310 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



comparable to the legs of fossorial Coleoptera. Mr. Ashinead 

 replied that many fossorial insects do not have fossorial legs. 

 The legs of Rhopalosoma, however, he considers to be strictly 

 fossorial. The spines on the tarsi are obviously for fossorial 

 purposes. Mr. Schwarz, referring to the long spurs on the 

 posterior tibiae, said that when such spurs occur in Coleoptera 

 they never occur in fossorial species. Dr. Gill remarked that 

 nature is not limited in fossorial adaptations any more than it is 

 in any other adaptations. It is not necessary, therefore, that 

 hymenopterous fossores should resemble coleopterous fossores. 

 He showed that the method of fossorial adaptation differs decid 

 edly with different fossorial mammals. Professor Uhler stated 

 that, as a general rule, fossorial insects may be distinguished by 

 the fact that the joints of the tarsi of the front leg are crowned 

 by a chaplet of spines, which seem to be absent in this species 

 shown by Mr. Ashmead. 



Mr. Howard presented the following paper for publication : 



A COLEOPTEROUS ENEMY OF CORYDALIS CORNUTUS. 

 By L. O. HOWARD. 



Corydalis cornutus is the largest Sialid in the North Ameri 

 can fauna and is one of the most conspicuous and curious of our 

 commoner insects. Its anatomy was studied by Leidy as early 

 as 1848 and its larva and pupa were known prior to that time. 

 Riley completed the life history of the species by his discovery 

 of the egg-masses in 1876. Almost every detail of the anatomy, 

 physiology, and economy of the species has been carefully 

 studied by Comstock and his students and assistants at Ithaca, 

 and, in fact, were the graduation theses of his students for the 

 last 20 years published, we should have a complete anatomy of 

 the larva of this insect which would be almost comparable to 

 Lyonnet's famous anatomy of the larva of Cossus. It may be 

 briefly stated that the eggs are laid in midsummer in flat circular 

 batches, covered with a tough calcareous substance, upon the 

 leaves of trees, upon rocks, and wooden piles overhanging or in 

 close proximity to the water ; in such situations, in fact, that the 

 larvae on hatching may drop into the water. Each egg-mass con 

 tains about 2,000 to 3,000 eggs and the diameter of the mass is a 

 little more than 3^ of an inch. The larvae of the insect are 

 familiar to fishermen under the names " Dobson," " Crawler," 

 and " Hellgrammite," and are commonly used for bait for black 



