74 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Butterflies at Sea. — The following 

 extract is from the Chronicle of Bernaldez 

 in the Collection of the Massachusetts His- 

 torical Society (Vol. VIII, 3d Series), and 

 refers to the neighborhood of the island of 

 Jamaica, and probably to the first voyage 

 of Columbus: 



"A day or two after the occurrence of what 

 has been related concerning the cacique, they 

 saw. before sunrise, more than a million of cor- 

 morants come flying over the sea, at a distance 

 from the land, all in one body ; so that they were 

 astonished at the sight of so great a multitude of 

 these birds. The next day they saw from the 

 ships so many butterflies, that they darkened the 

 sky ; and the}' remained till night, when a heavy 

 rain which fell, accompanied with thunder, de- 

 stroyed them." 



Sexual Coloration in Butterflies. 

 — Charles Darwin communicates to a re- 

 cent number of Nature some interesting 

 facts about the color of some butter- 

 flies. It seems that in the male of DiaJema 

 bolina and others, the colors appear bril- 

 liant and beautiful when looked at from 

 the front, but somber and unattractive 

 when looked at from behind. He draws 

 the natural inference that the brilliancy is 

 intended to attract the female as the male 

 approaches. "We are thus reminded," he 

 says, " of the elaborate and diversified 

 manner in which the males of many birds, 

 for instance the peacock, argus pheasant, 

 etc., display their wonderful plumage to the 

 greatest advantage before their unadorned 

 friends." 



We ])ublish in the present number an 

 account of the appearance and habits of 

 the notorious Cotton Moth or Aletia. Its 

 natural size has already been given at fig. 3 

 of our first number. We desire to draw 

 especial attention of our Southern subscrib- 

 ers to this moth, with a view of their ob- 

 serving its habits during the months of 

 March and April. There is a period of a 

 few weeks from the time when the females 

 issue from winter-quarters before any 

 of the worms are observed upon cotton. It 

 follows as a necessary consequence that 

 the moths either feed for a few weeks be- 

 fore ovipositing, or else that they lay their 

 eggs at once and that the worms can feed 



upon some other plant at that season grow- 

 ing in the South. The first supposition is 

 the more plausible and probably correct, 

 but we should be very glad to receive any 

 observations on the subject, as well as to 

 receive specimens of the moths captured, 

 any time before the first of May. 



Satvrus Pegala. — Mr. Wm. H. Ed- 

 wards of Coalburgh, W.Va., desires to know 

 whether this butterfly has ever been cap- 

 tured, or seen to fly in Maryland, the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, or Virginia. A single 

 estray has been taken at Jersey City, N. J., 

 and the jirobability is that it was blown 

 there. We shall be glad to get the experi- 

 ence of our subscribers in the regions 

 indicated. 



Phosphorescence of Earth-worms.— 

 Is it generally known that the Earth-worm 

 {Liniibricus terrestris) is sometimes highly 

 phosphorescent?*"* * I disturlted one the 

 other night ; it became very luminous and 

 left a trail of light behind it as it passed 

 along the ground. — F. W. E. Shrivell in 

 Science Gossip. 



Mistaken Instinct. — In July last, one 

 fine afternoon, as we were watching my 

 bees carrying in pollen, one of them, separ- 

 ating from the others, alighted on some 

 pretty blue artificial flowers in the bonnet 

 of a lady visitor; tried each flower care- 

 fully for honey, and, of course, finding none, 

 flew away, no doubt much disgusted. The 

 bee must have been attracted by form and 

 color; the flowers were not at all natural, 

 but had gaudy red anthers and blue sta- 

 mens. — F. W. E. Shrivell in Science Gossip. 



TvPHLODROMUS PYRi. — We noticed in 

 our last number some observations by 

 Prof T. J. Burrill on the Pea-leaf blister 

 produced by a minute, four-legged mite 

 {^Txplilociromus pyf'i). We find that this 

 mite has been figured by Prof. Glover and 

 noticed by Prof. Taylor, the present Micro- 

 scopist of the Department of Agriculture, 

 on page 113 of the Agricultural Report 

 for 1872. 



