364 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Oct., '09 



The smaller female, however, agrees with Cresson's description of 

 Osinia faceta, except for the more distinct nodosity on the mandibles. 

 It is evident that faceta is very closely allied, if not one extreme of the 

 variation of mandibularis. 



In the same group of nests, I found a very much broken male. 

 This agrees with Cresson's short description of male faceta. Its dis- 

 tinctive characters are as follows: O. mandibularis $. Smaller than 

 the normal 2, hut of the same blue color. Head large; hair of 

 face (where very abundant), vertex and cheeks, as well as that on 

 thorax, entirely white ; ocelli rather large, in a low triangle, the 

 distance between hind ocelli less than distance from one to eye- 

 margin, lower edge of clypeus black, somewhat upturned, broadly 

 truncate in the middle, with a very faint appearance of crenulation ; 

 antennas black, ordinary ; tegulas shining black ; legs black with light 

 hair; fourth and fifth segments of abdomen fringed with white hair 

 (segments i to 3 missing) ; sixth clothed with glittering white hair, 

 and with a rather small apical notch; seventh bidentate. O. clialybea 

 Sm. is allied. T. D. A. COCKERELL, Boulder, Colorado. 



GUNNING FOR BUGS. Tuesday night Ralph C. Wright and a compan- 

 ion were out two and a half miles west of town hunting. Shortly after 

 six o'clock they heard a buzzing and humming noise which they could 

 not account for, until looking up they saw the sky fairly black with 

 large beetles flying from the west toward the east. There appeared to 

 be thousands of them and being curious to know what they were they 

 took a few shots at them. A number were brought down and one was 

 brought to this office by Mr. Wright. It proved to be the common 

 black boat shaped water scavenger beetle known to scientists as Tropis- 

 ternus triangularis. It is one of the largest beetles, being one and a 

 half inches in length. They were undoubtedly flying from the waters 

 of the Basin west of this city to some other body of water east of the 

 city. WARREN KNAUS, McPherson, Kansas. 



Doings of Societies. 



The fifty-second meeting of the Hawaiian Entomological So- 

 ciety was held in the Library of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' 

 Experiment Station, Honolulu, June 3, 1909. 



Mr. Kirkaldy read the following papers : "Notes on the 

 genus Oechalia (Hem.) ;" "A note on the synonomy of a 

 Hawaiian beetle." 



President Swezey exhibited specimens and read a paper 

 on Hypocala velans (Lep). He also read a paper by Mr. Gif- 

 fard entitled, "Note on Plagithmysus pcrkinsi" .Sharp. (Col.) 



