1898.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 175 



University football team, and is now assistant postmaster at Evanston. 

 How he happened to loose his pin is told as follows : As Mr. Van Doozer 

 was returning from the Summer evening party at the Country Club Sat- 

 urday night his attention was attracted by a particularly large specimen 

 of the genus beetle. In college Mr. Van Doozer was an ardent student 

 of zoology, especially of the branch technically named entomology, but 

 known to the uninitiated as " bugology " He still retains his studious 

 habits, and this struck him as an unusually choice heteropterous hemip- 

 terous specimen. With practiced dexterity he captured the mean-looking 

 insect and carried it squirming to his room. As no pin was convenient, 

 he stuck the monster bug to the wall for a moment with his diamond 

 scarfpin. He turned to his bug collection and spent some time in rear- 

 ranging it and making a place for his new acquisition. A lively buzzing 

 drew his attention to the beetle, which had worked itself loose from the 

 wall and began to circle about the room with the pin sticking through 

 his body. Van Doozer made for the open window, but the great beetle 

 was too quick for him. As it darted through the opening the sparkle of 

 the stone added a new brightness to its sheen. The diamond scarfpin is 

 still missing. — Newspaper. 



Cychrus viduus Dej. — This very handsome species, hitherto regarded 

 as quite rare, has been taken in numbers about Pittsburgh, Pa., during 

 the season of 1897. Every collector who really searched for the spe- 

 cies at the right time was rewarded for his labor. One of them took as 

 many as ninety specimens in five days — an average of eighteen a day. 

 How many this same party took since, the writer does not know, but from 

 information received the number must have been considerable. 



In the opinion of the writer the best time to look for viduus is from 

 about the 25th of July until the middle of September. The fact that 

 most, if not all, of the captures above alluded to were made during this 

 period is of itself sufficient evidence. The condition of the weather has 

 much to do as regards the abundance or scarcity of the species, a wet 

 season always being much better than a dry one. Whether or not the 

 former actually produces more specimens than the latter the writer does 

 not venture to say, but it is highly probable that it does; at any rate it 

 drives them to the surface where they are much more likely to be found. 

 The weather the past Summer was unusually favorable, as we had rain 

 almost every day for about six or seven weeks beginning July 5th. 



I wish to place on record the following notes: 



Swodicum cucujiforme Kirby. — This species has been breeding for the 

 past three years in some locust fence-posts which were entirely stripped 

 of bark and set ten years ago. The beetles emerge from the latter part 

 of June until the middle of July. 



Obrium rubidum Newm. — My collection contains one specimen of this 

 very rare longhorn, which was bred from Robinia pseudacacia (locust), 

 the beetle emerging May 3, 1894. Several other specimens which I have 

 had were taken on locust trunks on as many different occasions. 



