402 



PSYCHE. 



[August — October 1S90. 



ticallj complete, which Mr. Heiirj Edwards' 

 has recently publis-hed. Of course, in the 

 nature of things, it is a simple compilation; 

 but since our actual knowledge of the perfect 

 insects in the lepidoptera is out of all re- 

 lation to our knowledge of their earlier con- 

 ditions and their life histories, every contri- 

 bution which tends to lessen the disparity is 

 a distinct gain. We therefore particularly 

 welcome the present work as one likely to 

 have a marked influence in that direction 

 especially if followed up, as the author pro- 

 mises, by annual appendices. 



The insects concerned are systematically 

 arranged, following the lists of Edwards, 

 Grote, Fernald and others; under each spe- 

 cies the recorded transformations, whether 

 given in description or figure are arranged 

 (generally in a single line) chronologically, 

 a form of exposition which has a definite value 

 as showing in so many cases the advance of 

 our knowledge and the sources of borrowed 

 mateiial : finally the food-plants are given, 

 not alwavs so fully or specifically as might 

 have been done. Short descriptive words 

 such as "condensed" or "quotes French" etc. 

 often characterize a reference briefly to in- 

 dicate its value, and we think a more liberal 

 use of comments in this brief form would 

 have added much to the usefulness of the 

 catalogue, and would have required little 

 more work if undertaken from the outset. 

 The labor of such a bibliography, however, 

 necessitating exactitude at every step can be 

 appreciated only by those who have tried it; 

 and the last straw may sometimes break the 

 poor camel's back. Nearly nineteen hundred 

 species are indexed, and sixty-five authors 

 cited. 



As our knowledge of the lepidoptera of 

 North America may almost be said to have 

 originated in the famous folios of Abbot and 

 SiTiith which a century ago recorded and 



pictured the transformations of so many 

 species, many indeed hardly ever bred since 

 then, it is not surprising that the earlier 

 stages of lepidoptera should always have 

 had their devotees in this country, and that, 

 all things considered, om- country is as well 

 known in this respect as we could expect. 

 That, however, a wealth of material lies 

 untouched at our very doors the pitifully 

 meagre entries which have often to be made 

 in this bibliography bear abundant proof, 

 while u comparison of this list with those of 

 the known species should make us rather 

 ashamed than proud of the recorti which Mr. 

 Edwards holds up before us. We commend 

 this book to the American lepidopterist as 

 the most important work of reference he can 

 have in his library. 



'Bibliographical catalogue of the described transfor- 

 mations of North American lepidoptera. By Henry 

 Edwards. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 35. Svo. Wash- 

 ington, 1SS9, pp. 147. 



Do Flies Migrate i* — Some years ago, 

 early in September, I saw a migration of 

 butterflies, Ai/osia pirxippiis, a1 Little Boar's 

 Head, N. H., which I have recorded in my 

 Butterflies of the Eastern U. S,, v. i, 730. 

 They were mt>ving southward along the 

 shore. One afternoon at the end of last July, 

 July 27 to be exact, I was sitting on the shore 

 itself, backed by a bank, within gunshot of 

 the same spot at which I had seen the flight 

 of Anoxia, when my attention was directed 

 to the constant southward movement of small 

 flies. There was practically no wind, but 

 the flies movetl swiftly in one direction for 

 tlie space of two nours, forming a stream 

 •such as might readily pass through an open 

 ban-el; their numbers varied; at times but 

 3 or 4 would pass a given point every second ; 

 at other times hundreds; but on the average 

 they were as many in the given area as drops 

 of rain in a smart shower; rarely one would 

 be seen moving out of the stream, and then 

 it was in a diametrically opposite direction, 

 and just as swiftly. I should add that the 

 direction was evidently influenced in part by 

 the trend of the low blufi:' at the base of which 

 I was sitting, and I did not go elsewhere to 

 observe them. The stream was not more 



