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The Potato Beetle in the South. 



The Potato Beetles herewith should have heeu sent you some weeks ago. Tbey 

 are from Madisou Station, Madisou Couuty, Miss., the heetles occurring iu several 

 potato fields at and within a mile of the station. This is the first year I have seen 

 them in Mississippi. If they have heen here at an earlier date you may, perhaps, 

 know it. I send them as a note of the spread of the beetle so far south. — [Dr. D. L, 

 Phares, Agricultural College, Mississippi, May 11, 1889. 



Reply. — I beg to acknowledge tiie receipt of yours of the 11th instant, with 

 accouipanying specimens of the Colorado Potato Bao.t\i' {Dory2)hora H}-iinrat<i). I 

 believe that this is the first time they have been noticed so far south in your longi- 

 tude. I will make a note of this matter for Insfxt Lifk. — [May 18, 1889.] 



Sw^arming of Urania boisduvalii in South America. 



I take the liberty of nuiiling to you two specimens of butteril^' captured at Colon, 

 Republic of Colombia, March 18 and 2'), 18^9. When within a few hours of that jtort 

 these insects were seen Hying from the mainland in a northerly direction across the 

 buy. This migration continued daily from the date of arrival, March 18, for nearly 

 a week. When the flight began I could not ascertain. Its duration daily was from 

 just before sunrise until sunset; it was protracted, however, uutil late at night on 

 three evenings near and at full of- the moon. The point which attracted my atten- 

 tion was the vast number of the nisects. The air was actually full of them. It 

 resembled an unremitting shower of forest leaves in autumn. I could learn nothing 

 of its family history from the residents, but it is doubtless familiar to you. The 

 excavations in each specimen were beautifully done by the Red Ant {Formica rnfa?) 

 in spite of the suspension of the tray iu which the butterflies were placed from the 

 ceiling by one string, .and the saturation of said string with turpentine and castor 

 oil.— [Dr. S. A. Davis, 107 West 47th street, New York City, May 9, 1889. 



Reply. — Your letter of May 9 transjuitting specimens of a " butterfly " captured at 

 Colon, United States of Colombia, h.TS been received. The insect sent is not a but- 

 terfly but a moth, and is known as Urania hoisduvaVti. It bears, however, a striking 

 resemblance to some of the large swallow-tailed butterflies of the genus Papilio. 

 Your note concerning the abu ndance of this insect is very interesting. — [May 20, 1889.] 



Letter on the proposed "American Entomologists' Union." 



* " * I see iu the March (1889) nnujber of In&ect Life you ask for ideas con- 

 cerning the proposed Society of Economic Entomologists. I do not think my views 

 on the subject are worth much, bub such as they are, they are as follows: I should 

 like to see an organization founded, with members in every State in the Union (and 

 I do not see why not also in Canada and Mexico), with the headquarters at the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at Washington. Such a society to be called, perhaps, the 

 "American Entomologists' Union," and to appoint a secretary in every State at least, 

 and in the case of big States, like Texas and California, two or more; these to collect 

 all the information they can relative to insects, especially from an economic point of 

 view, and forward each one a report, at stated intervals, to Washington. These re- 

 ports to be preserved and examined by a committee appointed, and the essence of 

 them printed in Ixsect Life or as a special bulletin. This I think would (1) bring 

 economic entomologists in touch with one another ; (2) enable them to benefit from 

 one another's discoveries; (.3) and especially the facts thus collected might be seen 

 often to have a significance which would be totally lost were they to remain i.solated 

 among their discoverers ; (4) although apparently adding to the work of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture it would really diminish it, as you would have only the secre- 

 taries' reports to deal with, and it would bo their duty to receive and collate rcpoits 

 of others within the boundaries of tli-ir '>\vn States.— [Theo. D. A. Cockereli, West, 

 Clitf, Custer County, Colo., May IJ, H-l). 



