390 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



of the rostrum, which hardly reaches the base of head. On ac 

 count of this distinction Stal has placed them in a Subgenus, Quil- 

 nus Stal, and described the American species, $ and ? winged, 

 as Aradus (Subg. Quilnus) niger Stal, Museum Stockholm. 

 There is no record of the existence of this Aradid in any Ameri 

 can collection, nor is it mentioned by collectors. Mr. Uhler, who 

 has described most of our American species, writes me about this 

 interesting insect, as follows : 



"With regard to Aradus niger Stal, I find no specimen in my 

 collection that suits the description in Enum. Ill, p. 139, 13. Of 

 course, I would be delighted to get a cP and $ of this very singu 

 lar species. I congratulate you most heartily upon discovering 

 such an interesting insect." During the winter month I collected 

 it in the woods near Soldier's Home, where there is quite a va 

 riety of timber, also many Pine trees. Two years ago a high 

 wind storm had rooted out and broken down a great number of 

 these trees. The Aradids live, as is generally known, mostly 

 under bark, or in the crevices of the bark, where they lay their eggs 

 and propagate. When the tree begins to decay it is easy to loosen 

 the bark from the trunk, and the collector has a much better op 

 portunity to find rare Aradids and large series of specimens, 

 than by beating the branches of the tree. Collecting in this way, 

 I have enlarged my collection of Aradids very considerably. I 

 found large series of Aradus similis Say, A. acutus Say, A. 

 crenatus Say, A. inornatus Uhl, an undescribed species and A. 

 niger Stal, also series of the genera Brachyrrhynchus granulatus 

 Say and Neuroctenus simplex Uhl. On one of my collecting 

 trips I found by peeling off some pine trees an Aradus new to me. 

 The insect would have escaped my notice if it had not been for 

 the peculiar form of the last genital segment and flaps ; it was a 

 male. The insect hides between the rubbish and decaying matter 

 that accumulates under the loosening bark, and as the color of 

 this species is very dark, it is only by scrutinous searching that 

 one is able to find the insect. In examining this interesting Ara 

 dus I was struck by the shortness of the beak, and recollecting 

 this a characteristic of the Subgenus ^uilnus Stal, I compared the 

 insect with StaPs description of Aradus (Quilnus) niger Stal, 

 which fits the same very well. Being eager to get as many as 

 possible of it, I was fortunate enough to find more than a dozen 

 in the winged state, cT and 9. The female is a little larger in size 

 than the male, and the wings are a trifle shorter. I have observed 

 the winged c? in union with the unwinged 9 , and also both sexes 

 in the unwinged state. 



Some discussion followed on the habits of Aradida?. Mr. 

 Ashmead stated that in Florida the second year after a tree is cut 

 down the bark loosens and at this time Aradidae are found under 



