207 



Even households have yielded me some uniques in the way of now 

 pests, l-ps fasciatus Oliv. and Xitidula hiinistulata Linn, have both 

 been received as inlestiiig- cupboards and pantries, where they depre- 

 dated on bread, cakes, and other sweets. The larvte of Attagenus 

 megatoma Fab. {piceus), as shown by the adults afterwards reared, came 

 to me as literally swarming under carpets, eating out the woolen por- 

 tions of the fabric and rendering it worthless, doing a greater injury 

 than the clothes moth. 



Finally, and going slightly beyond the bounds of entomology, 

 according to a strict interpretation of the term, you will pardon me, 

 perhaps, for directing attention to an invasion of a species of Myriopod 

 {Fontaria castanea McXeill), as determined for me by Mr. Howard. In 

 Vinton County these worms became so abundant about springs and 

 wells as to temporarily ruin the water supply on some farms, gallons 

 of dead worms accumulating about a single spring, the odor arising 

 from their bodies resembling that of wild cherry. 



These are some of the surprises that have come to me during the 

 year, and while we term them surprises, as indeed the like may not 

 again occur in years, yet each is an oasis in the desert of inquiries in 

 regard to how best to kill the squash bug, how to protect cucumbers 

 from the striped beetles, etc. I am heartily in favor of placing such 

 scraps on record, of course not as finished work, but we all under- 

 stand how we, when we stumble upon any new thing, rummage our 

 bookshelves for any clue to information i^reviously gained, and how 

 jealously we glean a point here and another there, knowing that every 

 word is just so much light uj)on our obscure pathway. One little 

 observation, carefully made, will often prove to some other investi- 

 gator a veritable search light and save him no end of time and per- 

 plexity, not to say patience, that virtue of which entomologists must 

 of all others possess an ample supply. 



NOTES FROM NEW MEXICO. 



My T. D. A. CocKERELL, Las Cruces, N. Mex. 



At the i3resent time it is not possible to describe in any adequate 

 manner the injurious insects of New Mexico, but notwithstanding the 

 small advance which has been made towards a full knowledge of the 

 subject a few informal notes may have enough interest to be worth 

 communicating. 

 The w^riter has examined only two localities in the Territory, namely: 

 1. The Mesilla Valley, in the southern portion of New Mexico, watered 

 by the Rio Grande River, and about 3,8!)0 feet above sea level. Here 

 the summer temperature exceeds that which I experienced in Jamaica, 

 but in the winter hard frosts are common, owing no doubt largely to 

 the almost cloudless skies and the paucity of vegetation, which permit 

 rapid radiation of heat during the night. The snowfall is very slight. 



