402 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



pljced, as to give the male a brief silhouette of the female as she rests on 

 a blade of grass or a leaf. 



During and immediately after copulation, the females o{ pyralis will 

 not respond to the flash of a passing male, or to the flare of a match, A 

 {^"^ females will be found that will not respond to a match ; these are 

 probably those that are completely impregnated ; some, although appar- 

 ently fresh, will respond only feebly, or irregularly ; occasionally males 

 will be found that will flash in response to the light of a match, though 

 only rarely. No definite instance has been observed of a flying male 

 mistaking the flash of a creeping male for that of a female, and dropping 

 to it. Observations on a single female oi pyt-aHs, which it has regrettably 

 been impos^ible as yet to confirm by further trial, showed that she would 

 not respond to the flash of a female PJiotiiris pemisylvanica Deg., made 

 to flash above her, nor to a male of Phot inns co?isa?iguineus Lee, although 

 the same female readily responded to a match. 



In copulation, the female raises the tip of her abdomen toward the 

 male, the latter being mounted upon her back in such a position that the 

 end of his abdomen is slightly farther back than hers. The insects remain 

 coupled for anywhere from half a minute to several hours. One female 

 has been noticed in captivity to couple with several males successively, 

 but a similar observation in the field has not been made. The males 

 certainly do not die within a week after copulation, though definite 

 evidence that they mate a second time, or more often, has not been 

 obtained. 



For the most part the observations recorded above for Photinus 

 J)y7'alis have been exactly repeated for Photiiius consaiigiiinetis and for 

 Photinus scintiUa7is Say. In each of these species the male has been 

 seen to flash above a patch of grass, the female flash her answer from her 

 resting place in the grass, the male drop, locate her through subsequent 

 flashes, and finally couple. There are slight differences of application, 

 due to the fact that the female of scintillans is apterous, while the female 

 o^ consafiguuieus \i, if anything, more active than that oi pyralis^ being 

 noticed several times in the lower branches of small trees. Another 

 difference is that the female of coiisanguineus will practically never answer 

 the flare of a match by flashing, and the female of scintilhuis will do so 

 but rarely. It will be remembered that the characteristic flash of the 

 male consanguiiieus is two sharp fulminations, separated by a slight 

 interval, while that of scintillaiis is very much shorter and sharper than 

 that o( Pyralis, and also rather more orange ; neither of these flashes can 



