sW//'M*// Rolnver Malar si)acc broad usually nearly as broad as the width of mandible at base; internist a present; longer calcarium of hind tibiae much shorter than basitarsus; antennae biramose in male, ser- rate in female 4. Scutellum of the metathorax large, well developed, flat, densely covered with large punctures, its cephalo-caudad length equal or longer than the cephalo-caudad length of the propodeum, l)i lirinn Sehrank Scutellum of the metathorax smaller, not so well developed dor- sally, more or less vertical, without large punctures and its cephalo-caudad length shorter than the propodeum, X<'nrutti (Dyer) but the scutellum is angulate posteriorly and the middle fovea is not largo and prominent. Female. Length 5.5 mm. Clypeus convex poorly punctured, 1 he an- terior margin depressed and arcuately emarginate; head shining, with distinct fat her close well defined punctures; middle fovea obsolete ; posto- cellar area not arched, four times : s wide as long, vertical furrows poorly defined: antennae 19-jointed, slightly longer than the width of the head, the third joint slightly longer than the fourth, the rami triangular in out- line, about half as long as the width of t he rest of the joint; present 11.11 with 90 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 4, APR., 1918 small, widely separated puncture ; punctures of the scutum closer and some- what larger; scutellum wider than long, angulate posteriorly, with large well denned punctures which are closer posteriorly; mesepisternum with punctures similar in size but closer than those on the scutum; tergum highly polished dorsally but laterally with some poorly defined punctures; nates shining, with some scattered punctures; sheath seen from below with its apical width less than the distance from the base of pad-like brush to apex of sheath, the pad-like area elongate and well separated from tHe median ridge; inner tooth of claw erect and well removed from the base; tarsi of normal length, the hind basitarsis distinctly longer than its apical width. Black; apex of clypeus, labrum, palpi, angles of pronotum and upper part of mesepisternum dirty white; legs black, apices of coxae, and femora, bases of tibiae and all of the tarsi whitish; wings hyaline, irides- cent, venation dark brown. The female varies as follows: Antennae 17-19-jointed; middle fovae faintly indicated; vertex slightly piceous; ventral aspect of tergites some- times whitish; sheath beneath more or less ferruginous. Male. Length 4.5 mm. Depressed margin of the clypeus narrower than antennae 22-jointed; sternites, including hypopygidium, with distinct in female and only slightly emarginate; head and thorax about as in female; punctures; hypopygidium obtusely rounded apically. Black; labrum, four anterior femora beneath apically, tibiae and tarsi whitish. In the male the legs may be pale beyond the coxae. Type-locality. Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. Described from three females (one type) and two males (one allotype) reared from larvae collected on Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) by S. A. Rohwer, and recorded under note number Hopk. U. S. 10188. Type. Cat. No. 21774, U. S. Nat.Mus. Date of Publication, September 27, 1918 I \ VOL. 20 MAY 1918 No. 5 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON CONTENTS BARBER. H. G. THE GENUS PLINTHISUS LATR. (LYGAEIDAE-HEMIPTERA) IN THE UNITED STATES 1 ()s CUSHMAN, R. A. A CONVENIENT METHOD OF HANDLING LARGE NUMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS IN LIFE-HISTORY STUDIES OF INSECTS 112 NELSON, JAS. A. AN EYELESS DRONE HONEYBEE 105 PIERCE, W. DWIGHT MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY A VITAL FACTOR IN THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR . . 91 PUBLISHED MONTHLY EXCEPT JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BY THE SOCIETY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 GREENMOUNT AVE. BALTIMORE, MD. EDITORIAL OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C. Entered as second-class matter February 28, 1913 at the post office at Baltimore, Maryland, under the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 3, 1818. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular ir.eetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday of each month, from October to June inclusive, at 8 p.m. Annual dues for members are $3.00; initiation fee $1.00. Members are entitled to the PROCEEDINGS and any manuscript submitted by them is given precedence over that submitted by non-members. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1918. Honorary President E. A. SCHWARZ President .. E. R. SASSCER First Vice-President .. FREDERICK KNAB Second Vice-Pre sident . . . . . .W. R. WALTON Recording Secretary A. B. G AHAN Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROHWER U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Editor.. . A. C. BAKER East Falls Church, Va. Representing the Society as a Vice-Pre sident of the Washington Academy of Science W. D. HUNTER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. THE OFFICERS. A. N. CAUDELL. A. L. QUAINTANCE. CHAS. R. ELY. PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published monthly, except July, August and September, by the Society at Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D. C. Terms of subscription: Do- mestic, $4.00 per annum; foreign, $4.25 per annum; recent single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. All subscriptions are payable in advance Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Advertising rates on application to the Corresponding Secretary. Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS will be entitled to 25 separates of each contribution, free of charge, provided the Editor is notified before page proof is returned. Additional copies may be had at rates fixed by the Society. Certain charges are made on illustrations and there are rules and suggestions governing the make-up of articles published. Contributors may secure information on these points by ap- plication to the Editor or Corresponding Secretary. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOL. 20 MAY, 1918 No. 5 THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENTH MEETING, MAY 2, 1918 MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY A VITAL FACTOR IN THE PROSECU- TION OF THE WAR. BY W. DWIGHT PIERCE. , The Biological Complex. The farther one progresses in the study of biology the more he becomes impressed with the absolute interdependence of all forms of organic life. It is impossible to conduct a study of man or any species of animal without soon reaching some phase of the question which demands attention to some other species, until finally a complete biological study has led one far afield. For instance, the investigator, working upon a given disease, finds that the disease is caused by some organism. He proceeds to study the organism and soon finds that it must have a phase of its life outside the host as well as in the host. In his further investigation of the life cycle of the parasite he often finds that there is another host concerned. Thus, before he has gone very far in his investigation he has three widely separate species of life intimately joined together in a biological complex. It is interesting to note that the intermediate or primary hosts of parasites are often found among the inverte- brates, especially the insects. In tracing farther the study of such a parasite the investigator is led to inquire into the life history of the insect and may find that this insect attacks other vertebrate hosts. The question then is to determine whether the parasite of the insect is also found in the newly discovered vertebrate host, and it may often be learned that some wild animal is the reservoir of a disease of man or domestic animals, and thus the complex becomes greater and greater the farther, one investigates. It is therefore obvious that a perfect sanitation and prevention of disease necessitates a complete knowl- edge of all forms of life and their interrelationships. 91 92 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 Division of Labor Necessarily no one man or group of men can hope to become familiar with the entire subject. The field is tremendous and requires many types of specialists cooperating closely in order that a single disease complex be thoroughly understood. When we consider that the different diseases, the different in- sects, and the different animals are inextricably interrelated we see the great necessity of concerted action among all sciences engaged in the study or prevention of disease. The physician finds that he must principally devote his attention to the diagnosis and treatment of the diseases brqught to his attention, but is often able to carry his studies farther. The protozoologist, the bacteriolo- gist, and the helminthologist, must follow out the complete life cycle of the organisms which they have studied through all hosts, invertebrate and vertebrate. The entomologist must study the life history and control of the insect, the relationships of the insect to the host and the relationships of the parasites in the insect to the diseases of the host. The sanitarian must understand all those things worked out by the entomologist, protozoologist, bacteriologist, helminthologist, and physician and be able to devise ways and means of accomplishing the recommendations of these specialists. There can be no hard and fast line delineating the energies of any one group of investigators. Each group of specialists must necessarily review a part of the subjects which appears to belong to another group of specialists in order that they may thoroughly understand their own work. The Phases of Medical Entomology. We have to deal in this discussion with the entomological view- point in medicine and sanitation. The entomologist may divide his activities into three distinct groups the biological and eco- logical, the medical and veterinary, and the sanitary. Under the biological and ecological phases of medical entomology we place the studies of the life history of insects which may in some way be related to the transmission or causation of disease. The medico-veterinary phase of the question involves the study of the insects in direct relationship to the vertebrate hosts, and necessarily must include studies of the transmission of disease by insects for it is obvious that only one trained in the study of insects can adequately perform experiments in disease transmission. The very first necessity in such experiments is the ability to rear the insects and to keep them alive during the period of experimenta- tion. It is fortunate when the person who does this experimenta- tion is not only a trained entomologist but also is trained in the subjects of medicine, protozoology and bacteriology. In fact, we PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20 NO. f>, MAY, Hils 93 may assume that such requirements are almost necessary to suc- cessful investigation of disease-transmitting insects. There are other phases of the subject, however, which do not require such intimate knowledge of microorganisms. These are the study of the ectoparasites of man and animals, and also of those insects which from some cause or other become endo-parasites. Sanitary entomology is really the putting into effect of a knowl- edge of the life history of the insects which cause and carry disease. Entomological sanitation involves many features of engineering but is by no means an exclusively engineering problem. Thus it will be seen that medical entomology is a necessary part in the great chain of subjects relating to the health of man and animals. It is a link, which, if absent, prevents a correct inter- pretation of protective medicine. We are all aware of the part health has in winning this war. It is obvious therefore that medi- cal entomology must have a vital part in the great conflict. I shall attempt in a cursory manner to show some of the phases of entomology's part. THE BIOLOGICAL PHASE OF THE SUBJECT. We have not been in the habit of looking on medical subjects often enough from the purely biological side of the question. Not many generations ago the medical profession would have denied any biological problems outside the subject of the disease itself. Now we know that for every disease there is a cause, and usually this cause is directly or indirectly an organism. Types of Relationships. The science has now progressed far enough so that we are be- ginning to recognize certain types of interrelationships between the disease organism and its host. Possibly we may make a tentative grouping as follows: Type 1. The simple relationship existing purely between a given vertebrate species and a given organism, with the trans- mission voluntary or involuntary, but direct from individual to individual. Simple insect parasitism may be classed here, as for instance bots, lice, mites, confined to single hosts. Type 2. Such a simple relationship but with the possibility of a third species carrying the organism on its body, or in its body, without altering it or enabling it to multiply or continue its devel- opment. Insects have been convicted in numerous cases of such a mechanical transmission of disease, as for instance the trans- mission of Trypanosoma hippicum, the cause of murrinaof mules in Panama from infected lesion touninfected injury by the housefly, Musca domestica; and also the transmission of anthrax by the 94 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, I'lls bites of the stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans), horse flies (Tabanus striatus and other species), the horn fly (Haematobia irritans) and mosquitoes (Psorophora sayi and Aedes sylvestris) several of which insects have just been proven carriers by Harry Morris. Many bacteria pass uninjured and unaltered through the intestines of insects. Type 3. The relationship between vertebrate host and organ- ism still simple:, but the organism able to multiply and even in- crease its virulence by passage through the intestine of an insect, but not necessarily having an intermediate host. Cao has shown that many pathogenic bacteria are taken up by flesh and feces breeding insects and are able to multiply in the insect and acquire greater virulence, as for example, the bacilli of fowl cholera, and of anthrax in the cockroach. Type 4- An interesting type of relationship is that of normally saprophytic, nonpathogenic organisms, which after a passage through certain insects acquire an intense pathogenicity, and if by chance they should become inoculated in a vertebrate by contact of the insect with an injury, would cause serious disease symptoms. Possibly this is one of the manners in which new bacterial diseases originate. Cao has conducted many experiments with cock- roaches, may beetle larvae and fly larvae, in which he has obtained such results as these. Among the organisms thus becoming virulent were Bacillus fluorescens liquefaciens and non-liquefaciens , Bacillus subtilis, Sarcina aurantiaca and Sarcina lutea. Type 5. The relationship three-sided, that is with two distinct hosts in each of which the parasite must pass part of its life cycle, as for example the organisms of malaria, sleeping sickness, Texas fever, etc. Type 6. The relationship multiple, in which there is a normal wild animal reservoir of the organism, an insect vector, and one or more other animal hosts, as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, many trypanosome diseases, and possibly the majority of protozoan diseases. Type 7. An accidental relationship in which an apparently normal insect organism is inoculated and becomes pathogenic to a vertebrate. Experimental inoculations with Herpetomonas and Leptomonas from insects have produced diseases in animals. Some authors believe that possibly if not probably the Leishmania and Trypanosome diseases originated in this manner. The complications of these types of relationships are many in fact almost every case is different, and very few are perfectly simple as described above. In the three and multiple sided relationships, wherein an insect often serves as the intermediate host, are found some of the most interesting biological phases of the subject. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20. NO. .i, MAY, 1918 95 Quite a number of the disease complexes associated in this group contain an unknown factor. The vertebrate hosts are known and the insects known, but the organism or disease prin- ciple is unknown. Here belong the filterable viruses of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus fever, papatasi fever, dengue, yellow fever, etc. Various claims have been made for discoveries of the causative factors in these diseases but none have so far been generally accepted. Types of Transmission. Among the organisms which are known to pass through insect hosts we find many types of transmission. 1. There are those organisms which pass a certain phase of their life cycle in the insect and are reinoculated into other hosts by means of the insect's proboscis, as the malaria and plague parasites. 2. Others carry out their life cycle in the invertebrate, passing into its egg and are transmitted by the bite of the second genera- tion, as the organism of Texas cattle fever, Babesia bovis (Piro- plasma bigeminuni) in the cattle tick, Boophilus annulatus. 3. Another group finish their development in the malpighian tubules and are voided with malpighian secretions from the anus while the invertebrate host is feeding, and by means of coxal or other secretions are washed into the wound. Such is the method of transmission of Spirochaudinnia duttoni (Spirochaeta) , the cause of West African relapsing fever, which is transmitted to man by the tick Ornithodoros megnini. 4. Still another mode of transmission is that in which the or- ganism passes through the insect and is voided in its excrement and is then scratched into the host, as just proven possible in the case of trench fever carried by lice to men, and also proven the method of entrance of Spiroschaudinnia berbera, the cause of North African relapsing fever, another louse borne disease of man. In both of these cases the crushing of the louse over an abrasion will give rise to the disease. At this point it is interestinatto note that Futaki found Spiroschaudinnia exanthematotyphi, which he believes to be the cause of typhus fever, in lice. Various authors have called atten- tion to certain similarities between typhus fever and trench fever. 5. Another interesting mode of transmission is found in Ilaemo- grcgarina muris, cause of mouse anemia, which passes part of its life cycle in the mite, Laelaps (rhidiiinus. The mite is finally eaten by the mouse and thus the parasite enters the vertebrate host. 6. In all of the cases quoted above the parasite passed from vertebrate to invertebrate through the sucking of blood by the latter. There are also many disease organisms which leave the vertebrate in its feces, and are taken up by an insect feeding on 96 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1111.x such feces; in the insect they continue development, and finally the insect is eaten by a mammal and development continues to its natural conclusion. This is the life cycle of many parasitic worms, as for example the rat tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta, often secondary in the meal moth and other grain insects, and some- times primary in man who eats insect infected grain which has been polluted by rodents. These are merely some of the types of transmission, of which there are also many modifications. I am dwelling on these differ- ent biological relationships because I want first to impress upon you the vital necessity of a knowledge of every phase of the life cycle of each unit in a disease complex that is the vertebrate hosts, the disease organisms, and the invertebrate vectors and hosts. Necessity of Knowing Insect Life History. An excellent example of the necessity of knowing the life history of the invertebrate vectors is found in the ticks, many of which are disease carriers. Nuttall has described at least six types of life cycle among the ticks. Representing the first type is Argas persicus, the carrier of several spirochaete diseases of fowls, which attaches to a host in the larval stage, engorges and drops to molt, then reattaches, but drops twice to molt in the nymphal stage and as an adult drops to oviposit after the engorgement, then reattaches and engorges again and again. It is obvious that this tick can transmit dis- ease organisms to several different hosts during the course of its development. A second type is represented by Ornithodorus moubata, the carrier of several spirochaete relapsing fevers of man. It does not attack a host during its larval stage, but has five different nymphal hosts, one for each stage, and many adult hosts. The individual tick therefore has unlimited possibilities of disease transmission. One single infected tick carried in the personal effects of a traveler might start outbreaks of the fever in many localities. The third type may be represented by Dermacentor andersoni or venustus the carrier of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which has one larval host, one nymphal host and one adult host. The fourth type may be represented by Rhipicephalus everts i. the carrier of Nuttallia equi of horses, which attacks only two hosts, one during the larval and nymphal periods and one in the adult stage. The fifth type is represented by Boophilus annulatus the carrier of Babesia bovis, cause of Texas fever, which has but one host dur- ing its entire development. It is obvious that only an hereditary organism can be transmitted by a tick with such a life history PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20 No. 5, MAY. 1918 97 As an example of the necessity of understanding tin- life history of the tick I may cite the case of Haemogregarina H////.S, cause of canine anemia, which is carried by the dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus having the third type of life cycle. For sometime investigators were unable to understand how the parasite reached another host, as parasites taken up by the adult did not complete their cycle of sporogony in the tick. Finally Christophers dis- covered that only those parasites taken up by the nymph com- pleted their development in the adult tick. Between the nymphal and adult stages this tick drops to the ground and attacks a new host. We have then an easy explanation of the transmission from one host to another. It is just as important to know the life history and breeding places of mosquitoes. Dr. Carter has very recently called attention to the necessity of accurately determining the extent to which Anopheles punctipennis carries malaria, as the measures necessary for the control of this species would add millions of dol- lars to the cost of malaria control in this country. During the past two years it has been my privilege to spend most of my time searching the literature of the world for references to the relations of insects to disease. In making this study I have noted a number of outstanding features. Bacteria and Insects A brief tabulation made at the beginning of the work had led to the conclusion that there was very little published on the bacte- ria carried by insects as compared to the protozoa. I have since been surprised to find how much has been done on this subject, following the work of Cao. ' the Italian investigator. In fact there has not been enough attention given to the results of Cao's research. He found that larvae of the house fly and flesh flies feeding in diseased carrion take up whatever bacteria are present, at all stages of their development, that many of these bacteria multiply and Bacillus anthracis even slowly forms spores in the insect, that many of them are carried in the insect body through all its phases of development and persist for days in the adult after its maturity, contaminate its excrement daily, and are found on its eggs when deposited. Thus a single fly larva breeding in diseased excrement and reaching maturity may give rise to cultures of the disease germs wherever it as a fly alights, contaminating the breeding grounds of other flies and finally giving rise to a multitude of disease-germ carriers which may bring about a sudden unex- plainable outbreak of a disease thought to be latent. Cao found that cockroaches could likewise take up disease germs and further- more that often these bacteria acquired greater virulence by passage through the roach. A long serie-. of papers by subsequent 98 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 workers have added corroborative evidence to 'Cao's findings, although certain of the pathogenic "bacteria have been found by Ledingham, Bacot, Tebbutt, and others to pass with difficulty through insects in the presence of large colonies of normal fly bacteria. Climate and Life One very interesting phase of the whole subject is the emphasis placed by author after author on temperature conditions affecting the organism, or the insect, or its host. And yet the majority of these investigators while stumbling on important biological laws show a lack of understanding of certain fundamental principles. Seldom, if ever, is there any mention of humidity, which bears as strong a relationship to life as does temperature. In fact the numerous records of failure to keep insects alive during the exper- mental work cause a suspicion that the humidity factor in the breeding cages was overlooked. The bacteriologists recognize high and low fatal temperatures, high and low sluggish periods, and a temperature of most favorable growth, which we know as the optimum temperature'. Among the protozoologists these zones of temperature are not worked out so clearly. Nowhere have I seen a recognition of the fatal, sluggish and optimum zones of humidity. I am convinced that in many cases certain confusion which has arisen among various workers will be cleared up by a correlation of the humidity and temperature environment in which they worked. Apparent discrepancies will disappear entirely with this correlation. Possibility of Error Many errors have crept into the literature through the efforts of a zealous investigator to go beyond the bounds of his training. Entomologists have been guilty of trying to conduct transmission experiments without understanding the organism they were transmitting, or possibly without knowing the normal insect parasites. Parasitologists have frequently made mistakes in their work through misunderstanding the insects they were dealing with. The subject is large, demanding tremendous patience and care, and there are many possibilities of misunderstanding results. We will now pass to the medical and veterinary side of the question. THE MEDICAL PHASE OF THE SUBJECT My introduction has been long because on the biological work is built the whole fabric of medical entomology. As I am looking PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 99 at medical entomology with regard to its part in the war I shall di- vide this portion of my discussion under five postulates. Insects are Important Disease Carriers At first thought we all recognize the fact that insects do carry some diseases, and that they are the only known carriers of a few diseases like malaria, and yellow fever. But most of us would possibly be unwilling to commit ourselves very deeply as to how many diseases insects do carry. As a matter of fact I am afraid^ that even where we recognize that insects may have a role, the tendency is to largely discredit it and minimize their importance. Now if you will take a list of all the communicable diseases and check off all those which are exclusively insect transmitted, and those in which insect transmission has been shown possible, you will be surprised at the small size of the remainder of the list. Furthermore the role of the insect is not confined to the trans- mission of diseases. They are themselves the cause of many ailments, some very serious. Let us just take a hurried glance at the list of proven insect borne diseases. The following diseases of man can only be carried by insects: malaria in all its types, yellow fever, dengue, the relapsing fevers of Africa, America, Europe and Asia, typhus fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, sleeping sicknesses, Chagas disease, papatasi fever. The following diseases of animals can only be carried by insects: avian malaria, pigeon anemia, canine anemia, Texas fever, red \\ater, East Coast fever, various animal spirochaete diseases, nagana, zousfana, and many trypanosome diseases, many animal tape worms and nematodes. The following diseases of man are principally, if not entirely carried by insects: trench fever, plague, tropical sore, Kala azar, verruga, uta, and all other leishmaniases, and filariasis. The following diseases of animals are principally, if not entirely carried by insects: murrina, anthrax, canine Kala azar, and filariasis. The following human diseases are readily and possibly often carried by insects: typhoid fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, anthrax, tuberculosis, leprosy, hookworm, tapeworms, cholera, and tetanus. The following human diseases are frequently suspected of !