178 



At Charleston it was taken Aug. 8 on flowers of the swamp milk- 

 weed, Asclepias incarnata, at Sta. I, g (No. i) and at Sta. I, d (No. 

 12) ; on the flowers of the mountain mint Pycnanthenium virgini- 

 anum (Sta. I) Aug. 12 (No. 35) ; and T. L. Hankinson took the 

 beetle (Sta. I) July 3, 191 1 (No. 7665). 



Robertson (Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci. Vol. 5, p. 572. 1891) 

 states that this beetle and Bpicauta vittata Fabr. gnaw the flowers of 

 the swamp milkweed; and in the same volume (p. 574) reports that 

 the rose-breasted grosbeak (Habia ludoviciana) cleared these beetles 

 from A. syriaca in his yard. Beutenmiiller (Jour. N. Y. Ent. Soc, 

 Vol. 4, p. 81. 1896) says that the larva bores into the roots and lower 

 parts of the stems of Asclepias, and suggests that the other species 

 have similar habits. 



T etrao pes femoratus Lee. (?) Milkweed Beetle. 



A peculiar individual (No. 1) was taken Aug. 8 on the swamp 

 milkweed Asclepias incarnata (Sta. I, d). Mr. C. A. Hart, who de- 

 termined the specimen, remarks that it "is very remarkable — thorax 

 of femoratus, antennae and pattern nearest to 4-ophthalmus." 



ChRYSOMELID/E 



CryptoccpJialus venustus Fabr. 



This leaf-beetle was taken from the flowers of prairie clover, 

 Petalostcmum (Sta. I, b), Aug. 11 (No. 21). Blatchley ('10, p. 

 1 123) states that it is found on the flowers of Brigeron in timothy 

 fields, on ironweed, and on wild sweet potato. Chittenden ('92, 

 p. 263) has observed the var. simplex Hald. on ragweed, Ambrosia 

 trifida, "dodging around the stem after the manner of a squirrel or 

 lizard on a tree-trunk The insect is a polyphagous leaf-eater." 



Chrysocluis auratus Fabr. Dogbane Beetle. 



Only two specimens of this usually common metallic-green beetle 

 were seen and secured. One (No. 14) was taken Aug. 9 on the 

 dogbane or Indian hemp, Apocynum medium, growing among the 

 swamp milkweeds, Asclepias incarnata (Sta. I, d) ; and the other on 

 dogbane in the upland part of Bates woods (Sta. IV, a), Aug. 20, 

 1910 (No. 103). Later, July 3, 191 1, T. L. Hankinson (Sta. I) also 

 secured this beetle (No. 7665). The food plant was abundant, but 

 the beetles appeared to be exceptionally rare. This is another widely 

 recognized but really little known insect. It is also found on the 

 leaves of milkweeds. Zabriskie (Jour. N. Y. Ent. Soc, Vol. 3, p. 

 192. 1895) describes the egg-capsules of this species, which he found 

 earlv in July on fence posts, near plants of the spreading dogbane, 



