30 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



LAMPYRIDS AND APHIDS. 



BY ERIC MONTIZ VMBERT, TORT HOPE, ONT. 



The great value of the Lampyridie as destroyers of various insect 

 nuisances in their 1 irval stages is too well known to need comment, but I 

 doubt if many persons are aware that at least one species of this sub-order 

 has a particular relish for a certain aphid. 



On June 8th, 1906, I was attracted by swarms of insects to a clamp 

 of Golden rod (Solidago Canadensis) ; on drawing nearer I discovered 

 that the insects were Lampyrids of a common species (Telephorus caro- 

 linus). Hundreds were swarming over the plant, and this fact caused 

 me to look more closely. Upon doing so I discovered that they were 

 greedily devouririg the big red aphids which were very common on 

 Solidago about here. The beetle would seize the aphid from the rear 

 with his mandibles and front feet, and in a few seconds would leave him 

 sucked dry. The number of aphids destroyed in this manner was 

 enormous. When I visited the plant the next day I sav/ nothing but 

 h.undreds of dried-up aphid skins; no beetles were visible. The aphid 

 was Siphonophora rudbeckice. 



A week later I noticed the same occurrence at a place eleven mi!es 

 distant. The insects were identified for me by Dr. Fletcher, of Ottawa. 



STHENOFIS THULE. 



To the Editor of the " Canadian Entomologist " : 



Sir, — 1 cannot allow the note of censure appended by you to my 

 paper on " Collecting Sthenopis Thule," in the December number, to pass 

 unchallenged, as I feel that it is undeserved. 



The former supposed great rarity of this moth was due to our 

 ignorance of the food-plant, and, therefore, of the proper localities in which 

 to look for it. As to its supposed restriction of range, it is inconceivable 

 that a moth which feeds upon so common and generally distributed a tree 

 as the willow, and which produces such an enormous number of eggs, 

 could really be restricted to a very limited locality. Mr. Lyman found a 

 specimen in the British Museum which had been received from Mr. Barn- 

 ston, and was supposed to have been taken, along with other specimens, at 

 St. Martin's Falls, on the Albany river. If it was really taken there, it 

 shows a very wide distribution to the north, but even if that specimen was 

 taken at Montreal, as has been privately suggested, there is still the state- 

 ment of Dr. Strecker that he had received a drawing of one taken in 

 Wisconsin, which would show a wide distribution to the west. 



That it has not been taken to the south may indicate a northern 

 range, and I believe that it will be found in a northerly and north-westerly 

 direction, if looked for in its season where willow scrub abounds. It 

 should also be remembered that as its season is so short, it probably mates 

 immediately, and oviposits very early. 



It should also be remembered, as Dr. Knaggs points out in his 

 '• Guide," that a moth which flies in the dusk of the evening will also, 

 under favourable circumstances, fly in the dusk of the dawn, when it will 

 be free from molestation by even the mo-t greedy collector, 



200 Mitcheson St., Montreal, Dec. 24th, 1907. Edward Denny. 



Mailed January 8th, 1908. 



