Juno— July 18S4.; 



PSrCHE. 



191 



ENTOMOLOGICAL ITEMS. 



On account of inability to arrange satis- 

 factorily the material on hand for publica- 

 tion this double numero contains four pages 

 less than is usual. This deficiency will be 

 made up in the succeeding numero. 



About the middle of June thick clouds of 

 dragon-flies, Libcllula quadrimactilata and 

 L. rufa, were seen flying east over Moscow, 

 Russia. They were at first mistaken for 

 locusts. 



We include in the Bibliographical record 

 several references to corydalus cornutus, to 

 accompany the article by Mr. Krauss, on 

 that insect. For earlier references see the 

 Bibliegraphical record, no. 46S, 865 q, 971 /> 

 1037 A, 1115, 1348, 1401. 



In the Bulletin d'inscctologie agricole 

 for M.ay 1SS4 appears the first portion of a 

 notice of Dr. C. V. Riley and his work as an 

 economic entomologist, written in anticipa- 

 tion of his third visit to France this year. 

 The notice is entitled "Riley et I'entomologie 

 agraire aux Etats-Unis." 



Dr. H : C. McCooK has recently described 

 the cocoon of a species of spider which he 

 calls, provisionally, Micayia Ihnnictntac- 

 The peculiarity of the cocoon consists in its 

 being covered with mud, and being suspend- 

 ed by a thread beneath fallen boards. The 

 cocoons wore found in Illinois. 



Entomology h.\s just suffered a loss in 

 the death, at Copenhagen, earlj- in June, of 

 Pruf J. C. Schiddte, a well known entomo- 

 logical author. Among other entomologists, 

 notices of whose deaths we have seen lately, 

 are Mr. Edwin Birchall, lepidopterist, who 

 died in Douglass, Isle of Man, on 2 May 

 1S84, and Mr. William Prest, lepidopterist, 

 born 7 May 1S24. in York, England, and died 

 7 April 1SS4 in the same town. 



Mr. W : C. Krauss, whose description of 

 the nervous system of the head of the larva 

 of Coyydalus cornutns we publish at this time, 

 attained special Jiiial honors in the subject of 

 insect anatomv at his gratluation fi'oni the 



Cornell university on 19 June of this year, 

 when he was made a Bachelor of science in 

 the departments of science and letters, and 

 received a licentiate certificate in the medical 

 preparatory course. We hail with pleasure 

 the advent to the ranks of the entomologists 

 in this country of every member who is not 

 content with pinning and exchanging speci- 

 mens, describing new species and discussing 

 their names, but seeks to advance the knowl- 

 edge of their essential structure, relations to 

 the rest of the world, and manner of life. 



B: P. M. 



Dr. Fritz Muller, under title of "Butter- 

 flies as botanists" notes in Nature for 10 July 

 1SS4 that "The caterpillars of Mec/tiuiitis, 

 Dircenna., Ccratinia and Ithomia feed on dif- 

 ferent species oi solanaccae {Solauum, Cyp/io- 

 mandra, Bassovia, Cestrum), those of the 

 allied genus Thyridia on Biunfelsia. Now 

 this latter genus of plants had been placed 

 unanimously among the scrophularincae, till 

 quite recently it was transferred by Bentham 

 and Hooker to the solniiaceae. Thus it ap- 

 pears that butterflies had recognized the true 

 affinity of Brtinfehici long before botanists 

 did so." Dr. Muller likewise shows that the 

 closeaffinity oi Dalechampia and Tragia, two 

 genera of eup/iorbiaceae, "had been duly 

 appreciated by buttei'fiies," altlin only lately- 

 recognized by botanists. 



Prof. Xaver Landerer, of Athens, 

 Greece, writes to the Dcutsch-anicrikaiiische 

 npotliekci-zcitniig (15 May 18S2, jahrg. 3, no. 



.V P- 134) : — 



"As far as I can determine the manna of 

 the Israelites, with which they are said to 

 have nourished themselves for forty jears in 

 the wilderness, comes from Myriea manni- 

 fcra. The manna is known to be secreted 

 from openings which are marie in the leaves 

 of the tree by a gall-insect, Cynips tnatinipn- 

 riix The manna trickles slowly down and 

 hardens. The monks collect this manna at 

 the present time and eat it as hallowed food. 

 Sometimes strangers are honored with a 

 small quantity as a present. 



