THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 403 



be successfully imitated with a match. Wiih an electric flash-light, how- 

 ever, it was found very easy to excite the answering flash from the female 

 sciniillans ; equally good results were not obtained with the female coii- 

 safiguineus, however ; the latter would answer the double flash of the 

 electric light while some twenty or thirty feet away, but upon close 

 approach they seemed to recognize the difference, and ceased to answer- 

 7'he females of both these latter species answer the male's flash much 

 sooner than does pyralis — usually within one second from the flash of the 

 male. The flash of the female consanguineus is much like that of the 

 female //;'rt//i, being a single slow flash ; the flash of the female scintillans 

 is also a single slow flash, but is shorter than that of pyralis or con- 

 sanguineus, though perceptibly of longer duration than that of male 

 scijitillans. Sciniillans female responds to the flash of male consanguineus, 

 flying above her, but the latter appears to pay no attention to her ; she 

 responds aftet the first flasl' of the consajiguineus ^, , while consanguineus ? 

 does not respond until after the secofid flash of her mate. 



Although no definite experiments have been performed, it must be 

 remarked here that neither consanguineus 9 nor scintillans 9 lias been 

 observed to respond to the flash of Photuris, although the latter insect 

 has been observed a number of times to flash while over regions where 

 the two former females were known to be. 



Very similar observations were made upon Lecontea lucifera Melsh., 

 the greenish, twinkling light of the male flying over the grass being 

 answ^ered by the slow single glow of the female clinging to the grass be- 

 neath. Only rarely were the males observed to drop, and actual mating 

 was not witnessed, but from the fact of the female's answering flash, there 

 remains but little doubt as to the nature of the process. Unfortunately 

 the season of maximum prevalence of this species here was over before 

 tests were made as to their sensitiveness to other lights than that of the 

 male insect, so nothing can be said on this point. 



Although a quite close watch has been kept on Photuris pe?insylvanica 

 Deg. for a considerable number of nights, nothing definite can be said as 

 to the possible relation of its light emission to its reproductive life. A 

 large number of these insects fly about in the trees and bushes, emitting 

 their light in the various ways that have been described for it, and yet 

 apparently paying no attention to each other. Dr. W. W. Coblentz 

 informed the writer that the larger number of this species that he caught 

 were females ; this is certainly not the usual case with the other species 

 mentioned, or with Lampyrids generally. In this species both sexes are 



