30 THE CANADIAN KNTOMOLOGIST. 



outer lobe of the maxillae greatly elongated, being in some species equal 

 to the length of the body, and very slender. As seen in the cabinet these 

 lobes are widely separated, but in life they are closely approximated, 

 forming a single nematoid appendage. In the present species this 

 arrangement is admirably adapted to the character of the flowers on which 

 they feed ; the florets of the Rudbeckias being very long and very com- 

 pactly inserted on the disk, to reach the nectaries at their bases, just such 

 an armature is required. The lobes of the maxillae are inserted closed 

 and do not embrace the florets nor open and shut in feeding, but are 

 moved up and down like a drill, the needle shifting around among the 

 florets without being withdrawn ; but in what way the nourishment is 

 conveyed to the mouth I could not ascertain. 



The species of this genus are numerous west of the Mississippi, and 

 it would be interesting to learn what species of flowers they frequent. 



NOTE ON ORYSSUS SAYl. 



BY W. HAGUE HARRINGTON, OTTAWA. 



The members of the genus Oryssus are apparently rare in Canada, 

 and I was therefore much pleased to capture on the 2nd June a fine $ O. 

 Sayi. It was running up and down a telegraph pole (one of the new ones 

 put up for the electric light wires), and had at first glance all the appear- 

 ance of some small wasp (Crabronidse), searching for a suitable hole for its 

 nest. Its movements were very quick, and its antennte vibrated rapidly. 

 It was so alert and restless that my prospects of capturing it without a net 

 seemed far from bright. However, the capture was made, and its 

 struggles in my cyanide bottle were brief. A few days later I took a ^ 

 upon one of the samq poles, although in a different part of the city, and 

 saw what appeared to be another of these insects fly away from higher up, 

 the pole. On the 24th I secured another female, which was even more active 

 than the first, and which flew away and returned to the same place twice 

 before I effected its capture. This habit of flying away when disturbed 

 and of returning, even from some distance, to the very spot left, is one 

 which I have noticed in other species of Uroceridae. The poles upon 

 which the above specimens were taken are cedar, and it is more than 

 probable that the insects had emerged from the poles, as many had very 

 numerous holes in them, apparently of Uroceridae as well as of Coleoptera. 



