1899] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 125 



Sometimes I spend a mornieg on the Miami River in a rowboat. 

 We row along the shore under the mangrove and search the leaves 

 for larvae on coccoons. Here can be watched the whole lite history 

 of the dark blue butterfly, E rye idea ba1abno, which was fully re- 

 corded a year or two ago by Dr. Dyar. It is a beautiful life in 

 every phase, from egg to imago. Ft is still fascinating to me, after 

 seeing it so many times, to peep into the carefully folded mangrove 

 leaf fastened with finest, strongest silk, and see the lonely larva of 

 rich purple red, the color he wears until his last moult, Theu he 

 becomes quite a different creature, of soft bluish white with head 

 still of crimson. Theu comes the graceful white chrysalis and last 

 the butterfly of rich dark blue. On the mangrove too the little 

 white moth, Eupoeya slossonice lives its life. The genus is no 

 longer Eupoeya, but I have forgotten its latest name and have noth- 

 ing here to tell me of it. The larvaa are lovely, soft, silvery green 

 things, hard to distinguish when flattened and motionless on the 

 green leaves, and the small white cot-coon of parchment-like tex- 

 ture is a dainty cell in which to await its snow white wings. 

 Among the mangroves fly several species of small dragon flies, easily 

 caught from the boat with a net. And over and across the blue 

 water are always flying scores of little gray and white Pyralid 

 moths, a species of Nymphaella, I think ; perhaps the same one we 

 have by our northern waters, N. macidalis. They often fly within 

 reach of our nets, sometimes even coming into the boat and resting 

 there. Our mornings among the mangroves are pleasant ones. It is 

 an indolent, luxurious way of collecting, not such hard work as 

 grubbing in wet sand or hunting under dank seaweed, and I like it 

 fora change. Sometimes \ve take a little naptha launch and go far 

 up the river almost to the everglades. There, the other day, I 

 landed and hunted about for half an hour. I took, tor the first time 

 on the east coB.st t JBurtia belce, a pretty day flying moth, with scar- 

 let body and transparent wings. I have taken many at Punta Gorda 

 on the west coast, but these are much larger than any I have seen 

 there. I took also the other day, on some flowers near the river, a 

 moth I suppose to be Ilitrriximt australi's, Stretch. The type came. 1 

 think, from Florida. It is greenish black, with orange collar, and 

 about the size of //. <in/eric<rtt<t. perhaps a trifle larger. I caught 

 tooa ragged specimen of the butterfly A/tft/in-tt Horn, the first I have 

 taken. Butterflies and moths are not nearly so abundant a^ in 

 former years The freezing weather of February 13th and one or 

 two later cool waves destroyed much insect life. The flower! n- 

 plants, too, were killed or temporarily injured, leaving few blo-- 

 soms to attract inx'Ms. Our evenings have been very cool, a.- a 

 general thing-, and 1 have h id link- MU-CCSS in collecting at liirht. 

 Last week a warm, still evening, following light showers, brought 

 hundreds of beetles to the lighted |>'n/./.:is. Uut the number of spe- 

 cies was small. PtUodactyla s<-rric<n'iu' came in great number.-, and 



