ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 9o 



lunniiosity of the female Zarhipis riversi was not of sexual sig- 

 nificance, as males were attracted by day. He was at a loss to 

 account for its utility. 



Soon after meeting with the males the females became less 

 active, and the luminosity, though plainly visible, was less in 

 brilliancy. About June 4 they made each a cell in the earth and 

 began depositing eggs. One deposited about twenty, and the 

 other about thirty-five. The eggs are dull whitish in color, 3 

 mm. to 4 mm. in diameter. This, I believe, is the first instance 

 on record yf the eggs of any of the Phengodini. The female is 

 coiled up in the cell while depositing the eggs, and afterwards 

 lies coiled up on them. They are then very weak, and soon die. 

 Can it be that the parent yields its dying or dead body as the 

 first meal for its young? One which was found in September, 

 1886, was taken from the eggs when nearly dead and placed in 

 alcohol. The eggs of this one proved infertile. The mouth 

 parts, and especially the legs, were very much atrophied, and 

 description was well-nigh impossible. In general appearance the 

 adult is very much like that of the larva and pupa. The two 

 which I observed did not, however, resume the dark-brown color, 

 but remained of an uniform pale-cream color, lighter on sides, 

 under parts, and between the segments of the dorsum. 



Occasionally during the adult state the one which I kept 

 through the winter showed signs of luminosity on the pro-tho- 

 racic segment. Tlie other one exhibited no sign of luminosity 

 on the pro- and meso-thoracic segments. Professor Riley, some 

 years ago, figured a similar phosphorescent insect, and in the 

 paper, read before the Washington Entomological Society, he 

 says that one found by him in 1869 was figured in Le Baron's 

 fourth Illinois report. 



The males are insignificant when compared to the females in 

 size and beaut v. Thev are 15 mm. to 20 mm. in lenpth. AntenuiTe 

 plumose, and half, or more than half, as long as the body. The 

 elytra are short, thin, and subulate. 



