— 112 — 



after the style seen in Jiiimu.s, the confused striae at the sides number about 

 five, and are of a net work pattern; the inflexed portion is smooth with faint 

 punctures; the acute margin is sharply defined and the disc is slightly flat- 

 tened. 



Received from Shingle Springs, Eldorado County, California. 



This has been confused with C. obliquus, but its less convexity, 

 the finer jjuncturings and intervals, and the non-interrupted strice 

 of the elytra, easily distinguish it. The greater width of the thorax 

 in contrast with the narrowness at the hind margin, it having the most 

 oblique side margin of any known Cychrus, and still further the 

 black without the least semblance of purple additionally characterize 

 it. 



It belongs to group 3, section 13, of Horn's " Synopsis of the 

 Species of Cychrus inhabiting Boreal America.""^ It should be 

 placed just before striatiis . 



The home of the species is in the Foot-hills of Eldorado Co., 

 California. 



Necydalis barbarae n. sp. — Form large, robust; color chestnut-brown to 

 pitchy-black. Head rugosely punctate and with a well defined frontal channel. 

 Thorax with lateral protuberance, and with two depressions above, dorsal 

 channel nearly obliterated, boldly constricted both before and behind. Elytra 

 flat, finely rugosely punctate, slightly depressed on disc, sutural margins per- 

 fect, ending in a slight projectian; there is, however, a continuous margin 

 around the apex, which reaches to the humeral angles; tip truncate, not 

 ■convex, as in the other species. Size 22 mm. = .87 inch. 



Habitat. — Santa Barbara, Cal. Collected by Oscar F. Baron. 



A BIT OF HISTORY. 



BY PROF. C. H. FERXALD. 



In the- " North American Entomologist," vol. i, p. 102 (1880), 

 I expressed the desire to have the date of Zeller's Chilon. et Cramb. , 

 definitely determined, so that we could know positively whether 

 Walker's or Zeller's species should take precedence. In the same 

 place I published an extract from a letter from Dr. Hagen, giving 

 his reasons for believing that Zeller's paper was published before 

 Walker's work on the Crambidae. 



Early in 1881 I wrote to Prof Zeller, himself, asking for the 

 date of publication of his work on the Crambidae, but he did not 

 answer that part of my letter. My copy of Zeller's Crambidce is 

 one of the separata, and gives no clue to the date beyond the year, 



* Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. vii, December, 1878. 



