17 



I do not remember having perceived any odor in the Trichkis 

 eremicola, but in the other it is constant. You may remember 

 my having discovered one with you in a cherry tree in Dr. 

 H.'s garden, merely by the odor diffiised in the air. Both are 

 found in great abundance on the chestnut trees of Round Hill. 

 The largest T. eremicola when taken emits from its abdo- 

 men a milky fluid, which may have a smell, but I did not 

 perceive it.. 



By the way, I have a new species of Malachius allied to the 

 quadrimaculatus which I have described and named after you. 

 That, and the description of two or three other insects, I mean 

 to send to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



HARRIS TO HENTZ. 



Milton, June 20, 1 826. 



I have been looking in the office every morning these four 

 weeks for a letter from you, from which I should learn the re^ 

 suit of your application for an appointment in Carolina. 



I have not dissected your Trichius vulpinus, but am satisfied 

 the insect is referable to the genus AmjyJiicoma. Around 

 Sweet Auburn, Cambridge, I spent several hours, and found 

 many interesting insects, among them 3Ielolontlia sordida of 

 Say. Another Melolo7itlia^ probably Im'ticida, being uniformly 

 covered with hairs, and therefore distinct from hirsuta, which 

 has the hairs disposed in lines, and from halia (the one 

 I found on Round Hill) which has a transverse band of hairs 

 between the eyes. These species are about the size of, and 

 nearly allied to, our common species, quereina, and I pro^ 

 pose to associate them with i^d^osicollis^ longitarsa^ etc., under 

 the name of Phyllophaga, reserving that of 3Ielolontlia for those 

 species which have seven laminse to the clavola. ]^ forget 

 whether you have the M. moesta of Say belonging to the genus 



OCCAS. PAPERS B. S. N. H. — I. 2 



