— 202 — 



seeing any, whatever, after the second day of tlieir appearance. I watched 

 very carefully, nearly all of the third day, in the best locality known to 

 me, witlioul seeing one, although the weather was favorable. 



Some young men living near by were quite familiar with the "bugs' 

 and had noticed them for some years. These 1 hired to watch this 

 years' brood for me, and on the firsl day after the rain ol October i6th 

 they saw numbers of them, but being in hot pursuit of a deer and liaving 

 no convenience for "bottling bugs'', they failed to augment my collec- 

 tion. However their observations are good, in that they corroborate my 

 own about the sudden appearance and disappearance of the whole brood, 

 and they also informed me they had never seen a Pleocoma fly in the 

 open pastures or cultivated lands, contiguous to the hills where the brood 

 occurred. 



Further observations, upon next years' brood will, I hope, enable 

 me to throw more light upon the habits of this interesting beetle, 



L. E. Ricksecker. 



Fall Collecting of Hymenoptera from Solidago sp 



and its Results. 



By C. L. Marlatt, INIanhattan, Kan. 



The following results were obtained by sweeping the bloom of two 

 or three species of Solidago, notably 6". rigida and .S. spedosa, var. an- 

 gustata, one hour or so a day during the last week of September and the 

 first of October. 



The plants in question grew along the sides i^f a grassy ravine left 

 uncut by the hay makers, and of them, 6". rigida was the most abun- 

 dantly represented and yielded the best returns. Solidago speciosa, var.. 

 bloomed somewhat later and seemed to be an especial favorite of various 

 species of Bo7)ibiis and Apathus. 



The prevailing south-west wind of this season was blowing, and, b\- 

 beating against it proved to be an efficient aid in collecting, b(.tli bv 

 driving the insects the more readily into the net, and also in preventing 

 the flight of many of the shyer forms that in a calmer season would have 

 been with difficulty approached. 



The insects on plant after plant were driven into the net by quicklv 

 beating the flowers; the wind and the quick movements of the net pre- 

 venting their escape till a sufficient quantity was secured, when a few 

 quick motions of the net drove them to the bottom. 



Seizing the net just above the seething mass of insects ami with the 

 aid of forceps thrusdng the end of the net and its contents bi)ilily into a 

 wide mouthed collecting bottle ensured the retention of all taken. A 

 few .seconds in the bottle stupefied the "catch", and it could be removed 



