■Mti 



PSYCHE. 



Auiiusi — Septc-mbcr iSS(. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Notice of ax omission from Lecoxte"s 

 EDITION OF Thomas Say's writings. — In 

 the Journal of the Academv of natural sci- 

 ence of Philadelphia, July 1S17, v. i, p. 45- 

 4S, Thomas Saj, in an article entitled. 

 "Some account of the insect known by the 

 name of Hessian fly, and of a parasitic insect 

 that feeds on it," describes Cecidomyia de- 

 structor and its parasite Cerafltron destruc- 

 tor, and gives a short account of the habits 

 of each species. This article is reprinted 

 correctly in Leconte's edition of Say's writ- 

 ings, V. 2, p. 6-7. On p. 63 of the Journal, 

 for August 1S17, however, just before the 

 explanation to the plate, Say inserted a note 

 which Leconte overlooked and which is here 

 republished, both as showing a curious mis- 

 take made by Say, and to correct the omis- 

 sion from the "Complete writings." Say 

 says : — 



"I forgot to mention in its proper place 

 that the parasitic insect, Cerapbron dpstruc- 

 tor, which is so commonly mistaken for the 

 Cecidomyia, after the business of propaga- 

 tion is performed, throws off its wings as a 

 useless incumbrance, in this respect resem- 

 bling some species of the genera Formica. 

 Termes, &c.. to which it also bears some 

 resemblance in point of form and appear- 

 ance; this has led many to suppose that the 

 Hessian-fly is in reality no other than a 

 species of pissmire in its apterous state. 

 T. Say." 



Of course Say is mistaken in his statement 

 that the wings were shed after copulation. 

 It not uncommonly occurs among the pte- 

 romaliaae that certain individuals (both male 

 and female) have only rudimentary wings — 

 mere pads which never become developed 

 into wings. This is the case with the species 

 under consideration, the relative propor- 

 tion of the winged to the wingless individ- 

 uals varying with the climate and the 

 season. 



/.. O. HiKvcrd. 



X BirrxERFLV Attracted bv Lami-- 

 LIGHT. I do not remember any published 

 account of the attraction of diurnal lepido- 



ptera by lamplight, except the note by Mr. S. 

 H. Scudder in Psyche, v. i. p. 28 [Rec. 

 659J, but in two instances I have taken speci- 

 mens of the eyed empeior {Apaiiira lyraoti, 

 Fabr.) in this way. After ten o'clock of the 

 evening of 20 August 1SS2, a perfect, but not 

 entirelv fresh, specimen came in at the open 

 window of my sitting-room and was captured 

 with a butterfly net. The other example 

 referred to was taken earlier in the evening. 

 but after the lamps were lighted. The close 

 proximity of a hackberry tree {Cel/is), on 

 which the larvae feed, accounts for the pres- 

 ence of these in.sects in the neighborhood, 

 but does not give us the key to their unusual 

 nocturnal activity. Mary Esther Murt/eidt. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 

 LiNXEAN' Society of London. 



20 Dec. 1SS3.— . . . Mr. J. .Maulc Camp- 

 bell sliowed the web of a spider i Tegeii(tri<i 

 guyonii) which had been spun in the centre 

 of a pasteboard cylinder; the peculiarity 

 being the manner in which the solid part of 

 the web was medially swung; whereas in 

 this species of spiders it is more usually on 

 the sides of objects. 



17 Jan. 1SS4. — .\ paper was read by .Mr. A. 

 D. Michael on the "Hypopus" question or 

 life history of certain Acarina. From a care- 

 ful series of experiments and observations he 

 concludes that — true "Hypopi" are not adult 

 animals but only a stage or heteromorphou^ 

 nymphs of Tyroglypliiis and allied genera. 

 Nor do all individuals become --Hypopi." 

 which latter stage takes place during the 

 second nyniphal ecdysis. It seems a provis- 

 ion of nature for the distribution of the 

 species irrespective of adverse conditions. 

 ■'Hypopi" are not truly parasitic nor confine 

 themselves to anv particular insect. A new 

 adult form described is called by the author 

 Disparipcs liomhi. and he believes there are 

 other species of the genus Dormadicus bee- 

 parasites admitted to be adults, though it i> 

 uncertain if they are identical with Dufovir's 

 Trychodactyliis. — Frou) J. Murie in Zool. 

 aitzciger. 



