140 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [September, 



AFRICAN travelers tell of a "delicious soup" of beetles and mushrooms 

 made by the natives of that remarkable country. 



THE fly is a quaint humorist. He can tickle a man in more places at 

 once than the best paid funny man going. 



Now fares it sadly with the man 



Whose soul doth patience lack, 

 When he to smite fugacious flies 



Himself doth fiercely whack. 



A PROFESSOR at Ann Arbor was discussing the process of fertilizing 

 plants by means of insects carrying the pollen from one plant to another, 

 and told how old maids were the ultimate cause of it all. The bumble- 

 bees carry the pollen; the field-mice eat the bumble-bees; therefore, the 

 more field-mice the fewer the bumble-bees and the less pollen and varia- 

 tion of plants. But cats devour field-mice, and old maids protect cats. 

 Therefore, the more old maids the more cats, the fewer field-mice, the 

 more bees. Hence, old maids are the cause of variety in plants. There- 

 upon a sophomore, with a single eyeglass, an English umbrella, a box- 

 coat, with his trousers rolled up at the bottom, arose and asked: " I sa-a-y, 

 Professah, what is the cause ah of old maids, don't you know?" " Per- 

 haps Miss Jones can tell you," suggested the Professor. " Dudes!" said 

 Miss Jones, sharply, and without a moment's hesitation. 



A YOUNG man camping in the Sierras discovered and captured a butter- 

 fly of an unknown species. He sent it to the Smithsonian Institution at 

 Washington, and received therefor a check for fifteen hundred dollars, 

 with the request to make careful search for other moths of the same kind. 

 It was an individual of a fossil species, supposed to be extinct, and great 

 was the excitement among the scientists at the discovery that one of the 

 race had been recently alive. Although diligent search has been made 

 by men paid for the service, no other specimen has been found. 



"WILL you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly. 

 Well, hardly," said the insect, as he winked the other eye. 

 " Your parlor has an entrance, but of exits it is shy, 

 So I'll stay outside in safety and remain a little fly." 



"AN INNOVATION."- -That was a great jewel Mrs. De Jones had on 

 last night. "What was it?" " It was a live brazilian beetle with a big 

 diamond strapped on its back. It was trained to fly around her neck, 

 thus giving the effect of a diamond necklace." 



Identification of Insects (Images) for Subscribers. 



Specimens will be named under the following conditions : ist, The number of speci- 

 mens to be unlimited for each sending ; 2d, The sender to pay all expenses of transporta- 

 tion and the insects to become the property of the American Entomological Society ; 

 3d, Each specimen must have a number attached so that the identification may be an- 

 nounced accordingly. Address all packages to ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS, Academy Natural 

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