209 



fiilva is known to relish the termites as food. A second colony of ter- 

 mites (No. 125) was found Aug. 22 under the bark of an oak stump 

 (Sta. IV, b), in the early stages of decay, when the sap-wood was 

 becoming honeycombed but the remainder of the wood was still solid. 

 The caterpillar Scolecocampa lihiirna was found in the same stump. 



As white ants feed mainly upon woody and other vegetable ma- 

 terials, they are active agents in hastening the decay and destruction 

 of such substances, mainly in forested areas but also upon the prairie. 



Two species have long been confused under the name of fiavipes, 

 and as the newly recognized one, virginicus Bks., may occur in ex- 

 treme southern Illinois, reference is made to it. (See Banks, Ent. 

 News, Vol. 18, pp. 392-393. 1907). 



Neuroptera 

 Myrmeleonid^ 



An ant-lion was taken from its inverted funnel in the dust along 

 the path through the cleared area to the forest (near Sta. IV, a) 

 Aug. 29 (No. 183). 



Although ant-lions are common in many localities and widely dis- 

 persed, little is really known of the ecology of the American species. 

 These insects reach their greatest abundance and diversity in the 

 arid regions of the west and southwest. In the eastern forested area 

 they are of much more local occurrence and are generally found in 

 the dust, particularly in sheltered places — as under an overhanging 

 cliff or even under the porches of houses, where the desirable protec- 

 tion from rain is afforded ; or, often, in the woods, in the powdery 

 dust that marks the final stages in the decay of a log. The log as 

 an animal habitat has an interesting life history and a corresponding 

 succession of animals. On the decay of the sap-wood, Camponotiis 

 and Philoinycus are among the early invaders of the log; the ant- 

 lion, present in its dust, is one of the latest. It should be noted that 

 these isolated, dry, dusty places are the situations in the humid 

 area which most nearly approach the conditions which on the plains, 

 and particularly on the desert, are of nearly continuous geographic 

 extent. 



Mecaptera 



Panorpid^ 



Bittaciis stigmaterits Say. Clear-winged Scorpion-fly. 



The damp, shady lowland forest, with a ground cover composed 

 of nettles (Laportea canadensis) and clearweed (Pilca piunila), 