> ing insect transmitted: pellagra, beriberi, poleomyelitis, and infective jaundice. The following diseases are the direct result of insect attack: dermal, gastrointestinal and other myiases, tick paralysis, Tsutsu- gamushi disease, scabies, dermatoses, poisoning by bites. Although these lists are large every one of them could be en- larged from the manuscripts now on hand. 100 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 Insects are largely involved in the transmission of army diseases One has but to read the literature of the present war to see that the insect borne diseases are among the most important. In fact I believe we may place foremost of all the diseases which have ravaged the European armies the three lice borne diseases, typhus, trench fever and relapsing fever. Next to the louse the medical literature of this war contains more references to flies than any other insects, and the principal flies are of course Musca domestica, ' Calliphora, vomitoria, Lucilia caesar, Sarcophaga carnaria and other flesh flies, and the diseases they are responsible for spread- ing are typhoid fever, dysentery and diarrhoea, and Siberian sore (anthrax). Malignant jaundice in the trenches is suspected but not proven of insect transmission. A great deal of the septicaemia following wounds is caused or aggravated by insect visits before the injury is- dressed, and while the injured man is lying on the battle field. Malaria is of course a serious army problem, espe- , cially in our southern states. Insects are largely involved in outbreaks of war time epidemics Of the great epidemics which have swept the world since the beginning of the war probably the greatest have been the outbreaks of typhus which wiped out a large part of the Serbian nation, decimated Roumania, took terrific toll of Russian prisoners in jGermany, and swept through the Austrian armies. When we think that merely the controlling of the body louse stopped these epidemics we begin to realize what a menace these little creatures, so long endured, are to human life. And now trench feve has spread out of the trenches and is serious behind the lines. Out- breaks of plague, a flea-borne disease are reported from many countries. As famine advances in the wake of war, the weakened populace become more and more subject to such epidemics. We are all familiar with the history of our Spanish American war when thousands of our boys died of typhoid fever and other fly- borne diseases, and how in Cuba the reconcentrado camps were swept with yellow fever and malaria. Wherever disease breaks out, if caused by insects, the i\ation must be on its guard. Insects spread diseases of army animals The great animal scourge of this war is the mange of horses caused by the scab mite. This has become so serious that entire veterinary hospital units are set aside for its cure. Great progress is bein made in the handling of the disease. In the various zones of army activities there are many insect and tick borne diseases PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 101 of army animals. Horse bots are reported as especially bad as the horses cannot receive the treatment under battle conditions which would ordinarily be given them. Insects threaten food producing animals In time of war when meat is of so much value it becomes more than even necessary to prevent insect ravages upon meat producing animals. The cattle tick, which has done so much to hold down southern agriculture by making cattle raising almost prohibitive, must be fought this year with greater vigor. It is more necessary than ever to teach the people how to control screw worms, horn flies, ticks, mites, lice, blow Hies, horse flies, bots and warbles. The field of the veterinary entomologist is looming big. THE SANITARY PHASE OF THE QUESTION The final phase of our subject is the preventive. If we would save the lives of the nation, and especially of our fighting men from the ravages of disease we must take preventive measures. Of course it is taken for granted that general sanitation against all diseases is greater than the sanitation against any particular group of diseases. Nevertheless the measures taken against insects by an army camp embrace a great part of the sanitary measures pursued. Army sanitation is largely entomological sanitation Outside of the water purification and the bactericidal fumiga- tion of buildings few of the larger undertakings of the sanitarian can be excluded from entomological sanitation, although perhaps in some cases the sanitarian may have aimed his measures at something clse^ For instance all control of waste disposal around a camp is aimed .primarily or secondarily at prevention of insect breeding and subsequent contamination of food and person. The drainage operations have as their basic purpose the preven- tion of breeding by water or moisture loving disease carriers. A large part of the sanitarian's task is often the fumigation of the buildings and the cleansing of the men from infestations of lice and mites. On the battle field the bodies must be removed to pi-event insect multiplication and spread of disease. In other words proper army sanitation must necessarily be arranged with a thorough understanding of the entomological problems involved. Disease? prevention is often reduced to t'nxcrt < I c^t ruction The prevention of disease in the camps is often reduced to insect destruction, depending of course upon what diseases are to be guarded against. With two other leading sanitary principles, 102 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5 MAY, 1918 that is isolation of disease suspects, and pure water and milk supplies, insect destruction shares the foreground of army sanita- tion. Prevent house fly breeding and eliminate water or milk contamination and an outbreak of typhoid fever or other intestinal complaints is practically impossible. Prevent louse brooding and there can be no outbreak of typhus, trench fever or relapsing fever. Prevent mosquito breeding and there will be no malaria, yellow fever, and dengue and little filariasis. Prevent flea breed- ing and there will be no outbreak of plague or flea borne tapeworms, prevent tick breeding and save the animals from many of their principal ailments. Drain the moist places to control horseflies, gnats and midges and you have guarded against a long series of other diseases. Some of the most important sanitary measures in the armies When an army camp is laid out, of course the first concern of the sanitarian is the water supply. His next concern is the disposal of waste, for this must be provided for from the very first day. He then has time to look into the questions of drainage and sup- pression of breeding places of the noxious pests. The question of waste disposal is sometimes a serious one. It must take into consideration garbage, manure, human excreta, carcasses, and solid waste. In general waste disposal may be divided into two divisions the prevention of insect breeding and incineration or complete destruction. It is often desirable to save the manure and so different methods of manure disposal have been studied out. The general opinion is in favor of the tightly packed manure stack with straight sides, treated regularly with powdered borax, and with the edges on the ground oiled and the debris swept up and burned. For garbage and human excreta incinera- tion is usually practised. There are many types of incineration from the primitive oiling and burning to the scientifically prepared incineration ovens. Solid waste is burned or crushed to prevent its holding water and then used to fill low places. Carcasses should be covered with a film of creosote oil to prevent fly breeding and then buried or burned. An excellent and exhaustive paper on the prevention of nuisances arising from flies and putrefaction of carcasses on the battle field has recently been contributed by Foreman and Graham-Smith. The drainage problems for each camp are different. There must first be surveys to determine the danger points of mosquito infestation, and measures taken to prevent this. It may require filling low places, or ditching to accomplish a thorough draining. It may require merely a straightening of the existing drainage and the removal of debris and plant growth from the stream bed and sides. Where ditching is necessary it is sometimes a good plan to construct a double system of ditches, using one at a time, PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 103 except in case of high water, and cleaning the other in the mean- time. It must be borne in mind that some of the disease carriers breed in moist places, where there is no standing water. Along the Mediterranean literal papatasi fever is carried by the midge (Phlebotomux papatasi) which breeds in damp places and attacks primarily lizards and other cold blooded animals. The greatest entomological sanitary measures arising from this war however are those aimed at louse control. Among these may be mentioned the great vacuum tubes used in (Jerinany for the fumigation of cars returning from Russia, and the bath trains used by the different armies for the cleansing o f ' the bodies and clothing of the men. While the men are going from one bath to another and being shaved and hair cut the clothes are being treated for the control of the lice. The entire proceeding is timed so that thousands of men can be cleansed in an orderly manner in a day. The clothes cleaning establishments are on three general principles and probably a fourth should soon be added. Dry heating huts or cars may be used with the assurance that in thirty minutes at 60C. the lice are killed. Other places used steam sterilization with subsequent drying. The third method is the washing in insecti- cides, principal of which are the petroleum and cresol preparations. A few favorable tests have been made of vacuum fumigation and there is no reason why portable vacuum tanks for fumigation and sterilization should not be more generally used. This method is rapid and certain and has the least waste, as the gas can be recov- ered for using again. One of the latest contributions of the war has been a new method of fumigating horses for mange by the use of sulphur anhydrid, devised by M. M. Lepinay, Vigel and Chollet, in which the horse is placed in a stall with the head out and pro- tected from the gas by a close fitting collar. Great advances in prophylactic measures against insects have been made in the last two years and entomological sanitation is coming to be one of the important professions of the day, although at present it has but few practitioners. SOME PROBLEMS STILL TO BE WORKED OUT There are many important problems in medical entomology awaiting solution, a few of which may be briefly mentioned. A practical portable field equipment for vacuum fumigation and disinfection 's desirable. We should learn as soon as possible what bacteria can be readily carried by flies, cockroaches, ants, and lice in this country to check the work of European investigators. Fly larvae breeding in the presence of infected excrement can take up bacteria, which may multiply in their bodies. We must 104 PROC. EXT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 5, MAY, 1918 learn how long the adult fly can retain these bacteria and through how many generations it can carry them to clean uninfected food, assuming that the bacteria are deposited on this food by the fly in oviposition and taken up by the larvae later. Probably such a study would throw considerable light on the epidemiology of certain diseases. One question I have long wanted solved is whether Stomoxys calcitrans can take up the meningococcus from sputum or excreta as adult or larvae, and whether it can in any way transmit this by its bite or its excreta. In the summer of 1912 there was a severe outbreak of equine cerebrospinal meningitis from Texas and Louisiana to Kansas and eastward to New Jersey. Practically contemporary with this epidemic there was an unusual outbreak of Stomoxys calcitrans, causing the death of many horses. This outbreak subsided in the fall, -but coincident with its subsidence was the beginning of p, great wave of human cerebrospinal menir- gitis which swept from Texas northward and eastward. What connection has Stomoxys to meningitis? It has been claimed that it can carry poleomyelitis, a similar disease. The matter should be looked into thoroughly. It would be an excellent idea if the bacteriologists of all the army camps would make bacterial studies of the flies caught around the barracks and hospitals, using the technique for examination of the intestinal bacteria worked out by Ledingham, and Bacot, and other writers. This should be done especially in case of the out- break of certain bacterial diseases in the army. Finally, I wish to call attention to a remark made by Mr. Good- win at the December meeting in Pittsburg when he stated that the urates secreted by insects breeding in grain cause symptoms of disease in dogs fed on the grain cooked into cakes. Mr. Good- win's experiments are not detailed sufficiently, to indicate whether he was dealing with a nutritional disease or an actual poisoning by insect secretions. It will not do to leave the matter untouched now that he has opened it up. We must know positively the effect of insect pollution of grain upon the human system as well as upon animals. There is a bare possibility that such studies will throw new light on certain nutritional diseases which are at present unexplained, such as beriberi, avian polyneuritis, pellagra, etc. As far as I can find those investigators who have studied these diseases from the standpoint of injured food products have looked for fungous diseases following the insect attack and have not attempted to find the effect of the fecal or other secretions of the insects themselves, upon the system. . Whether there is any- thing in it or not, the studies must now be made. In fact we have plenty of evidence that many diseases originate with the intro- duction into the body cutaneously or orally, of infected insect feces. PROC. EXT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 5, MAY, 1'ils 10.") AN EYELESS DRONE HONEYBEE. BY JAS. A. XELSON. The abnormal drone honeybee (.!/>/* nuilifica L) forming the subject of this paper was received in June, 1914, from Air. Allen Latham of Norwichtown, Connecticut. Mr. Latham staled in the letter accompanying the specimen that this drone was the only one of the kind that he had ever seen. In a recent letter he also states that no other abnormal drones have since been observed by him. The general aspect of this drone is most peculiar. It is normal in size, and the thorax, abdomen, wings, legs, etc., arc of the normal drone type, the abnormality being confined solely to the head, which lacks the huge compound eyes characteristic of the drone, and is correspondingly reduced in size (fig. 1). The surface of the head is almost completely clothed with long hairs. Those on the lateral surfaces, including genae, are long, silky, and light grey in color (figs. 1 and 2). These correspond to a similar hairy covering found on the posterior surface of the head of a normal drone. The anterior face of the head is also clothed with grey hairs, but these are of a darker shade, two tufts of long hairs being especially conspicuous, each of which is situated laterad and ventrad of the antenna! socket (fig. 2). The vertex of the head is covered with shorter hairs, like those of the front above the antennae. The clypeus and labrum are clothed but sparsely with relatively short hairs, while in the normal drone these parts are invested with a dense felt-like coat. The prevailing color of the chitin of the head is a dark brown approaching black, with the exception of the clypeus and certain other restricted areas which are of a lighter shade. Two of these lighter areas are reniform in outline and situated one on each side of the occipital foramen, and occupy a considerable portion of the sides of the head (fig. 1). These areas are readily identified with similar areas in the normal drone, but in the latter they are situ- ated on the posterior surface of the head and can only be seen by removing the latter from the thorax. Two other and smaller light areas are found on each side at the base of the mandible-. The clypeus and labrum stand out in sharp contrast to the remainder of the head by reason of their almost entire lack of pig- ment (fig. 2). In the normal drone the chitin of these parts is lighter than that of the remainder of the front, but not nearly so light as in the abnormal specimen. The ocelli, as shown in figures 1 and 2 are situated on the vertex of the head, as in worker and queen bees. The median ocellus is oval in outline, instead of circular, as in the normal drone, its larger diameter being transverse, and measures about 0.11 \ mm.. 106 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20. NO. 5, MAY, 1918 while in a normal specimen the median eye has a diameter of about 0.353 mm. The lateral ocelli are circular and of approximately normal size. The antennae (fig. 1 are of normal size, consisting of 13 seg- ments and in every respect conform to the normal type. The mouth parts show no notable deviation from the normal, although they seem unusually conspicuous. This feature is however due to the relatively small size of the head. Examination of a series of transverse sections of the head fails to reveal the slightest vestige of the compound eyes. On comparing these sections with a similar series of the head of a normal drone it is evident that the central portion of the brain is of approximately normal size. Figures 3 and 4 represent two sections through the brain of the abnormal drone, the section shown by figure 4 being anterior to that shown by figure 5. The mushroom bodies (MB) are apparently of normal size and form, although in the abnormal drone the two calices of each side lie more nearly in the same trans- verse plane than in the normal drone, being in this respect more like those of the worker bee. The most important and striking feature of the brain of the abnormal drone is the almost complete absence of the optic lobes. In the abnormal drone the parts wanting are those termed by Hickson the "periopticon" and "epi- opticon." The "opticon," including the inner fibrillar mass, is present, but in a reduced condition, as seen in figures 3 and 4, IFM. Moreover the inner fibrillar mass of the left side (right in the figures) is situated further cephalad than that on the right side. Over both of these the neurilemma extends in an unbroken layer. In regard to the cause of the loss of the eyes and the accompany- ing parts of the optic lobes there is little to be said. The com- pleteness of their absence argues against mechanical injury, more- over this is also rendered improbable by the protected environ- ment of the developmental stages. It is necessary to conclude therefore that the abnormality is referable to a deficiency in the germ of the determining factors for the parts lost, whatever this deficiency may be. Normally eyeless insects, such as the termites, are of course sufficiently well known. In this connection may be mentioned the cave-inhabiting carabid beetle Anopthalmus, in which, accord- ing to Packard 1 the optic lobes as well as the eyes are completely wanting. Cheshire 2 describes and figures an eyeless drone quite similar to the one described above but differing from it in that the occelli are also wanting and the vertex of the head is concave 1 in- 1 Packard, A. S. A Text-Book of Entomology. New York, 1909, p. 241 . 2 Cheshire, Frank R. Beekeeping, Scientific and Practical. Vol. 1. London, 1886, p. 117. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20. PLATE 8. 2 .0 IFM. MB EXPLANATION OF PLATE Fig. 1. Head of abnormal drone, side view. X 11. Fig. 2. Head of abnormal drone, face view. X 12. Fig. 3. Transverse section through head of abnormal drone passing through the lateral ocelli, O. IFM, inner fibrillar mass; .!//>, mushroom body; Aid, mandible; OE, oesophagus. X 21. Fig. 4. Transverse section through head of abnormal drone, slightly caudad of that shown in figure 3. Lettering same :is ,-ibove. X 21. 107 108 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 stead of convex. No investigation of the internal structure of the head was made. It is of interest to note that drones of this sort are said to have appeared in some numbers in a hive together with other drones having eyes of the normal size and form, but deficient in pigment. This condition is apparently paralleled by that found in the fruit fly, Drosophila, in which individuals having the eyes either entirely or partially lacking appeared and were bred in con- siderable numbers. 3 This character, "eyeless," proved to be inherited according to Mendelian principles. Hoge 4 found that flies having the eyeless character either lacked eye pigment and ommatidia or had one or both eyes reduced in size, and that such flies were also less viable than the wild stock. It is suffi- ciently obvious that this character would not be likely to. gain much headway in the honeybee owing to the fact that deficiency in vision in the drone would doubtless hinder mating, if not altogether prevent it. THE GENUS PLINTHISUS LATR. [LYGAEIDAE-HEMIPTERA] IN THE UNITED STATES. BY H. G. BARBER, Roselle Park, N, J. This genus can be differentiated from all of the other United States genera of the Tribe Rhyparochromini of the Lygaeidae by the third ventral suture of the abdomen being straight laterally and reaching the margins on each side. Other reliable characters are as follows: the head narrower than the pronotum anteriorly which is cut out or concave in front, to receive the head which is commonly sunk to the eyes (P. compactus Uhl. is an exception to this) ; lateral edge of the pronotum more or less strongly keeled, the anterior lobe, except in front, impunctate; scutellum large, com- monly somewhat equilateral or broader than long; clavus not deflected to the corium but flat; membrane commonly abbreviated or absent; first segment of antennae well extended beyond apex femora much swollen and most commonly armed with two or more teeth; fore tibia of male more or less curved and expanded apically ; shining, color ferrugineus, castaneus or ochraceous. Lethierry and Severin list 29 species of Plinthisus as occurring in the Palaearctic Region. P. compactus Uhler 1904. from New 'Morgan, T. H., Sturtevant, A. H., Muller, H. J., Bridges, C. B. The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity, p. 14. New York. 1915. 4 Hoge, Mildred A. Another gene in the fourth chromosome of Droso- phila. Amer. Nat. XLIX, 57.7, pp. 47-49. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. ">, MAY, 1U1S 109 Mexico, was the first species of the genus to be described from the United States, though Uhler placed it in Hhyparochromus and Van Duzee has transferred it to Aphcinux. I now add three other species from the United States from material in the U. S. National Museum. A. Claval suture present. Membrane never wholly absent. Larger species, for the most part dark castaneus and pilose. B. Pronotum wider than long; anterior lobe not elevated; anterior angles behind eyes rounded. Head not sunk to the eyes. Scutel- lum finely punctuate. (P. Americanus Van D) compactus Uhler. BB. Pronotum subquadrate; anterior lobe swollen; anterior angles forming a distinct angle. Head sunk to the eyes. Scutellum almost impimctate, i inlc.nlnlus n. sp. AA. Claval suture absent; clavus connate with corium. Membrane absent, Sjnaller species, for the most part, pale castaneus or ochraceous. Anterior angles of pronotum rounded. C. Lateral margins of pronotum paralles sided. Apical mar- gin of the corium lightly concave. Abdomen with three or four long setae posteriorly on each side. Pale castaneus and ochraceous loiiiiixcltixus n. sp. CC. Pronotum widened anteriorly. Apical margin of corium straight. Abdomen with a few shorter setae posteriorly ochraceous pallidusn.Bp. Plinthisus compactus Uhl. Rhyparochromus compactus Uhler, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. XXVII, 354, 1904. Aphanus compactus Uhler, Van Duzee, Check List of Hemiptora, 23, 1916; Catalogue, 195, 1917. Plinthisiix <.its Van Duzee, Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. XXXVI, 75, 1910. I have examined the female specimen which Uhler described in the U. S. X. M., collected by H. G. Barber at Las Vegas Hot Springs, N. M., labeled ('o-type No. 6849 and carefully compared it with a female specimen of Van Duzee's americanus from Tyngs- boro, Mass., presented to me by Prof. H. M. Purshley. These are identical but the rather inexact color description by Uhler misled Mr. Van Duxee and other Hemipterists. The Las \'eg;ts specimen fits the description of americanus, being dark shining castaneus on the head, anterior lobe of the pronotum, scutellum. central disk of corium and heneath, the remaining part- are paler. as described by Van Duzee; the last two segments of the antennae piceous. Plinthisus indentatus n. sp. (Ms. name of I'hler. Shining, sparsely pilose. Head, anterior lobe of pronotuin and pro- sternum castaneus: scutellum. posterior disk of corium. meso and nieta 110 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20. NO. 5, MAY, 1918 sternum, venter and last two segments of the antennae darker castaneus; posterior lobe of the pronotum, hemielytra anteriorly and laterally, first two segments of the antennae, rostrum and legs ochraceous. Head, a little wider than long, impunctate, sunk to the eyes, in the arcu- ate anterior margin of the pronotum. Antennae pilose, the basal segment exceeding the tylus by nearly one-half of its length, second segment not quite twice as long as first and one-third longer than third, the latter a little shorter than fourth. First segment of rostrum shorter than second which is considerably longer than third. Pronotum almost quadrate; anterior margin gently arcuate, punctate within; the anterior angle on each side being obtuse and extended to just beyond posterior margins of the eyes; lateral edge strongly keeled, lightly sinuate between the two lobes; the anterior impunctate lobe a little wider, swollen and twice as long as the coarsely punctate, depressed posterior lobe; posterior margin broadly arcuated. Scutellurn about equilateral, impunctate but finely rugulose. Clavus wide, not deflected to the corium. with about thre'e irregular series of punctures. Corium sparsely punctate. . Membrane very short and ob- lique, reaching about to middle of fifth abdominal segment. Anterior femora much swollen, armed with a single stout tooth and two preapical teeth. Anterior tibia of male strongly curved and expanded apically. Several long setose hairs posteriorly on the abdomen. Length, and losses, are automatically eliminated by failing to appear in subsequent cages and notes and do not interfere with the continuity of the records. Each original cage is given a number or letter, and each subse- quent cage is represented by a decimal, the first lot of individuals changing being given the decimal 1, the second lot 2, and so on. Thus the stage or instar of the insects in any cage is indicated by the number of decimals. The notes are kept on cross-lined cards divided into quarter-inch squares, and are arranged so that one square in each direction represents a change of stage or instar. Perhaps the citing of a definite example of the use of the system will explain it better than a general discussion. The writer has investigated the life-history of the current-worm (Pteronidea ribesii Scopoli), using this system. The study of each generation was begun with individual females each given a Roman numeral. Each female was caged on a single currant leaf and the cage moved each da}' to a new leaf as long as oviposition continued. Thus were obtained data on the daily and total oviposition of the I'KOC. EN'T. SOC. WASH.. VOL. '20. 1'L.VTE 9. Notes made by 114 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 191* individuals. -Each day's eggs wore given their proper decimal number. Thus, if the female was No. I, the eggs would be Lots I.I, 1.2, etc. The first larvae hatching in each lot were removed and placed in a phial and given the decimal 1, those hatching the next day 2, etc., until all were hatched. Thus, Lot 1. 