78 



PSYCHE. 



[July, 1900. 



season again a special watch was kept 

 for any spretiis which might be taken 

 during the collecting hours, resulting, 

 as we had supposed from observations 

 in the field, in the taking of no speci- 

 mens of spretiis whatever. On care- 

 ful examination of this material, how- 

 ever, v\'e find what we believe to be 

 one specimen of spretiis, a female. 



These notes are here recorded since the 

 absence and recurrence of spretiis is 

 ne\er without interest. Not present in 

 tiiis territory in 1S97, we find it in lim- 

 ited numbers in 1S9S and this season 

 out of all the material taken during four 

 weeks collecting in Hamilton, Ford 

 and Russell counties but one doubtful 

 specimen among the captures. 



THE GENUS KERMES IN NORTH AMERICA. 



BY GEO. B. KING, LAWRENCE, MASS. 



When I first thought of writing upon 

 this genus it was my intention to take 

 up the Eiu'opean species, but owing to 

 the fact that I have not yet been able 

 to consult some of the more important 

 European literature treating upon the 

 species found, and also that I wish to 

 possess or at least see most of the 

 species, I have abandoned it for the 

 present, and taken up our North 

 American forms. As there are not 

 sufficient specific microscopical char- 

 acters in the adult female to formulate 

 a table of the species I have thought it 

 best to put them into sections, based 

 upon a superficial examination of the 

 female scale. 



1. Section of Kermes galJiformis 

 Riley. Globular forms, or nearly so, 

 segmentation obscure; not gibbous. 

 K. boj^iiei, K. fubescciis, K. iiigro- 

 punctatzis, K. kingii, K. ceriferus, 

 K. pettitl, K. aiistini, K. grandis, 

 K. perryi, and K. gaUiformis vai'. 

 cneroensis, n. var. 



2. Section of Kcrmcs i-iUettei C'kil. 



Scales gibbous, segmentation distinct, 

 K. concinnulns and K. cockcreUi. 



3. .Section of Kermes nivalis King, 

 Ckll. Scales shaped like a convex 

 I^ecaniitm, not globular or gibbous. 



4. Section of Kermes andrei King. 

 Scales very convex, elongated or pyri- 

 form in shape. 



Prof. Cockerell finds Boitard, in 

 1S2S, the earliest author to use Kermes 

 as a true generic name. Of course 

 Kermes (as he says) was used as a 

 popular term for many years before 

 Boitard's time, as will be seen when I 

 treat of the European species. The 

 total number of Kermes described is 

 26 and one variety, with one more vet 

 to be named by Newstead, found in 

 Africa. The name K. qiiercus was 

 proposed for it, but this is preoccupied. 

 Europe has 12 and North America 15 

 species and one variety. The Kcrme- 

 sinae therefore contains 27 species and 

 one variety, all of which belong to one 

 genus, Kermes. The localities which 

 have produced new species in North 



