166 FORTT-FIRST REPORT ON THE StATE MuSEUM. 



preparation to special reauests made by tlie institution, and to material in considerable 

 part supplied from its collections. We are indebted to it for twenty-two valuable publi- 

 cations on insects. 



SpriaZs.— Prompt description of new species, of observations of interest, or of special 

 studies, obtain ready publication in the four serials* (two monthly) that are devoted to 

 current literature. Sixty-three volumes of serials have been issued, including the 

 Canadian Entomologist, published in London, Ontario, with contributors mainly from 

 the United States. 



Bibliography. 



The aid in any department of study afforded by proper bibliography is appreciated 

 by every student. The entomological student is fortunate in having probably the most 

 complete bibliography ever prepared of any branch of natural history, in the "Biblio- 

 theca Entomologica " of Dr. H. A. Hagen. The labor involved in a work of this scope, 

 may be appreciated when we state that it was eight years in compilation, involving 

 visits to all the principal capitals and libraries in Europe, and that eight hours a day 

 for three years was devoted to its proof-reading. It embraces all entomological books 

 and papers issued from the earliest times to the year 1862, the time of publication — 

 18,130 in number, by .5,617 authors. From the year 1874, an annotated biographical record 

 of all writings upon American insects has been given in Psyche. It is now appearing 

 in the form of title-slips which may be used as card catalogues, and has reached the 

 current number of 3884. 



A bibliography of American Economic Entomology is now in course of preparation 

 by Mr. P. Piekman Mann, of the Entomological Division at Washington, which contains 

 at present about twenty-eight thousand manuscript cards, with the compilation, per- 

 haps, not over half completed. 



Life-Histories of Insects. 



A knowledge of the life-histories of the insects of a country, may properly be taken 

 as a measure of its progress in the science, for such knowledge must ever afford the 

 basis for advancement in the right direction. In the applications of the science to pro- 

 tection from insect injury, it is indispensable, for until we have learned the several 

 phases that insects assume — their habits, their environments — we do not know how, 

 when, or where they may be most effectively attacked. To our economic entomologists, 

 therefore, particulary to Dr. Fitch and Prof. Riley, are we indebted for the possession of 

 full life-histories of a large number of our injurious species. Some of the histories 

 that have been given us, in their faithfulness, fullness, details and illustration, might 

 serve as models for all similar work. Special mention deserves to be made of the 

 admirable life-histories of our butterflies, published by Mr. W. H. Edwards, in his two 

 quarto volumes (a third in preparation) of the "Butterflies of North America." No 

 other country can boast of such a series, so laboriously studied, so elaborately given, 

 and so beautifully illustrated. 



But in a knowledge of the early stages of our insects, generally, we are much behind 

 European advance. Thus, we may know the larval form of one-fifth of our lepidoptera ; 

 in Europe about four-fifths are known, together with their food-plants. Of our coleop- 

 tera, the larvae of only about two per cent of the named species have been described, 

 although quite a number are in collections awaiting description and proper illustration. 



Anatomical Studies. 



The studies of the anatomy of insects have been numerous, and, from their ability, 

 have added much to the biological knowledge of this class of the animal kingdom. 

 Among the many names associated with this advancement may be mentioned those of 

 Packard, Scudder, Hagen, Burgess, Geisler, Minot, Mark, Dimmock, Leidy,Wyman, and 

 Chambers. 



♦Transactions of the American Entomological Society, Psyche, Entomologica Americana, and the 

 Canadian Entomologist. 