11 consisted of the first larvae to hatch from the first day's eggs of female No. I. The larvae molting during each day were moved to a fresh phial and given the next decimal. Thus, Lot I.I 11 comprised the earliest second instar larvae from eggs of female No. I, and so on. The phials were kept in numerical order in a nearly vertical position in small trough-like racks holding twenty or more phials. The following is a copy of a page from the writers notebook on the life-history of the current- worm, and shows the method of keeping the notes. Actual date of .publication October 3, 1918 VOL. 20 JUNE 1918 No. (> PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON CONTENTS BAKEK, A. C. THE IDENTITY OF APHIS CIREZANDIS FITCH (HORN) 130 DUNN, LAWRENCE H. A NEW MOSQUITO (AE'DES WHITMOREl) FROM COLOMBIA 128 MALLOCH, J. R. THE GENUS CNEMEDON EGGER IN NORTH AMERICA (DIPTERA SYRPHIDAE) 127 MOSIER, C. A. AND SNYDER, T. E. NOTES ON GADFLIES IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES . . 115 PUBLISHED MONTHLY EXCEPT JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BY THE SOCIETY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 GREENMOUNT AVE. BALTIMORE, MD. EDITORIAL OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C. Entered aa second-class matter February 28. 1913 at the post office at Baltimore, Maryland, under the aot of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 3, 1918. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday of each month, from October to June inclusive,' at 8 p.m. Annual dues for members are $3.00; initiation fee $1.00. Members are entitled to the PROCEEDINGS and any manuscript submitted by them is given precedence over that submitted by non-members. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1918. Honorary President ..................................... E. A. SCHWARZ President .......................... . .................... E. R. SASSCER First V 'ice-President ................................ FREDERICK KNAB Second Vice-President .................. . . W. R. WALTON Recording Secretary ........................................ A. B. GAHAN Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer ........................ S. A. ROHWER U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Editor .................................................... A. C. BAKER East Falls Church, Va. Representing the Society as a V ice-President of the Washington Academy of Science .......................................... W. D. HUNTER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. THE OFFICERS. A. N. CAUDELL. A. L. QUAINTANCE. CHAS. R. ELY. PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published monthly, except July, August and September, by the Society at Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D. C. Terms of subscription: Do- mestic, $4.00 per annum; foreign, $4.25 per annum; recent single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. All subscriptions are payable in advance Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Advertising rates on application to the Corresponding Secretary. Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS will be entitled to 25 separates of each contribution, free of charge, provided the Editor is notified before page proof is returned. Additional copies may be had at rates fixed by the Society. Certain charges are made on illustrations and there are rules and suggestions governing the make-up of articles published. Contributors may secure information on these points by ap- plication to the Editor or Corresponding Secretary. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY or WASHINGTON VOL. 20 JUNE, 1918 No. 6 THREE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH MEETING, JUNE 6, 1918. NOTES ON GADFLIES IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES. BY C. A. HOSIER, Warden, Royal Palm State Park, Dade County, Fla. AND T. E. SNYDER, llnre.au of Entomology. Two figures are slowly moving along a path in a dense hammock in the Lower Everglades of Florida, stopping now and then, tensely listening. It is 4 a.m. 1 and the stars are still shining, especially the bright morning star, but dawn is tinting the east, the faint light outlining the jungle growth overtopped by majestic feathery palms. Suddenly a barred owl, disappointed in a lonely vigil for frogs, begins a dismal hooting; as we approach it flies from a live oak limb. Finally a faint buzzing is heard, which gradually increases to a dull roar; thousands of large flies can be seen above the tree tops steadily hovering or suddenly darting to and fro. This is' the early morning flight of the large gadfly Tabanu.* unnricanus Forster. After a short period the loud buzzing gradually dimin- ishes in volume, and only a few low -hovering flies remain. At the end of about fifteen minutes the flight is entirely over for the day. This peculiar flight is what we had come out to observe and note. In the early morning light a more hasty return to camp is made. A large bull alligator near his wallow in a slough in the Everglades is loudly roaring enormously swelling up his throat. Birds are beginning to call or sing and now that the excitement is over we can hear and feel other singers mosquitoes (Aedes), deerflies (C/iri/xops) and the yelftnv fly of the Dismal Swamp (Diachlornx fcrrugatus Fab.). Soon there will be a glorious sun rise and \ve shall have entered upon another day at Paradise Key. Before the heat of the sun has become intense, one can start across the saw-grass prairies to 1 Central time (not cl tylight saving time, i 115 116 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 6, JUNE, explore dense tangled hammocks with sub-tropical vegetation, or pine barrens with palmetto and rough limestone outcroppings. After such strenuous days one can calmly enjoy the sight of the sun going down in a blaze of red far across the Everglade prairie. At dusk frogs begin to serenade, in varied pitch; "chuck will widows" are incessantly calling and the radiant moonlight invites one to stroll in the cool of the evening. A faint, but persistent humming outside of the mosquito netting restrains our enthusi- asm. Without is the realm of a mosquito (Aedes niger Giles) which is as bloodthirsty at night as in the daytime. The pale greenish-yellow nocturnal Tabanus flavus Macq. 2 is also on the wing, alert for any unwary live stock. Such are the opportunities offered for biological study in the Lower Everglades, especially Paradise Key, with -its lofty royal palm trees. On many similar mornings, days and nights the senior author, C. A. Mosier, has observed and recorded the flight, feeding habits and activities of Tabanus americanus and other Tabanidae. Last year there was evidence for the belief that the early morning flight or swarm was a mating flight. 3 This year's observations cast some doubt on this conclusion, although it has not been definitely disproven. It may be possible that the swarm consists of males only as Knab has noted in the case of mosquitoes. 4 Due to the height at which the adults fly, very few have been caught, less than half a dozen, hovering low. These have all been males. The habit that the flies have when hovering of darting towards each other and clinging may be mating. Many more observations are necessary. The senior author has evidence to believe that often while hovering the adults reverse and fly upside down, changing to normal when ready to dart away. He has also found that the males feed in large numbers on the blossoms of the saw palmetto protected by the shade of the large leaves. The junior author has found Tabanid larvae in water and mud under the saw grass in the Everglades. The following notes were mostly made by the senior author. On March 1, 1918, the first this year's adult was heard buzzing, but the insect was not seen; from March 3 to 8 the adults fre- quently appeared. - Knab, F. "What is Tabanus mexicanus?" Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruos, vol. iv, nos. 7-9, 1916, pp. 95-100. (T . mexicanus not present in the U.S.). 3 Snyder, T. E. and Mosier, C. A. "A Peculiar Habit of a Horsefly (Tabanus americanus) in the Florida Everglades." Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., Vol. xix, pp. 141-145. 4 Kaab, F. "The Sivarming of Culex pi-pin m" Psyche, Oct. I'.Uii. pp. 123-133. "The Swarming of Anopheles punctipennis Say.'' Psyche., Fob., 1907. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 6, JUNE, 1918 117 The first early morning flight occurred on March 9, this swarm was more noticeable in the jungle than in open spaces. The water on the prairies was low and it was very dry, the temperature ranging from 80 to 86F. for the last twenty days. The flies were not in evidence on the Everglades. There was very little stock within a distance of 9 miles and the flies were not bothering horses and mules but a fewwere following automobiles on the road. From March 10 to 16 the flight was noted to occur daily lasting from fifteen to nineteen minutes; the brighter the dawn, the longer and more pronounced was the flight. The flies were increasing in numbers, the flight being much more pronounced than on March 9. On March 10 was out before the flight began; the weather was foggy and cool, hence the swarm was late. After the first fly began hovering the flight increased very rapidly until the height was reached, was steady for about seven minutes, than gradually diminished. Numerous flies were noted making a "zippiim" noise as if just expanding their wings for the first flight in the grass and ferns. There w r as a light rain during the night and very cool, 58F. at dawn, on March 11. The flight was late and lasted only twelve minutes; it was not as strong as on the 9th and 10th, due to cool and wet conditions. On the 17th and 18th the flight continued to grow stronger but had not yet been as loud as in the height of the season of 1917. Tabanus atratus Fabr. made its first appearance. Deerflies (Chrysops) were in evidence but not numerous. There was a good rain during the night and the morning of the 19th was clear and bright. The flight lasted thirteen minutes and ceased more abruptly than on cloudy or foggy mornings. During the day adults were common along trails in the hammock and w r ere quite persistent in following one and circling around. March 20. There had been a heavy rain during the night and it continued to drizzle in the morning. The flies did not swarm. There was a heavy downpour in the afternoon. There was a very strong flight on the 21st. The flies continue! [ to increase in numbers. Very few wen 1 biting human beings this season; they were observed on trees and the undersides of leaves during the day. Adults w r ere also observed feeding on the flowers of sweet bay (Tamala pubescens) and inkwood (Exothea paniculata ) . Horses and mules had to be protected with burlap. The flies were collecting in the tops of automobiles to the extent of making it uncomfortable for the occupants. From March 22 to 24 the flight was normal; the flies were daily increasing in numbers; swarms were following autos, lighting inside the tops and were a great nuisance. The flies were UK ire aggressive in the woods. When screen doors were left open, giv:it number- 118 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 6, JUNE, 1918 soon collected on the inside. On the 24th there was a heavy fog and the flight started later but was more pronounced. There was a strong flight on March 25. More flies were pres- ent on live stock, which had streams of blood on noses and lower part of legs. All stock was protected with bagging and sprays of vile smelling oils which had but little effect and had to be applied frequently. On March 26 the temperature was so cool until sunrise that there was no flight. All during the day, however, the flies were very annoying to people as well as stock. This morning, March 27, there was a very strong flight lasting 21 minutes in all. Temperature 54F. at sunrise; it rained lightly in the afternoon. March 28-29 normal flights occurred. The weather was dry and warm and there was evidence of new freshly emerged adults arriving, with undamaged wings. On the mornings of March 30 and 31 I (Mosier) made the interesting discovery that many of the flies were inverted, i.e., upside down, when hovering during flight. The flights of April 1 and 2 have convinced me that many, if not all, the flies were upside down when hovering. The swarm was on the decline; there were not so many flies. Tabanus trijunctus Walker had appeared. On the 3rd there was a strong flight. Observations were made near the Lodge or about | mile farther west than on the 1st and 2nd (near the rock pit and eastward to entrance). The swarm lasted nineteen minutes. I again observed flies inverted. There was a difference in tone when inverted and normal. From the 4th and 5th the flight was very strong. I walked to about half mile east of the hammock and the sound was very pronounced at that distance, although no flight occurred outside of the edge of the hammock. April 6 the flight was normal; adults of T. americanus diminish- ing in numbers but trijunctus on the increase. On the 7th there was a strong, early flight, lasting twenty-one minutes. The weather was cloudy and cool. As the days lengthened the flight began correspondingly early by watch but comparatively the same by dawn. The weather was warm arid foggy in the mornings of April 8 and 9 but there were strong and long flights, that on the 9th lasting twenty-one minutes. I observed two flies to strike each other in mid air, both coming to the ground. On April 10 the weather was cooler and the flight was lighter. I observed that T. trijunctus was not as active in the early morning hours as T. americanus. During the day many adults 'of T. americanus were observed feeding on the bloom of swamp bay (T. pnbescens), also on the bloom of saw palmetto. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. ti, JUXE, 1918 119 There was a very light flight on April llth due to except ionally cool weather. During the day saw more T. antcricamix adults feeding on Ilex casine bloom, also on wild tamarind (Lysiloma bahamense) and on naked stopper (Anamomis dicrana) which is just coming into bloom. There was another light flight on the morning of the 12th. On the 13th the sound of swarming was louder than on the t hree previous mornings but not normal. April 14 the flight was much stronger, the weather was bright and warm. I positively observed some flics inverted. On April 14 the junior author visited Paradise Key and noted that during the day T. trijunctus was very common and annoying, collecting in large numbers in auto tops and on the veranda screens. T. americanus was not so common. T. lineola Fabr. was also present. The weather was bright and warm on the morning of April 15. The flight was increasing in strength and duration. I (Mosier) made a careful canvas of palmetto bloom and found as many as 11 flies on one stalk, having two bloom spikes, 10 T. americanus and 1 T. trijnuctus. Feeding did not begin immediately after the flight but later on during the day till dusk. April 16th was warm and cloudy threatening rain. There was a strong flight which lasted 18 minutes. I saw several pairs of flies strike in mid air, but none came within collecting distance. 568 T. trijunctus were caught by opening the screen doors of the lodge, among which were only 2 males; 8 T. americus 2 being males; and 6 T. lineola, 1 being a male! I observed the males feeding on palmetto bloom, also several resting on shrubs and tree trunks near palmetto flowers. These darted out when others came near, so that I could not determine whether the new arrivals were females or not. The weather was warmer on April 17, the temperature being 68F. at Dawn. The flight was much stronger than last week; fewer Hies were around the 'screens. I visited Timins Hammock in the Redlands district 9 miles N.W. of Homestead, Fla. and observed some adults of T. americanus but no T . trijunctus or T. lineola Fabr. There are not as many gadflies in this hammock as at Paradise Key (Royal Palm Hammock). Timins Hammock is on higher ground in pine lands and the glades nearest to this hammock are very dry and rocky, there being no saw grass slouu'lis near and but little leaf mould on the ground which is very dry. Rock sinks 12 feet deep show no water, whereas the water level at Paradise Key is not more than 4 feet below the surface and the jungle is very dense. Dr. Small has illustrations of this dense hammock growth in a recent article 5 on Florida ferns. 1 Small, J. K. Ferns of Tropical Florida." The Aincr. Mus .Imir ., Vol. XVIII, No. 2, February 1!)1S. 120 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 6, JUNE, 1918 April 18. The flight was stronger than usual, of as long a dura- tion as any during the season. The weather was warm 66F. at the beginning of the flight. There were not as many adults of T. americanus around the screens as usual. On April 19 the junior author again visited the senior author at Paradise Key and made the following observations. A very heavy cold rain lasted all morning. Beautiful bright green- eyed males of the large T. americanus were found to be common feeding on the blossoms of saw palmetto in the late afternoon. We collected several dozen males and a few females before the mosquitoes drove us indoors. Males of T. trijunctus with eyes of a soft lavender color, and the purple-banded-eyed females were also collected on this bloom, as were a few males of T. lineola. The leaves of the palmetto shading the bloom were cut away by the senior author to expose the bloom to sunlight and thus possibly attract more flies. The senior author was able to detect a difference in tone in the buzzing which the males and females make when they are flying; the same comparison as between the worker and drone honey bee. April 20 the writers made observations on a flight at 4.33 a.m. K but it was very light, (Later, 5.25) with the sun rising above the tree tops the first adults of T. trijunctus were observed flying. At 6 a.m. no adults of T. americanus were as yet feeding on the palmetto bloom. They remained in the hammock after the early morning flight until the sun was well up. In the early morning the doors to the screened veranda were opened and a count made of the gadfly adults which came in between 6.40 a.m. and 7.20. Needless to say all were killed: T. americanus 1 male; T. trijunctus 222 females, no males; T. lineola 5 females. Between 2.30 and 3.30 p.m. several dozen T. americanus males were caught feeding on saw palmetto blossoms, with ripe pollen; also about a dozen males of T. trijunctus. At 5 p.m. the males of T. americanus were not as common as early in the afternoon, and but few were flying. Males of T. trijunctus were also collected. On April 21 at 4.20 a.m. the flight of T. americanus began. The stars were visible and the red light of dawn was tinting the eastern sky. The flight was strong, the loud buzzing lasted fifteen min- utes but a few adults were flying at the end of seventeen minutes. The flies hovered high among the tree tops at first, then when it became lighter, lower. One male was caught hovering. The senior author was able to see the legs of the flies sticking up in 1 1n- air when they hovered reversed, with abdomen pointed upward. 6 Central time. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 6, JUNE, 1918 121 At 6.45 a.m. males were found to be common feeding on the blossoms of saw palmetto. Several hours were spent in the morn- ing by the junior author digging in the moist rich dark humus in a lower bottomland in the hammock to find Tabanid larvae or exuviae. No trace was found. Water was present at a depth of about 3 inches under the soil and there was a dense jungle growth of royal palm and other hammock trees and ferns. Mosquitoes were very abundant. At 10.30 a.m., however, 3 living Tabanid larvae were found in black muck under saw grass growing in water at the edge of a slough. This was at the beginning of the Ever- glade prairie east of Royal Palm Hammock, or west of the slough near the hammock. Water was then present over some of the prairie, due to recent heavy rains, especially that of April 19. At 5 p.m. males and a few females of T. americanus were col- lected on saw palmetto bloom, the males were feeding, and were still present at 5.30 p.m.; they remained till nearly dusk. On the morning of April 22 there was a heavy dew, but a strong flight of T. americanus occurred between 4.24 and 4.40 a.m. The adults flew with the abdomens pointed upwards, at the beginning of the flight hovering high and later low. 1 male was caught. Is this a flight of males only? Large wasps (Stictia Carolina Fabr.) 7 locally called the "horse guard," "horsefly killer or chaser," 8 etc., persistently hovered about live stock which are troubled by gadflies. Usually only 1 or 2 were present, however. When the gadflies hear this wasp approach- ing they scatter in all directions. It digs in the sand, buries the stung gadflies in a nest then lays its eggs on them. The resulting larvae feed on these flies. On April 23 the senior author continued his notes, solus. There was a heavy flight of T. americanus in the early morning. Later, on the palmetto bloom, 13 males of T. americanus and 7 males of T. trijunctis were caught. There were but few females of T. americanus on the blossoms, but females of T. trijunctus were abundant. April 24. There was a heavy flight of T. americanus at the usual hour. At 4 to 5 p.m. I visited the palmetto blooms where there were plenty of females of T. trijunctus and caught 4 males also 4 males of T. americanus. The flowers seemed to be fading so I cut away many more leaf stems from fresh flowers. I noticed more of both species on fresh flowers. I believe the flies want shade or shelter. 1 left the screen to the veranda open from 4 to 5 p.m. and caught 114 females of T. trijunctus and 1 male of T. americanus, 6 females of T. lineola and 7 males. 7 Determined by Rohwer. 8 Parker. Prop. I". S. Nat'l. Mus.. Vol. .?J. p. H-'. HUT. 122 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20.. NO. 6, JUNE, 1918 On April 27 there was a strong flight at the usual hour "dawn." The weather was clear and much warmer; the flight was corre- spondingly heavier; duration fourteen minutes. I found an unusual number of males on palmetto leaves and flowers, also on shrubbery and trees south of the house. The males were so plentiful that it ceased to be sport to search and col- lect them. To date have not captured any females during the morning flight. Am sure there are only males in Tabanid flight. In the afternoon there was a heavy rain and hence no observa- tions were made. April 28. Weather threatened rain, cloudy and cool. The flight was light, lasting only eight minutes. There was rain during the day and there were very few T. trijunctus in evidence; quite a few T. americanus males were on trees throughout the jungle. On April 28 the junior author collected a large series of Tab anus psammophilus Osten Sacken along the Ocean on sand, at Miami Beach. Both males and female were collected. They were colored like the sand and flew like Cicindela, and were difficult to catch. Females were full of eggs. On April 29 there was a heavy morning flight. I saw many male T. americanus, also a few females in the jungle. T. trijunctus were very scarce. More adults of T. lineola were present than in the last week, also more Chrysops. sp. April 30 there was a flight of short duration but strong ; I noticed males of T. americanus feeding in palmetto as soon as the dew was off the plants; they were quite abundant. In the afternoon I noticed males of T. americanus seek the shade, very few were feeding in the strong sunshine; they also sought fresh blooms. I counted 10 males of T. americanus on one stalk, with 2 blooms all in the shade. I caught 11 T. americanus males, 2 females; 2 males T. trijunctus. There were a few T. trijunctus around the veranda screen. No. T. flavus adults have been seen since April 19; but few T. lineola were present. From 12 m. to 4 p.m. I canvassed the palmetto bloom where I had cut the fans from blooms. I caught 41 males of T. ameri- canus and 23 males of T. trijunctus ; 8 T. americanus females and 424 T. trijunctus on the screen, all being females; 31 adults of T. lineola were also caught. The females of T. trijunctus were predominant both on the screen and on flowers. I do not think I caught more than 50 per cent of the males seen. As soon as the leaves were cut from the flowers T. americanus males sought new feeding grounds, either for shade or security. The exposure did not have the same effect on either sex of T. rijunctus. T. lineola was also feeding on palmetto flowers. May 1. The morning flight was strong but of short duration. All were high in the air and I could not catch any on the wing but I observed 3 light on trees, all proved to be males! PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 0, JUNE, 1918 123 On May 2 there was a light rain at dawn and it was very cool; the flight was strong, during a light drizzling rain and lasted twelve minutes. I observed many males on the trees throughout the jungle, a very few females. The veranda screen was open five hours and I caught 114 females of T. trijunctus, 4 females of T. americanus, and 18 T. lineola, 1 Chrysops sp. There were light showers all day. The male T. americanus was here in far greater numbers than that of T. trijunctus, some were quite small and some seemed over large. The junior author spent May 2 at Hobe Sound (Jupiter Island) and Stuart, Florida, leaving Miami at 5.30 a.m. The gadflies (T. trijunctus) became common at Fort Lauderdale: they were a pest at West Palm Beach (there had been very few at Miami). On Juptier Island T. trijunctus was by far the commonest gadfly. T. americanus and flavus were also present. Residents at Hobe Sound state that gadflies were about and annoying from the first of May till June 10. Gadflies were abundant wherever the saw palmetto was in bloom. One could find them most abundant by following the blooming of palmetto from southward to the north. On May 3 it was very cool and cloudy at dawn and there was a very light flight of T. americanus at Paradise Key. It was cool all day and there was very little activity among the gadflies. I saw plenty of males in the jungle but they were not active. A very few were feeding. I saw a few on cabbage aim bloom, which was just then opening. May 4. The temperature was 58F. at dawn anil damp. The flight lasted thirteen minutes and but few flies on the wing- were strong enough to make a distinct hum. They kept high in the air and did not hover as much as on warm mornings. They kept darting high in the air and none were low enough to capture. The night hawk and "chuck will widow" both caught flies on the wing. The birds kept flying up and down the roadway and I distinctly observed them to pick flies out of the air on the wing. May 5. Temperature 56F. No flight; very few T. trijunctus around screens all day. I saw a dragon fly catch T. trijunctus on the wing and come to ground to devour it, also saw another dragon fly catch T. trijunctus from the screen. Very few T. americanus were visible all day. Heavy winds were blowing and it was fairly cool in the afternoon. No males were on palmetto, flowers in the open. May 6. No flight. Weather continued cool with high winds No males of T. trijunctns or americanus observed all day. T. americanus seemed more susceptible to cold weather than T. In'- 124 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 6, JUNE, 1918 junctus. Very few T. trijunctus females were present today and few T. lineola and Chrysops. I saw 1 T. flavus about sundown at the screen. May 7. T. americanus made a strong but short flight. The males seemed more numerous than females. I saw a small wasp or bee worrying a male T. americanus around a palmetto bloom but evidently it was not large enough to capture him. A large spider with yellow web tangles many T. americanus and T. trijunctus in its web and devours them promptly. T. trijunctus were gradually getting scarcer. I think there wciv fewer now than of T. americanus. This was most unusual. They are usually just coming on as T. americanus disappears. No egg masses discovered so far although I searched Sagittaria leaves diligently. May 10. No further flights of T. americanus. 