393 

 EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 



On some of the Insects described by 'Walsh. 



According to the l^ihliography of Economic Eutoinoloj^y, pp. 373, 374, the typos of 

 Heptaf/eiiia maciiUpciniiK Walsh, i'oiiotrachvliin cratccyi Walsh, and Anllioiuimiin pviinicida 

 Walsh, were destroyed. If yon know of any collectiou iu which there are specimens 

 of these species determined by Walsii, please f^ive me the number of specimens. Any 

 information concerninff the followinj^ insects will be very thankfully received: 

 CaloptiHHS diffenmlialiH Uhler MS. 

 Xiphidium lotu/icaitdioa Walsh M8. 9 <? • 

 Orchelimum arboreuin Walsh MS. <? =^glaberrimum ? Burm. 

 (EcanthKx bipunctatus ^ 9(9 only described). 

 Platamodes ilUnoieHsis Walsh MS. 



These naujes are copied from the laltels of some specimens in a collection of insects 

 presented to the Illinois Wesleyan University in about 1863 by Dr. Walsh. Some of 

 them are now in very bad condition. * " • [(Miarhvs C. Adams, Illinois, March 

 27, 1892. 



Rkply. — ' " ■ Typical specimens of Walsh's Heptdyiiiia iinicttliponiisaTeai^paT- 

 ently not preserved. Walsh described the species from tifteen specimens (Proc. Ent. 

 Soc. Pliila. n, 1863. p. 206), and I can notunderstand why it is that he never sent speci- 

 mens either to Dr. Hagen or to myself. Dr. Hagen apparently never referred to this 

 species, and it remained also unknown to Mr. Eaton in his Monograph oftheEphem- 

 erida;. 



Typical specimens of Conotrachelini cratauji and Anthonoiniis prunicida, compared 

 with Walsh's types, and some of them from him, are in ray own cabinet. Moreover, 

 there are in the Le Conte collection, now at Cambridge, Mass., specimens of l)oth 

 sexes, which were sent by Walsh to Dr. Le Conte. These are, in all probability, 

 typical specimens, but so far as I remember they are not labeled as such. 



Calopteniis differentiaViH Uhler MS. is no doubt the species subsequently described 

 by Thomas and now known as Mchuioplnn differeniialis Thos. 



Xiphidium longicandinn and Orchelimum urhoreum have never been described or even 

 mentioned by Walsh in his writings; therefore of no particular value. The former 

 is possibly the species referred to liy Walsh in Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil., Vol. in, 1884, p. 

 581, but it can not be identified in the absence of Walsh's original specimens. 

 Orchelimum arhoreum Walsh MS. has likewise never been described, and appears to 

 "bf the "Orchelimum, perhaps glaberrimum Burm.," mentioned by Walsh, I.e., j). 232. 



Q^canthuH bipunctatwi. If Walsh did not make a mistake in the determination, this 

 may be (Ec. bipuuclatus De Geer, but from McNeill's "List of the Oithoptera of Illi- 

 nois," I see that it is very rare in Illinois, and thus the probability is that Walsh's 

 specimens must be referred to some other species. 



Platamodes illinoieusiH Walsh MS. I fail to find any reference to this name in 

 AValsh's writings, and the species can not be identified. It is possibly Ischnoptera 

 pennsjilranica De Geer or /. unicolor Scudd., since it must be assumed that Walsh was 

 familiar with the cosmopolitan species of Blattidae occurring in Illinois. — [March 

 30. 1892. ] 



A Chalcid Fly in a ne-w Role ; Is it parasitic on the Clothes Moth ? 



I send specimens of an insect that has been troul)ling a patient of mine, Mrs. Sum- 

 ner Bull. Some three years ago she first noticed them and since they first made 

 their appearance they have continued to infest the house, and by their buzzing and 

 biting have kept her and her guests awake nights. They bite very quickly and fly 

 away; the bite is not as troublesome as that of a mosquito, but is very much like 

 that. Their l)uzzing is very similar to a mosquito. I hope that you may be able to 

 classify the specimens sent and tell us what to do to get rid of them. They have 



