Mordt'//i(f<r in (he Vicinity of Cinciinia/i, O. 123 



MORDELLID.^ IN THE VICINITY OF CINCINNATI, 



OHIO. 



Rv Chaklks Dury. 



The Mordellido' , as collected by most collectors (if taken by 

 them at all, which is seldom the case), are so poorly handled 

 that they are almost worthless for study. Many of those 

 which I have received have been almost buried in glue, thereby 

 ob.scuring the characteristic markings ; when an attempt is 

 made to clean them they fall to pieces. During the Summer 

 of 1892, I devoted much of the season to this family, with 

 gratifying success. The locality .seems to be very rich. Some 

 of them occur in prodigious numbers. Imperfect and denuded 

 specimens give but a poor idea of the beauty of these nimble 

 little insects when fresh, and with their pubescence perfect. 

 They should always be collected in a cyanide bottle, and kept 

 dry and perfectly clean. None of the family .should ever be 

 pinned, but always mounted on triangles of thin card board. 

 They are quite difficult to mount, owing to their narrow, 

 flattened form, and the glue should be thick and quick setting 

 to hold them in an upright position on the triangle until dry. 

 Use a very small quantity of glue, too much obscures char- 

 acters. The posterior legs in Mordcllisiena should be drawn 

 out behind to better exhibit the ridges on tibia and tarsi, 

 which seem to be such an excellent specific character. A 

 strong glass and good light are necessary to properly study 

 the.se ridges. The excellent synopsis of the family by John 

 B. Smith (Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, July, i<S82,) leaves little to 

 be desired. While many of the species occur abundantly on 

 blossoms, I get some of the rarest and most interesting by 

 sweeping weeds growing in the woods with a sweep net. 

 Early morning and late in the afternoon are the best times to 

 secure them, for during the heat of mid-day they are so active 

 jumping around in the net or umbrella, and flying away so 



