268 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [October, 



MR. H. M. BERNARD, in a recent communication in the Journal of the 

 Linnean Society of London (xxiv, pp. 279 291) tries to show that the 

 Mites are not degenerated Arachnids, but Arachnids permanently ./ir^ at 

 a larval stage of development. 



PAIRING of different species. On Aug. lyth, 1893, near Little Crum 

 Creek, Ridley Township, Delaware Co., Pa., I observed a Libellula 

 pulchella Drury $ and a L. basalis Say 9 in coitu, but was unable to 

 capture them. P. P. CALVERT. 



Besides the foregoing, there were great numbers of Mites of a light 

 color, but the species were not determined. It would be an exceedingly 

 interesting matter to determine just to what extent these insects aided in 

 the diffusion of the spores of the fungus, and how much we are indebted 

 to them for its spread from one locality to another. F. M. WEBSTER. 



THE Henry Edwards Entomological Corresponding Chapter of the 

 Agassiz Association invites entomological students who read this notice 

 to join its ranks. Members are expected to keep each other informed of 

 the progress of their work in special lines of study, and to contribute to 

 the published reports. During the Winter one or more courses in Ele- 

 mentary Entomology will be conducted. The initiation fee is 50 cents. 

 For further particulars, address the Secretary, WILLIAM L. W. FIELD, 

 Milton, Mass. 



Two UNCOMMON INSECTS. Early in August, at Sea Cliff, L. I., I found 

 on the bark of a chestnut tree a specimen of Amphieniomum hageni 

 Pack.; a little Psocid with hairs and scales on its wings. Later I found 

 several darker specimens on a species of maple. It runs very rapidly 

 over the bark, but does not attempt to fly. It was previously known from 

 Maine, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. On August 25th, I found on a 

 fallen white birch a rare Capsid, Cyclaphus tenuicornis Say. The insect 

 had not been seen since Say described it, until two years ago, when 

 Messrs. Heidemann and Schwarz discovered it at Washington, D. C. 

 NATHAN BANKS. 



SINCE Prof. J. B. Smith is unaware of the origin of the name "Ghost 

 Moth" for the Hepialidae, many of your readers are probably so also, 

 and it may interest them to know that the " Ghost Moth " is the male of 

 Hepialus humuli, and the name has been extended to the rest of the family. 

 This moth is pure silvery-white and flies for just twenty minutes at dusk, 

 swaying to and fro at the tops of the grass and facing the breeze, exactly 

 as if attached to the extremity of a 3o-inch pendulum, often, probably, 

 doing so in churchyards and over graves. I was fortunate enough some 

 years ago to discover that this conspicuous performance is done in order to 

 attract the 9 by sight. It has since been noted that in other species of 

 the genus, also, the usual process is reversed, and that the female is at- 

 tracted by the male, and that the scent tufts assist in the attraction, instead 

 of probably merely "charming" the 9 after she has attracted the male, 

 as is no doubt their ordinary use. I. A. CHAPMAN, Hereford. 



