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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The maiden females of the genus lay eggs which can 

 be hatched so as to produce larvse, and a naturalist 

 may breed a species for years without seeing a 

 male Solenobia. This extraordinary fact is not 

 without parallel amongst the Lepidoptera. . . . 

 and it is common among the bees and the aphides." 

 Concerning this, Mr.W. V. Andrews, of New York, 

 makes the following remarks in the Canadian Ento- 

 mologist for January, 1S74 : — "To many persons there 

 will be, I hope, nothing new in the above statement, 

 but there are more to whom it will not only be new but 

 also incredible. In this connection I wish to state 

 an occurrence, which, although not quite conclusive 

 in its character, may, if known, recall to others 

 similar occurrences with the same species, and 

 they may have met with more definite results. 

 Two years ago, wishing to rear several broods of 

 Eacles imperialis, I placed a female of that species 

 in a favourable situation for attracting the male. 

 I had forgotten whether the male usually remained 

 in the company of the female for a long or a short 

 time, and watched pretty closely till 1 o'clock a. m., 

 for the purpose of ascertaining that fact. I was 

 much chagrined to find that at none of my visits 

 was there any male visible. I was up betwixt 3 and 

 4 o'clock, a.m. — still no male ; and at broad day- 

 light the result was the same. The female had, 

 however, laid on the branches of the tree on which 

 she was confined about thirty eggs ; and although I 

 considered them worthless, 1 put them into a small 

 box without quite knowing why. I removed the female 

 the next night to a still more promising spot, hoping 

 that the eggs remaining in her might still be impreg- 

 nated. No trace, however, of a male was visible, 

 but, by the next morning, she had laid a quantity 

 of eggs, which I secured as before. Every one of 

 these eggs was fertile ; but now comes the curious 

 part of the matter. Every one of the larvse was 

 of the dark brown variety — not a green one amongst 

 them. Now what I would like to learn is this: 

 Does any one know of any case in which imperialis 

 has produced fertile eggs without male assistance, 

 and, if so, what colour were the larvse ? " 



DoRYPHORA DECEMLiNEATA (uot decempunctatu, 

 as in the January number, 1874, of Science-Gossip), 

 or " Ten-lined Spearman," alias " Colorado Potato- 

 beetle," has reached the county of Lancaster, 

 within sixty-five miles of the eastern limit of the 

 state of Pennsylvania, and has become domiciliated, 

 on both sides, along the Pennsylvania Central Rail- 

 road. It has been brought here in advance of its 

 normal progress, which is about forty miles a 

 year, doubtless by transportation on the railroad. 

 In the autumn of 1871, the railways in the vicinity 

 of Denison, Ohio, were so numerously infested, that 

 their crushed bodies on the iron rails were a partial 

 hindrance to the progress of the cars. The last, 

 brood of the imago, like Chrisomelaus in general, 



pass their hybernation, sometimes, in places con- 

 venient for that purpose above ground. There- 

 fore, after they left the fields in proximity to the 

 railroad, when their natural food was exhausted, 

 and cold weather was approaching, some of them 

 may have crept into the corners and crevices of the 

 " rolling stock" standing on the road ; and thus, in 

 the spring, were doubtless transported to remote 

 localities along the road, in advance of their natural 

 mode of travel. In the summer of 1872 they 

 occurred in only a single locality in this county, but 

 in 1873 they had spread to more than half a dozen, 

 at least ten miles apart. Handpicking and Paris 

 green are the only effective remedies so far known. 

 — S. S. R., Lancaster, Pa. 



Menopoma Alleghaniensis. — The presence of 

 this animal in a tributary of the Delaware, according 

 to an illustrated paper in the December No., 1873> 

 of Science-Gossip, is news to me, and the manner 

 of its getting there does not seem clear to my mind, 

 although I have nothing to suggest more satisfactory. 

 It is becoming "unpleasantly" numerous in the 

 waters of the Susquehanna, where it is most com- 

 monly known by the name of " Hell-bender ;" but 

 it has several aliases, as "Mountain Alligator," 

 "Mud Pappy," in addition to those mentioned in 

 the paper of Dr. Abbott. Pifty years ago, this 

 Batrachian was almost entirely unknown to the 

 waters of the Susquehanna or its tributaries, but was 

 common in the Ohio, Kentucky, Alleghany, Kanawa, 

 and other streams west of the Alleghany Mountains. 

 About forty years ago it was taken in the Sinnema- 

 honing, east of the AUeghanies, and from that period 

 to the present it has become more numerous, and 

 has been taken, in various ways, at points lower 

 down the streams, until, in the summer of 1873, 

 several specimens were captured near "York Furnace 

 Bridge," Lancaster county, Pa., which is only about 

 twenty-five miles from Chesapeake Bay. Several 

 specimens are in the museum of the Liunsean Society 

 in this city, the largest of which is two feet in 

 length. Its reputation for voracity makes it an 

 unwelcome guest at this time, in the midst of stock- 

 ing the Susquehanna and its tributaries with Black- 

 bass and trout. — S. S. B., Lancaster City, Pa. 



Microscopic Examination of Air. — We have 

 received a copy of this extraordinary work, recently 

 published in Calcutta by Dr. Douglas Cunningham. 

 It is illustrated by numerous plates, detailing the 

 organic forms he has detected in his microscopical 

 examinations of air, by means of an instrument he 

 calls the aeroscope. Among other conclusions the 

 author arrives at, is, that distinct infusorial animal- 

 cules, their germs or ova, are almost entirely absent 

 from atmospheric dust. Bacteria are likewise rare, 

 whilst spores and vegetable cells are shown to be 

 constantly present in the atmosphere. The majority 

 of them are living, and capable of growth and 



