﻿III. 



History and Transformations of Corydalus cornutus. 



By S. S. HALDEMAN, A. M. 

 (With a Plate.) 



(Communicated to the Academy, November 8th, 1848.) 



The study of the Neuroptera has of late years received a new impulse from the works 

 of Pictet, Charpentier, De Selys-Longchamps, Siebold, and others. This order of in- 

 sects is well represented in North America, which furnishes a considerable number of 

 species still unstudied, besides several forms whose history is essential to a proper under- 

 standing of the order ; so that, if the naturalist whose location is beyond the bounds of 

 Europe is surrounded with difficulties arising from the want of access to extensive libra- 

 ries and national collections, he has counterbalancing advantages in being able to add 

 to the knowledge of species already known, or of pursuing his investigations in an inde- 

 pendent direction. 



The transformations of Corydalus cornutus, Linn, seem not to have been hitherto 

 made known ; although, from its size and the singularity of its appearance, it has for a 

 long time attracted attention. In Pennsylvania it appears in the perfect state in July, 

 or a little earlier, and scarcely reaches the month of August before it disappears for the 

 season. It is not abundant, and although the larva? and pupae are sufficiently common, 

 many perish before the final transformation. I have seen as many as ten perfect indi- 

 viduals in a season, of which the males exceed the females at least tenfold. An entomo- 

 logical friend informs me that during three years he has seen about twenty, of which 

 but one was a female. Although well known to most people in the localities where it is 

 found, I have never been able to discover that it has a vernacular name, cither in English 

 or German. As regards vulgar names in books, appearances seem to indicate that the 

 vernacular crudities which deface the pages of so many European works will not be 

 likely to make their appearance very soon upon the western side of the Atlantic. 



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