218 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



gourd, her still soft wings raised above her back, while beside 

 the fruit was the extruded pupal shell. The latter were oc- 

 casionally found among the vines, sometimes near the main 

 stem, and on other occasions as far as six feet removed there- 

 from. 



Owing to the multitude of grasshoppers, particularly of the 

 genus Melanoplus, it was often dii!icult to approach the moth, 

 which would be rudely disturbed or forewarned of my coming 

 by some bungling acridian. The flight of the female moth 

 was heavy, and accompanied by a humming sound. Whatever 

 may be said of the protective mimicry of these insects, in that 

 they resemble various wasps, certainly did not apply in the 

 case observed by me, in which one of these Melittias was pur- 

 sued, captured and greedily gobbled up by a kingbird. 



Two specimens were observed laying their eggs rather in- 

 discriminately, on both green and withered parts of the vine. 



No larvae were found, though considerable digging was re- 

 sorted to. The "Missouri gourd," like the manroot {Megar- 

 rhiza) in California, and upon which the sesian likewise feeds, 

 has a colossal root, penetrating the soil to no little depth. 



The lepidopterist, Henry Edwards, took a specimen of this 

 moth at San Leandro, Cal., resting "on a tree in a field of 

 melons." It occurs likewise in Arizona, Texas, and New 

 Mexico. 



The adult moths, like most Lepidoptera whose larvae are 

 internal feeders, should be "degreased" by detaching the 

 abdomen and immersing the same in benzine until the fatty 

 matter is dissolved. 



Melittia satyriniformis Hubner. 

 (Zutr. Exot. Schmett., F. 453; 1825.) 

 The "squash-vine borer" was taken in the adult state about 

 Cucvrbita fcetidissima vines in Pratt, Barton and Rush coun- 

 ties, 1911-1912. It was also collected by Dr. F. H. Snow in 

 Clark and Douglas counties. It is considerably larger than the 

 next species, and unlike it lacks the dark dorsal stripe of the 

 abdomen ; nor does the larva of satyriniformis, as far as I am 

 aware, produce galls on the vines attacked, which is the case 

 with the larva of snowi. 



