336 



February 18, another snowstorm occurred and the worms were found 

 again. 



On the 2d of March, Mr. Samuel Auxer, of Lancaster, Pa., reported 

 a similar' occurrence of worms upon the surface of snow, and the speci- 

 mens which he sent proved to be the larvae of some Dipterous insect 

 of the family Bibionidoe. With the Bibionid larvae were sjjecimens of a 

 ISToctuid larva differing from any with which we are familiar. Later 

 advices from Lancaster, this time fiom Mr. J. E. Henkel, stated that 

 these insects were found upon the umbrellas of " some of our citizens," 

 indicating that they had come down with the snow. 



On February 27 Prof. S. F. Clark, of Williams College, Williamstown, 

 Mass., sent in specimens of a larva of a Cecidomyia which had appeared 

 in the vicinity of Blackinton, Mass., on the top of the snow just after 

 a heavy snowstorm. Prof. Clark wrote that the insects were present 

 in great numbers and covered many acres and were on and about a path 

 over which a man walked for a mile. 



Almost every winter we have received accounts similar to those which 

 we have mentioned, although they have seldom been accompanied with 

 specimens, and never, to our knowledge, have the reports been as gen- 

 eral as during the past winter. The insects received before have been 

 the larvae of Chauliognathus and the Bronzy Cut- worm {Neplielodes vio- 

 lans). Occurrences of the latter on snow have been recorded by Dr. 

 Lintner in his Fourth Eeport, pp. 54 to 57, and we have mentioned them 

 in our Annual Report for 1890, p. 214. 



All of these insects hibernate in the larva state. Our explanation of 

 this interesting phenomenon is, in the majority of cases, that the larvae, 

 hibernating near the surface of the ground, have been tempted from 

 their winter quarters by a warm, sunshiny day. While out a very 

 sudden freeze ensues, the ground becomes solid, and the larvae are un- 

 able to return to their former position. Then a snowstorm follows and 

 the insects struggle to the surface of the snow, warmed by the sun, 

 where they are plainly seen from their contrasting color. This explana- 

 tion, however, will not suffice for all cases, and we believe that in some 

 instances the smaller larvae actually snow down. In such cases they 

 have been lifted from the earth by some severe storm in milder regions 

 to the south and carried in upper air currents to great distances, being 

 precipitated again with the snow. 



VEDALIA IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



The Agricultural Journal, published by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture of Cape Colony, of February 11, 1892, contains a formal ac- 

 count of the result of Mr. Louw's trip to this country and a definite 

 statement of the success of the importation of Vedalia into the Colony. 

 Mr. Louw gives a full report of his trip, one of the objects of which was to 

 obtain a su^jply of this beneficial insect. He took with him two boxes 

 of Vedalia given to him by IVfr. Coquillett, in Los Angeles, Cal., one of 



