1894-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 119 



following observation completes the proof attempted by Walsh. In 1873 

 I bred from a cocoon of spider eggs upwards of a dozen specimens ot :i 

 dark-colored species. Part of these were wingless with the thorax as in 

 J'ezoinciclucs, others were perfectly winged and the thorax was fully devel- 

 ' oped as in Heniite/cs, with which genus the venation agreed; but there 

 were also a number of intermediate forms with minute wing-pads, or with 

 no signs of wings, yet with the thorax perfect, showing the transition 

 between the two genera to occur in this one species. \V.\i. HAMITUN 

 PATTON, Hartford, Conn. 



THK VALUE OF LOCAL LISTS. The " List of insects taken in the Alpine 

 region of Alt. Washington by Mrs. Slosson in ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS for 

 January, which includes so many species not before found at so high an 

 altitude is of a good deal of value from a zoo-geographical point of view. 

 A number of specialists are under many obligations to Mrs. Slosson for 

 her assiduous and unselfish labors. Indeed, in the great dearth of good 

 collectors, it is fortunate for the science that there is some one who is will- 

 ing to spend the time to collect in all orders. The great, need at present 

 is the publication of full local lists based on specimens named by experts. 

 As one who has greatly profited by the large collections made in the South 

 as well as in White Mountain region by the author of this list, the writer 

 bears testimony to the value of such labors. It is to be hoped that the 

 example thus set will be followed by others in the Western and Pacific 

 States. A. S. PACKARD. 



THE importance of carefully printing the date and volume of a journal 

 on the pages of papers extracted therefrom has again been illustrated 

 by a recent occurrence. In the NEWS for March, p. 81, in noticing 

 Dr. Coding's Catalogue of the Membracida;, we were obliged to mark 

 both the volume and the date with an interrogation point (?l. This has 

 of course attracted Dr. Coding's attention, and he writes to say that 

 every copy of this paper li sent to me has a cover on which is plainly 

 printed 'Vol. iii,' and at the bottom '1894.' Possibly copies were scut 

 out which had no covers. The Catalogue complete was received by me, 

 Jan. 18, 1894, and doubtless was shipped a day or two earlier." Dr. Cod- 

 ing's conjecture is correct, and the copy received by the American Ento- 

 mological Society had no cover when received, while special care li.nl 

 been taken to examine this copy to find these indications, but in vain. 

 Tin- journal in question is the Bulletin of the Illinois State I.ahorati n \ 

 of Natural History. 



SPIDER MIMICKV. In the middle of October, 1893, I wasbusilv engaged 

 on the banks of the Lyell fork of the Tuolumne River, in the High Sier- 

 ras of California. My attention was attracted to what I supposed was a 

 clear-winged insect that had landed by some mistake in the- river, and 

 was dragging its abdomen along in the water, while the fluttering wings 

 struck the surface of the water every time they came down, and seemed 

 to evince the greatest eagerness to reach the bank I was standing on, I 



