ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, 'oS 



statements in regard to the dead and dried up larvae in the 

 cccropia and polyphemus cocoons. Mr. Doll said that infes- 

 tation was a purely local one, since in one locality on Long 

 Island, all of nine hundred to one thousand cccropia cocoons 

 were dead, while in another only a short distance away, he 

 secured over sixteen hundred good ones. Mr. Zaiser related 

 a somewhat similar experience where at Canarsie, Long Is- 

 land, all those cocoons of cccropia collected close to the sea- 

 shore, contained living pupae, while those some distance back 

 from the coast, proved to be dead. He thought the influ- 

 ence of the salt air might have been responsible in keeping 

 the parasites a\vay from the immediate shore district. In 

 neither of the last two instances were cocoons examined to 

 any extent, so that it was impossible to say whether the mor- 

 tality was due to parasitism or disease. Mr. Kircher re- 

 marked that invariably cocoons (cccropia} attached to the 

 branches of trees were good, while those at the base of the 

 tree trunk were bad. 



Mr. Angelman cited the note on Erebus odora in the Feb- 

 ruary issue of the NEWS, and remarked that many more speci- 

 mens were taken in western localities than in eastern ones, a 

 fact probably due to the moths travelling northwardly from 

 Mexico, along the range of the Rocky Mountains, and thence 

 scattering to the lower lands. He thought it not beyond the 

 bounds of possibility, however, that the insect should breed in 

 the territory where it was found. Mr. Doll spoke of the abun- 

 dance in which the species occurred at Brownsville, Texas, 

 where during the day a dozen or more would gather on the 

 walls of the hut assigned to him as a temporary habitation. 

 Mr. Buchholz said that Mr. Kemp had a similar experience 

 in the West Indies, where the insects would actually come to 

 the dining table, attracted by the odor of beer. Mr. Doll said 

 he found a single larva at Brownsville, and believes that it is 

 a general feeder on low plants. The recorded food-plant, fig, 

 does not occur at Brownsville. 



JOHN A. GROSSBECK, Secretary. 



