15° 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Necrological. — News comes to us from 

 Europe of the death of three eminent en- 

 tomologists. Ernest August Hehnuth von 

 Kiesenwetter, born in 1820, was a member 

 of the Saxon Privy Council. Most of his 

 writings appeared in the Stettiner Entoiiio- 

 logisihe Zeitung and the Berliner Eutomo- 

 logische Zeitschrift, and they are quite 

 numerous, but exclusively on Coleoptera. 

 S. C. Snellen van Vollenhoven was born in 

 Rotterdam, October 18, 1816, and in his 

 death Holland has lost her most eminent 

 entomologist. For many years director of 

 the Natural History Museum at Leyden, 

 he was so esteemed and respected, that a 

 medal was struck in his honor upon the oc- 

 casion of his retirement. He wrote mostly 

 upon Hymenoptera, and his work upon 

 the Dutch Saw-flies has no equal. His 

 writings were beautifully illustrated with 

 drawings from his own pencil. Francis F. 

 de Laporte, Count of Castelnau, was born 

 in London, December 25, 1810, and died 

 February 4, i88o,at East Melbourne, Aust., 

 where he was for many years French Con- 

 sul. He spent some time in the L^nited 

 States, and gave some attention to Ameri- 

 can insects. He wrote more particularly 

 on Coleoptera and Hemiptera, and among 

 his miscellaneous works were Viies et Sou- 

 venirs de V Amerique du Nord, and Essai 

 stir le systiine silurien de l' Aine'riqiw septeii- 

 trionale. 



Effects of Severe Cold on Insects. 

 • — A very general impression prevails that 

 severe winters are prejudicial to insect life. 

 It is, however, a quite erroneous impres- 

 sion, for nothing has struck us so forcibly 

 in our experience with injurious insects, as 

 the 'fact that in most cases they pass 

 more safely through a steady, even if se- 

 vere winter, than through a mild or change- 

 able one. 



We have repeatedly called attention to 

 this fact in our own writings, and Miss E. 

 A. Ormerod, in her Notes of Observations 

 on Injurious Insects, for 1879, has some 

 quite pointed remarks on this subject, in 

 connection with the severity of the past 

 winter in Enc;land. 



Severe and steady cold is not only favor- 

 able to insect hibernation by causing a 

 continued state of torpor, but indirectly in 

 preserving them from the attacks of birds 

 and other animals, which, during such se- 

 vere weather, cannot reach them in the 

 frost-bound ground. Mild winters, on the 

 contrary, generally cause premature activ- 

 ity in insects, often followed by relapses 

 into the torpid state, and such changes 

 are prejudicial to their well-being. Insec- 

 tivorous animals also fare better during 

 such mild winters. 



Exchanges with European Ento- 

 mologists. — We receive frequently from 

 European Entomologists communications 

 offering exchanges of insects of different 

 orders, and especially of Coleoptera. As 

 we cannot ourselves accept any of these 

 offers, for want of time, we would like to 

 have addresses of those of our collectors 

 and specialists who are willing to enter into 

 correspondence and exchange with Euro- 

 pean entomologists. 



Mr. T. Blackburn of Honolulu com- 

 municates that Vanessa cardui appeared 

 quite frequently in the year 1879, on the 

 island of Hawaii, during the month of 

 February till July. He never before ob- 

 served the species on the island mentioned 

 above. 



Revision of the Lampyrid.*;. — Mr. 

 Henry S. Gorham of Shipley, Horsham, 

 England, is just completing a revision of 

 the Lampyrida, or Fire-flies, and desires 

 specimens from the southern part of the 

 U. S., and from Central America, especi- 

 ally of the genera Microphotus, Phengodes, 

 and Pterotus. Our own Dr. LeConte has, 

 as we understand, been at work on the 

 same family, and has the manuscript of a 

 revision of the Lampyridce of the U. S. 

 ready for publication. 



Errata. — Page 80, for " [Fig. 19] " read 

 [Fig. 20, (?] ; page 81, for "[Fig. 20] " read 

 [Fig. 20,/,']; page 122, col. 2, line 23, for 

 " shows " read " show.'' 



