^ ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb. 



Foreign Entomologists are much interested in our success. From these 

 present humble beginnings we hope to move on towards even higher ideals 

 until, with the aid of our correspondents, we reach such useful channels 

 as Mr. Cockerell has outlined. — E. M. Aaron.] 



Whistling Trees.— A species oi acacia, wTiich grows very abundantly 

 in the Soudan, is also called the " whistling tree" by the natives. Its shoots 

 are frequently, by the agency of the larvae of insects, distorted in shape 

 and swollen into a globular bladder, from one to two inches in diameter. 

 After the insect has emerged from a circular hole in the side of this swell- 

 ing, the opening, played upon by the wind, becomes a musical instrument, 

 equal in sound to a sweet-toned flute. — Exchange. 



A Grasshopper Story. — A reformed car driver who worked for the 

 Street Car Company of Mobile, Ala., in the days when paper currency 

 was all the go, says that the company introduced the patent boxes which 

 for a time headed off the boys effectually in their " knocking down" fares. 

 But the victory of capital over labor was short-lived, for the drivers sup- 

 plied themselves with large grasshoppers which they tied by the wings 

 with a string and shoved down into the box, and when Mr. Grasshopper 

 grabbed onto a dime they jerked him back out of the box. This was 

 kept up for some time with great success, until one day the string broke 

 and left the bird in the box, which gave the snap away. — Exchange. 



Jewels That Are Alive. — The firefly of the South — the cucujo, an 

 inch-long beetle — is occasionally brought to this country as a curiosity, 

 and if fed on sugar-cane and kept in a moist atmosphere it can be pre- 

 served in health for several weeks. The people of the Caribbean Islands 

 use these beetles for ornament, confined in folds of gauze, where the 

 beautiful green light which they emit — their red light flashes only in flying 

 — is more varied and splendid than any emerald that ever shone in a king's 

 coronet; a number of them together under a glass make sufficient illumina- 

 tion for dressing or reading without producing any heat. — Harper's Bazar. 



The Mexican Wasp. — The Mexican Wasp is built entirely for business. 

 He is over two inches long when he is of age, and is about the color of a 

 bay horse. His plunger is a full inch long and as fine as a spider's web. 

 Unlike the stinger of a common bee, the stinger of the Mexican Wasp is 

 non-forfeitable. He doesn't g^ve up after one lunge, but is always ready 

 for an all-day job if necessary. The mission of the Mexican Wasp seems 

 to be to hunt up people to run his stinger into. The natives say that he 

 will go ten miles out of his way to get a whack at a person. The natives 

 seem to get fat on snake bites, centipede bites and scorpion stings, but if 

 they discover one of these wasps in their neighborhood they hunt for 

 cover without delay. — Great Divide. 



