KOTiCES AND REVIEWS, 7^ 



the head is pale ochreous, shiny and sjwtless. Leucania nnipnncta (the 

 army worm). Of this IMr. Oockerell writes : — " Early in August I was 

 informed hy Mr. Lohman that there was a terrible ])lague of cater- 

 pillars or worms down at the mill, and so went to investigate the matter. 

 Mr. Schaublin conducted me to the field infested and the sight there was 

 sufficientl}' astonishing: thousands of army worms crawling over the 

 phtnts and on the ground, and the alfalfa so denuded of its leaves as to 

 be hardly recognizable. They had appeared suddenly, as is usual, and 

 the work of destruction had been rapid. Besides the alfalfa, I noticed 

 they were very fond of eating apples fallen from the trees, and many 

 even ascended the apple trees and fed u}ion the leaves. They also ate 

 some corn plants, leaving only the mid-ribs of the leaves; they attacked 

 the leaves of sweet potato, and seemed very fond of capsicum pepper, 

 devouring the leaves and excavating the fruits. A wild Solanum and 

 Amaranthiis were also attacked, but though many took shelter under 

 the grape vines they did not attack them. This avoidance of vine 

 leaves for food was noted years ago by Dr. C. V. Eiley. I found they 

 were eating the beans, which is noteworthy, as Dr. Eiley found tliat 

 some army worms which he experimented with would not eat this 

 plant, although they would accept peas. On the gi-ound was a piece of 

 cut water-melon on which many of the w^orms were feeding, and I found 

 they took readily to cucumber. Later I found them eating the leaves 

 of sunflower, and two or three worms were noticed on asparagus." 

 " Mr. Schaublin remarked on the number of toads about ; these were 

 undoubtedly feeding on the worms. There were also parasitic flies — 

 flies not unlike a common meat-fly, which produce grubs, whose lives 

 are spent in the inside of caterpillars, feeding on their juices. These 

 grubs eventually kill their hosts and turn into flies (Tricholyga, sp.) like 

 their })arents. The fly places her eggs on the skin of the caterpillar, 

 and from these the grulj hatches. I found one such egg on one of the 

 army worms." " The army worm, when fully grown, burrows into the 

 earth and turns into a pupa, from which emerges the army worm moth, 

 known to naturalists as Leucania imipiincta. I caught one of these moths 

 in Las Cruces some weeks ago ; it is of moderate size, jDale brownish in 

 colour, with no conspicuous marks." — Ed. 



The Transactions of the City of London Emtomologic.^l Society, 

 1893. — This Society is to be congratulated on having just issued its trans- 

 actions, for this, the third successive year. Small and unpretentious as the 

 volume is, it contains a vast amount of useful scientific information, all 

 comprised within some eighty pages of closely printed matter. Nor 

 are its contents calculated to interest members only. We heartily and 

 emphatically recommend its perusal to all entomologists worthy of the 

 name. We may even go further, and say, that if the papers read at 

 future meetings of the above Society continue up to the present level 

 (and we have reason to suppose that they will), no scientific entomolo- 

 gist — we use the qualification advisedly — wishing to be ' up to date,' 

 dare be without a copy. The volume contains the best efforts of 

 competent men. 



Among numerous other useful items may be mentioned, a paper read 

 by Mr. Tutt, on the " Genus Xanthia," and the scholarly productions 

 of Dr. Buckell, entitled respectively " Specific Nomenclature, Past, 

 Present, and Future " and " History of Butterfly Classification," givino- 

 evidence of gi-eat research ; also " Notes on certain Coleopterous Insects, 

 found in City Warehouses," by Mr. G. A. Lewcock. 



