60 THK CANADIAN KNToMOLOGIST. 



from him, and assured my friend that it might easily have caused serious 

 trouble. Small insects cause frequent annoyance and occasional slight 

 pain by tlying into eyes and ears, but it is fortunate that such formidable 

 hard-shelled beetles as the species just mentioned do not make a habit of 

 exploring our ears. Had the case been that of some " blockhead," one 

 might have supposed that the beetle had visited him under the guidance of 

 instinct, but in the present instance the intrusion must have been merely 

 the result of accident. 



Much as beetles injure man's property, they seldom attack his body, 

 but there is one Canadian species which most decidedly indulges in that 

 unpleasant habit, and to an extent that is perhaps unknown to many 

 entomologists. I refer to Mclaiiop/iila loii^ipes. which occurs here from 

 1 2th May to 12th ()ct.. and is usuall)' abundant during the hot season. 

 basking upon stone walls, etc. It has a fashion of lighting on one's collar 

 and inflicting a sharp nip on the nape of the neck, and then disappearing 

 with great swiftness. I have often been thus l)itten, and have sometimes, 

 by making a sudden grab, taken the beetle in the act and proved his 

 identity. Last summer several instances of persons being bitten fell under 

 my observation. While at dinner one day in a hotel, three or four sitting 

 at the same table complained that some "confounded fly " had nipped 

 them viciously. The gentleman sitting next to me was one of the victims 

 and caught the offender, but it escaped almost immediately, only allowing 

 him to see that it was black and harder than a fly. I was just going to say 

 that it was probably a specimen of J/, loiij^ipcs. when I got a nip that set- 

 tled the question and the insect. 



A few weeks ago 1 was trying to convince two ladies that beetles 

 might be handled fearlessly, as they had no biting propensities, when one 

 of them at once exclaimed, "don't tell us that, for there is a nasty, little, 

 flat, black beetle that bites me on the neck in the summer." 



Ottawa, 25th January, 1883. W. Haouk Harrin(;ton. 



LisT.s OF Names of Canadian Insects. — The Council of the Ento- 

 mological Society of Ontario having recently decided to issue additional 

 sheets of the names of insects of all orders found within the Dominion of 

 Canada ; we should be glad to receive from any of our Canadian mem- 

 bers lists of such insects as they may have which are not included in the 

 sheets already published by the Society, so as to make the sets as complete 

 as possible. 



(Printed April ji-d, 1883.) 



