52 



PSYCHE. 



[May iQoo. 



reach to the end of the abdomen. Dur- 

 ing hundreds of days spent in field col- 

 lecting not a single specimen o'ifasciatus 

 has been seen. Many, however, have 

 been taken from the walks and streets 

 of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and other 

 cities and towns in the northern part of 

 the State, but none, as yet, in the south- 

 ern half, not even in Terre Haute, where 

 I resided for seven years. Where the 

 insect breeds, and feeds by day is to me 

 unknown. At times, as in the first 

 week of August, 1S99, swarms com- 

 posed of myriads have appeared about 

 the lights of some of the cities. The 

 newspapers the next day had a column 

 or more devoted to the insects but noth- 

 ing, except wild guesses, as to whence 

 they came. 



la. N. fasciatus vittatus Harris. 



This is the form which abounds every- 

 where throughout the State. It varies 

 in color from a dusky brown to a rusty 

 black. When of the latter hue the 

 stripes on the head, to which it owes its 

 varietal name, are very dim or wholly 

 invisible. In size it is larger than any 

 other, except the \o\\°^-\\'\wgiti\fosciatus. 

 The latgest specimens in my collection 

 have come from the borders of swamps. 

 The tegmina of the 9 cover a little more 

 tiian half tlie abdomen and their cross 

 veinlets are coarser and much more 

 prominent than in the next species. 

 Those of the $ cover three-fourths of 

 the abdomen. The ovipositor is about 

 one eighth longer than the hind femora. 



No intermediate short winged forms 



connecting_/ff.fcz'a^?wwith vittatus have 

 been seen by me, nor have any been 

 recorded to my knowledge. The two 

 are, however, regarded as dimorphic 

 forms of the same species b}' the leading 

 authorities, Saussure and Scudder. In 

 Indiana vittatus begins to reach matu- 

 rity about Jul}' 20. Living specimens 

 have been seen as late as December ist. 

 Altho\igh present in vast numbers, but 

 little is known of its life habits. It ap- 

 pears to be omnivorous, feeding upon 

 carrion, cow dung and grasses with 

 equal avidity. Though small in size 

 the aggregate damage which it causes 

 to grass and liindred plants in the course 

 of a single season must be great, and 

 there is little doultt but that it, as well 

 as the other species of the genus, should 

 be classed among those insects highly 

 destructive to forage plants.* 



2. N. maculatus sp. nov. 



Size medium ; liead ratlier prominent, darli 

 luteous or castaneous, more or less dotted 

 with piceous, especially on forehead and 

 cheeks; eyes rather large, prominent. An- 

 tennae dull luteous, the basal third lighter; 

 maxillary palpi luteous, the apical half of 

 terminal joint piceous. Pronotum broader 

 than long, faintly tapering anteriorly; the 

 dorsal field castaneous with numerous dark 

 points; the front margin and lateral field 

 sparingly beset with stiff black bristles. A 

 piceous stripe starts back of the eye and covers 

 the upper two-thirds of lateral field of both 

 pronotum and tegmina. The latter with a 

 yellowish vein separating the dorsal and lat- 



* I'"Gr other accounts of the destruction wrought by the 

 species of Neniobius see Rathvou, U. S. Agr. Report, 1862, 

 p. 3S0, and Osborne, Bull. 23, U. S. Div. Ent. p. 59. 



