366 



of similar borers — namely, a strong soap solution to which has been 

 added a small quantity of crude carbolic acid or a little Paris green — 

 would, if applied at the right time, greatly reduce the damage. 



FOOD OF TARANTULA IN CONFINEMENT. 



Our old friend, Dr. J. M. Shaffer, of Keokuk, Iowa, has recently pub- 

 lished in alocal paper an accountof the feeding habits of a " Tarantula" 

 which was found at Keokuk in -the fall of 1890 in a bunch of bananas. 

 This large Theraphosid spider was kept by Dr. Shaffer and some inter- 

 esting feeding experiments were followed out between the above date 

 and October 20th, when the spider became torpid and was subse- 

 quently placed in alcohol. Dr. Shaffer found among the many things 

 he experimented with that the spider fed upon Cockroaches, larvse 

 of Apatela americana^ Dog Day Harvest Fly [Cicada canicularis), lied- 

 legged Grasshopper {Caloptenus femur rubrum), Horse Fly [Tahanus 

 atratus). The following were also placed in the box, but were not 

 touched : Live mouse, raw beef, Colorado Potato-beetle, Cecropia cater- 

 pillar. Tent-caterpillar {Glisiocampa americana), larvte of the Interroga- 

 tion Butterfly {Grapta inter rogationis), Five-spotted Sphinx {Macrosila 

 ciHgulata), Crickets, Carolina Locust {Bissosteira Carolina). The box in 

 which Dr. Shaffer kept the specimen, and in which it made itself 

 quite at home, was 8 by 12 by 16 inches and had a glass cover. When 

 he placed in the mouse it did not seem to be in the least afraid of the 

 spider, but ate corn and cheese, and eventually gnawed its way out. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



May 4, 1893. — A paper by Prof. C. H. T. Townsend entitled " Notes on the Coruco, 

 a Hemipterous insect which infests poultry in southern New Mexico," was read by 

 Mr. Schwarz. The author described the habits of the species which he identiiied as 

 Cimex inoAora Jyw-^^^a and added a description of the nymph. Discussed by Messrs. 

 Ashmead, Schwarz, and C. W. Johnson. Mr. Schwarz read descrijitions oi Anchonua 

 floridanus and Loganius ficus, both representing- genera new to the North American 

 fauna. The following notes by Mr. Wm. H. Patton were read: Discovery of the 

 male of Pterochilus 5-fa8cinfu8 Say; Zethus astecm in Florida; Notes on Wasps No. 1. 

 Mr. Ashmead presented a " Synopsis of the North American species of Toxoneura 

 Say." Specimens were exhibited by Messrs. Heidemann and Schwarz. 



June 1, 1893. — D. MacCuaig was elected an active member and H. H. Goodell, of 

 Amherst, Mass., and A. L. Montandou, of Bucarest, Roumania, corresponding mem- 

 bers. Dr. Marx read a paper entitled " Continuation of the life history of the Whip- 

 tail Scorpion " in which he described the habits and giowth of a specimen of The- 

 lyphonus giganteus during the second year of its confinement. Discussed by Messrs. 

 Schwarz, Marx, Howard, and Riley. Mr. Ashmead presented certain "Notes on the 

 family Pachyllommatoidea " oi Foerster. He gave a historical review of the views 

 of different authors as to systematic position of these insects and concluded that the 

 group is a subfamily of the Braconidse. He erected a new genus Eupachylomma to 

 contain two new North American species. 



Mr. Frank Benton presented some "Notes on the Death's Head Moth in relation 

 to Honey Bees " describing his personal observations with this moth in south Europe 



