1890.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. . 143 



of the elytra pale; Xantholinus piisillus Sachse, which greatly re- 

 sembles an undescribed maritime species from Florida, but which, 

 like emmesiis, has only five punctures in the dorsal series of the 

 thorax; and Geotrupes Horni Blanch., dug from holes under 

 mushrooms on the main land. Several examples of Euphoria 

 areata Fab. were taken on the wing among the sand-hills on the 

 9th, loth and nth, but none afterward. 



The Lepidoptera and Orthoptera are the same as on Brigantine, 

 but here seems to be a metropolis of the larger aculeate Hymen- 

 optera — Apidae, Andrenidae, Vespidae, Sphecidae, etc., but not 

 having studied this order much, I know few of the species. In- 

 spired with a sudden interest by reason of their great variety, 

 activity and beauty, I collected them one sunny afternoon, and 

 found I had twenty-seven species from one-half to two inches in 

 length — a beautiful collection. Stung? Of course I got stung; 

 in fact, I was stung, I think, at least once by every species col- 

 lected, but the fascination of capturing such, charming creatures 

 is so great one does not greatly mind this after the first three or 

 four stings, as the sensibility of the thumb and finger of the hand 

 used in transferring them from the net to the bottle becomes 

 greatly obtused. The sensation produced by the sting of each 

 species is mostly appreciatively different, so much so, that with a 

 little experimenting, without seeing them, their differentiation 

 might not be difficult. The sting of such species as use this 

 organ merely defensively causes simply pain in varying degrees, 

 while that of such as use it in addition in the capture of prey, 

 produces, after the momentary pain of the thrust, a numbness 

 more or less paralizing to the hand, and often lasting a whole 

 day. To this class belongs the beautiful Mutilla occidentalism 

 whose sting is near half an inch in length, and the feeling it causes 

 so painfiil and persistently benumbing that, I confess, I would not 

 care to come in contact with it at close intervals. 



Unlike the honey bee, these insects never leave a sting in the 

 wound, and the same individual can use this weapon any desired 

 number of times, an accomplishment that might be of some prac- 

 tical use in case stinging should be adopted as a remedial meas- 

 ure in Legitimate Medicine, as is quite possible. The honey bee 

 has often been used by empirics with good results, it is claimed, 

 in the treatment of rheumatism, neuralgia, forms of local paraly- 

 sis and various diseases, and cases have lately been reported in 



