108 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



Lymexylon sericeum Harr., in the outer layers of the wood, 

 below the surface of the ground. Injury by termites to this 

 pole was confined to the outer layers of the wood, where there 

 was incipient decay. Apparently she was unattended. On 

 being exposed to the sunlight her abdomen appeared to have 

 a greenish tinge. This queen is approximately 14 mm. in 

 length. The queen had been fertilized, as is shown by the 

 distended abdomen. Wing stubs were present. 



On the same day a supplementary queen (pi. in, b) was 

 found in the butt of another chestnut telegraph pole nearby. 

 Termites had mined the heartwood to a depth of from 2 to 4 

 inches in from the exterior in this pole. This queen was active 

 and was associated with workers; all were moving apparently 

 to escape the light as the mines were laid open by the axe. 

 She was in the outer layers of the wood, where there was in- 

 cipient decay. This queen is approximately 12 mm. long. 



The head, thorax and scutellar area of the abdominal 

 segments of the true queen are more heavily chitinized and 

 deeply pigmented. The supplementary queens never have 

 developed wings and lack the deeper pigmentation (pi. in, a) of 

 the chitinized parts and the ocelli are not so prominent as 

 in the true queen indications that the supplementary queens 

 never leave the colony. 



A small scarabseid ( Valgits canaliculatus Fab.) was found 

 very abundant in termite colonies in decaying oak stumps 

 near Rock Creek Park, Maryland. 



NOTE. A study is being made of the more common Americantermites 

 of the genus Termes with a view of determining methods of preventing 

 injury by them to various classes of forest products. Any additional 

 records of the conditions under which queens have been found in the past 

 will be of value. It is believed that this is the first fertilized true queen 

 ever found of this species. T. E. P. 



BLOOD SUCKING AND SUPPOSEDLY BLOOD-SUCKING 



(Diptera.) 

 BY FREDERICK KNAB. 



Recently Prof. C. F. Baker sent in for determination a 

 specimen of the family Leptidae, taken by Mr. David L. 

 Crawford in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, and accompanied 

 by the statement from the collector that it ''is a fierce biter and 

 blood-sucker." The specimen proved to be a female of Atlicrix 

 longipcs Bellardi, a species not again recorded since described 

 and not represented in the National Museum collection. 



The observation is new, and with the wide attention now 

 being given to the blood-sucking habit in insects, of considerable 



