146 



Reply. — Your letter of Juue 27 has beeu received aud referred to the entomolo- 

 gist, who reports that he has sent you by accompanying mail a copy of Bulletin No. 

 25 of his division, Avhich treats of destructive locusts or "grasshoppers" and the 

 best lemedies to be used against them. He will be obliged if you will kindly send 

 in specimens of the insect of which you complain, and for this purpose a frank and 

 return envelope are inclosed. — [July 2, 1891.] 



Grasshopper Notes from Idaho. 



I returned from my Idaho trip on the evening of the 14th, and will send you a de- 

 tailed report of it at a later date. Found that the region devastated last year was 

 greatly increased the present year, and that in addition to the Camiiula peUucida, 

 which has been the chief depredator in this region, three species of Melanoplus and 

 the Western Cricket (Anabrus simplex) are also present in damaging numbers. 



The other locusts that I deem of sufficient importance to demand the attention of 

 the settlers are the following: Melanophts J)iiiUiaiii.i, M. atlanis, M. focdiis, this last- 

 named insect being the one referred to as very numerous in the vicinity of Boi86 

 City last year. 



The large crickets entered the valley from the southwest and passed over the greater 

 portion of the Camas Prairie in a northeasterly direction, leaving eggs in many 

 places. Most of the crickets had left the region before I A'isited it. While but few 

 «ggs were left in the valley by the Camnula peUucida, I am fearful that, everything 

 being favorable, the other three species of locusts named above are present in suf- 

 ficient numbers to warrant some exertions being made on the part of the authorities 

 toward fighting the pest. 



In my collecting during this trip I found specimens of at least three species that 

 I believe are new hoppers. These were all taken at about 9,000 feet elevation. — [Law- 

 rence Bruner, Nebraska, September 16, 1891. 



A Flight of "White Ants. 



We have had dry weather until to-day, when, after a good shower, my little boys, 

 who are observant of natural phenomena, exclaimed, " See the insects ! " The air was 

 full of them. They came up suddenly from the east. They flew from 2 to 20 feet high. 

 They lasted for about twenty minutes; then another wonder awaited us. They 

 fell along the grouud and their wings began to drop off. They paired, one follow- 

 ing another closely. Numerous red ants picked them up rapidly aud carried them 

 off. I send you some of them and should be glad to hear what they are. — [L. F. 

 Bickford, Texas, July 16, 1891.] 



Reply. — This is one of the so-called White Auts, Tennes morio. As you are doubt- 

 less aware, these insects, although called "White Ants," belong to the Neuroptera, 

 an entirely different order from the true auts. They live, howevei', in colonies in 

 much the same way, and feed preferably upon dead and decaying wood. You will 

 find their nests in the timbers of old houses aud iu old logs and wood. In tropical 

 countries they build enormous nests. You are, perhaps, familiar with the accounts 

 of the nests of the African Termites. The males and females acquire wings at cer- 

 tain times of the year and swarm in great numbers. The flights of such forms in 

 the open air have been seldom observed, but if you will notice x^age 146 of the second 

 volume of the Standard Natural History you will see an account of the immense 

 swarm of Termes flavipes at Cambridge, Mass., on the morning of May 19, 1878. 

 Some of the old houses in this city are badly infested Avith this latter species, and 

 the winged individuals swarm very early in the season. — [July 22, 1891.] 



The Malodorous Lace-Aving. 



Inclosed I send you a curious insect, captured last night in my family room. The 

 remarkable thing about this fly is that, when alive, it emits a most ofi"ensive and 

 disagreeable odor, filling the room. I thought some ofthe family had stepped into some- 



