306 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [July, '07 



to be placed as synonym of grossus. The more elongate form 

 mentioned by Marseul as another character distinguishing- the 

 species from grossus seems to me purely sexual, the figures 

 given by him of the two species do not show such great differ- 

 ence in form as one might expect from his description. 



I found this species in the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona, in 

 the decaying flower stalks of Agave americana. 



*>-- 



Notes on Papilio ajax. 

 By R. R. ROWLEY, Louisiana, Mo. 



The chrysalids of Papilio ajax, from larvae fed in confine- 

 ment in the summer of 1905, and kept over winter in a dry 

 box in a closet opening into a warm room, began giving 

 imagoes April I2th, and between that date and May 2d, 

 seventy-nine butterflies emerged, three or four only of the origi- 

 nal number of pupae dying in the pupal skins. But few of the 

 of the imagoes were deformed, and these cases were largely 

 due to pricking the wings before their unfolding. The great- 

 est number of "flies" emerging at one time, twenty-two, was 

 April 22d, but from lack of proper attention in removing the 

 pupae about to "hatch" to different boxes, so that there would 

 be few of the imagoes together, not many of this number 

 were worth keeping, being badly battered and torn, although 

 the cages were in a dark closet. 



It is my custom in setting bred specimens to give the 

 imago as long a lease on life as possible before putting it in 

 the cyanide jar, else the wings may be too limp and the blood 

 collect in blisters and spoil the specimen. 



After the wings of a butterfly are fully expanded it is four 

 hours or more before the insect has strength enough to fly 

 well, and it is best to allow your specimen so much time 

 before you kill it. 



In the case of moths, after emergence, it is well to keep 

 the cage in the light (not direct sunlight) and, as they usually 

 "hatch" in early morning, allow them all day to fully develop, 

 transferring them to the cyanide jar late in the afternoon, not 

 evening, as that is their time of flight. 



As stated in the article on ajax in the May, 1906, num- 