'The veranda screen was < pen for five hours f n May 8 and I nett d 66 females of T. lineola, 21 females of T. trijunctus and 2 females of T. ameri- canus. Very few T. americanus males in evidence. I saw an interesting flight of male Tandbus lineola Fabr. at dusk. About 200 or more specimens were hovering much the same as T. americanus except all were from 5 feet to 8 feet from the ground on the rock road east of Royal Palm Hammock. They broke out spontaneously like a swarm of bees, the flight lasting about eight minutes or until dark. I succeeded in knocking down 5 specimens. All were males. May 11. All T. americanus observed on the tree trunks today were males. There was a preponderance of males to females. Just now in T. trijunctus the females predominate. On May 8, a few females of T. americanus were collected at Paradise Key. May 13, females of T. lineola were observed. At dusk females of T. flavus were very common- at the north side of the house, but were restless and wary. On May 16, a female of a brown tabanid T. turbidus Wied. made its first appearance in 1918, at Paradise Key. Females of T. americanus were collected on May 25, which is a late record for 1918. On May 30, numerous females of T. flavus were caught. The color of these beautiful greenish yellow Tabanids can be preserved by treating them with formalin for forty-eight hours. On June 2 another species of Tabanid made its appearance, i.e., T. melanocerus Wied.; it has different habits from T. trijunctus; it is very shy. It appears only when the latter species has about disappeared. On June 9 the water was very low in the Everglade prairies, the weather was exceedingly warm and the hammock (Paradise Key) PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. B, JUNE, 1918 125 very dry. T. americanus are very rare; only single individuals were seen daily. T. trijunctus are rare, but T. melanocerus com- mon. T. lineola was more numerous than in late April. The brown Tabanid (T. turbid us) was rare. T. flavus was quite numerous at dawn and dusk around the house; none have ever been observed in the hammock or low shrubbery along the roadway, nor on blossoms. I have observed a small Tabanid of about the same size as T. lineola, but of a lighter color and with entirely green eyes, with one dark line transversely across the eyes. Very few individuals were observed and it was very shy. SUMMARY. The flight at dawn of the large gadfly (T. americanus) at Paradise Key in the Lower Everglades in enormous numbers has been observed for two years. In 1917 it was thought that both males and female were in flight. This year's observations indi- cate that most of the flies "swarming" are males. Possibly females are ttracted by the noise and dart in to mate. F. Knab states that this occurs among mosquitoes. The habit that the flies have when hovering of darting towards each other and clinging may be mating. Due to the height at which the adults fly this has not yet been confirmed ; only half a dozen adults have been so far caught hovering low and they were all males. It is believed that the flies when hovering reverse and hover upside down with abdomen pointed upwards and legs sticking up. In 1918 the swarm was first observed on March 9 and ended May 10. Males of several species of Tabanus congregate in large numbers during the day time and feed on the blossoms of the saw palmetto (Serenoa serrulatn) where the bloom is shaded. Tabanus lineola was found "swarming" at dusk on May 10. The beautiful greenish yellow night flying T. flavus are common. A few Tabanid larvae were found in the water and muck under sawgrass near Paradise Key. Twelve species of Tanabus have been collected at Paradise Key. While exlremely annoying, they are beautiful insects. The large eyes of male T. americanus are a brilliant light green. Those of males of T. trijunctus are lavender and those of the females purple banded. The yellow fly of the Dismal Swamp (Diachlorus fn'ru, JUNE, 1918 127 THE GENUS GNEMEDON EGGER IN NORTH AMERICA iDIPTERA SYRPHIDAE.) .1. II. MALLOCH, / r rbana, III . The genus Cnemedon was erected by Egger for the reception of two European species and subsequently two others were added. The only distinguishing characters cited are the spurred hind trochanters, and the presence of a very noticeable constriction between posterior margin of apical abdominal segment and hypopygium in the males. The females have not been satis- factorily differentiated. There is one described North American species of the genus, but owing to the doubtful status of Cnemedon it has been retained in Pipizn in which Loew originally described it. An examination of a series of 9 males of this species and 2 of another, described herewith leads me to conclude that it is possible to separate the genus Cnemedon from Pipiza by the fact that the latter has a numJDer of hairs on the inner side of hind coxae while the former has not. I have no females of either species of Cnemedon so cannot say whether the character will hold in that sex but believe that it will, judging from other genera. The two species occurring in North America may be separated as follows : Hind trochanter with a boot-shaped spur; disc of apical ventral ab- dominal segment flat, frontal and facial hairs almost entirely black ; upper portion of frontal triangle opaque .c.crlcarata Loew Hind trochanter with a thumb-like spur: disc of apical ventral ab- dominal segment with 2 small protuberances, a sharp one in center at base and a rounded one in center near apex; frontal hairs largely, facial hairs entirely white; frontal triangle entirely glossy. . . . trochanter at a sp. n. Cnemedon trochanteratus sp. n. Male. Black shining. I'nder half of third antcnnal joint, arista, extreme apices of femora, bases of tibiae, ami t.he tarsi reddish yellow. Wings clear. Knobs of halteres yellow. Hairs pale, only a few of those on frons black. E3 r es long-haired, HoseM. contiguous for a length about equal '< ocellar triangle; arista slightly longer than third aiilennal joint, (he laMer 1 . f> as long as wide. Mid tibia with a less conspicuous ridge on anterior side than in calcerata, and the spur on anterior side of mid coxa much smaller than in that species. Length, 6.0 mm. 128 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 6, JUNE, 1918 Type: In collection of State-Natural History Survey of Illinois. Type locality. St. Joseph, 111., May 3 and 10, 1914 (J. R. Malloch). I have before me specimens of calcarata from Dubois, May 24, 1917, on flowers of Crataeus; Olney, April 23, 1915; Augerville, near Urbana, June 6, 1915; St. Joseph, May 3, 1914,- May 11, 1913; and Urbana, August 28, 1917 (C. A. Hart, J. R. Malloch). Al- gonquin, July 24 and September 19 (W. Nason). These records are all for Illinois. The species occurs in the Eastern States. A NEW MOSQUITO (AEDES WHITMOREI) FROM COLOMBIA BY LAWRENCE H. DUNN, Lieut., Sanitary Corps, National Army, Army Medical School, Washington, D. C. Aedes Whitmorei, new species. During 1916 the Rockefeller Foundation International Health Board sent a commission of six experts sanitarians to South America for the purpose of studying the yellow fever conditions existing at that time. This commission consisted of Major General William C. Gorgas, Dr. Juan Guiteras,, Dr. Henry R. Carter, Major T. C. Lyster, Major Eugene R. Whitmore and Mr. William D. Wrightson. While the party was in Colombia, Major W T hitmore collected specimens of mosquitoes prevalent at several places that were visited and made as complete a mosquito survey as tune and con- ditions permitted. As specimens were taken on board ocean going steamers, on river boats, in low lying coast, and in villages located on the upper plateaus at higher altitudes, an interesting collection was obtained. The writer was recently afforded an opportunity to examine the specimens collected on this trip and found one species to be new and previously undescribed. This species is named in honor of the collector, Major E. R. Whitmore. Fe?/,'aZe.-- Proboscis unusually long, slender, uniform throughout, lalu'Hae cone-shaped, clothed with dark scales having bronzy reflections, a patch of pale colored ones on the under surface, a few small light colored hairs scattered over the upper surface. Palpi stout, about one seventh as long as the proboscis, covered with bronzy-black scales, apices broadly silver- white, several small spines extending laterally from basal joints. Clypeus medium in size, roundly triangular, convex above, dark brown, nude. Eyes dark metallic brown. Antennae dark brown, second joint shorter than the following ones and swollen subapically, other joints nearly equal; whorls composed of from 4 to 6 long dark brown hairs. Tori dark brown, PROC. EXT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 6, JUNE, HHs 129 the apical surface covered with fiat silvery-white scales. Occiput clothed with black and white scales, a median dorsal white stripe extending from the nape to the antennae, lower down on each lateral surface a wide white stripe also extends from the nape to the eye margin, all three of the sewhite stripes being connected by a stripe of white scales, along the ocular margin, black areas between these white stripes, the lower cheeks covered with wide white scales; several coarse light-brown bristles along the ocular margin project forward, slender upright forked scales on the nape. Prothoracic lobes well separated, ornamented with a central stripe of white scales; other parts of lobes black scaled. Mesouotum clothed with black scales and ornamented with four longitudinal lines of narrow, curved yellowish-white scales, the two median lines extending unbroken from the anterior edge to the scutellum, the two outer ones 'extending anteriorly from the scutellum and terminating in conspicuous round spots of broad snow- white scales on each side of the disk, a thin border of these yellowish-white scales also present around the anterior margin of the mesothorax; a large white spot near the base of each wing root. Pleurae arid coxae dark-brown with a number of patches of white scales, these patches varying in size. Scutellum with a patch of yellowish-white scales on each lobe; coarse long bristles also present on each lobe, the center one having four. Postnotum large, prominent, and nude. Abdomen long, slender, slowly tapering, subtruncate at tip; vestiture of brownish-black scales with a blue iridescence in some reflections; basal segmental patches of silvery-white scales, wideh* triangular patches of these white scales are also present on the lateroventral surfaces of each segment, those on the posterior segments rough and outstanding; the apical end of the eighth segment fringed with scales and hairs projecting poste- riorly. Wings somewhat narrow, transparent: length of second marginal cell equal to its petiole, second posterior cell somewhat shorter than its petiole; all veins clothed with long, narrow, dark-brown scales, the vestiture being heaviest on the costal, auxiliary, and first veins. Marginal fringe long, narrow, dark-brown. Halteres with yellowish stems and brown knobs with a small patch of white scales on each knob. Legs rather long with femora stout and tibia and tarsi slender. Femora pale whitish beneath on basal half, dark brown above, with conspicuous round spot of white scales on the outer side beyond the middle, and white spot on apical end. Tibiae dark In-own. Tarsi dark-brown and white, the first three joints on the front and mid tarsi having narrow basal rings of white: wide yellowish-white basal bands on hind tarsi. Claws simple. Cotypes. Twelve females. Army Medical School-, Washington, B.C. These twelve females used as cot ypcs and one male this latter being too badly damaged for descriptive purposes, were taken 130 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 6, JUNE, 1918 near the emerald mines at Muzo, Colombia. Four of the females were captured in a hut occupied by mine guards. This habita- tion was palm thatched with side walls of reeds and bamboo. It was open at one side and was in reality but little more than a shed. Whether or not the capture of these females in a place of this kind may be regarded as signifying that this species enters habitations to attack man is open to question. The other nine individuals were bred from larvae taken from a small heavily shaded pool of clear but apparently stagnant water. As soon as these larvae were collected they were placed in tubes and packed on-mule back and were carried in this way until the adults emerged, being examined twice daily, morning and evening. That the larvae lived to pupate 'and emerge as adults under the continual shaking to which they were subjected by being carried on mule back during mountain travel indicates that this species is very adapt- able and capable of living under the most strenuous conditions. THE IDENTITY OF APHIS CIRGEZANDIS FITCH, BY A. C. BAKER On June 11, 1852, Fitch collected five specimens of a species of Aphis from Gallium circaezans in "dug way woods" Salem. These he listed in his cabinet under the name Aphis circezandis and the numbers 1319-'23. He made descriptive notes at the time, which are now in the writer's hands. In his 13th Report (1870), page 501, he described this species under his cabinet name from these same notes. He gives the species the name, however, "should further researches show it to be undescribed." Although not entirely indisputable the stand- ing of such a name has been ruled upon by the International Com- mission. (Opinion 49.) It is evident then that we must consider this name. So far as the writer is able to learn no recognition of the species has been made since the original description was published. In the National Museum collections four of Fitch's specimens are preserved. These are 1319, 1320, 1321 and 1322. Speci- men 1323 is lost. Apparently from Fitch's notes the specimen was apterous and the writer has searched the Fitch collection very carefully for it. The other four specimens are alate forms in somewhat fragmentary condition, but sufficiently intact to dis- cern the important characters. The following description has been drawn up from these specimens. Alate viviparous female. Antennae with the following measurements. 1110.288mm.; IV0.176mm.; V0.208mm.; VI (0.112 + 0.288 mm.). Tin-si- PROG. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 6, JUNE, 1918 131 segments all distinctly imbricated and segment III armed with a row of 6 to 8 circular sensoria. Cornicles cylindrical, very distinctly imbricated and 0.176 mm. long. Forewing with the second, branching of the media much nearer to the margin than to the first branching. Fitch's specimen of "variety c" has abnormal wing venation. Cauda 0.112 mm. somewhat constricted in the middle. Hind tarsus 0.09 mm. It is impossible to de- termine the length of the beak from the type specimens on account of their broken condition. The name appears to be a synonym of gossypii Glover. Although some variation from typical gossypii is seen, the type specimens scorn to fall within the range of variation shown by that species. <,f publication October >', 1918. VOL. 20 OCTOBER 1918 No. 7 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON CONTENTS AINSLIE, C. N. 1 A NOTE ON THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF SAMIA CE- CROPIA (LEP.) 150 CAUDELL, A. N. TWO NEW SPECIES OF THE BLATTID GENUS ARENIVAGA (ORTH.) 154 CUSHMAN, R. A/ NOTES ON THE COCOON SPINNING HABITS OF TWO SPECIES OF BRACONIDS (.HYM.) 133 GAHAN, A. B. A SYNOPSIS OF THE SPECIES BELONGING TO THE CHALCI- DOID GENUS RILEYA ASHMEAD (HYM.) 136 GREEN, CHAS. T.' A NOTE ON THE HABIT OF PEGOMYIA AFFINIS STEIN AND OTHER AUTHORIZED GENERA 160 ROHWER, S. A. THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF THE SAWFLY GENUS LAURENTIA (HYM.) , 157 WHITE, G. F. A NOTE ON THE MUSCULAR COAT OF THE VENTRICULUS OF THE HONEY BEE (APIS MELLIFICA) r 152 PUBLISHED MONTHLY EXCEPT JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BY THE SOCIETY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 GHEENMOUNT AVE. BALTIMORE, MD. EDITORIAL OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C. Entered as second-class matter February '28, 1913 at the post office at Baltimore, Maryland, under the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 3, 1918. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday of each month, from October to June inclusive, at 8 p.m. Annual dues for members are $3.00; initiation fee $1.00. Members are entitled to the PROCEEDINGS and any manuscript submitted by them is given precedence over that submitted by non-members. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1918. Honorary President E. A. SCHWARZ President E. R. SASSCER First Vice-President FREDERICK KNAB Second Vice-President W. R. WALTON Recording Secretary A. B. GAHAN Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROHWER U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Editor A. C. BAKER East Falls Church, Va. Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Science W. D. HUNTER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. THE OFFICERS. A. N. CAUDELL. A. L. QUAINTANCE. CHAS. R. ELY. PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published monthly, except July, August and September, by the Society at Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D. C. Terms of subscription: Do- mestic, $4.00 per annum; foreign, $4.25 per annum; recent single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. All subscriptions are payable in advance Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Advertising rates on application to the Corresponding Secretary. Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS will be entitled to 25 separates of each contribution, free of charge, provided the Editor is notified before page proof is returned. Additional copies may be had at rates fixed by the Society. Certain charges are made on illustrations and there are rules and suggestions governing the make-up of articles published. Contributors may secure information on these points by ap- plication to the Editor or Corresponding Secretary. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOL. 20 OCTOBER, 1918 No. 7 THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH MEETING OCTOBER 2, 1918. NOTES ON THE COCOON SPINNING HABITS OF TWO SPECIES OF BRACONIDS (HYM.). BY R. A. CUSHMAN, Bureau of Entomology. The cocoon spinning habits of insects have been for a long time of greatest interest to me, especially of those that construct their cocoons 'under apparently difficult conditions, such as Apanteles congregatus Say, the cocoons of which stand on end on the surface of the parasitized caterpillar, and Meteorus hyphan- triae Riley, which suspends its cocoon at the end of a long strand of silk. It was with great pleasure, therefore, that I watched both of the above named species spin their coccoons during the past summer. Apanteles congregatus Say. On June 20th I secured a larva of the catalpa sphinx (Cerato- mia catalpae Boisd.), which bore on its back a single cocoon of Apanteles. Other parasite larvae very shortly began to emerge from the host. Placing the caterpillar under my binocular micro- scope I watched the entire operation from emergence to the completion of the cocoon to the point where it becomes too opaque to see through. In emerging from the host the parasite larva first clears away with its mandibles the muscle tissue from a small area under the integrement, moving its head about until the inner surface is entirely clean. Then by repeated back and forth motion of the head with the mandibles projecting it gradually wears a rupture in the skin, through which it slowly issues by a peristaltic-like motion. At this time the larva can be seen to swallow large bubbles of air. When from a fourth to a third of its body is free the skin of the parasite ruptures just back of the head, the hole rapidly enlarging to permit the body of the larva to pass through. That portion of the cxuvium that covers the face 133 134 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 remains attached until about two-thirds of the body is free of the host. Owing to the tension [thus caused the body of the larva is constricted at the point where the edge of the retreating exuvium encircles it, and the head is bent downward until the head shield breaks free. As this occurs the inner lining of the mouth can be seen to come away as the last fine strand of the exuvium. By this time all but the apical three or four body segments have been withdrawn from within the host. From this position the parasite immediately begins the construction of its cocoon. The first process is the formation of a small mat of looped silk on the skin of the host ventrad of the parasite and reaching about half way around the emergence hole. With this mat as a foundation the larva constructs the ventral half and apical portion of the loosely woven outer layer of its cocoon. This is made somewhat after the manner of a loose-meshed lace, the ends of the loops being attached more or less regularly to the top of the loops of the preceding row. This layer of the cocoon grows rapidly up the ventral side of the larva, is narrowed off toward the top, and about the apical third of the dorsal part constructed while the larva still has its apical portion within the body of the host. When this much is completed the larva withdraws its head into the cocoon, completes its emergence from the host and from its exuvium at the same time, turns completely around somersault-fashion, and continues the con- struction of the outer layer of the cocoon from the point where it left off, finishing at the base. This done it begins the spinning of the more closely woven cocoon proper. It seems to employ two principal motions in this operation, sometimes moving the head back and forth in a longitudinal direction and sometimes describing a figure 8 transversely. The completed cocoon is pure white. It becomes detached from the host rather easily, being attached only by one-half of the loosely woven outer layer to the mat first constructed. The cephalic portion of the exuvium protrudes through the emergence hole in the skin of the host into the cocoon, and can sometimes be extracted from the host by gently pulling on the cocoon. Meteorus hyphantriae Riley. The cocoon of this species is a beautiful piece of insect arch- itecture and engineering. Swinging at the end of a crinkled strand of silk of surprising strength and from a half inch to sev- eral inches in length it escapes many of the dangers encountered by the cocoons of less sagacious and ingenious insects. The cocoon itself is clear amber in color, of nearly homogeneous shel- lac-like texture, but with some strands running through it, and PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 135 with a coarse outer network of strands. At the upper end of the cocoon the suspending strand forms a coil of several turns. This little coil is the clever feature of the cocoon and holds the secret of its construction. At one time during the past summer I had a number of colonies of the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea Drury) that had been exposed to the attack of Meteorus hyphantriae, and from which I had already secured a few cocoons. I examined a large number of these caterpillars in the hope of rinding a parasite larva in the act of emergence and finally found one that had a slight swelling on one side near the caudal end. Examination of this showed that the swelling was caused by the pressure of the parasite larva that was about to issue from within the body of the caterpillar. It had cleared away all the soft tissue at that point, and its face could be distinctly seen through the integument of the host. In this condition it remained for two hours or more, during which time I placed the caterpillar in a phial and carried it home with me. It was nearly dark when the parasite finally issued. Before entirely emerging from its host the larva reached over with its head and fastened the end of its thread to the cotton plug of the phial. It then released its hold on the host and swung down at the end of the strand, hanging head up. It now curled up the body and twisted the silk about its caudal end, grasping it in the deep constriction between the last two segments and then straightened out, thus lengthening the strand. It repeated this operation several times until the thread was about an inch long. Taking a new hold on the strand it proceeded to wind it several times about its caudal end, thus forming the coil referred to. With the support thus formed and hanging head downward it began the construction of the outer loose-meshed layer of the cocoon by alternately straightening out its body, thus pulling out the silk, and curling up to fasten the end to the loops already formed. After making a few courses of these loops it released its hold on the coil about the last segment and thereafter held to the meshes by the short, finger-like cauda. At the beginning, when most of its body was not yet enclosed, it worked from the outside, fastening the ends of the loops on the outside of those above; but as the work progressed to a point where the body was mostly enclosed it worked entirely from the inside. When finished this meshed outer layer still had a hole at the lower end correspond- ing in size to the emergence hole of the adult. The outer struc- ture completed,, the larva proceeded to the building of the inner layer. At this point darkness prevented further observations, but a few days later another larva was caught just after it had started its cocoon, and the construction of the inner layer was watched. 136 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 * I had been much interested to learn how the larva makes this shellac-like, transparent layer with its few strands, and had sup- posed that it was composed of two kinds of secretion, a frame- work of silk over which was laid a quick-drying liquid. But observation of the process disclosed the fact that the silk is spun in a thread, but the thread is very soft and largely semiliquid so that it spreads out and coalesces with the adjacent threads, while still maintaining somewhat in the center its strand-like appearance. When first secreted the silk is colorless, gradually assuming the amber tint. For a long time after the beginning of the inner layer the tip was left open, but it was gradually closed and made thick by short strokes of the head back and forth across it. In this way the little cap that the adult pushes off in emerging was differen- tiated from the main body of the cocoon. After the parasite has issued from its host the latter drops, still living, to the ground, where it writhes aimlessly about until death overtakes it, in many cases, twenty-four hours or more later. A SYNOPSIS OF THE SPECIES BELONGING TO THE CHALCIDOID GENUS RILEYA ASHMEAD (HYM.) BY A. B. GAHAN, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. The genus Rileya Ashmead (Ent. Amer. IV, 1888, p. 42 and Bull. 3, Kans. State Agri. Coll., 1888, App. p. 3.) which has as a synonym Ashmeadia Howard (Can. Ent. XXI, 1889, p. 59) is, so far as known, confined in its distribution to North and South America and the West Indies. All of the described species as well as four new species are included in the key given below. A number of the species are placed in the key from the original descriptions, the types not being accessible for comparison. Short descriptive notes on the species, types of which are in the United States National Museum, are included. All of the species for which there are rearing records are appar- ently parasitic in the galls of dipterous insects. The genus is characterized by having thirteen-jointed anten- nae, the funicle five-jointed, the club three-jointed; antennae of the male similar to that of the female (except in the species !' scutellum, large spot on sides of third tergite, and legs, yellow- ish-white pulclini Aslnnead Head, viewed from in front, broader than long; malar space, in profile, convexly rounded, shorter than the eye. with a distinct carina separating cheeks from face; color uniformly dark red- dish testaceous hctcrot/uxlcr n. sp. 138 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 6. Third tergite extending nearly to the middle of abdomen; pro- podeum without a distinct transverse carina mellea Ashmead Third tergite much smaller, not extending nearly to the middle of abdomen; propodeum with a distinct straight, transverse carina 7 7. Abdomen strongly compressed from the sides; apical exposure of the third tergite distinctly longer than the second compressiventris n. sp. Abdomen not strongly compressed from the sides; apical exposure of the third tergite equal to the second or no longer, .hegeli Girault 8. Third tergite much the largest, occupying'most of the abdomen.. . . 9 Fourth tergite much the largest 10 9. Face and orbits yellow or brownish yellow; pronotum and abdo- men brownish orbitalis Ashmead Head entirely black; pronotum and abdomen black insularis Ashmead 10. Frons without distinct antennal depression gallicola Kieffer & Jorgensen Frons with a distinct antennal depression. . '. 