May, '09] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 219 



tific and horticultural societies. He was President of the 

 Association of Economic Entomologists in 1903 ; Chairman of 

 the Entomological Section of the Association of American 

 Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Station in 1903 ; Chair- 

 man of the Committee on Entomology of the Western New 

 York Horticultural Society, 1895-1904 inclusive ; and Chair- 

 man of the Committee on Entomology of the New York State 

 Fruit Growers' Association in 1903. 



As a teacher he was clear, direct and painstaking. He had 

 the keenest interest in the needs of each individual student. 

 Onl)- a few hours before his death he discussed with a colleague 

 the work of several of his students. Even at that hour his 

 thought was not of himself but of his students. 



In this manner closed the life of one who, although given 

 but few years to work, accomplished much, and who endeared 

 himself to others by his sterling qualities as a man and a friend. 



ORTHOPTERAN MISCEGENATION. On October I2th, 1908, about noon, 

 the writer was collecting in a meadow near St. Louis, Mo., when his 

 attention was attracted by an unusual pair of grasshoppers, very dis- 

 similar in appearance, that appeared to be in copulo. It was the 

 height of the fall mating and hundreds of pairs were to be seen every- 

 where, but one glance at the 'hoppers mentioned showed them to be- 

 long to different species. Carefully capturing the pair they were 

 brought into the laboratory and introduced into a dirt bottomed breed- 

 ing cage, undisturbed. Here they remained, in copulo, for two days. 

 The morning of October isth, however, found them both dead in the 

 bottom of the cage, the immediate cause of death not apparent. 



Investigation proved the male to be the common Melanoplus femur- 

 ritbmin while the female was identified by Mr. Caudell as Hip pis- 

 ens ruyosa Scudder. Two locusts more dissimilar in appearance could 

 hardly be imagined. Leaving out of consideration the brilliant col- 

 oration of the female in comparison with the more modest male, 

 the broad flat "face" and thick-set, clumsy, build of the former offers 

 such a contrast that any amateur, let alone a grasshopper, ought to see 

 the difference at a glance. 



It is, of course, not astonishing that fertile eggs should not be laid 

 after such a union, but it is surprising enough that it should occur 

 at all. Hybrids between related species of locusts are doubtless more 

 common than hitherto supposed, but if by artificially modifying natu- 

 ral conditions a well-known laboratory investigator can fertilize sea 

 urchin eggs with starfish sperm it is not difficult to believe that Nature 

 in a moment of abstraction might permit the fertilization of Hippiscus 

 eggs by Melanoplus sperm producing thereby no one knows what com- 

 plications for the faithful systematist. At any rate it would be in- 

 teresting to discover if such unions are at all common occurrences in 

 the field. J. F. ABBOTT. 



