OF WASHINGTON. 399 



when sleeping on the ground, and the bite grew worse for two 

 weeks and was not cured for about four weeks. He himself had 

 found larvae rilled with his blood in his bed-clothes when camp 

 ing out. The insects were always numerous when rats were 

 about, when he and Mr. Hubbard had found larvae and imagoes 

 in rats' nests. The larvae did not enter houses, though the adults 

 do. The latter on entering a house seem to fly immediately to 

 the beds. 



Mr. Currie stated that Mr. G. N. Collins had shown him a 

 Liberian Reduviid which had bitten him most painfully. It 

 was the most painful bite he had ever experienced. The bug was 

 nearly an inch long and had variegated colors. 



The first paper of the evening was by Mr. Heidemann and 

 was entitled : 



REMARKS ON THE SPITTLE INSECT, CLASTOPTERA XAN- 

 THOCEPHALA GERM. 



By OTTO HEIDEMANN. 



About the middle of August last year I noticed some white 

 frothy masses clinging to the stems of Chrysanthemums, which 

 I had planted early in spring at my home. Observing the plants 

 more closely, I found that the white froth was the secretion of a 

 " spittle" insect, commonly known to be produced by the larva 

 of a Homopterous insect, belonging to the family Cercoptdce. 

 Being interested in ascertaining what species attacks the Chrys 

 anthemum, I cut off some infested plants and placed them 

 in a glass jar in order to rear the insect. Unfortunately, I had 

 not much success in observing the insect in its several stages of 

 development, because most of the immature ones had left their 

 liquid coverings and perished ; others ceased to suck the sap and 

 did not form the frothy mass again for concealment, which 

 consequently evaporated and dried up, and most of the insects 

 shriveled and died. I obtained only one perfect adult, which 

 proved to belong to the species Clastoptera xanthocephala 

 Germ. var. glaucus Ball. This species occurred also, as I had 

 observed at the same time, in very great numbers on the common 

 weed, Ambrosia artemisczfolia. This weed is perhaps the 

 original food plant, and the insect may have attacked the Chrysan 

 themum accidentally, as the ragweed grows profusely on the 

 fields in my neighborhood. However, I know that the same 