11 11. Antennae, except the two proximal joints, white; mesonotum an- teriorly transversely striated albicornis Kieffer & Jorgensen Antennae not white, either brownish testaceous or blackish; mesonotum coriaceous or shagreened, without striae 12 12. Tegulae black; scape and flagellum for the most part dark brown or blackish, the former usually testaceous beneath; lateral margins of the dorsal portion of pronotum rounded, not mar- gined tegularis n. sp. Tegulae not black; scape and flagellum fusco-testaceous 13 13. Lateral margins of the dorsal aspect of pronotum distinctly angu- lated and more or less distinctly margined above 14 Lateral margins of dorsal aspect of pronotum not distinctly angu- lated or margined, but more or less rounded., .cecidomyiae Ashmead 14. Ocellocular line very distinctly shorter than the postocellar line, only slightly more than half as long; striations of the face not extending upward along the inner margin of the eye much be- yond the lower edge of antennal depression; abdoriien scarcely acuminate at apex; first antennal ring-joint transverse similaris n. sp. Ocellocular and postocellar line practically equal; some of the striations of face extending upward along the inner eye-margin beyond the lower edge of antennal depression; abdomen dis- tinctly acuminate at apex; first antennal ring-joint as long as broad. . . .americana Girault PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 139 Males 1. Yellowish species sometimes more or less marked with brownish or blackish above Black pecies -5 2. Third visible tergite (not counting the petiole) much the largest and extending far beyond the middle of abdomen. . . . Fourth visible tergite (not counting the petiole) the largest, the third never extending much beyond the middle of abdomen. 3. Head, viewed from in front, forming a nearly equilateral triangle; malar space, in profile, nearly straight, as long as the eye and without a carina separating face from cheeks; head, thorax, and abdomen above dark brown; face, orbits, cheeks, three spots above and sides of pronotum, spot on inner margin of para it- sides, scutellum laterally and at apex, line on each lateral mar- gin of propodeum, more or less of pleurae, and all legs, yellow- ish white, hind tibia not black at apex pulchra Ashmead. Head not forming an equilateral triangle, malar space, in profile, convex, shorter than the eye and with a distinct carinate line sepa- rating the face from cheeks; color uniformly reddish testaceous, the apex of hind tibia narrowly banded with black hcterogaster n. sp. 4. Abdominal petiole fully twice as long as thick; third tergite very short, the fourth constituting distinctly more than half the length of abdomen ; hind tibiae mostly blackish compressiventris n. sp. - Abdominal petiole scarcely longer than thick; apex of third tergite at or very near the middle of abdomen; fourth tergite constitut- ing not more than one-third the abdominal length and hardly more than twice as long as the exposed part of the third; hind tibiae entirely reddish testaceous mellea Ashmead 5. Second visible tergite (not counting the petiole) occupying more than half the length of abdomen; tegulae black; scape and flagellum blackish piercei Crawford Second visible tergite (not counting the petiole) small, either the third or fourth tergite the largest 6 6. Third visible tergite much the largest tergite, extending far be- yond the middle of abdomen; the fourth tergite not much longer than the first; fifth about two-thirds as long as tho fourth insularis Ashmead Third visible tergite not longer than the fourth and not extending much beyond the middle of abdomen 7 7. Third visible tergite very short, scarcely longer than the second and not extending beyond the basal one-third of the abdomen; fourth tergite comprising about two-thirds of Ihe length of abdomen and fully twice as long as the three first combined; legs including all coxae pale testaceous pallid! /H-H Ashmead 140 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 i Third visible tergite not very short, distinctly much longer than the second and reaching to the middle of abdomen or nearly; fourth tergite not longer than the three basal ones combined; coxae, at least, black 8 8. Funicle joints very distinctly pedicellate abnormicornis Ashmead Funicle joints not at all pedicellate 9 9. Tegulae black; scape and flagellum dark; lateral margins of the pronotum not sharply angulated or margined tegularis n. sp. Tegulae not black, either pale or ferruginous; scape and flagellum more or less pale 10 10. Lateral margins of the pronotum margined or sharply angulated; abdominal petiole strongly sculptured similaris n. sp. Lateral margins of pronotum rounded or at least not angulated or margined; abdominal petiole more weakly sculptured cecidomyiae Ashmead Rileya megastigma Ashmead. Ashmeadia megastigma Ashmead, Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. XXV, 1894, p. 145. Rileya migalostigma Schulz, Spolia Hymen., 1906, p. 148 (emendation). Female. Resembles heterogaster but may be easily recognized by the fact that the stigmal knob is greatly enlarged, the diameter of the knob being equal to the length of the stigmal vein basad of the knob. Head, viewed from in front, subtriangular; malar space, in profile, not strongly convex, shorter than the eye and without a carinate line between the cheeks and face; antennal depression not margined; second tergite barely visible as a very narrow, easily over-looked, margin around the first; third about half as long as the first; fourth large; fifth and sixth subequal and each about as long as the third; ovipositor tip exposed; propodeum with a delicate but distinct, nearly straight transverse carina. Male unknown. Three females in the U. S. N. M. Collected on the island of St. Vincent, West Indies. Riley collaris, Howard. Ashmedia collaris Howard, Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. XXVI, 1896, p. 136. Placed in the key from the original description. Type, a female, in the British Museum, London. Collected on the island of Grenada, West Indies. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 141 Rileya pulchra Ashmead. Ashmeadia pulchra Ashmead, Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond. XXV, 1894, p. 1-1"). Female. Antennae short, the funicle joints all distinctly broader than long; ocelli very small, the postocellar line a little less than twice the ocellocular line; vertex rather flat; antcnnal depression immargined; antennae inserted apparently a little below the lower extremity of eyes; face below eyes weakly striated; propodeum with a distinct transverse carina which is sharply angulated at the mid'dle, the area before this carina mostly granular with one or two striae medially on each side of middle; area behind the carina longitudinally striated; first tergite about as broad as long; second about two-thirds as long as first; third large; those beyond the third not longer than the first and second combined ; tip of ovipostor exserted. For additional characters see. key. Male. The abdominal petiole is as broad as long and distinctly sculp- tured above; first and second tergites small, the margin of the first very indistinct in the specimen at hand; fourth tergite about equal to the first and second combined; following tergites mostly concealed from above. Two females and a male in the U. S. N. M. collection from the type series. Collected on the island of St. Vincent, West Indies. Rileya heterogaster new species. Resembles mellea in general appearance but may be distin- guished at once from that, as well as most of the other species, by the segmentation of the abdomen. Female. Length 2.5 mm. Head, viewed from above, three times a ;i broad as long; antennae inserted almost on a line with the lower extremity of eyes; funicle joints all broader than long, the first slightly the longest; distance from antennal depression to apex of clypeus subequal to the dis- tajice from antennal depression to the eye margin; antennal depression not margined and rather shallow; face below eyes distinctly striated and separated from cheeks by a distinct carina which runs along the posterior eye margin nearly to the top of eye; malar space fully twicers long as the width of mandible but less than the length of eye; thorax above a little more strongly sculptured and the axillae slightly more broadly separated at base than in mellea, the anterior margin of scutellum broader than anterior margin of axillae; propodeum with a strong, straight transverse carina before the middle, the surface .before this carina with Longitudinal crenulae, behind the carina rather distinctly striato-rugulose j .il)dove, not more than two and one-half times as broad as long, the vertex rather flat and a little more strongly sculptured than in mellea; antennae inserted slightly above the lower extremity of eyes; face below eyes with fine close striae which converge at clypeus; malar space a little longer than base of mandible but not twice as long; without a distinct carina along the malar groove and behind the eye : ocellocular line about three- fourths the postocellar line; dorsum of pronotum shorter than the meso- scutum; mesoscutum and scutellum rather strongly scaly-punctate; pro- podeum with a distinct straight transverse carina, the surface in front of this carina as well as behind longitudinally striate, the median stria a little stronger than the others; stigmal vein about half the length of po.st- marginal and a little more than one-third the length of marginal ; abdo- men about equal in length to the head and thorax, strongly compressed from the sides, its dorsal width much less than its dorso-ventral height, the dorsum strongly arched antero-posteriorly; tergites, except the three basal ones, finely sculptured; first tergite (not counting the very short petiole) longer than broad, elliptical in outline; exposed apex of second a little less than half the length of first and about equal to half the exposed length of third, the latter reaching to about the basal one-third of abdo- men; fourth tergite covering most of the remainder of abdomen; fifth about equal to the second; following tergites very short; tip only of the ovipositor exposed. Color pale reddish testaceous, the head except v rtex pale yellow, antennal flagellum brownish, apex of ovipositor sheaths and tarsal claws black. Mule. Length 2 mm. Agrees with the female except that the funicle joints arc subquadrate, the abdominal petiole is slender, a little more than twice as long as thick, and finely sculptured; the abdomen is not strongly compressed, its tergites differently proportioned and the pos- terior tibiae are dark brown or blackish cxrept at base; the fii>t tergite (excluding the petiole) is nearly circular in outline, the second very nar- rowly exposed, third twice as long as the second, the three basal tergia-s together covering about one-fourth of the abdomen; fourth tergite cover- ing the greater part of abdomen; fifth about as long as the first ; following tergites practically concealed from above. 144 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 Type locality. Brownsville, Texas. Type Cat. No. 21831 U. S. N. M. Type, allotype, and a large number of paratypes reared by E. G. Smyth from galls of Asphondylia sp. on what Mr. Smyth calls "Mimosa tree" (possibly Leucaena pulverulenta or Mimosa lindheimeri) and recorded under Webster No. 6467, Exp. No. 1. The types of Ceratoneura pretiosa Gahan (Proc. U. S. N. M., vol. 48, 1914, p. 165) were reared from the same lot of material as were the types of this species. The Webster number given in the closing paragraph of the original description of C. pretiosa should have been No. 6467 instead of 6480. Rileya hegeli, Girault. Rileya hegeli Girault, Can. Ent. XLVIII, 1916, p. 340. In this species, known only from the unique female type, the head is three times as broad as long as viewed from above; the malar space longer than wicTlh of mandible at base; cheeks not separated from face by a carina; JJie first tergite (excluding the very short petiole) is small and nearly circular in outline, the exposed margin of second and third sub- equal and together about two-thirds as long as the first; the first, second, and third together constitute about one-fourth the length of abdomen; fourth tergite fully twice as long as the three first combined, following tergites combined about equal to the first; propodeum with a distinct transverse carina. Type Cat. No. 20324 U. S. N. M., collected at Biscayne Bay, Florida. Rileya piercei Crawford. Rileya piercei Crawford, Proc. Ent. Wash. XVI, 1914, p. 29. Known only from the unique male type. The species is easily distin- guished from all others by the fact that the second visible tergite is much the largest. Head nearly three times as broad as long, antennae inserted above the lower extremity of eyes; funicle joints all broader than long; malar space, about twice as long as the width of mandible; the carina separating cheeks and face not very distinct; postocellar line fully twice as long as the ocellocular line; propodeum with a strong straight trans- verse carina, the surface before this carina rugulose and more or less crenulate, behind the carina longitudinally striate; abdominal petiole broader than long, rugosely sculptured; first tergite more than one-fourth but less than one-third as long as the abdomen, second a little less than twice as long as the first; third approximately two-thirds as long as the first; following tergites concealed from above. TypeCat. No. 16701 U. S. N. M., collected on thespesioides, Fish Creek, Arizona. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 145 Rileya insularis Ashmead. Ashmedia insularis Ashmead, Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. XXV, 1894, p. 143 & 144. As represented by the male allotype in the U. S. N. M. this species is easily distinguished from the other black species by reason of having the third tergite (not counting the petiole) much the largest and extend- ing far, beyond the middle of abdomen, the fourth not longer than the first and only a little longer than the fifth; second tergite very short. The antennal depression is margined, face striated below the eyes, malar space shorter than the eye, carina on cheek and behind the eye not strongly developed; postocellar almost twice the ocellocular line; propodeum with a distinct transverse carina which is angulated at the middle, the area behind this carina longitudinally striated. The female is placed in the key from the original description. Type female in the British Museum, London; allotype male in the U. S. N. M., Cat No. 2418. Collected on the Island of St. Vincent, West Indies. A male specimen of this species in the U. S. N. M. collected at Chapada, Brazil, is labelled in Ashmead's handwriting "Rileya orbitalis Ashmead" and bears the type label " 9 Type No. 8080 U. S. N. M." This cannot be the type of orbitalis which was described according to Ashmead from a female from Santarem, Brazil and should be in the collection of the. Carnegie Museum, at Pittsburgh. The specimen does not agree with the color de- scription of orbitalis. Rileya pallidipes Ashmead. Ashmeadia pallidipes Ashmead, Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. XXV, 1894, p. 144. Male. Funicle joints subquadrate; face below eyes striate, the striae not extending above the base of antennae; antennal depression not mar- gined; malar space not nearly twice as long as the width of mandible, much shorter than the height of eye; face not separated from cheek by a distinct carina; ocellus separated from the eye-margin by about the diam- eter of an ocellus; dorsum of pronotum not margined laterally; propodeum with a distinct transverse carina, the area before this carina striated, behind the carina without distinct striations; abdominal petiole about one and one-half times as long as broad and nearly smooth; first tergite about as broad as long; second and third short and subequal, together distinctly shorter than the first; fourth large, extending nearly to the apex of abdomen; fifth about as long as the first; following termites con- cealed from above; stigmal vein short, less than half the length of post- marginal. 146 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 7, OCT., 1918 One specimen in the U. S. N. M., apparent ly the unique male type. Collected on the island of St. Vincent. Rileya abnormicornis Ashmead. Ashmeadia abnormicornis Ashmead, Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. XXV, 1894, p. 145. Male. Differs from all other species in the antennae, the first four funicle joints each strongly narrowed at apex into a cylindrical neck which is nearly as long as the more or less spherical basal portion of the segment, the fifth funicle joint without a neck and rather closely joined to the club; otherwise appears to be a nearly typical Rileya. The head is fully three times as broad as long, the postocellar line twice the length of the ocello- ocular, face below eyes strongly striated; antennal depression margined; carina on cheeks and behind the eye moderately distinct ; propodeum with a distinct transverse carina which is angulated at the middle; abdom- inal petiole very short; first tergite rather large; second small; third reach- ing to the middle of abdomen, about twice as long as the second; fourth the largest tergite; fifth about equal in length to the exposed part of third; following concealed from above. Female. Unknown. One male specimen in the U. S. N. M., apparently the unique type, collected on the island of St. Vincent, West Indies. Rileya orbitalis Ashmead. Rileya orbitalis Ashmead, Mem. Carnegie Mus I, 1904, p. 467. Placed in key from the original description. Type, a female, in the collection of the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pa. Type locality Santarem, Brazil. Rileya gallicola Kieffer and Jorgensen. Rileya gallicola Kieffer and Jorgensen, Centralb. Bakt. Paras. Insekt., Bd. 27, 1910, p. 437. Placed in the key from the original description. Location of type unknown. Type locality, neighborhood of Mendoza, province of Mendoza, Argentina, South America. Rileya albicornis Kieffer and Jorgensen. Rileya albicornis Kieffer and Jorgensen, Centralb. Bakt. Paras. Insekt., Bd. 27, 1910, p. 367. Placed in key from original description. Described from 'female, location of type unknown. Type locality. Province of Mendoza, Argent in.!, S. A. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 147 Rileya tegularis, new species. Female. Length 2.2 mm. Head, viewed from above, fully three times as broad as long; middle of face finely sculptured, subopaque; sides of face with fine, close striae, which converge at clypeus, none of the striae extending upward much beyond the base of antennae; antennal groove margined at sides, open above and weakly sculptured within ; rest of head finely rugulosely sculptured, opaque; a delicate but distinct carina sepa- rates the cheeks from the face and extends upward along the posterior eye margin, from which it is narrowly separated, to near the top of the eye where it joins the eye-margin; postocellar line about twice the ocel- locular line; antennal scape not quite reaching the anterior ocellus, slightly thicker at base than apex; pedicel hardly one and one-half times as long as thick; first ring-joint narrower than the other two and approximately half as long as broad; second and third ring-joints strongly transverse; first funicle joint subquadrate, the following funicle joints slightly broader than long; thorax above sculptured like the occiput; dorsal aspect of pro- notum as broad as and a little longer than the mesoscutum, rounded in front, its anterior margin with a very delicate marginal carina laterally but absent medially, the angle between the dorsal and lateral aspects of the pronotum rounded or at least not sharp and not margined; propodeum rugulose with a strong transverse carina which is sharply angulated at the middle, the apex of angle sometimes touching the anterior margin of propodeum; marginal vein about one-half the submarginal and about twice the postmarginal, the stigmal distinctly shorter than the post- marginal, abdomen about equal in length to the head and thorax, robust; first tergite (excluding the very short petiole) smooth, a little broader than long, and semicircular in outline; exposed portion of the second also smooth and not quite half as long as the first; third finely sculptured, its exposed margin about one and one-half .times that of the second; fourth occupying most of the dorsum of abdomen, and distinctly, finely sculp- tured; fifth tergite not longer than the second; and also sculptured; sixth about twice as long as the fifth and similarly sculptured; following tergites very short; tip of ovipositor barely visible from above. Black; antennal flagellum brownish, scape brownish black; spot on mandibles, apices of all femora, base and apex of median and hind tibiae, front tibiae almost entirely, all tarsi with the exception of claws, and the venation pale tes- taceous; median arid hind tibiae broadly dark brownish medially; wings hyaline. Mule. Length '2 mm. Agrees with description of female except as follows; antennal pedicel hardly longer than broad; marginal vein a little less than half the submarginal ; abdomen petiolate, the petiole broader than long and distinctly sculptured; first tergite (not counting the petiole) nearly twice as broad us long down the middle, faintly sculptured ; second less than half the length of fir<1. distinctly sculptured; third reaching to the middle of abdomen and distinctly sculptured; about equal to the h'rst 148 PROG. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 and second combined; fourth subequal in length to the third and similarly sculptured; fifth approximately one-half as long as the fourth and sculp- tured; following tergites mostly concealed from above. Color as in the female but with the tibiae less brownish medially and the middle and front femora barely stained with blackish at base. Type locality. Tempe, Arizona. Type. Cat. No. 21832 U. S. N. M. Host. Asphondylia sp. Type, collotype and a large series of paratypes reared by V. L. Wilderamth from stem galls on Pluchea borealis and recorded under Tempe No. 2742. Also a large series from the same locality reared bv Wilclermuth from galls on Suaeda sp. under Tempe No. 2741. The length of this species varies from 2 to 2.5 mm. and the color of the legs is also variable to some extent. Rileya cecidomyiae Ashmead. Rileya cecidomyiae Ashmead, Bui. 3, Kansas State Agri. College, 1888, p. 3, Appendix. Female. As represented by the female allotype, the head, as viewed from above is more than three times as broad as long, the postocellar line distinctly longer than the ocellocular line; face below the eyes distinctly striate with some of the striae extending upward along the eye-margin above the base of antennae; antennal depression distinctly margined; cheeks separated from face by a distinct carina which extends along the posterior eye-margin and narrowly separated from it nearly to the top of the eye; malar space equal to about twice the width of mandible, shorter than the eye; pronotum as long and as wide as the mesoscutum; pro- podeum with a distinct transverse carina which is curved forward but not sharply angulated medially, the area before this carina rugulose with some rather indefinite striae, the area behind the carina distinctly stri- ated; first tergite nearly circular; exposed margin of second approximately one-third the length of first; third about twice the length of second; the three basal tergites together constituting about one-third the length of abdomen; fourth tergite large; fifth about equal to the third; following tergites short; ovipositor tip exposed. Male. Abdominal petiole about as long as broad, weakly sculptured above; first tergite beyond the petiole broader than long; second very narrow; third fully as long as the first and second combined and extend- ing to the middle of abdomen; fourth somewhat longer than the third; fifth shorter than the first; following very short, practically concealed from above. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., 'VOL. 20, XO. 7, OCT., 1918 149 This species is represented in the National Museum by the allotype female and three paratypes of which one is a male; all from Jacksonville, Florida. The type is a male and is believed to be in the collection of the Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan, Kansas. This type has not been examined. Rileya similaris, new species. Female. Length 2.25 mm. Differs from the description of tegularis as follows; the middle of face is slightly more shining, not quite as strongly sculptured; striations at sides of face slightly coarser; margination of antennal depression a little stronger; postocellar line a little less than twice the ocellocular line; pronotum with dorsal lateral margins sharply angulated and more or less distinctly carinately margined; scutellum with a rather distinct transverse ridge at, or a little behind, the apical one-third; propodeum rugose, with a transverse carina which is sharply angulated at the middle, the apex of angulation touching the basal margin of propodeum, the area before the transverse carina and lying between the median line and the spiracle with two more or less irregular longi- tudinal carinae, the area behind the transverse carina coarsely striated; postmarginal vein two-thirds the length of marginal and nearly twice as long as stigmal; three basal tergites (not counting the very short petiole) small; exposed margin of second tergite not more than one-third as long as the first; third full}' twice as long as the second, its apex at about the basal one-third of abdomen; fourth large; tergites beyond the fourth together about equal in length to the first; tip of ovipositor exposed. Tegulae and scape pale reddish-testaceous; flagellum fusco-testaceous; otherwise the color is like tegularis except that the trochanters are pale testaceous like the knees and tarsi and the tibiae are not conspicuously brownish medially. Male. Length 2.2 mm'. Postocellar line twice as long as the ocel- locular line; abdominal petiole broader than long and rugose above; first tergite (not counting the petiole) broader than long; second about one- third as long as the first; third about equal in length to the first and sec- ond combined and extending to the middle of abdomen; fourth equal to the second and third combined; fifth about equal to the first; following ter- gites concealed from above. Agrees with the female in other characters. Type locality. Brownsville, Texas. Type. Cat, No. 21833 U. S. N. M. Host. AsphondyUa sp. Type, allotype, and a large number of paratypes reared July 3-15, 1912, by E. G. Smyth from galls on the' "Mimosa tree" (possibly Leucaena pulverulenta or Mimosa lindheimeri) and recorded in the Bureau of Entomology under Webster No. 6467, Exp. Nos. 1 and 2. 