REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 231 



cips from California and adjoining ]iortions of Oregon ; also oc<!nrring 

 tljrougliout Montana, iu uoithern Dakota, in Idaho, and northwestern 

 Wyoming, He also refers to this species a single pupa found by Mr. 

 F. W. Cragin at Garden City, Kans. The localities in California from 

 Mhicli wo received the species during the past year are as follows: 

 Miivysvillo, Yuba County; Sanders and other points in Fresno County ; 

 .Jr-iclison, Amador County; is^apa Valley, Xapa County; Atwater, .Mor- 

 ci^d County; Folsom, Sacramento County; Valley Springs, Calaveras 

 County. 



Characters of the Sjjecies. — Fven to an experienced entomologist it 

 becomes a matter of extreme diificulty to distinguish among themselves 

 tlic three most destructive and migratory species of Mel-anophis so far 

 known to occur in the United States. Vie have already set forth and 

 figured in detail the distinguishing traits between spretiis and atlanis, 

 ai!(l deraaiator is in many respects intermediate between them. In fact, 

 the chiet distinguishing characters of importance and constancy are to 

 be found in the structure of the abdomen in the male sex. The follow- 

 ing are the differences iu the cerci as tabulated by Mr. Scudder:* 



Anal ctTci slender, equal, straight, nearly four IIqu-s as long as broad — 21 . devastator. 

 Anal ce,rci broad, rarely more than Ibreo tiuies as long as broad, tbe 

 apical half bent on the basal : 



Anal corci more than twice as long as broad 2f. aflaiiin. 



Anal cerci less than twice as long as broad AT. sprciui^. 



Slight as these differences may appear, yet experience has shown 

 that the secondary sexual character.s ;ire by far the most jiersistent of 

 all external characters that can be observed in these insects and in 

 fact, in most insects. In the present state of entomological classifica- 

 tion we are justilied iu regarding as distinct, and entitled to be ranked 

 as ''species,'' such forms as sliow well-marked secoudary sexual char- 

 acters, even where all other characters are evanescent iu large series of 

 specimens. 



In general aj^pearance and colorational characters devastator is so 

 nuich like spretus that it is not worth while to specify differences, espe- 

 cially since the color is a very variable quantity iu these insects, that of 

 the tibine iu all three species under consideration varying from blue to 

 red, and in some specimens even being greenish. Iu general, devastator, 

 as eomjiared with spretus, has the colors more strongly contrasting, es])0- 

 cially the vittaj on the outside of the hind thighs ; and, as Mr. Scudder 

 has pointed out, the pronotum seldom has a distinct black band at the 

 npi)er part of the deflected lobes, and the wing-covers maybe abso- 

 lutely immaculate, or may have a very distinct series of discal quadrate 

 s])ots. Devastator varies a good deal in size, and the wings also vary 

 greatly iu length, but while they often fail to re'ach the tip of the body, 

 they rarely exceed it more than one- fifth their length in the male; 

 whereas, in sjyrctus they more often extend in the male about one-thinl 

 tlieir length beyond. 



There are, however, some other structural characters, which permit of 

 sei)aration of these three species. All of them having the tip of the 

 anal joint notched are readily distinguished from femur -rnhrum. Iu 

 order to set before the general reader more carefully than can be done 

 by description or table the variations in tlie structure of the anal parts 

 by which these species can be determined, we have reproduced from tho 

 First Keport of the Entomological Commission the figures of those parto 

 o£ sjyrctus (Plate VIII, Fig. 6), and of atla7iis (Plate VIII, Fig. 7), which can 



* Entomological Notes, &c., vi, p. 47. 



