32 Transactions of the Kansas 



before sunrise, discovered the fresh fragments of several half-eaten AmblycJiikv, 

 scattered along his route, as if some predatory animal had but just preceded him 

 and made his breakfast upon the rarities which otherwise would have made their 

 way into the collecting-bottle. On the evening of the same day, Mr. Walker, 

 while collecting in the same locality, was violently attacked by a rabid skunk, 

 twice in immediate succession. The next morning Mr. Richard Foster, the other 

 student of the party, was similarly attacked on a neighboiing clay-bank, and had 

 the good fortune to kill his assailant. An examination of the contents of this 

 animal's stomach revealed unmistakable remains of freshly-eaten AmMychilm. It 

 would thus appear that tliis ill-odored quadruped has an original claim to the title 

 of " Amblychila-hunter," and is ready at the proper time to vindicate its claims 

 against human contestants. This fact will merit the serious consideration of 

 entomologists who may hereafter visit the plains, since the bite of the rabid skunk 

 has proven fatal to man in more than nine cases out of ten, and there are more 

 than fifty fatal cases on record. In this connection may be mentioned another 

 danger which must be incurred by the collector of insects upon the plains. I 

 refer to the bite of the rattlesnake, which venomous reptile abounds in Western 

 Ivan'as and Eastern Colorado, and was encountered nearly every day by some 

 member of our expedition. 



NOTE ON THE HABITS OF SOME OF THE RARER 



CICINDELJ5. 



By S. W. WiLLiSTON, New Haven, Conn. 



The few following observations may be of use to collectors : 



0. montana. This species I found in considerable quantities early in spring, in 

 Southern Wyoming — more frequently along the hillsides or uplands, and not espe- 

 cially in bared ground. 



G. pulchra. This beautiful species is extremely abundant in Southeastern Kan- 

 sas and Southern Colorado. They always choose perfectly bared spots of loam, on 

 high ground, and for that reason are oftenest seen along old unused roads. A pecu- 

 liarity of their northern distribution is interesting. They are extremely abundant 

 along the valley of the Smoky Hill river, extending nearly as far east as Ft. Hays. 

 But dui-ing three years of active collecting in the West by Messrs. Brous, Cooper, 

 E. W. Guild, and myself, I never learned of a specimen taken north of the divide 

 between the Smoky Hill and Saline rivers, nor indeed beyond the immediate valley 

 of the Smoky Hill. Another beetle with almost precisely the same limits of distri- 

 bution, is Asida elata. Amblychila cylindriformis, although occurring very rarely 

 north of the Smoky Hill, does still reach the Solomon river. 



C. Scutellaria. Smoky Hill and Saline, confined mostly to sandy streams on the 

 borders near vegetation, but nearer the open sand than formosa. 



C. 10-notata. Has habits somewhat similar to montana, specially distributed in 

 Southern Wyoming, on high grounds among the buffalo grass. 



C. Auduhoni. Most abundant in early spring. The black variety was most com- 

 monly seen in the open clayey bottoms of ravines and hollows near the chalk 