150 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 Rileya americana Girault. Rileya americana Girault, Can. Ent. XLVIII, 1916, p. 339. Female. Slightly larger than any of the other known North American species and may be separated from any of the other species by the short postocellar line. The malar space is more than twice as long as the width of mandible; face below eyes coarsely striated, some of the striae extend- ing upward* along the inner eye-margin far above the base of antennae; carina separating cheeks from face strong and extending along the pos- terior eye-margin to the top of eye; propodeum with a strong transverse carina which is angulated at the middle, the area in front of this carina and between the median line and spiracle with two carinae which converge and meet at the anterior margin of propodeum ; area behind the transverse carina coarsely striated; first tergite a little broader than long; second not quite half as long as the first and about half as long as the third; fourth longer than the first three combined; fifth, sixth, and seventh subequal to each other and each about as long as the first; abdomen acuminate at apex and considerably longer than the head and thorax; ovipositor ex- posed at tip. Type and two paratype females in the U. S. N. M., Cat. No. 20323. The types of this species according to the Bureau of Entomology records under No. 5140 were reared Sept. 7, 1891, from a Cecidomyid gall on Helenium autumnale sent in by Mr. H. G. Barlow from Cadet, Missouri. A NOTE ON THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF SAMIA CECROPIA (LEP.) BY C. N. AINSLIE. Very few of our working entomologists have escaped the infliction of having brought to them from time to time, among other rare things, finger worn specimens of Cecropia moths, believed by the enraptured finder to be something entirely new and valuable. Nearly all of our collectors are aware that this huge moth is fairly common in most localities of the northern states, and they also know that its habit of hiding among the tree tops during the day is most effective in protecting it from observation and capture. Insect Life, Vol. I, p. 155, records an instance of the appearance of this species, Samia cecropia, in unusual and destructive num- bers in Custer County, Nebraska, in 1888, but such cases seem to be uncommon. In a heavily timbered locality the larvae of the Cecropia may exist in large numbers and not be noticed unless PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 7, OCT., 1918 151 they happen to concentrate on a single tree or group of trees. Where trees are not numerous nor large there is less chance for concealment. Last July, 1917, while investigating grasshopper conditions in western North Dakota, the writer visited one farm where a limited windbreak of small box elder trees had been planted not far from the house. The owner complained of the big worms he had picked from these trees, "by the pailful" he said, in order to scald them to death with boiling water. In the winter he had gathered and destroyed cocoons in large numbers. A short search disclosed several Cecropia moths hiding among the leaf clusters. Eggs were easily found on the leaves near by while numerous empty cocoons on the twigs witnessed to the past history of the insect in the grove. These trees had been more or less injured for several years past according to the farmer's story. A few weeks later, in September, 1917, in the city of Dickinson, North Dakota, a place of less than 4000 inhabitants, I was in- formed that for two or three years the citizens had been waging war on this same moth. Some one or more of the Women's Clubs had awakened to the danger that threatened the trees of the city by reason of the attacks of great numbers of the Cecropia larvae and had come to the rescue by offering, at the outset, a cent each for the cocoons that were brought in. The sharp-eyed boy mobilized at once and two years ago thousands of cocoons were gathered and destroyed. The dis- covery was made however by the committee of destruction that many of these cocoons contained only dead inmates, the worms having died after spinning the case, before pupation. Quite a percentage of the larvae were also victims of parasites and it was clearly poor policy to kill the enemies of these pests. Con- sequently last year it became the unpleasant duty of the mem- bers of the 'committee to snip off the end of each cocoon to ascer- tain the condition of the interior and so to eliminate the dead ones from the payroll. This greatly increased the labor of the undertaking but it saved money. The financial burden of the battle became finally so onerous that the market price for cocoons sagged to half a cent apiece, but even at this small figure the boys made good money and the treasurer paid out nearly one hundred dollars during the winter of 1916-1917. A little computation gives one the remarkable figure of nearly 20,000 cocoons destroyed in a single year in spite of previous campaigns that were apparently drastic in their thoroughness. The fight is still on in Dickinson and the small boys, and small girls as well, were in October, 1917, already beginning to collect and store their prizes for redemption when the usual offer for cocoons was again made public. 152 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH-., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 If the extermination of an injurious insect were ever possible, one would suppose the conditions in Dickinson are most favor- able. The individuals of the pest are large, their range is limited by the scanty numbers of food trees in that region, while the annual campaign is profitable enough for those who participate to insure' a careful scrutiny of every shrub in that entire district. The suggestion might be made that a substantial bounty paid for each female moth when she first appears might result in mate- rially lessening the possibility of numerous larvae later, but one must remember that the moths are not as easily found as the cocoons. A NOTE ON THE MUSCULAR COAT OF THE VENTRICULUS OF THE HONEY BEE (APIS MELLIFICA). BY G. F. WHITE, Bureau of Entomology. While studying the pathology of Nosema-disease a fact of some anatomical interest in connection with the muscular coat of the ventriculus (stomach) of the adult honey bee was observed. Nosema-disease is an infectious disease among adult honey bees (Apis mellifica) caused by a protozoan parasite, Nosem.a apis. Entomologists generally are familiar with pebrine, an infectious disease among silkworms (Bombyx mori) caused by a protozoan parasite (Nosema bombycis} of the same genus. In pebrine all of the organs of the insect, whether it be the larva, the pupa, or the imago, are invaded by the parasite. An examination of the tissues show that the hypodermis, tracheal epithelium and muscle fibers are usually very heavily invaded while the fat cells, the epithelium of the stomach and the cells of the reproductive system are also invaded although to a some- what less extent as a rule. In Nosema-disease on the other hand only the adult bees are susceptible to infection and only the ventriculus and the Malpighian tubules are invaded by the parasite. The epithelium (fig. 1) of the stomach of the in- fected bee invariably contains the parasite while rarely are the cells of the Malpighian tubules invaded. This distribution of the germ in the Nosema-infected bees encouraged a somewhat careful study of the histology of the stomach. The epithelium of the organ was found to be as it is generally described. Variations due to the age of the bee and the func- tional activity of the cells at the time the tissues are fixed are observed. Nosema apis gains entrance to the bee by way of the PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 153 alimentary tract. Having reached the stomach it grows, invades the epithelium and then multiplies -rapidly and to an enormous extent. Never, however, has the germ been found be3 r ond the basement membrane. Outside the basement membrane (fig. 1, bm) is the muscular coat (m) comprised of three layers the external of longitudinal, the middle of circular, and the inner of longitudinal fibers. Each muscular layer consists of a single layer of branched fibers. These fibers are separated from each other and therefore do not form a compact layer. The branching fibers form a network of anastomoses within each layer. Communications by branches exist between the outer and middle layers and between the in- ep._< Fig. 1. A longitudinal section of the ventriculus of the adult honey bee illustrating the three layers of the muscular coat (in). The spores of Nosema apis are shown in the epithelium. ner and middle ones. Whether any such direct communication exists between the outer and inner layers has not been estab- lished. The diameter of the fibers of the outer and middle layer are about equal and their number per unit of area is approxi- mately the same. The diameter' of the fibers of the inner layer on the other hand is much less than of the other two while the number of fibers is much greater. The middle and inner layers follow the course and extent of the basement membrane while the fibers of the outer one bridge across the circular constrictions of the organ. Apparently the fibers of all three muscular layers are striated. While many of the preparations have not shown this character it is yet to be demonstrated whether the absence -of si nations are not due to the techniqu of fixation or staining. 154 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 Good results have been obtained by mercuric chloride fixatives and iron-hematoxylin stain. The fact to which attention is specially called in the present communication is that the muscular coat of the ventriculus of the honey bee is comprised of three layers instead of two, the inner layer having been overlooked in the past. The writer is indebted to Prof. W. A. Riley who has examined preparations submitted to him and verified this observation. Naturally it will be of interest to learn whether this third layer is present also in the musculature of the ventriculus of other insects. TWO NEW SPECIES OF THE BLATTID GENUS ARENIVAGA (ORTH.). BY A. N. CAUDELL, Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of \ Agriculture, Washington, D. C. While making a critical study of the concealed genital organs of the males of the material of the genus Arenivaga in the collec- tion of the National Museum I detected five specimens from Arizona which pcssess characters proving them to be very surely distinct from apacha, the species with which they have been hitherto confused. This species is described below as Arenivaga genitalis n. sp. The studies which brought about the detection of this interesting form were undertaken for the purpose of deter- mining the identity of some specimens belonging to this genus taken in Florida. The habitat of these Florida specimens lead me to expect they would prove to be undescribed and an examina- tion of their structure proved this to be the case. They are there- fore herein characterized as a new species under the specific name floridensis. The concealed genital organs of the species of Arenivaga are easily brought into view by laying a fresh or relaxed specimen back downward on a piece of cork and with a sharp scalpel separating the subgenital plate for most its width from the preceding seg- ment and laying it over to one side, holding it there till dry by a pin stuck into the cork. The sinistral plate bearing the genital hook should be partially raised and held back by a pin until dry. Arenivaga genitalis n. sp. Male. Closely allied to and hitherto confused with a/xii-liu Sauss., from which species however it is easily distinguishable by the structure of the concealed genital organs. The subgenital plate is here, as in allied PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 155 forms, asymetrical, the right half being somewhat more prolonged than the left. Beneath this right half lies the dextral concealed genital plates, of which there are two, one above the other, while on the opposite side lies the sinistral plate with its slender genital hook. The inferior dextral plate is remarkably different in this new species from that of its near relative apacha. In apacha this plate is armed with a single sharp chitinized tooth as described by Hebard 1 but not very well represented in his figure. In the present species there is a similar chitinized spine and basad of this spine there is a completely chitinized projection as long as the^spine and about as thick but with the apical part noticeably swollen and the tip rounded; just beneath this projection is an elevated ridge with a small tooth at the base of the projection, this ridge with the small tooth is not readily seen except on close and careful examination. In apacha, instead of a projec- tion and elevated toothed ridge there is an unarmed, moderately chitinized and scarcely elevated ridge; the superior dextral plate of these two species differ almost as much as the inferior ones above described. In apacha this superior plate is broadly and roundly excavate on the inner edge, and at the base of this emargination are two elongate sharp completely chitinized teeth situated one above the other, the upper one directed backwards and seen only in completely dissected specimens, and the lower one directed diagonally downwards and generally clearly visible when the subgenital plate is laid aside. In genitalis this superior plate is shaped about as in apacha but at the base of the inner emargination is an apically rounded subclavate projection, vertically flattened, fully chitinized and with a tri- angular tooth on the inner surface, seen only upon careful examination; above this projection is a rounded chitinized shoulder, corresponding to the second acute spine in apacha. This upper dextral plate in both sexes extends backwards over the ventral plate and in the deeply concealed por- tions of the genitalia there are various chitinized ridges which are visible only when the organs are removed and dissected out, and in apacha there is a sharp, slender spine on one of these deep-lying chitinized portions that is apparently wanting in the new species now under discussion. The sinis- tral plate and genital hook are very similar in both species, as are also the cerci and supraanal and subgenital plates. The interocular space of all specimens examined is subequal in width with the interocellar space, sometimes a very little greater, in this respect agreeing with apacha. The coloration is uniform in all specimens seen, being rather intensive in degree, the discal shield-shaped spot on the pro- notal disk being very distinct and well defined. The size is generally some- what smaller than in apacha, only one of the five specimens before me being as large as the smallest individual of apacha in the National Museum. Female. Unknown, or if specimens of this sex are in the collection they are apparently inseparable from allied forms. 1 Mem. Amer. Entom. Soc., No. 2, p. 237, pi. ix, fig. 14 (1917). 156 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 Measurements. Male (type): length, pronotum, 3.6 mm.; tegmina, 13 mm.; width, pronotum, 5 mm.; tegmina, 5 mm. Paratypes a, b and c are practically the same size as the type but paratype d is somewhat larger, measuring as follows: length, pronotum, 3.8 mm.; elytra, 14.5 mm.; width, pronotum, 6 mm.; elytra, 6 mm. Type. Phoenix, Arizona, v-17, R. E. Kunze, coll.; paratype a, same locality and collector, date iv-15; paratype b, same, date, viii-5; paratypfe c, Higley, Arizona, June 18, 1917, E. G. Holt, collector, at light; paratype d, Catal. Spgs., Arizona, 7-4. All material . in Coll. U. S. Nat. Museum. Catalogue No. 21879. U. S. N. M. Arenivaga floridensis n. sp. Male. In color the species is similar to an intensively colored apacha, nearly as blackish as the variety infuscata of that species, but the genital structure is more like that of erratica. The sinistral concealed plate and the genital hook are about as in erratica but the inferior dextral plate is more regular in shape than in that species, though agreeing with it in being unarmed; the superior dextral plate is shaped as in erratica and allies but instead of being armed at the base of the inner excavation with a sharp spine as in erratica and apacha it is there furnished with an elevated rounded ridge which, from an apical view, looks like a rounded subclavate projec- tion, similar to that of genitalis described above, but from a lateral view appears to be the terminus of an elongate elevated ridge; the exact nature of this character and the structure further in behind it cannot be made out without complete dissection, which does not seem advisable with the unique male specimen. The interocular space is barely narrower than the interocellar space. The general color, as stated above, is very dark; the shield-shaped maculation on the pronotal disk is distinct and well defined, separated from the anterior and lateral edges of the disk by a wide yellow- ish margin and from the posterior edge by a narrow, partly infuscated margin. The general shape is decidedly less elongate than in any other member of the genus. Female. Shaped about as in apacha as figured by Hebard, 2 but the broadest part is more nearly the middle of the insect. Color almost black, the limbs and lower surface partially lighter; pronotum with the disk bor- dered somewhat broadly on the anterior and lateral margins with reddish yellow and in the allotype the meso- and metanotum are similarly margined laterally: the segments of the abdomen are marked laterally with a black spot as in erratica and in the allotype there are also some lighter lateral areas wholly or partially surrounding these black lateral spots. f 2 Mem. Amer. Ent. Soc., No. 2, pi. ix, fig. 16 (1917). PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 7, OCT., 1918 157 Measurements. Length, pronotum, cf 4.25 mm.; 9 5 mm.; tegmina, c? 15mm.; width, pronotum, c" 6.5mm., 9 8mm.; metanotum, 9 11 mm.; elytra, c? 6 mm. Type, male, Dunedin, Florida, 4-10, 1915. W. S. Blatchley, collector: allotype, female, Auburndale, Florida, no date, N. R. Wood, collector; paratype a, female, same data as allotype. Type and allotype in collection of U..S. National Museum; paratype in collection of W. S. Blatchley. Catalogue No. 21880 U. S. N. M. There is some evidence indicating specific value for the varie- ties of Arenivaga bolliana and apacha erected some years ago by the writer under the names nigricans and infuscata. In addition to the more intensive coloration nigricans is noticeably different from bolliana, as represented by material in the National Museum, it being decidedly less elongate in general dorsal outline. In infuscata the character, in addition to the blackish coloration, pointing to at least incipient specific distinctness, is the spine of the inferior dextr,al plate of the concealed genitalia of the male, which is scarcely more than one half as long as usual in apacha. THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF THE SAWFLY GENUS LAURENTIA (HYM.) BY S. A. ROHWER, Specialist in Forest Hymenoptera, Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. Until recently, when Enslin* treats it as a subgenus of Rhogo- gaster, Costa's genus Laurentia has been considered a synonym of Tenthredopsis. No North American species has ever been as- signed to Costa's genus, but three of the species occurring in the western states described as Tenthredo by Cresson in 1880, belong there. Recently I had the opportunity to study the types of three species described by MacGillivray and assigned to two ne\v genera, namely, Astochns flctcheri, A. alt/r/clii, and Kinca/i/iii nijicorna. Dr. MacGillivray described these three species from as many specimens, and as these specimens show distinct differ- ences it is not surprising that he considered them as distinct. The series of specimens in the collection of the National Museum, however, show that the venational characters chosen by Dr. .MacGillivray to separate the genera Axtnclnix and Kincaidia are subject to either or both individualistic or asymmet rical variation. The differences between Astochus and Kiiicnidia, as pointed out in the original descriptions, is in the presence or absence of the intercosta, recurrentella and intercubitclla. Since these charac- * Enslin, Deutsch. Ent. Zcit. Biheft, I'll'-', p. 91. 158 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 ters are variable and do not always assume the same combinations they cannot be considered of generic importance and as no other characters are known, the following synonymy is necessary: Genus Laurentia A. Costa. Laurentia, A. Costa, Rendic Accad. Sci. Fis. Napoli, vol. 4 (2), 1890, p. 193. Syn. Astochus. MacGillivray, Can. Ent., vol. 46, 1914, p. 108. Syn. Kincaidia MacGillivray, Can. Ent., vol. 46, 1914, p. 137. The North American species belonging to this genus may bo distinguished by the following key: 1. Entire insect mostly rufoferruginous dilula (Cresson). - Head and thorax mostly black 2 2. Mesepisternum black rubens (Cresson). - Mesepisternum with yellow spot 3 3. Scutellum black edwardsii var. ruficorna (MacGillivray). Scutellum yellow or partly so. edwardsii var. edwardsii (Cresson). > Laurentia edwardsii var. edwardsii (Cresson) Tenthredo edwardsii Cresson, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 8, 1880, p. 24. The nine specimens of this species in the Museum Collection came from the following localities: Sierra Nevadas Nevada County, California; Nevada; Easton, Washington; "Washington State;" and one from Kalso, British Columbia. Of these nine specimens, five have the intercosta present and on this character would be placed in Aslochus. On the venation of the hind wings one of these five specimens belongs to Kincaidia, one to Astochiix, while the other three have the intercubitella wanting in one wing but present in the other, with the recurrentellae present in both wings. Four of the specimens have the intercosta wanting and would be placed in Kincaidia. On the venation of the hind wings, two of these four specimens would belong to Kincaidia, one to Astochus, while the other has the intercubitella wanting in both wings with the recurrentella present in both. The series also varies considerably in color markings; no two specimens are marked exactly the same. The amount of yellow on the scu- tellum while somewhat variable, (Cresson says, "Scutellum more or less yellow") may be of varietal importance, and we can recognize, as a variety, the form to which Dr. MacGillivray has given the name ruficorna. The variation in color does not follow the variation in wing-venation. Only five of the specimens listed above belong to this variety. These five specimens come from Nevada; Sierra Nevadas, Nevada Co., Calif. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 159 Lauientia edwardsii var. ruficorna (MacGillivray) Tenthredopsis ruficorna MacGillivray, Can. Ent., vol. 25, 1893, p. 242. Kincaidia ruficorna MacGillivray, Can. Ent vol. 46, 1914, p. 137. Astochus fletcheri MacGillivray, Can. Ent., vol. 46, 1914, p. 108. The color markings of the four specimens of this variety vary so that it seems necessary to propose the above synonymy. These four specimens come from "Washington State;" East on, Washington; Kalso, British Columbia. Laurentia diluta (Cresson) Tenthredo diluta Cresson, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 8, 1880, p. 24. This species is represented in the National Collection by only one specimen from Santa Cruza Mountains, California. Laurentia rubens (Cresson) Tenthredo rubens Cresson, Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 8, 1880, p. 24. Eight males and one female of this . species from Nevada; Placer Co., Siskiyou Co., Santa Cruza Mountain, California; and Kalso, British Columbia, are in the National Collection. They show considerable variation in the amount of yellow on the cly- peus and some of the specimens show some yellow on the scutel- lum. It is possible that some of these may be the males of ed- wardsii, but in the absence of proof it seems advisable to retain the name for the time being. This is also supported by the fact that there, is one female in the lot. This female has the abdomen (beyond the propodeum) all rufous and except for the black mesepisternum might be considered as ruficorna. Furthermore, the species described as aldrichi by MacGillivray may be the fe- male of some of the males in this series. Laurentia aldrichi (MacGillivray) Astochus aldrichi MacGillivray, Can. Ent., vol. 46, 1914, p. 137. Except for the shape of the postocellar area and size there are no characters, in the original description, to distinguish this from edwardsii var. rubcorna. The female considered as rubens is about the right size for aldrichi but the mesepisternum is black and the postocellar area is without a median furrow. Sec also remarks under Laurentia rubens. 160 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 7, OCT., 1918 THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH MEETING, NOVEMBER 6, 1918 A NOTE ON THE HABIT OF PEGOMYIA AFFINIS STEIN AND OTHER ANTHOMYID GENERA. BY CHARLES T. GREENE. At Lyme, Conn., May 13, 1918, the writer was collecting in a field where there were numerous burrows of the % common ground hog, Marmota. Numerous specimens of Pegomyia a finis Stein, a common fly of the family Anthomyidae, were found flying around the openings of these burrows. On investigation I found pupae in the loose earth which was thrown out around the burrow opening. A few days later the adults of this fly emerged. There were no traces of excrement or any decaying material in this loose earth that I could see. The U. S. National Museum collection contains several speci- mens of this species labeled, "In dung in the den of Marmota," collected by Mr. H. S. Barber at Plummers Island, Md., June 15, 1911. The larvae of Pegomyia are generally known to be leaf miners. The larvae of the family Anthomyidae are rather variable in their habits and it might be of interest to mention the habits of some of the other genera which are as follows : Hydrotaea in cow-dung and human excrement; Ophyra in human excrement, cow-dung and human graves; Fannia in human excrement, dead fresh-water shells, fruit and vegetables just beginning to decay; Hyetodesia in cow-dung; Mydaea was reared from nestlings of Spermophila sp. and nestlings of the nightingale; Limnophora in human ex- crement; Anthomyia in roots of cabbage and radish; 'Hylemyia in human excrement and in swelling on the wing of Picus striatus; Hammomyia is parasitic on bees; Phorbia is a root miner in cab- bage, radish, cauliflower, turnip, winter cress, hedge mustard, celery, onion, beans, potatoes, corn, raspberry, young wheat plants, stems of Lupinus albus and human excrement; Fucellia in seaweeds and other refuse. Actual dale of publication December 4> 1918 VOL. 20 NOVEMBER 1918 No. 8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON CONTENTS COCKERELL, T. D. A. SOME HALICTINE BEES IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM (HYM.) 177 FISHER, W. S. CHRYSOBOTHRIS TRANQUEBARICA GMEL. VERSUS IMPRESSA FABR. (COLEOPTERA; BUPRESTIDAE) 173 MOSIER, C. A., AND SNYDER, T. E. FURTHER NOTES ON TABANIDAE IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES (DIPT.) 182 ROHWER, S. A. NOTES ON, AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SAWFLIES BELONGING TO THE TENTHREDINID TRIBE HEMICHROINI (HYM.) 161 PUBLISHED MONTHLY EXCEPT JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BY THE SOCIETY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 GREENMOUNT AVE. BALTIMORE, MD. EDITORIAL OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C. Entered &a second-claas matter February 28, 1913 at the post office at Baltimore, Maryland, under the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 3, 1918. 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PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOL. 20 NOVEMBER, 1918 No. 8 NOTES ON, AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SAWFLIES BELONGING TO THE TENTHREDINID TRIBE HEMICHROINI (HYM.) BY S. A. ROHWER, Specialist in Forest Hymenopter a, Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. The following paper is based on the collections of the U. S. Na- tional Museum, but it contains also some notes on the types of species in other collections. In presenting these descriptions of new species it has been considered advisable to give generic and specific keys; and to add a list of the species known from the Neartic region. The writer wishes to express his indebtedness to Miss Margaret M. Fagan, for assistance in preparing the list of the species, and compiling references. TRIBE HEMICHROINI ROHWER. Hemichroini Rohwer, Proc. Ent, Soc. Wash., vol. 13, 1911, p. 225; Rohwer, Proc. U. S. Nat, Mus., vol. 43, 1912, p. 238. Hoplocampinae Rohwer, Proc. Ent, Soc. Wash. vol. 13, 1911, p. 220, 225: MacGillivray, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 29, 1906, MacGillivray, Bull. 22, Conn. Geol. Nat. Hist. Survey, 1917, p. 105. iliinae MacGillivray, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 29, 1906, p. 635 (part); Bull. 22, Conn. Geol. Nat. Hist, Survey, 1917, p. 108 (part). ;i Enslin, Deutsch, Ent, Zeitschr., 1914, Beiheft. p. 244 (part). ?s Konow, Gen. Ins., fasc. 29, 1905, p. 71 (part). Xi'/natini Enslin, Deutsch. Ent. Zeitschr., 1915, Beiheft, p. 311 (part). Nematides Konow, Gen. Ins., fasc. 29, 1905, p. 44 (part). Other authors have placed undue stress on the value of the interradius and thus placed the genera here grouped together in the tribe Hemichroini in different subfamilies. According to the writer's opinion the presence or absence of the interradius, in all those groups in which the prepectus is present, can only 1><- used as a generic character. MacClillivray has laid consideraM" stress on the formation of the two anal cells, and while this char- acter is of great importance and is used by the writer to sep:ir;ite the tribe Hemichroini from the tribe Xeniatini. it is not of 161 ^^y.onia.n <^ ^ 3 <^> 162 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 same value as the position of the basal vein. The position of the basal vein separates the subfamily Nematinae from the sub- family Cladiinae; and by using this character, the two subfami- lies can not only be easily distinguished in the adult, but the species, which in the larvae are closely related, can be grouped together. In the author's judgment, the genus Hoplocarnpa is not closely allied to the genera Calirora, Phyllotoma. and Heptamelus with which it is grouped by Enslin and Konow. These genera are readily separated from Hoplocarnpa in the adult by the absence of a prepectus. The habits and characters of the larvae are also quite different. NEARTIC GENERA OF THE TRIBE HEMICHROINI. This synopsis, while prepared especially for neartic forms, in- cludes all the genera of the tribe Hemichroini known to occur in the world with the possible exception of the genus H oplocampoides Enslin, which is known only from description and cannot well be included in the following synopsis. 