April iSSS.] 



FSrCHE, 



47 



ENTOMOLOGICAL ITEMS. 



D;{. A. S. Packard has editorial charge of 

 the entomological department of Garden and 

 forest, a new weekly journal of horticulture, 

 landscape art and forestry. The fiist numero 

 is dated 29 Feb. 1888. 



The Colorado potato-beetle in Europe. — 

 The Colorado potato beetle has appeared in 

 large numbers upon the potato-fields of Mal- 

 itzsch, a village near Dommitzsch, in Saxony. 

 It is believed, from the abundance of the 

 beetles, that the species must have been in- 

 troduced into that locality several years ago. 

 The Prussian government is taking vigorous 

 measures to exterminate the pest. — Amer. 

 naturalist, Nov. 1887, v. 21, p. 1030. 



Trap-door spiders. — Rev. Nendick Abra- 

 ham communicates a brief paper to the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Zoological society of London, 

 (1887, p. 40-43) "On the habits of the tree 

 trap-door spider of Graham's Town," in 

 which he describes the mode of construction 

 of the nests of these spiders in crevices and 

 holes of the bark of trees, the way in which 

 they hold the door of their nests closed, how 

 they catch their prey, and other habits. 



Mental powers of spiders. — The second 

 numero of the Journal of morphology (De- 

 cember 18S7, issued in March 1888) contains 

 a paper by George W. and Elizabeth G. Peck- 

 ham, entitled, "Some observations on the 

 mental powers of spiders." The paper fills 

 thirty-six pages, and is subdivided as follows: 

 I, introduction; 2, sense of smell; 3, hearing; 

 4, maternal emotions; 5, sense of sight; 6, 

 color-sense; 7, feigning death; 8, mistakes of 

 spiders. 



Nectar-secreting plant-lice. Oregon 

 is the place for nectar-secreting plant-lice. 

 During the past fall I received twigs of spruce 

 and willow from that state, which, though 

 not more than six inches [15 cm.] long, con- 

 tained at least a tabiespoonful of crystallized 

 sugar, which was both pleasant and sweet. 

 This insect is a species oi Ap/iis, and though 

 possibly not equal to the bee, or to the manu- 



facturer of our best cane-sugar, in her power 

 to tbrm an excellent article of sugar does 

 surpass great! \- the glucose factories in the 

 quality of the product which she turns out. 

 — A. J. Cook {Science 29 Jan. 1886, \-. 7. p. 

 102)." 



A SCOURGE OF MOsqyiTOES. — The city of 

 Mexico, for a number of months past, has 

 been afflicted with a scourge of mosquitoes. 

 These insects have prevailed to such an 

 extent that they ha\e been a constant theme 

 of discussion, and have, in a number of 

 instances, caused sickness, and, it is said, 

 even death, by their poisonous bites. Official 

 bulletins have been issued by the director of 

 statistics, Dr. Pefiafiel, seeking information 

 as to their habits, natural history, etc. Sin- 

 gularly, the species, which is a large one, has 

 not been known, or at least has not attracted 

 attention before the past year; and feai-s are 

 entertained that the pest is of recent intro- 

 duction. The varying abundance of different 

 kinds of insects during different years renders 

 such a view improbable; yet it is significant 

 that the present species is new to science, 

 never having been described by entomolo- 

 gists. — Science, 15 Jan., 1S86, v 7, p. 46. 



Parasitic tineids, and wasps friendly 

 TO BIRDS. — Occaionally, in a narrative of 

 travels an interesting observation on insec- 

 habits is made, and is very apt to be over- 

 looked. Mr. E. A. Schwarz has handed us 

 the following notes from "Die thierwelt im 

 hollandischen Guiana" von Aug. Kappler, 

 Aushind, 1885. P. 617. No. 31. Speaking 

 of Bradyfus cucculiger [corr]. (Faulkner). 

 an animal of the size of a cat, covered with a 

 fur of dense hair-like wool; and belonging to 

 the Edentata, he says "In this thick fur there 

 lives as a parasite, a tineid, which when the 

 animal is dead comes forth by the dozen and 

 flies away." A parasitic tineid is certainly a 

 curiosity. 



P. 699, No. 35. Speaking of birds of the 

 genus Cacicus, several of which inhabit 

 Guiana, he says "Very remarkable are their 

 friendly relations with several species of 



