120 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '08 



tomologically, hereabout, despite the unfavorable character of 

 the early part of the season. The time of appearance of all 

 lepidopters was later than the summer before by from a week 

 and a half to three weeks, but when butterflies did put in an 

 appearance they seemed to make up for lost time in numbers. 

 Papilio cresphontcs and troilus were more numerous than they 

 had been for years, while turnus and ajax were common. 



The great moths Citheronia rcgalis and Eacles imperial-is had 

 their clay along with the rest and their horrid ( ?) larvae were 

 brought to the bugman in paper bags and glass jars for identi- 

 fication, with the query as to just how long a human being 

 would live after being bitten by one of these venomous ( ?) 

 creatures. 



The year 1881 was a great insect year here as the writer now 

 remembers it, and about the middle of June thousands of 



specimens of Argynnis idalia could be seen poised over wild 

 flowers or on the wing in the prairie country west of Vandalia, 

 Mo. Scarcely a dozen specimens of idalia have been seen by 

 the writer since. 



Notes on Necrophorus orbicollis Say. 

 BY C. O. HOUGHTON, Newark, Del. 



While at work about some peach trees in my back yard late 

 in the evening of May 30, 1906, my attention was attracted to 

 what I at first thought was the stridulation, at close hand, of 

 the plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar Hbst. I was about 

 to strike a match to look for curculios on the limbs of one of 

 the peach trees, when I discovered that the noise I had heard 

 was caused by several specimens of Necrophorus orbicollis Say, 

 which had congregated about a dead mouse that lay on the 

 ground beneath the tree. 



Wishing to learn something of their movements about the 

 mouse, and the cause of the stridulation, I secured a candle, 

 some matches, a box for a seat, and proceeded to investigate. 

 It was then about 8 o'clock and the moon was shining. The 

 night was still and the temperature about 60 F. 



Just as I was seating myself near the dead mouse a large 

 beetle came flying about the spot, and on knocking it down 