1. Malar space wanting or nearly so; second recurrent received by the third cubital cell or interstitial with the second intercubitus. . 2 Malar space large; head and thorax shining; second recurrent usu- ally received by the second cubital cell 3 2. Tarsal claws cleft; head and thorax coarsely punctured; third and fourth antennal joints subequal; eyes subrenif orm ; interradius wanting Craterocercus Rohwer Tarsal claws with an erect inner tooth near the middle; head and thorax shining, not coarsely punctured; third antennal joint longer than fourth; eyes elongate, oval; interradius wanting Caulocampus Rohwer 3. Second recurrent received by the third cubital .... Hoplocarnpa Hartig Second recurrent received in the second cubital 4 4. Interradius present Hemichora Stephens Interradius wanting Platycampus Schi0dte Genus Craterocercus Rohwer Craterocercus Rohwer, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 41, 1911, p. 385. As far as known this genus is confined to, the Neartic region. The following synopsis will aid in the identification of the species. 1. Females 2 Males 7 2. Clypeus largely or entirely pale"; abdomen with a pale band basall y . . 3 Clypeus black; abdomen black or without a well defined pale band basally 5 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 163 3. Middle fovea very shallow, nearly circular in outline; basal plates black phytophagicus (Dyar) Middle fovea deep, rectangular in outline; basal plates pale 4 4. Supraclypeal area broad, gently convex; ocellar basin broader than long, the lower wall rounded; stigma truncate albidovariatus (Norton) Supraclypeal area narrow, strongly ridged; ocellar basin longer than broad, the lower wall rather sharply defined; stigma oblique floridanus Rohwer 5. Head and scutellum smooth, shining; antennae rather slender reaching beyond the apex of the scutellum; small species californicus Rohwer Head and scutellum opaque, with distinct sculpture; antennae stout, not reaching beyond the apex of the scutellum 6 6. Middle fovea elongate breaking through the frontal crest ; pre- scutum black; tergum black fraternalis (Norton) Middle fovea shorter, not breaking through the frontal crest; pre- scutum rufous; tergum suffused with ferruginous basally quercivorus Rohwer 7. Abdomen with a pale band dorsally 8 Abdomen black 9 8. Postocellar furrow straight; no oblique impression behind the lateral ocelli; postocellar area gently convex, four times as wide as long floridanus Rohwer Postocellar furrow angulate medianly; an oblique impression be- hind each lateral ocellus; postocellar area convex parted by a median impression, three times as wide as long albidovariatus (Norton) 9. Middle fovea breaking through the frontal crest; postocellar area convex, with a median impression, about three times as wide as long fraternalis (Norton) Middle fovea not breaking through the frontal crest; postocellar area flat, without a median impression, about four times as wide as long quercivorus Rohwer Craterocercus fraternalis (Norton) Hemichroa fraternalis Norton Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 4, 1872, p. 811. Craterocercus fraternalis Rohwer, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 41, 1911, p. 385. Type. Probably in collection Academy Natural Science, Phila- delphia. Specimen subsequently determined by Cresson in Coll. U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution . Texas . As far as known the species as here restricted occurs only in Texas. The species which has been previously confused with 164 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 this one is here described as a new species (see quercworus) . The female of this species characterized in the above key was col- lected in Texas by Belfrage and is in the Museum Collection. Craterocercus quercivorus, new species. "F" Dyar, Can. Ent., vol. 27, 1895, p. 339. Hemichroa' fraternalis Norton: Dyar, Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc., vol. 6, 1898, p. 124; MacGillivray, Conn. Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey, Bull. 22, 1917, p. 106. MacGillivray treats this as a species of Hemichroa, but it be- longs more properly to the genus Craterocercus as the separation of the genera Craterocercus and Hemichroa given by MacGilli- vray (Bull. 22, Conn. Geol. Nat. Hist. Survey, 1917, p. 105), is based on a character subject to individual variation. In some specimens of this species the characters treated as generic, by Mac- Gillivray, vary in the same specimen. Besides in the characters mentioned in the above table, this species differs from fraternalis by the rufous mark on the upper part of the mcsepisternum. It has been previously confused with fraternalis Norton as the above references will show. Female. Length 8 mm. Clypeus shining, deeply subangulately emar- ginate, the lobes narrow and triangular in outline; supraclypeal area nar- row, strongly convex, almost keel-like; middle fovea oval, not breaking through the frontal crest; frontal foveae large, confluent with the anten- nal foveae; ocellar basin wider than eye, well defined, trapezoidal in outline, open above; an oblique impression behind each lateral ocellus; postocellar area flat, well defined, slightly more than three times as wide as long; third and fourth antennal joints subequal; stigma three and one-half times as long as its greatest width, gradually tapering from the base to the apex; sheath broad, straight afcove, obtusely rounded at the apex, tapering to a broad base. Black; pronotum, trochanters and knees white; prescutum, mesepisternum dorsally and legs except where mentioned, rufo-ferrugi- nous; abdomen piceous with the tergum, basally, and all of the sternum suf- fused with ferruginous; wings hyaline, iridescent, venation dark brown, costa'and stigma ferruginous. Male. Length 5 mm.; length of antennae 4.25 mm. Structural charac- ters given in the above description apply well to this sex. Black; prono- tum and tegulae white; legs below the trochanters except the infuscated bases of the femora yellowish white; wings hyaline, venation dark brown, costa and stigma pale brown. Type-Locality. Bronx Park, New York City, New York. De- scribed from one female and four males (one allotype) reared from larvae collected on Quercus alba, May 22. 1897, by H. G. Dyar, PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 165 and recorded under his No. F. A. Two female paratypcs reared from larvae collected on Quercus alba at Pelham Bay Park, Xew York, May 18, 1897, by Dr. H. C. Dyar. The larv.-i rred to as "F" by Dr. Dyar in the Can. Ent., 1895. were not reared; they were collected June 4, 1895, at Franklin Park, N'-w York. Type Cat. No. 21702, U. S. Nat, Mus. (Craterocercus) Priophorus infuscatus MacGillivray. Craterocercus infuscatus MacGillivray, Bull. 22, Conn. Geol. Nat. Hist. .Survey, 1917, p. 106. I can find no other reference for this species, and here it is only tabulated in connection with other species; and no locality or sex is given. Examination of the type female, in October 1918 convinced me that the species belongs to the subfamily Cladiinae and to the genus Priophorus. Genus Caulocampus Rohwer. The type species of this genus is treated by MacGillivray as a species of the genus Priophorus. According to the writer's opin- ion, acericaulis does not even belong in the same subfamily as does Priophorus. The characters of both the adult and the larva point out subfamily differences between Caulocampus and Prio- phorus. Only one species is known. Caulocampus acericaulis (MacGillivray). Priophorus acericaulis MacGillivray, Can. Ent. vol. 38, 1906, p. 306. Caulicampus acericaulis Rohwer, 1-roc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 43, 1912, p. 240. Cat. No. 14594, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. New Haven, Connecticut. Genus Hopoclampa Hartig. This genus is divisible into two subgenera as follows: Malar space as great or greater than the width of the mandible :it base; eyes short, scarcely twice as long as wide; ocelli in a low tri- angle ...................................... MacGillivrayella Ashmead Malar spare comparatively narrow, never as great as the width of the mandible at the base; eyes elongate, nearly three times as long as wide; ocelli in a curved line .................... Hoplocampa Hartig 166 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 Subgenus MacGillivrayella Ashmead. Macgillivraya Ashmead, Can. Ent. vol. 30, 1898, p. 257. Macgillivrayella Ashmead: Smith, Cat. Ins. N. J., 1899, p. 606; Rohwer, Can. Ent., vol. 42, 1910, p. 242, 244. Species of this submenus are confined to the Neartic region. Macgillivrayella lacteipennis Rohwer. Macgillivrayella lacteipennis Rohwer, Can. Ent., vol. 42, 1910, p. 244. Type Cat. No. 12843, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Massachusetts. Macgillivrayella oregonensis (Ashmead). Macgillivraya oregonensis Ashmead, Can. Ent., vol. 30, 1898, p. 257. Macgillivrayella oregonensis Ashmead: Smith, Cat., Ins. N. J., 1899, p. 606; Rohwer, Can. Ent., vol. 42, 1910, p. 243. Type. Cat. No. 12841, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Mt. Hood, Oregon. Macgillivrayella pallida Rohwer. Macgillivrayella pallida Rohwer, Bur. Ent. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 141. Type. Cat. No. 13469, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Michigan. Macgillivrayella xanthura Rohwer. Macgillivrayella xanthura Rohwer, Can. Ent., vol. 42, 1910, p. 244. Type. Cat. No. 12842, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Montana. Subgenus Hoplocampa Hartig. Hoplocampa Hartig, Fam. Blattw. Holzwestp., 1837, p. 276. The Nearctic species of this subgenus were treated in consid- erable detail in a paper in the Techn. Ser., Bur. Ent., 20 pt. 4, 1911. The following Nearctic species have been wrongly referred to this genus : atriceps Kirby ( = Stronglogaster uncus Norton) ; canadensis Provancher (= Macrophyd). Following is a list of the North American species: Hoplocampa alpestris Rohwer. Hoplocampa alpestris Rohwer, Bur. Ent. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 142. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 167 Type. Cat. No. 13474, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Veta Pass, Colorado. Hoplocampa bioculata Rohwer. Hoplocampa bioculata Rohwer, Can. Ent., vol. 40, 1908, p. 179; Konow, Gen. Ins., fasc. 29, 1905, p. 75; Rohwer, Bur. Ent, Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 146. Type and one paratype.C&t. No. 13470, U. S. Nat. Mus. Paratype in collection Colorado Agricultural College. Distribution. Colorado, Oregon and Washington. For de- tail localities see literature, all of these localities are in the transi- tion life zone. Hoplocampa cookei (Clarke). Dolerus cookei Clarke, Can. Ent., vol. 38, 1906, p. 351. Hoplocampa californica Rohwer, V. S. D. A. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 143. Hoplocampa cookei Rohwer, Ent, News, vol. 23, 1912, p. 472; Foster, Bur. Ent. Bull. 116, pt, 3, 1913; Essig, Mo. Bull. Sta. Comm. Hort. Calif., 1914, p. 31. Type. Type of Dolerus cookei Clarke destroyed in San Fran- cisco fire. Type of H. californica Rohwer, Cat. No. 13471, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. California and Oregon. V Hoplocampa flavicornis (Provancher). Selandria flavicornis Provancher, Natural. Can. vol. 10, 1878, p. 100. Type. Public Museum Quebec, bearing yellow label 60 and name label "Selandria halcion Harris" on the other side of which is written "Selandria flavicornis Prov." Provancher considered this the male of halycon but from notes on the type I am more inclined to believe that it may be the male of xantha Rohwer. It is, however, impossible to be sure because of the difference in the sexes and it is advisable to consider the two as separate until more evidence is available. The following .notes on Provancher's type may be useful. Stigma broader near base tapering to an acute apex; interradius leaving stigma near apex and joining the third cubital about the length of the third intercubitus from the apex; third cubital cell longer on the radius than the first and second; hypopygidium rather broadly truncate with angles rounded; clypens arcuately emarginate, lobes broadly rounded; middle fovea rather large walls sloping rectangular in outline; ocellar basin poorly 168 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 indicated, except opposite the anterior ocellus, hexagonal in outline, open above. This species is a true Hoplocampa. Hoplocampa halcyon (Harris) Norton. Hoplocampa halcyon Harris: Norton, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, 1961, p. 222. Hoplocampa halcyon Dalla Torre, Cat. Hym., 1, 1894, p. 189. Konow, Gen. Ins., fasc., 29, 1905, p. 75. Rohwer, U. S. D. A. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 145. Type. Academy Natural Science, Philadelphia. Distribution. New York, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia and Eastern Canada. For detailed localities see literature. Host. Amelanchier canadensis. Wm. Middleton has secured the egg and larva of this species at East Falls Church, Va. Its habits are similar to those of H . cookei. Hoplocampa koebelei Rohwer Hoplocampa koebelei Rohwer, U. S. D. A. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 142, pl. 23, f. 6; pi. 24, f. 3. Type. Cat. No. 13472, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Oregon. Hoplocampa marlatti Rohwer. Hoplocampa marlatti Rohwer, U. S. D. A. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 143, pl. 24, f. 7. Type. Cat. No. 13477, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Riley County, Kansas; Baldwin, Kansas. Hoplocampa montanacola Rohwer. Hoplocampa montanacola Rohwer, U. S. D. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 145, pl. 23, f. 4; pl. 25, f. 3; pl. 24, f. 6; pl. 26, f. 3. Type. Cat. No. 13476. U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Montana. Hoplocampa nevadensis Rohwer. Hoplocampa nevadensis Rohwer, U. S. D. A. Techn. Ser. 20. pt. 4, 1911, p. 143, pl. 23, f. 10; pl. 24, f. 4; pl. 25, f. 4. Type. Cat. No. 13475, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Nevada. PROC. EJSTT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 169 Hoplocampa occidentalis Rohwer. Hoplocampa occidentalis Rohwer, U. S. D. A. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, . p. 144, pi. 24, f. 8; pi. 25, f. 5. Type. Cat. No. 13479, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Colorado; Oregon; Placer Co., California. Hoplocampa orbitalis Rohwer. Hoplocampa orbitalis Rohwer, U. S. D. A. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 141, pi. 23, f. 3; pi. 24, f. 10. Type. Cat. No. 13472, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Montana. / Hoplocampa pallipes MacGillivray. Hoplocampa pallipes MacGillivray, Can. Ent., vol. 25, 1893, p. 239. Konow Gen. Ins., fasc. 29, 1905, p. 75. Type. Cornell University. Distribution. Skokomish River, Washington. Hopolocampa xantha Rohwer. Hoplocampa xantha Rohwer, U. S. D. A. Techn. Ser. 20, pt. 4, 1911, p. 144, pi. 23, f. 9; pi. 24, f. 1. Type. Cat. No. 13478, U. S. Nat, Mus. Distribution. Ottawa, Canada. Genus Hemichroa Stephens. This genus is divisible into two groups which have been given generic names. They may be separated as follows: Tarsal claws simple Marlattia Ashmead Tarsal claws cleft Hemichroa Stephens Subgenus Marlattia Ashmead. Miii-lali; a Ashmead, Can. Ent., vol. 30, 1898, p. 287. Marlattia Rohwer, Bur. Ent. Techn. Ser., 20, part, 2, 1911, p. 108. This subgenus includes only the type which was described as Hemichroa laricis by Marlatt, The species erythrotlionu: which was originally described in this subgenus belongs to the genus Dineuridea Rohwer. Marlattia laricis (Marlatt). Hemichroa laricis Marlatt, Can. Ent., vol. 28, 1896, p. 257; Dyar, .In. X. V. Ent. Soc., vol. 5, 1897, p. 28. 170 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 Type. Cat. No. 3480 U. S. Nat. Mas. Distribution. Known only from the unique female type which was reared from larvae collected on larch at Jefferson, New Hampshire. Subgenus Hemichroa Stephens. Hemichroa Stephens, Illustr. Britt. Ent.. Mandib., vol. 7, 1835, p. 55, no. 18. Enages Clistel, Naturg. d. Thierreichs, 1848, p. IX. Leptocercus Thomson, Hym. Scand., vol. 1, 1871, p. 76. Leptocerca Hartig, Fam. Blattw., Holzwestp., 1837, p. 228. Key to the Nearactic Species of the Subgenus. 1 . Females 2 Males 4 2. Nervulus in the middle of the discoidal cell; third cubital cell but little longer than its apical width; "spot at apex of the posterior femora black" pallida (Ashmead) Nervulus distinctly beyond the middle of the discoidal cell; third cubital much longer than its apical width; posterior femora black 3 3. Middle fovea small, deep, circular, with shallow lateral impres- sions which extend above the antennal foveae; clypeus with a rather narrow, deep, arcuate emargination, the lobes brpadly rounded apically; second recurrent much before the second in- tercubitus americana (Provancher) Middle fovea broad, shallow, without lateral impression; clypeus with a deep, subangulate emargination, lobes triangular in out- line; second recurrent close to the second intercubitus dyari Rohwer 4. Middle fovea broad, shallow; apex of the hind tibiae and all of their tarsi black dyari Rohwer Middle fovea narrow, elongate, deep; tibiae and tarsi uniformly pale pallida (Ashmead) Hemichroa americana (Provancher). Dineura americana Provancher, Nat. Canad., vol. 13, 1882, p. 292. Hemichroa americana Konow, Gen., Ins., fasc. 29, 1905, p. 49. Type. One female bearing yellow label 639 Public Museum Quebec. Notes taken from type and a study of a homotype from New England. The larvae described by Dyar under this name belong to a different species which is described below (see
  • ry badly broken, only antennae and win<>-s remaining. The above key points out the characters which should separate this from th oth'-r females. The males here referred to pallida show the usual antigeny. The color of the le-s is paler than in the male of mm. Clypeus deeply, subangulately emarginate. the lobes broad and triangular in out line: supraclypeal area sharply convex: middle fovea deep, elongate: frontal 172 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 foveae elongate, narrower below; ocellar basin pentagonal in outline, but the lower wall nearly obsolete; antennal furrows interrupted above the frontal foveae; postocellar area sharply defined, uniformly convex, but little wider than long; third and fourth antennal joints subequal; stigma about three times as long as its greatest width, regularly rounded below; nervulus received in the middle of the discoidal cell. Black; palpi and tegulae, whitish; legs below the coxae pale ferruginous; sides of the tergites 3, 4, and 5, and most of the sternites with ferruginous spots; wings subhya- line, venation dark brown. The above description is taken from a number of males col- lected at Boulder, Colorado, May 22, 1907, by S. A. Rohwer, in the foliage of Alnus tenuifolia, Populus angustifolia, and Salix luleosericea. Genus Platycampus Schi0dte. This genus is divided into two subgenera on the dentation of the claws. Tarsal claws simple Anoplonyx Marlatt Tarsal claws with an inner tooth Platycampus Schi0dte Subgenus Platycampus Schi0dte. Platycampus Schi0dte, Mag. Zool., vol. 19, 1839, p. 20 (footnote). Camponiscus Newman, Ent., vol. 4, 1869, p. 215. Erasminus Gistel, Naturg. d. Thierreichs 1848, p. IX. Leptopus Hartig, Fam. Blatt. Holzwesp., 1837, p. 104, (non Latreille, 1809). Four species of the genus Platycampus are known to occur in the Nearctic region: Platycampus albostigmus (Rohwer). Camponiscus albostigmus Rohwer, Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc, vol. 16, 1908, p. 105. Type. University of Nebraska. Distribution. Ute Creek, Costilla County, Colorado. Platycampus americanus (Marlatt). Camponiscus americanus Marlatt, Can. Ent., vol. 28, 1896, p. 251; Dyar, Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc., vol. 5, 1897, p. 24. Type. Cat. No. 3471, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution Jefferson, New Hampshire. Type material reared from larvae collected on poplar by H. G. Dyar. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 8, NOV. 1918 173 Platycampus juniperi Rohwer. Platycampus juniperi Rohwer, Proc. U. S. Nut. .Mas., vol. 41, 1901 p. 3SG. Type.Cstt. No. 13994, U. S. Nat. Mus. Distribution. Los Vegas, Hot Springs, New Mexico. Larvae on Juniper. Platycampus smith! (Rohwer). Camponiscus smithi Rohwer, Journ., X. Y. Ent. Soc., vol. 16, 1908, p. 105. Type. University of Nebraska. Distribution. Ute Creek, Costilla County, Colorado. Subgenus Anoplonyx Marlatt. Anoplonyx Marlatt, Bur. Ent., Rechn. Ser., 3, 1896, p. 18. Only one species of this genus is known to occur in the Nearctic region. Anoplonyx canadensis Harrington. Anoplonyx canadensis Harrington, Can. Ent., vol. 34, 1932, p. 94. Type. Harrington Collection. Distribution. Ottawa, Canada. CHRYSOBOTHRIS TRANQUEBARICA GMEL. VERSUS IMPRESSA FABR. (COLEOPTERA; BUPRESTIDAE) BY W. S. FISHER, Specialist in Forest Coleoptera, U. S. Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. There has been more or less confusion in the use of the names impressa Fabr. and tranquebarica Gmel. for a species of Chryso- bothris found in the southern part of Florida. This species has been rarely collected in the United States until a few years ago, when it was found attacking the so called Australian Pine ((''/- suarina equisetifolia Forster) which has been planted extensively, for ornamental and shade purposes in some parts of that state, and has become quite an enemy of that tree in the section where it is planted by the realty companies. As this insect will figure considerably in the economic literature in the future, the following notes are given in regard to the origin of the names used and may clear away some of the confusion, especially to those who do not have access to the literature. 174 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 In 1775 Fabricus (Syst. Ent., p. 220) described the species Bu- prestis impressa from "Indiis" and in 1787 (Mant. Ins., Tom. I, p. 182) under the same name described a species from "Tranque- bariae." Gmelin (1788, Syst. Nat., Tom. I, Pars. IV, p. 1932) proposed a new name tranquebarica for the species described in 1787 by Fabricius. Two years later, Olivier (1790, Enc. Method., Tom. V, p. 232) proposed a new name excavata for the same species and this name was used by Fabricius in all his later works. Fab- ricius and Olivier, either did not see the work by Gmelin, or would not use his name, as the name tranquebarica was not used by either of these writers in their works. Mannerheim in 1837 (Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, vol. X, No. 8, p. 75) described Chryso- bothris fraterna from Porto "Rico and (1. c. p. 74) C. rugosa from an unknown locality. The following , year, 1838, Castlenau & Gory (Mon.B upr., vol. 2, Gen. Chrysobothris, p. 46, pit. 8, fig. 62) describe denticulata from Guadeloupe and give an excellent figure of the species, which is the species found in Florida, but (I.e. addenta p. 7) place it as a synonym of fraterna Mann. Gory in 1841 (Mon. Bupr. Suppl. vol. 4, p. 178, pit, XXX, fig. 173) describes denticollis. Horn in his Monograph of the Chryso- bothris inhabiting the United States (1886, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. XIII, p. 109, 121) reports this species for the first time from the United States under the name impressa Fabr. and in a footnote gives the following: "The name impressa has been used, although it was preoccupied by Fabricus himself. Later Gmelin changed the name to tranquebarica, and two years after Olivier proposed the name excavata. In accordance with the strictest rules the name proposed by Gmelin should be adopted, although it conveys an erroneous idea of habitat, Inasmuch as the first impressa proposed by Fabricius is now placed in Halecia, it might be as well to allow the Chrysobothris to retain the name proposed for it. It is better at times, to violate the law of prior- ity than perpetuate an annoyance." Kerremans (1904, Gen. Ins., Fasc. 12, p. 186) places the impressa described by Fabricius in 1775 in the genus Halecia, retaining the impressa described by Fabricius in 1787 in the genus Chrysobothris, placing tranquebarica Gmel., excavata Oliv., rugosa Mann., denticulata Cast. & Gory, and denticollis Gory as synonyms of that species, but as this impressa is a homonym, and according to the present nomencla- tural ruling, cannot be used again, we must use the name tranque- barica proposed by Gmelin for the species found in Florida and the West Indies. Olivier in 1790 (Ent. II, Gen. 32, p. 44, pit, 5, fig. 42) figured what he supposed was the impressa described by Fabricius in 1775, giving the habitat as South America, and Herbst (1801, Coleopt. T. 9, p. 233, pit, 150, fig. 4) figures the same species, PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, XO. 8, NOV. 1918 175 while in 1838, Castlenau & Gory (Mon. Bupr., vol. 2, Gen. Colo- bogaster, p. 9, pit. 2, fig. 7) figure the same species, saying it is not the species described by Fabricius in 1775, as iniprcxxti, but his Buprestis sex-punctata described (1801, Syst. Eleuth. Tom. II, p. 206) from South America. This is also followed by Water- house (1887, Biol. Centr.-Amer. vol. 3, pt. 1, p. 35) and Kerre- mans (1903, Gen. Ins., Fasc. 12, p. 184). There seems to be considerable confusion in the habitat given for these species, as Fabricius described his impressa (1775) from "Indiis," which is not India, but may refer to either the East or West Indies. Gmelin (1788) credits it to South America and India, while Fabricius in his later works gives India for the same specimen that he described from "Indiis," but Castlenau & Gory, Kerremans, and Gemminger & Harold, give South America as the locality. The impressa described in 1787 by Fabricius and changed to tranquebarica by Gmelin, was described from a speci- men from Tranquebar, a seaport of British India, and it is just probable, that this specimen was labeled incorrectly, for in those days collections were made in different parts of the country and often .all labeled from the same locality. The citations made by Fabricius, Olivier and Gmelin are all from the same specimen. Chrysobothris fraterna Mann., and denticulata Cast. & Gory which are considered as synonyms of tranquebarica were described from the West Indies. From the above notes it seems that the range of distribution of Chrysobothris tranquebarica Gmel. is confined to the West Indies and extreme southern part of Florida. Chrysobothris impressa Fabr. (now in the genus Halecia) to South America, while Chryso- bothris sex-punctata Fabr., is found in Central and South America. The bibliography and synonymy should stand as follows : Chrysobothris impressa Fabr. Bu/trt'y.lin ini/trcsxn, 177."), Fab. Syst. Knt., p. 220, no. 19. Iiuliis. Buiii-cxiix iwi>rrxxii. 17S1, Fabr. Spec. Ins., p. 277. no. L'7. Indiis. Bu]>rrxli* /////J/T.S-.W, 1787, Fabr. Mant. Ins., Tom. I, p. 17i), no. 40. Indiis. Itni>n'xli* iiH/iressn, 17XX. (Imclin, Syst. Xat., Tom. I, Pars. IV, p. 1931, no. 63. India and South America. Buprestix ini i/rcxxn. 1792, Fabr. Knt. Syst., Tom. I, Pars. II. p. 200, no. 58. India. Buprestis impressa, ISM, Fabr. Syst. Kle-uth., Tom. II. p. I'.is, no. 70. India. < x//.s /////>/TX.SV;, 1X17. SchonhciT, Syn. Ins., Hand I, Pars. 3, p 235, no. 114. India. 176 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 Colobogaster impressa, 1838, Cast. & Gory, Mon. Bupr., Vol. 2, Gen. Colobogaster, p. 14, pit. 3, fig. 14, addenda p. 6. Surinam. Colobogaster impressa, 1869, Gem. & Har., Cat. Col., Tom. V, p. 1422. (Part). Surinam. Halecia impressa, 1902, Kerremans, Gen. Ins., Fasc. 12, p. 70. Brazil. Chrysobothris tranquebarica mel. Buprestis impressa, 1787, Fabr. Mant. Ins., Tom. I, p. 182, no. 61. Tranquebar. Buprestis tranquebarica, 1788, Gmel. Syst. Nat. Tom. I, Pars. IV, p. 1932, no. 74. Tranquebar. Buprestis excavata, 1790, Oliv. Enc. Method., Tom. V, p. 232, no. 95. Tranquebar. Buprestis excavata, 1792, Fabr. Ent. Syst., Tom. I, Pars. II, p. 206, no. 84. Tranquebar. Buprestis excavata, 1801, Fabr. Syst. Eleuth., Tom. II. p. 205, no. 105. Tranquebar. Chrysobothris fraterna, 1837, Mann. Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, X, No. 8, p. 75. Porto Rico. Chrysobothris rugosa, 1837, Mann. Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, X, No. 8, p. 74. Locality Unknown. Chrysobothris denticulata, 1838, Cast, Gory, Mon. Bupr., vol. 2, Gen. Chrysobothris, p. 46, pit. 8, fig. 62. Guadeloupe. Chrysobothris denticollis, 1841, Gory, Mon. Bupr. Suppl., vol. 4, p. 178, pit. 30, fig. 173. Chrysobothris impressa, 1867, Chev. Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 4 ser. Tom. 7, p. 586. Guadeloupe and Santo Domingo. Colobogaster impressa, 1869, Gem. Har., Cat. Col., Tom. V, p. 1422. (Part.) Antilles and Guadeloupe. Chrysobothris impressa, 1886, Horn, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 13, pp. 109-110, 121, pit. VI, figs. 198-202. Key West, Florida. Chrysobothris impressa, 1903, Kerremans, Gen. Ins., Fasc. 12, p. 186. Antilles. Chrysobothris sex-punctata Fabr. Buprestis sex-punctata, 1801, Fabr. Syst. Eleuth., Tom. II. p. 206, no- il 1. South America. Buprestis impressa, 1790', Oliv. Ent., II, Gen. 32, p. 44, no. 56, pit. 5, fig. 42. South America. Buprestis impressa, 1790, Oliv. Ent. Method, Tom. V. j>. '_"_'(>. no. (17. South Amer'ca. Buprestis impressa, 1801, Herbst, Colcopt., Th. 9, p. _!.". no. 153, pit. 150, fig. 4. America. PROC. E.NT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 177 'i* splendens, ISOl, Yoet. Cat. Col., vol. I, p. 0(1. pit. :>1. fi^. 20. Huprestis sex-punctata, 1817, Schonherr, Syn. Ins., Kami. I, Pars. 3, ;>. 255, no. 216. South America. Col er sex-punctata, 1838, Cast. & Gory, Mon.Bupr., vol. 2, Gen. Colobogastor, p. 9, pi*. '2, fig. 7. Cayenne. ('lii-i/.lititliri.-< xcx-pnnctata, 1887, Waterhouse, Biol. Centr. Amer., vol. 3, pt. 1, p. 35. South America, Nicaragua. Chrysobothris sex-punctata, 1903, Kerremans, Gen. Ins., Fasc. 12, p. 184. Brazil. SOME HALICTINE BEES IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM (HYM.) BY T. D. A. COCKERELL. The present paper completes my study of the entire collection of bees borrowed from the National Museum a few years ago. The collection proves to contain 205 new species and variei i >s but many of these, though in type, have not yet been published. Halictus bentoni sp. n. Ffinnle. Length about 8-8.5 mm., anterior wing about G. 5 mm.; black, with the hind margins of the abdominal segments hyaline; pubescence dull white, forming broad entire bands at bases of second and following ab- dominal segments, but no bands on apical margins; clypeus rather pro- duced, polished, with sparse distinct punctures; mandibles reddened aoically; antennae dark, theflagellum very faintly brownish beneath; mes- othorax den-civ and very distinctly punctured, shining between the punc- tures; area of metathorax hardly defined, appearing rugulose under a ens; posterior truncation with sharp but not prominent lateral margins, and no dentiform angles above; legs black, tarsi reddened at apex; tc^ulae rufo- testaceus; wings hyaline; stigma (which is large) and nervures clear yel- lowish-ferruginous; abdomen moderately shining, but very finely and closely punctured all over. Microscopical characters: front very densely punctured; area of metathorax eanc-ellate; hind spur with broad obtuse semicircular laminae. Kolul Mtihil, Southern Persia, Feb. 1906 (Frank />Y//ton), U. S. Nat. Museum. This may be compared with //. albipes, but it is more robust, with a longer head, and closely punctured first abdominal segment. Two specimens were obtained. Halictus persicus sp. n. Female. Length about 5.5 mm., anteror wing nearly ."> mm. ; black, with the hind margins of the abdominal segments testaceous; pubescence dull 178 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 white, scanty; no apical hair-bands on abdomen, but bases of second and following segments with white bands of tomentum, broad laterally, failing in middle; flagellum ferruginous beneath; clypeus not produced, shining and irregularly punctured; front closely punctured, but shining between the punctures; mesothorax polished, distinctly but not very densely punc- tured, the posterior half distinctly green; scutellum punctured, with two smooth polished spaces; area of metathorax large, rather distinctly denned, irregularly plicate; posterior truncation not sharply defined; tegulae clear testaceous; wings very clear, nervures and stigma pale amber; legs black, with the knees, tibiae at apex and tarsi ferruginous, the anterior basitarsi dark, and the hind basitarsi with a dark cloud apically; abdomen broad, shining, very finely punctured; extreme apex reddish. Microscopical char- acters: front densely punctured, but the spaces between the punctures polished; mesothorax polished, without any sculpture between the punc- tures; area of metathorax with strongly wrinkled rugae, hind spur with three strong spines. The green tint on the mesothorax may be hardly appreciable. Kotal Malul, S. Persia, Feb. 1906, three (F. Benton). U. S. National Museum. The following key separates the above species from thqse de- scribed by Perez from the Persian Gulf: Metallic species with large head, related to H. cephalicus Morawitz; length 6 mm. (Mascate) omanicus Perez Head ordinary 1 1. Dark green, with bronzy tints on head and thorax; length 7 mm. (Bahrein) arabs Perez General color black, with little or no green 2 2. Larger, without green tints bentoni Ckll . Smaller, with greenish tints on mesothorax persicus Ckll. Halictus capitosus Smith Tlahualilo, Durango, Mexico, at peach flowers, March 9, 1904 (A. W. Morrill). Halictus morrilli sp. n. Female. Length about 8.5 mm., anterior wing 7.7 mm.; black, the abdomen with broad bands of white tomentum at bases of second and fol- lowing segments. Very closely resembles H. forbesii Rob., to which it runs in Crawford's (1907) table, but the head is smaller, with the face nar- rower; the wings are not at all yellowish; the second submarginal cell is very broad, receiving the first recurrent nervure some distance before its end; the scutellum is shorter, with the disc highly polished; and the hind spur has numerous small broad rounded laminae, appearing nodulose or obtusely serrate. From H. desertus Smith it is known by the shining meso- PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 179 thorax, with a punctureless area on each side of middle posteriorly; the clypeus and supraclypeal area are also highly polished, with very few punc- tures. From H. supercretus Ckll. it differs by the shining thorax, white bands on abdomen, clearer wings and other characters. The tegulae are piceous; area of metathorax granular, not sharply bounded behind; pos- terior truncation with long, pale hair, not sharply margined; hair of head and thorax white; abdomen subglaucous, extremely finely punctured, hind margins of segments not pallid; stigma rather dull ferruginous. Tlahualilo, Durango, Mexico, at peach blossoms March 9. 1904 (A. W. Morrill'). U. S. Nat, Museum. Halictus respersiformis sp. n. Female. Length about 6 mm., anterior wing 5 mm. ; robust, black, with black legs, antennae and tegulae, but hind margins of second and following abdominal segments broadly dark brown; pubescence dull white, the bases of second and third abdominal segments with large elongate patches of white tomentum on each side, the base of fourth with white hair right across, but thin in middle; head suboval, face narrow; front extremely densely and minutely punctured; mesothorax shining, but finely and closely punctured all over, on the disc posteriorly the punctures separated by more than the diameter of one; area of metathorax minutely reticulated, with delicate oblique plicae at sides, the posterior middle V-shaped, not crossed by a sharp keel; posterior truncation heart-shaped, sharply defined, with long hair not hiding the surface; tegulae reddish-black; wings strongly dusky, stigma and nervures dark brown, second submarginal cell rather broad, receiving first recurrent nervure well before end; hind spur with three long teeth, all far from base; abdomen shining, with thin pale hair, first segment very minutely punctured, principally at sides, toward the base very finely transversely lineolate. Tlahualilo, Durango, Mexico, at peach blossoms, March 9. 1904 (A. W. Morrill) U. S. Nat. Museum. In Crawford's table (1907) this runs to H. macoupinensis Rob. and H. divergens Lov- ell, but it is larger and more robust than these, with dark tegulae. In the Mexican fauna it resembles H. respersus Vachal, but is dis- tinguished by the reticulate area of metathorax and dusk}' wings. Halictus cordovensis sp. n. Male. Length about 6 mm., anterior wing 4.7 mm.; black, the abdomen shining, reddish black; pubescence scanty, white, rather abundant on face, but not hiding surface; head round seen from in front, face broad, clypeus not produced; no pale face-marks; mandibles chestnut-red apically; an- tennae long, black; clypeus closely punctured; front granular under a lens, but the microscope shows rather coarse punctures, so dense as to give a cancellated effect; mesothorax coarsely and very densely punctured, a 180 PEOC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 little shining area posteriorly; scutellum polished, punctured round the sides, but scarcely at all along the middle ; area of metathorax shining, with irregular coarse branching rugae; sides of metathorax coarsely cancellate; tegulae piceous, not punctured; wings dusky; stigma and nervures dark brown; second submarginal cell marrow, third long, its outer nervure (which is strong) with a double curve; legs very dark brown; abdomen without hair-bands or patches, the depressed hind margins of segments with scanty pale hair; apical plate very broadly rounded, with pallid margin; venter ferruginous, with a dusky cloud about the middle. The joints of the flagellum are hardly at all gibbous, and have a feebly sculptured sur- face, without any sharply pitted or honey-comb-like structure. Cordova, Mexico, October (L. 0. Howard} U. S. Nat. Museum. Nearest to H. pectoralis Smith, to the vicinity of which it runs in Crawford's (1907) table. It is larger, and has the mesothorax more coarsely and densely punctured. It also differs conspicu- ously by the long third submarginal cell. It has rather the aspect of a Sphecodes, owing to the coarse sculpture and shape of the head; but the antennae are those of Halictus, and the face is not densely covered with white hair. Halictus deceptor Ellis. Cacao, Trece Aguas, Alta Vera Paz, Guatemala, June 1907 (G. P. Goll). Rhopalictus patagonicus sp.n. Female. Length nearly 7 mm., anterior wing 5.7 mm.; head, thorax, legs and antennae black, the flagellum very obscurely brownish beneath, the small joints of tarsi reddish; abdomen shining ferruginous, impunctate and without hair-bands, first segment marked with black on each side toward base, venter mainly black, with base and apex broadly red; pubes- cence very scanty, pale fuscous on outer side of hind tibiae; face broad, the eyes strongly emarginate, clypeus and supraclypeal area distinctly greenish, clypeus high, microscopically tesselated, very sparsely punc- tured; front minutely rugulose; mesothorax shining, without distinct punc- tures, the surface microscopically tesselated; area of metathorax long, shining, without plicae; posterior truncation shining, not sharply bounded; tegulae piceous; wings faintly dusky, stigma and nervures dark brown; second submarginal cell rather broad, receiving first recurrent nervure very near its end; third submarginal cell broad, broader on marginal than second; hind spur with numerous short, slender spines; ventral abdominal segments fringed with long erect hair. Chubut, Patagonia, from W. F. H. Rosenberg; U. S. Nat. Museum. I had at first placed this as an aberrant Halidus, but it is clearly congeneric with Rhopalictus corinogaster (Spinola) PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 181 from Chile. The metathorax is much narrow. -r dors'dly, but has the same general appearance, and the shape of the third submar- ginal cell is the same. The strongly cmarginate eyes exclude it from true Halictus. The next species, also a RhopaMctus, is still more like Halictus. Rhophalictus chloronotus sp. n. Female. length nearly 8 mm., anterior wing 6.5 mm. ; robust formed as in Halictus, but the eyes distinctly emarginate, and the large broad area of metathorax, which is well bounded behind, without plicae; hair of head and thorax dull white, rather abundant; abdomen with triangular hair- patches at bases of segments 2 to 4 laterally; the apex, which is slightly reddened, especially beneath, densely hairy. Head broad, black, nowhere distinctly metallic; clypeus and supraclypeal area somewhat shining, but not polished, not distinctly punctured; antennae dark; front dull and ap- pearing granular, the surface microscopically roughened; mesothorax dark green, dullish (microscopically tessellate) without evident punctures; scutellum more shining, faintly greenish, not punctured; other parts of thorax black; posterior truncation shining, the sharp margin only going half-way up each side; tegulae dark reddish; wings very faintly dusky, stigma and nervures reddish; second submarginal cell much higher than broad, receiving first recurrent nervure before its end; third submarginal cell broad, shaped as in R. corinogaster; legs very dark brown, with pale hair; abdomen broad, black, the first segment brownish, hind margins of second to fourth pallid brownish, venter with pale erect hair. Chile (E. C. Reed}. U. S. Nat. Museum. A pencilled label gives the exact locality which looks like "Chacogut." I can- not now be positive, but I believe this is the species with "meso- thorax faintly greenish" (Trans. Amor. Ent. Soc. XXXI, p. 356) which I saw in the British Museum, labeled with a manuscript name by Spinola. It appears to be close to Halictus chloromelas Alfken but is larger, without the violet-blue tints on head and thorax. Halictus perzonatus sp. n. Female. Length about 8 mm., anterior wing 6.2, robust, black, the ab- domen dorsally dark greenish, the hind margins of the segments dark brown ; eyes rather strongly but not abruptly emarginate; clypeus produced, con- vex, polished and shining, with sparse strong punctures; supraclypeal area also shining; front dull; flagollum obscurely reddish beneath; appearing granular under a lens, but the microscope shows dense minute but very distinct punctures, the surface between tessellate; scutellum very finely punctured, distinctly shining; area of metathorax with extremely dense and delicate plicae, connected by cross-lines, so that the surface is subretic- ulate, and seems finely roughened under a low-power lens; posterior 182 PROC. ENT. SO,C. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 truncation shining, distinctly bordered; upper margin of prothorax and tubercules densely clothed with very pale ochreous felt; tegulae piceous, with a pallid margin anteriorly and a large red spot posteriorly; wings dusky, stigma and nervures dark brown; second submarginal cell very broad, receiving first recurrent nervure some distance from end; third sub- marginal cell hardly larger than second; legs dark reddish-brown, with pale hair, fusceous on outer side of hind tibiae; hind spur with two broad laminae, the first long, the second short and truncate; abdomen broad, dullish, very minutely and densely punctured (except base of first, segment which is shining) ; pale ochreous bands of dense tomentum (appressed plu- mose hairs) as follows: short narrow lateral apical ones on first segment, narrow lateral apical and basal ones on second, broad complete apical and basal bands on third and fourth, leaving a median dark band (the surface of segment showing) of about equal width between; apical segment with thin, hoary pubescence, not hiding the surface; venter shining black. Carcarana, Argentina (L. Bruner 74) U. S. National Museum. Resembles Halictus puelchanus Holmberg, but distinct by the greenish abdomen with ochreous bands. FURTHER NOTES ON TABANIDAE IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES (DIPT.) BY C. A. MOSIER, Warden, Royal Palm State Park, Dade County, Florida, and T. E. SNYDER, Bureau of Entomology. In previous articles 1 on gadflies in the Everglades the writers have recorded the habit, developed by species of Tabanus, of congregating on the bloom and feeding on the nectar of the saw palmetto (Seronao serrulata), especially where this bloom is shaded by the large fan leaves. After the early morning swarm of T. americanus, males are found on palmetto bloom as early as 6.45 A.M., which, however, is some time after sunrise. Males of several species of Tabanus feed on the bloom T. americanus, T. trijunctus and T. lineola and may be found there from early morning until nearly dusk. A few females also feed on the bloom. In order to capture a large number of the usually rare males, the leaves were cut from about the flowers of saw palmettos at Paradise Key (Royal Palm Hammock) in April. The males of 1 Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., vol. 18, no. 4, Dec., 1916, (June, 1917); vol. 19, no. 4, April, 1917 (Sept.. 1918); vol. 20, no. 6, June 1918 (Oct., 1918). PEOC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 183 T. americanus at once sought new feeding grounds either for shade or security. The exposure of the blooms did not have the same effect on either sex of T. trijunctus. There is a considerable difference in the date of the blooming of the saw palmetto in the southern and northern parts of Florida but in any .given locality the plant remains in blossom over a long period. Therefore, it would seem that in their control, ad- vantage might be taken of the habit of these species of Tabanidae of congregating on the bloom and of feeding on the nectar of saw palmetto and other plants. The Russian entomologist I. A. Porchinski in 1908 recommended spraying the surface of ponds, where Tabanids drink, with kerosene oil in order to clog the air passages of the flies or to prevent them from rising from the surface. It has occurred to the junior author that it might be practicable to spray with an arsenical solution to poison the adults the bloom of plants, the nectar of which Tabanids drink. Of course, in regions where honey bees are abundant, there would be the danger of poisoning the bees. The blossoms should be sprayed before sunrise. Artificial drainage of the Everglades may be the solution of the gadfly problem, but until this is done, these annoying and dan- gerous insects will continue to be detrimental to the welfare of live stock. The senior author has made additional captures of Tabanidae at Paradise Key. A black species Tabanus lugubris Macq., T. rufus Palisot de Beauvais and T. costalis Wied. are new records for this locality. On June 11 one female of Tabanus am.ericanus was caught; two more were captured on June 13. T$y the middle of June adults of Tabanus lineola were diminishing in numbers on the screens of the Lodge building but were plentiful on the prairies. Of Taba- nus flavus, only a few adults were nightly observed. During July, adults of the black gadfly (Tabanus higubris) were observed occasionally but this species was not plentiful. Tabanus melanocerus was diminishing in numbers. Females of the large reddish brown Tabannx rufus were collected on July 28. During August, adults of Tabanus costalis a small species sim- ilar to T. lineola were collected. Adults of the "yellow fly of the Dismal Swamp" (Diachlorus ferrugatus) were captured during June and August). An effort was made ly the senior author to preserve the beau-' tiful natural pigment of the eyes of the living flics. Specimens of several species of Tabanus caught in -June were put in a 10 per cent formalin, 10 per cent grain alcohol solution. As long MS the Hi"-; remained in the solution there was no change noted, but as soon as they were removed and drying took place the colors changed. 184 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 8, NOV. 1918 The following list gives new records of species of gadflies collected at Paradise Key by Mosier. C. T. Greene determined the flies. Paradise Key (Royal Palm Hammock). Tabanus americanus Forster. Females. June 11, 13 and 18, 1918. Tabanus rufus Palisot de Beauvais. Females. July 28, 1918. Tabanus turbidus Wied. Females. June 18, July 27, August 5, 6, 8, and 13, 1918. Tabanus lugubris Macq. Females. August 5 and 18, 1918. Tabanus atratus Fab. Males. October 2, 1918. Tabanus melanocerus Wied. Females. June 18 and August 5, 1918. Tabanus lineola Fab. June 18 (male) and August 5 and 6, 1918 (females). Tabanus costalis Wied. Females. June 4, 9 and 18; August!, 6, and 13, 1918. Tabanus flavus Macq. Females. June 18, 1918. Diachlorus ferrugatus Fab. Females. June 9 and August 6, 1918. Chrysops plangens Wied. Females. April 24, 1918. Chrysops flavidus Wied. Females. April 24, 1918. Occasional males of several species of Tabanus were flying as late as December 15, 1918. Actual date of publication, January 24, 1919 VOL. 20 DECEMBER 1918 No. 9 PROCEEDINGS ( OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON CONTENTS COCKERELL, T. D. A. A NEW COLLETID BEE FROM ECUADOR . . . 200 CUSHMAN, R. A., AND ROHWER, S. A. THE GENUS EPHIALTES FIRST PRO- POSED BY SCHRANK (HYM. ) 186 MC ATEE, W. L., AND WALTON, W. R. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DIPTERA! TABANID.E POPENOE, C. H., HYSLOP, JAMES A., AND SANFORD, H. L. ALLEN BOWIE DUCKETT . . 185 PUBLISHED MONTHLY EXCEPT JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BY THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM WASHINGTON, I). C. Entered as second-class matter March 10, 1919, at the post office at Washington, 1 > C., uinlri the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 3, 191S. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOL. 20 DECEMBER, 1918 No. 9 ALLEN BOWIE DUCKETT. BY C. H. POPENOE, JAMES A. HYSLOP AND H. L. SANFORD. Allen Bowie Duckett was born at Bladensburg, Maryland, March 9, 1891. His preparatory schooling was received at the Bladensburg public schools, from which he entered the prepara- tory department of the Maryland Agricultural College. His interest in natural science early led him into the study of insects, to which he devoted much time during his junior and senior years at college. In the summer of 1911 he secured an appoint- ment with the Bureau of Entomolgy as student assistant, under Dr. F. H. Chittenden, returning in the fall to college to complete his course in entomology. He graduated from Maryland Agri- cultural College in 1912, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science in biology. In June, 1912, he was appointed scientific assistant with the Bureau of Entomology, under Dr. Chittenden, which position he retained until the year 1917. During this time he was occu- pied with the investigation of the pests of truck crops in Mary- land and Virginia, and was later assigned to work on the life histories and control measures of stored product insects, a task which secured his deep interest, resulting in his transfer to the office of Stored Product Insect Investigations on its creation in 1917. There, under *Dr. E. A. Back he was appointed assistant entomologist and assigned to the study of the insects affecting army supplies at the port of New York. On this project he labored unceasingly until his seizure by pneumonia, which claimed him- on October 8, 1918, hardly a month after his marriage to Miss Margaret Hildreth, the daughter of Mrs. Margaret B. Hildreth of Washington, D. C. He was a member of the Washington Entomological Society since 1912, and was also affiliated with the Entomological Society of America, and with the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science. In the field of systematic entomology his in- terests were devoted to the Jassidae in the Hemiplera and to the Halticini in the Coleoptera. A contribution on the latter group, prepared as a thesis for advanced work, is now in the is:, 186 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 9, DEC., 1918 hands of .the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station for publication. Mr. Duckett was a conscientious and unceasing worker, care- ful and thorough in his investigations, although owing to the nature of his work he had received but little recognition through publication. His untimely death removes from the field of eco- nomic entomology one of its most promising younger workers. BIBLIOGRAPHY. - Paradichlorobenzene as an Insect Fumigant, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. No. 167, Feb. 1915. Notes on a Little-known Rabbit Ear Mite, Journ. Amer. Vet. Medical Assn., Vol. 48, No. 6, March 1916. -Abstract of Above in Proc. Ent, Soc. Washington, XVIII, 17, 1916. -Bean and Pea Weevils, U. S. Dept. Agr. Farm. Bui. 983, Sept. 1918. As junior author with E. A. Back. THE GENUS EPHIALTES FIRST PROPOSED BY SCHRANK. (HYM.). BY R. A. CTJSHMAN AND S. A. ROHWER, Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. The generic name Ephialtes was first proposed t in 1802 by Schrank (Fauna Boica, vol. 2, pt. 3, p. 316) with Ichneumon compunctor mentioned as an example and the only included species. On an earlier page (p. 269) of the same work Schrank listed Ichneumon compunctor, stating that he knew two forms that belonged there, one with the body 6| lines and ovipositor 1\ lines long and the other 13 lines long with the ovipositor \\ lines, but otherwise alike. At this place he refers to an earlier work by himself (Enum. Ins. Aust. 1781, p. 357), where he cites Ichneumon compunctor Linnaeus, Faun. Suec. No. 1609 (evidently a more detailed characterization of the species originally de- scribed in Systema Naturae, tenth edition, page 564). It is evident, then, that he meant the Linnaean species when he used the name compunctor and this species must be the geno- type. Ichneumon compunctor Linnaeus has not been definitely recognized by subsequent authors, for references quoted under that name by such authors as Schrank, Fabricus, and even Lin- naeus himself refer to such figures as those of Degeer (Mem. 1'Hist. Ins., vol. 2, pt. 2, figs. 6-8), which is aPimpla in the sense of authors ( = Pimplidea Viereck) and very similar if not iden- tical with Pimpla instigator Fabricus; Schaffers (Icone. Ins., vol. 2, pt. 1, PI. 110, fig. 3), which is obviously manifestator Linnaeus PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20. NO. 9, DEC., 1918 187 or something close to that species ; Muller (Linn. Vollst. Natursyst., 1775, PI. 26, fig. 5), a poor figure of impossible determination but obviously, from the great length of its ovipositor, not the com- punctor oi Linnaeus; and Schaffers (Icone. Ins., pi. 49, fig. 4) which is evidently a Cryptine with the ovipositor longer than the body Moreover, Dalla Torre has synonymized compunctor with such widely different insects as Ephialtes manifestator Linnaeus, Pimpla hixliaator Fabricus and Mesostenus gladiator Scopoli. Rowland E. Turner has kindly examined the Linnean collec- tion in London and reports: "Ichneumon compunctor is represented by two specimens but although they apparently formed part of the original Linnean collection the name has not been attached by Linne himself but by Smith, with a note 'named from de- scription.' Both specimens are Pimpla instigator, but there can be no certainty or even presumption that either is the type." Obviously the species described by Linnaeus as compunctor cannot be his manifestator for both of these sp 'C : os are described in the same work, and the 'very short ovipositor of compunctor cannot be reconciled with the very long one of manifestator. Moreover, in subsequent references to compunctor, Linnaeus says that it is commonly parasitic within the pupae of Papilio, a habit entirely foreign to manifestator or any of its close relatives, while the species of Pimplidea are habitually parasitic within the pupae of Lepidoptera. In view of the absence of a definite type specimen, and since it is certain that Linnaeus had, according to our present knowl- edge, a composite and vague idea of his species compunctor it will be necessary to base all determination of this species on the original description in the tenth edition, which is as follows: "Body immaculate black, abdomen subpetiolate oblong, legs rufous, ovipositor shorter than antennae." The most helpful characters in the original description are the shape of the abdomen and the length of the ovipositor, but to thoroughly understand these characters it is necessary to examine the characterizations of well recognized species described at the same time. The various species now placed in Ambyteles or in the Cryptinae are all said to have the abdomen petiolate which eliminates from consideration members of these subfamilies. The species belonging to the Ophioninae and allies are said to have the .abdomen arcuate or sickle-shaped so they are readily eliminates Species nmv placed in the Ichneumoninae (Piin- plinae) are said to have the abdomen sessile and cylindrical, or. as in strob/eh'lltK 1 , ovate, so it is not at all unlikely that Linnaeus would describe the species now known as }'nxti