May, '07] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 193 



terior wings are shorter and narrower than the anterior pair, the costal 

 margin nearly straight. Apex obtuse. A simple vein extends from 

 the base obliquely towards the anal side and bifurcates, one simple 

 branch extending to the apical margin on anal side, the other to anal 

 border beyond the middle, forming a triangular cellule. 



Habitat. Lancaster, Pa. It is an indoor species. 



Types. Two males and one female, No. 46,844, U. S. N. M. 



Tn its movements it is unlike many other Psocids, since it 

 generally walks about slowly and runs only when disturbed. 

 It has a peculiar lateral or duck-like motion of the head when 

 walking- which is not possessed by any other species known to 

 me in this family. It does not jump. It does not spin. I have 

 found this species to remain in a cellar, where they were placed 

 in several boxes of bones, and to breed in the original boxes for 

 three seasons. They were also found on wine jugs, barrels and 

 boxes in the same cellar after this introduction. This is the 

 only instance known to me where Atropidre remained where 

 dampness existed. I have noted this form active on April 28, 

 and it is probably the first Psocid to resume activity in the 

 spring. One of the most remarkable features in the life history 

 of this species, in some instances, is the early development and 

 deposition of eggs which occurs already in stage III, the next 

 to last moult. When these gravid female nymphs are seen run- 

 ning among the males and females, the picture is so striking 

 that they seem to be a widely different species, for they are 

 much larger than even their nongravid mothers, and are of a 

 bright yellow color. 



The eggs are eliptical in shape. The adult usually deposits 

 from five to seven and glues them fast in cracks or other 

 favorable places. They hatch in from eight to ten days, 

 according to conditions. 



The nymphs moult apparently three times. A great diver- 

 gence in the development occurs between male and female, 

 since the former is born blind and the latter has from three to 

 five ocelli as it issues from the ovum. These blind males have 

 no trace of any development toward the formation of eyes in 

 stage I, and the eye does not develop until late in nymphal life ; 

 they frequently have but two or three ocelli by the time the 

 latter part of stage III is reached ; while at the same time the 



