170 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [September, 



Ants, ladybeetles and the Lampyrid above mentioned were spe- 

 cially abundant. Probably the ants and ladybeetles were at- 

 tracted by the green lice, a species of Nectaropkora, that are 

 abundant on the plants. The lice and a Syrphus larva that feeds 

 upon them seem to experience no trouble at all from sticking to 

 the plant. A few Coccinellid larvae were also seen, but in every 

 case they were dead and quite small. 



-o- 



TENODERA SINENSIS? 



By ELLA JACOBS, Philadelphia. 



While on a visit to Meehan's nurseries in Germantown, in 

 March, 1898, a party of us found, on some low spruce and 

 cedars, several curious looking specimens of what we were not 

 sure. They looked like galls they were hemi-spherical in shape, 

 with a diameter of about ij/( inch, the flat side up, curved side 

 down. I cut one of these whitish brown specimens open. It 

 was rather tough, and contained a sticky fluid throughout. I 

 was not sufficient of a scientist to discover what it was, so waited 

 developments with the others. About the end of May, as I went 

 to my office, the janitor greeted me with the pleasant news that 

 my room was full of "bugs." Rather startled, I proceeded to 

 investigate, and discovered several hundred insects on the wall, 

 over pictures and desk. I examined closely and decided it was 

 the fault of my unnamed specimen. I noticed that it was broken 

 open in ridges; I placed it in a box and in an hour I saw several 

 'of the insects emerge. The curious part is, that these insects 

 appeared to be the Praying Mantis. A visit to Dr. Skinner, at 

 the Academy, confirmed this fact. 



It seems rather a coincidence to have found these in this lo- 

 cality so soon after the report of Mr. Laurent's (see ENT. NEWS, 

 for June, page 144) find of a somewhat similar character. 



I greatly regret that we took all of the cases we saw, six of 

 them, as I know now that their contents would have been a valu- 

 able acquisition to the nurseries as these carnivorous insects would 

 have eaten other insects injurious to the plants. Undoubtedly 

 these Mantids must have been imported on some foreign plant?. 



[The young mantids are not our Stragomantis Carolina. ED.] 



