1903I NEEDHAM: — BUTTON-BUSH INSECTS 29 



outward being to eacli other as i : 2 : .3 : 1.2, and tlieir widths being as i : .8 : .6 : .4 decreasing 

 to apex, this last segment being conical. The lacinia of the maxilla is oblique at base and 

 straight and conical in its distal three fourths, this part being set off bj a constriction on the 

 inner side. Tlie nientum of tiie lal)ium is trapezoidal, widest in front, where occurs a slight 

 notch on the median line. The basal segment of the labial palpus is cvlindric and about as 

 long as the mentum ; the 2d segment is a third as long and half as wide at base and tapers 

 to a point. 



The legs of the three pairs are alike save for \er_\ slight difference in size ; femoia and 

 tibiae are of equal iengtii coxae one third shorter, trochanters one half shorter, and tarsi two 

 thirds shorter. The tarsus is i-jointed, including the claw, merely tapering into a straioht, 

 and at the last, slighth- decurved tip. It is beset about its base bv 6-10 stiff appressed spines, 

 while the legs throughout are spaisely clad with yellowish hairs. The 9th segment of the 

 abdomen is one third narrower than the Sth and the lotli is one half the width of the 9th and 

 is short, cvlindric, simple. 



Pupa: — Length 12 mm., abdomen 8 mm., width of iiead 2 mm., of abdomen 3 mm. 

 Prothorax placed \ertically at the front end of the body, its disc nearly square, with square 

 hind angles and rounded front angles. Head bent under. .Vntennae essentiallv as in the 

 adult beetle, but shorter bent in .'-shaped, the upper curve of the } surrounding the knees 

 of the first and. second pairs of legs and lying against the sides of the thorax. The knees of 

 the hind legs project dorsally from under the hind wings, the tarsi of all legs lie near 

 together with soles opposed on the median ventral line. The abdomen is depressed 

 cylindric, at its apex depressed conic, gradually terminating in a pair of straight soft flat 

 spines about as long as the distance between their tips. 



The whole surface of the body is smooth. A broad, dark, dorsal band nearly covers the 

 abdomen and there is a line of dashes either side of it. The large spot of the prothorax of 

 the imago appears in the old pupa very distinctly, and also the paler markings about the 

 bases of the antennae and there is a dark blotch upon the metathoracic scutum. 



Bred at Lake Forest, 111., i8th May, 1901. 



2)T^. Macrops porceUiis (Say) ? A standing dead stem of button-bush was found 

 to be infested with larvae, and was put in a breeding cage in the spring and this 

 beetle emerged in the cage. Unfortunately, the gummed label on the vial in which 

 I kept the specimen became loosened and was lost, and with it all further data 

 concerning this insect. 



Neuroptera. 34. Sisyra uDibrata Needham. While working in a button-bush 

 clump I one day accidentally injured a tree-frog that was sitting, perfectly concealed 

 by its color, on one of the trunks : and having thus made it necessary to kill the 

 frog, I examined its stomach, and there I found for the first time this species. 

 The frog had eaten six of the spongilla flies. By a little careful searching I soon 

 found a few specimens sitting on the button-bushes. I found also the larvae crawl- 

 ing about on litde knot-like growths of Spongilla fragilis attached to submerged 

 twigs and trunks of the button-bush as well as to other solid supports of any sort. 

 It is therefore a natural, though quite an incidental associate of the button-bush. 



