l894-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. I4I 



common Purslane, Portidaca oleracea L. Dr. Horn ("Transac- 

 tions" Am. Ent. Soc. vol. xvi, p. 205) states that the species 

 occurs from Pennsylvania to Florida, he having also a specimen 

 in his cabinet from Missouri, ' ' doubtful as to locality. ' ' My 

 specimen was determined at the Department of Agriculture at 

 Washington, where it was sent under No. 1376, July 6, 1891. 



Cistela brevis Say. — I have reared adults of this from pupae 

 found in the decaying portion of a trunk of Red Bud, Cercis 

 catiadensis L. in Illinois, where, in the northern portion as well 

 as in Indiana and Ohio, I have collected the light colored form, 

 while in Ohio both this and the black form occur. It was the 

 light form that was reared. 



Apion segnipes Say. — Adults, larv£e and pupse, found in pods 

 of Tephrosia virginiana Pers. collected near Toledo, Ohio, Oc- 

 tober 5th, by Mr. J. S. Hine, The major portion of the larvae 

 had transformed in the pods, in the fields, as early as 14th of 

 September. 



Brachy tarsus limbaUis Say. — Adults were observed in the act 

 of ovipositing in the bloom of Sneeze-weed, Heleniuni autumale 

 L. near Wooster, Ohio, September 7th. Larvae reach full growth 

 in the fall and abandon the plants, emerging from the ground as 

 adults the following Spring. The larvae are rather robust, white, 

 with brown heads, and are usually observed in the curved position 

 common to Rhynchophorus larvae. 



Note on Platvpsyllus. — Since the discovery of this insect much has 

 been written about it by various authors, but none have indicated any 

 means for distinguishing the sexes. Having recently received a very 

 large series collected near Fort Yuma, Cal., the opportunity has been 

 afforded for examining with a view to determining the sexual peculiarities. 



As received, in alcohol, the females are apparently longer and are not 

 bent in arc, the males shorter and bent. The wedge-shaped prosternal 

 plate is almost absolutely smooth in the female, but with numerous coarse 

 punctures, especially posteriorly in the male. The last ventral segment 

 is oval at tip in the female, truncate'or even slightly emarginate in the 

 male. Finally, the anterior tarsi are slender in the female, and as com- 

 pared with the tibiae longer, while in the male there is a distinct shortening 

 and thickening of the three basal joints. 



In 39 specimens examined, 12 were females and 27 males, showing a 

 preponderance of more than two to one in the males. — G. H. Horn, M.D. 



