42 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '03 



the joint. The other-long tubed larvae have the tuft at or be- 

 yond the outer third of the joint. Another, more minute char- 

 acter, which can only be well seen in mounted specimens, is 

 the peculiar shape of the mentum. It is unusually small, the 

 sides long, straight, with only a few teeth, the apex low- trian- 

 gular, with about 25 regular even teeth whose bases run deeply 

 as grooves two-thirds the depth of the strongly chitinized portion. 



I obtained such larvae from cold spring pools in Center Har- 

 bor, New Hampshire ; but they are not confined to such places. 

 At Durham, N. H., I took them from a tub set in the woods 

 for watering cattle, and at Cabin John, Maryland, from a pool 

 shaded by bushes and even from rain puddles in the tow-path 

 of the canal. Larvae were sent me by Mr. J. Turner Brakeley 

 of Lahaway, N. J., from his ' ' triseriatus kettle," an old porce- 

 lain-lined kettle that had been left standing near his house. A 

 specimen was bred also from an old tub on the grounds of the 

 Department of Agriculture in the District of Columbia. This 

 tub was swarming with pipiens larvae and only the one restuans 

 emerged from a lot of collected pupae. It seems from the 

 above that the larva occurs rathey widely distributed, but not 

 in any great local abundance. It may be taken near houses, 

 mixed in small proportion with pipiens. 



The eggs are laid in floating, boat-shaped masses as in 

 pipiens. The larvae pass four stages as usual. They are to be 

 found all summer and fall and very possibly may survive the 

 winter in favorable situations. As to the habits of the adults, 

 I have no data. The only captured specimen I have is a male 

 taken by sweeping with the net. The probability is that the 

 habits resemble those of pipie7is, and the insect hibernates as 

 adult. The species seems of small economic importance. I 

 have not observed any specimens biting. 



The Alstead School of Natural History will open its fifth 

 session on Tuesday, June 30, 1903. The school aims to give its pupils 

 such acquaintance with living nature as comes only from systematic 

 study, under competent leadership, out-of-doors. The classes study at 

 first hand the history written in the features of the landscape ; the acti- 

 vities and adaptations of plants and insects ; the haunts and habits of 

 nesting birds. The knowledge gained in this way is real knowledge, 

 and it lasts.— W. L. W. Field, Milton, Mass. 



