44 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '08 



succeeded in taking one perfect specimen, which I was selfish enough 

 to keep for my own collection. Although it seemed to be quite plenti- 

 ful in this locality, I am of the opinion that it is a Mexican butterfly, and 

 that we took it on the extreme northern edge of its range ; at least 

 it was not to lie taken this year in a region of the same character 

 in every respect, and but a few miles north of the type locality, nor 

 has it ever been seen anywhere else on the edge of the desert. The altitude 

 at Jucumba is about 3,200 feet, and the locality where loki was taken 

 is but little over a mile from the Mexican boundary. W. S. WRIGHT, 

 San Diego, Cal. 



Mr. Wright says, "I am not so sure that I like the name you gave 

 it, but shall not presume to criticise. It was my intention to ask you 

 to name it after the locality in which it was found, but it matters 

 little so long as it has a name." I don't fancy the name very much, 

 but I am under the impression that it is difficult to get names. 

 Linnaeus certainly had an easy time of it in respect to names and some 

 people (see Proc. Brooklyn Ent. Soc.) seem to think that any names 

 that fall short of the Linnaean standard should not be used. Oh, for 

 some one who loves to be of use to others and who will supply ap- 

 propriate names ! Let us have about a thousand published in the 

 NEWS pro bono publico. Happiness, by universal consent, seems to 

 consist in doing good to others, so here is an opportunity. Loki was 

 the god of strife and spirit of evil, who contrived the death of Balder. 

 Afterwards he was chained, and will continue so till the twilight of 

 the gods. The locality I had was Mountain Springs. HENRY SKINNER. 



AN OLD RECORD OF OBSERVATIONS ON THE HABITS OF Anabrus. In 

 December, 1904,* Prof. Gillette published an article on the mating 

 habits of Anabrus simplex, in which he described a peculiar sac-like 

 object which is ejected by the male at the time of copulation and car- 

 ried about for some time by the female. A year later Mr. Snodgrass 

 makes the same observation on Peranabrus scabricoltis, a related 

 species. f The ejection of this sac-like object, called "sperm-sac" by 

 Gillette, is not confined to the Decticinae as I have seen a similar ob- 

 ject carried by Scudderia. 



It has been supposed that these observations were new, Gillette 

 thanking Mr. Marlatt for having had a thorough search made in the 

 library of the Bureau of Entomology for such references and stating that 

 Mr. Banks, the librarian, found nothing upon the subject. Such obser- 

 vations had, however, been made and published almost half a century 

 before. 



In an article entitled " Exploration in Upper California in 1860, under 

 the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution," published in the report of 

 the Smithsonian Institution for 1864, Capt. John Feilner writes of what lie 



*Ent. News, vol. XV, p. 321-324, pi. XIX (1904). 



t Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc., vol. XIII, p. 74-82, pi. i-n (1905). 



