374 Journal of economic entomology [Vol. 14 



series of 31 specimens and consulted with Dr. W. Dwight Pierce, in regard to the 

 taxonomy. Dr. Pierce, has examined the series and his determinations are incor- 

 porated in the following brief records: 



Hermosillo, Sonora, typical thurberiae 1 male and 3 females, from cultivated cotton 

 source of infestation probably wild cotton; Colcorit, Sonora, race near grandis with 

 dense pubesence, tooth on middle femora tending toward thurberiae, 3 males and 1 

 female, from wild cotton; Cejame, Sonora, 6 males, 1 female, all typical thurberiae, 

 from wild and cultivated cotton; Constancia, Sinaloa, 1 male typical grandis, 1 female 

 grandis tending toward thurberiae, 1 female and 1 male very near to typical thurberiae 

 all from cultivated cotton, source of infestation probably wild cotton; Los Mochis, 

 Sinaloa, 1 typical Grandis, from wild cotton: Navalota, Sinaloa (near Culiacan) typical 

 grandis, 2 females and 2 males, from cultivated cotton; Villa Union, Sinaloa, 1 male 

 and 1 female typical thurberiae, 3 females and 3 males near to typical grandis but all 

 apparently hybrids, from cultivated cotton. 



It is interesting to note that conditions in regard to handUng of seed cotton and 

 sources of seed for planting purposes were such that both hybrids and typical forms 

 were more likely to occur at Villa Union than at any of the other localities named. 

 Active adults of both typical, arietal and intermediate or hybrid forms were found 

 in large numbers on cultivated cotton at this point. Bolls appeared to be greatly 

 preferred to squares for egg deposition, a characteristic of the variety thurberiae. 



A. W. Morrill 

 An Early Record Regarding Bot Flies. Until recently little or nothing was known 

 of the manner by which oestrid larvae reached the interior of their hosts. For 

 Hypoderma bovis and H. lineata this has been demonstrated by Had wen and others. 

 Not long ago an interesting reference relating to oestrids was found while consulting 

 some old literature. It consists of a. communication written by a Dr. Hamlin of 

 Greene County, N. Y., and appeared in Volume VI of the Medical Repository (1808). 

 The section pertaining to penetration of the larvae follows. 



"The next difficult}^ that presented, was to ascertain how the boi insinuated itself 

 into the bowels of the horse. I found the horse frequently 1o bite and rub the part in 

 the vicinity of those nits, which led me to believe that he swallowed some of them with 

 his food, and they produced the bot after being in the stomach; but the observations 

 that I have since made, lead me strongly to suspect that I was mistaken in that 

 particular; for on separating the hair in the vicinity of those nits, and viewing the 

 skin minutely, I could discover these insects with the naked eye ; and on taking a look 

 through a magnifier could see a great number of them; and they appeared to be in- 

 sinuating themselves into the texture of the horse, through the pores of the skin. I 

 must leave it to more able naturalists to determine the reasonability of the above 

 conjecture; but it is a fact that some had so far penetrated into the skin as to be almost 

 out of sight." 



It would seem that the species under mention was Gastrophiliis intestinalis, though 

 the consensus of opinion supports the ingestion method. However, the writer, though 

 he apparently had no knowledge of entomology, nor access to bibliography such as 

 Clark, specifically mentioned the species as being a bot fly. There is also a chance 

 that the insect belonged to the genus Hypoderma, members of which Dr. Ransom 

 informs me infest the horse, though not nearly as commonly as Gastrophilus intest- 

 inalis. The communication is of interest, since it records actual penetration of 

 larvae, an observation which does not seem to have been noted again for more than 

 a century. W. A. Hoffman 



Albany, N. Y. 



