302 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Moreover, there are 8 of uncertain origin. From this tabulation he 

 deduces that nearly 84 per cent, of the common genera have migrated by 

 the Behring route. 



His conclusions are as follows : 



I St. There is a certain number of species and genera of Hemiptera 

 which are common to PLurope and North America. 



2nd. The greater part of these common Hemiptera is native to the 

 Palaearctie region and belongs to the temperate zone. 



3rd. The migration of these Hemiptera has taken place mainly by 

 way of Behring Straits. 



4th. The few southern types common to the two continents origi: 

 nated in the intertropical region, whence they came independently to enrich 

 the Palccarctic and Nearctic faunas. 



5th. Artificial importation plays only a secondary role in the spread 

 of European-American Hemiptera ; but it is Europe that has supplied 

 America, along with cultivated plants, with more species than the latter 

 has received from Europe. 



(To be continued.) 



THE BITER BIT. 



Everybody knows that toads are great insect destroyers, accepting 

 nauseous species, and not refusing even stinging bees, so I was surprised 

 the other day, on hearing the cry of a toad in pain, to find one nearly the 

 size of a hen's egg attacked by a ground beetle a little over an inch long 

 and half an inch broad, belonging to the genus Dicaelus. These beetles 

 are broad and flat, black, with a blue line on the outer edges of the elytra. 

 The toad was held by the middle of the upper arm by the powerful jaws 

 of the beetle, and vainly struggled to push off its assailant with the other 

 limbs, and the beetle actually tried to carry the toad away, pushing it 

 ahead two or three inches while I watched. The toad had a bloody wound 

 in its shoulder, and bite-marks, corresponding to the beetle's jaws, all 

 along its flank and thigh, so the fight must have lasted a considerable 

 time. The beetle frequently relaxed its hold slightly to take a better bite; 

 it held on like a bulldog, with no intent of letting go while I carried them 

 to the house to show to my wife, and indeed I had to pry the beetle's jaws 

 apart to separate the combatants. These Dicaelus beetles are rather 

 common here, but I never knew them to prey on vertebrate animals 

 before. — Theodore L. Mead, Oviedo, Fla. 



