150 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, '06 



similar pair of Aeshna cyanea in my fingers, although I was 

 not able to preserve their positions. 



Finally, I can confirm Mr. Williamson's observations in the 

 case of Sympetrum vicinum, at Philadelphia, November 6, 1900, 

 and at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, September, 1902. In 

 September, 1905, at Loch Bonnie, near Lake Placid, in the 

 Adirondacks, New York, I attempted to make exact observa- 

 tions on the method of holding the female in Lestes forcipatus 

 Ramb., but all that I could determine was that the terminal 

 appendages of the male grasped the female's prothorax, the 

 superior appendages on its posterior, the inferior appendages 

 on its anterior, surface. 



A New Ichneumonid. 



BY HENRY SKINNER. 



Metopius liarbecki n. sp. The following markings are yellow : Margin 

 of facial shield, apical half of scutellum, a dot on postscutellum, the first 

 abdominal segment, a small triangular palch on apex of the third dorsal 

 abdominal segment, the apical margin of the fourth dorsal, third coxas at 

 apex and outer half of sides, third trochanters and small spot at apex of 

 third femora. 



The nearest ally to this. distinct species is pollinctorius Say. 

 Described from one specimen taken by Mr. H. S. Harbeck at 

 Germantown, Philadelphia, on September 25, 1904. The 

 type is in the collection of the American . Entomological 



Society. 



' > 



DR. SAMUEL G. DIXON, President of the Academy of Natural Sciences 

 and Health Commissioner of Pennsylvania, has directed Mr. Henry L. 

 Viereck to make a mosquito survey of the State. 



LAST SUMMER, while collecting in a swamp, a skipper, Paiiiphila meta- 

 coinet, alighted on my hand, turned its abdomen upward and the tip for- 

 ward and discharged a small drop of colorless fluid on my hand. This 

 it eagerly sucked up through its proboscis, repeating the operation not 

 less than half a dozen times. I then placed the cyanide bottle over it. As 

 soon as its struggles had ceased, I took it from the bottle, pressed the 

 abdomen, and obtained a drop of the fluid. It was tasteless, possibly 

 slightly sweet. This may be a common habit, but I have never happened 

 to observe it before. E. B. WILLIAMSON, Bluffton, Indiana. 



