120 



PSrCHE. 



[Scptenilier— October iSSS 



iSSS" the paper was not received until 

 October. 



Non-development of a wing in Meli- 

 TAEA. — A few dajs ago I captured, in tiiis 

 locality, a specimen oi Melitaea miiiuta, Edw. 

 which had the normal appearance except in 

 one respect — that the right lower-wing had 

 failed to expand more than to a very sligh 

 degree, and presented just such an appearance 

 as the wing of a $ Orgyia atitiqiia. There 

 can be no doubt that this malformation was 

 due to an abnormal coalescence of the walls 

 of the veins of the wings, and their occlusion 

 in consequence — adding another case to the 

 many already known in which what is quite 

 abnormal and pathological in one species is 

 normal in another ; for the so-called apterous 

 females of certain moths may well be sup- 

 posed to have descended from winged forms, 

 and to be, in fact, perpetuations of a condi- 

 tion which was once as truly pathological in 

 them as it is now in Melitaea. The extra- 

 ordinary variety of Ocneria dh'par, which 

 has the lower-wings notched, and breeds true 

 in captivity (Entomologist, 1S7S, p. 170, fig.) 

 is probably of like nature, and further illus- 

 trates this phenomenon. — T. D. A. Cocke- 

 RELL. in E?it. mo. mag., Sept., 1SS8. v. 25, 



P- 93- 



Butterflies of New England. From 

 a prospectus dated Cambridge i October 

 1SS8, we note the speedy publication of Mr. 

 Samuel H. Scudder's Butterflies of New 

 England. The sample sheets accompanying 

 the prospectus show a handsome page of 

 imperial octavo size printed in clear type 

 with liberal margins. The work will be fully 

 illustrated with 96 plates of which 40 or more 

 will be colored ; 17 will be devoted to butter- 

 flies, 22 to the early stages, 33 to structural 

 details in all stages of life, 2 to parasites, 19 

 maps and groups of maps and 3 portraits. A 

 novel and interesting feature is the illustration 

 of the North American distribution of the 

 species upon a separate colored map. The 

 plan of the work includes an introduction 

 treating of the general structure of butter- 

 flies in their difterent stages and he naturet 



of their metamorphoses, a chapter on their 

 classification, an account of the embryology 

 of one of the common species and the internal 

 anatomy of another. The descriptions will 

 include not merely the perfect form, but when 

 possible the egg, caterpillar in all stages and 

 the chrysalis. Under each species will be 

 given, so far as possible, accounts of the 

 secondary sexual peculiarities, particularly of 

 the scales; the general distribution of the 

 insect, and its special distribution in New 

 England; its haunts and comparative abun- 

 dance ; its selection of places in which to 

 deposit eggs, and the manner of oviposition ; 

 the food-plants habits, and nests of the cater- 

 pillar; the number of broods and seasons of 

 the insects; its winter life; the habits and 

 characteristics of the flight of the butterfly, 

 with its attitudes when alight ; its dimorphism, 

 and other variations; its enemies and its 

 protection from them ; and under each species, 

 a list of the points on which additional light 

 is needed as hints for the future observer. 

 The hymenopterous and dipterous parasites 

 attacking the eggs and caterpillars of our 

 butterflies are described by Mr. L. O. Howard 

 and Dr. S. W. Williston. 



At first intended to embrace only the butter- 

 flies known to occur in New England or its 

 immediate confines, it has been extended so 

 as to include in the descriptions and histories 

 some account of all the butterflies of North 

 America east of the Mississippi, excepting 

 such as are found only in the unsettled parts 

 of Canada or south of Kentucky and Virginia. 



The work will be issued in twelve monthly 

 parts beginning with November 188S, each 

 part will contain 8 plates and about 144 pages 

 of text. It will be sold only by subscription 

 for the complete work — $5.00 per part payable 

 on issue, or $50.00 for the whole work if 

 paid before i January 18S9. 



Payments may be made by Draft on New 

 York or Boston, or by Domestic or Inter- 

 national Postal Money Order to Samuel H. 

 Scndder, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. 



Nos. 147-148 were issued iS August 1888. 



