1898.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 237 



The Mojave Desert is practically "all of a piece" with the 

 Colorado. A day at the station of Mojave — which seems to 

 have no excuse for existence other than the fact of being a junc- 

 tion point for the Southern and the Atlantic and Pacific Railroads 

 — resulted in an experience which, while interesting, was hardly 

 pleasant. It is necessary, in making trips across these dry sands, 

 to carry water for drinking, and every one is supposed to know 

 this. But having packed up my canteen and sent it with other 

 baggage to San Francisco, I foolishly started out without any 

 liquid provision to visit a large clump of yuccas some seven miles 

 away. All went well for a few hours, in fact until after eating a 

 dry noon-day lunch, I felt no serious inconvenience and in order 

 to make the most of the collecting delayed starting back until 

 the need of water became too pressing to be put off any longer. 

 The trouble began with the recrossing of miles of sand burning 

 under a July sun. I reached the station late in the afternoon with 

 a mouth like an oven and the power of speech almost gone. 

 Quarts of water were needed to satisfy my thirst, and as I drank 

 spots and blotches — some of them as large as a dollar and 

 accompanied by an intense itching — appeared on my body, the 

 result no doubt of an overheated blood. This was followed by 

 weakness and discomfort lasting several days, and it is probable 

 that only a system inured to ordinary exposure by weeks of hard 

 work in similar regions saved me from serious consequences. It 

 is to be hoped that this account may deter any collector, under 

 whose eye it may fall, from falling into a similar error. 



The insects taken were not numerous. Several species were 

 found on flowers or in bushes, among them Hyperaspis lateralis, 

 Hyperaspidius trimaculatus, Coccinella franciscana, Phalacrus 

 penicillatus, Hyppodamia avibigua, H. j-signata, Listrus ferru- 

 gineus, Pristoscelis eupthropus, Attalus lobulatus, Zabroles oblite- 

 ratus and Synertha imbricata. Under ties along the track or 

 beneath fallen yuccas farther out on the plains I took Triorophus 

 Icevis, Eurymetopon cotivexicolle, Notibius puncticollis, Coniontis 

 robusta, Eleodes dentipes and E. quadricollis. Amongst the 

 yuccas were captured Rhagodera tuberculata, Colastus yuccce, 

 Trogosita virescens, Cyncziis angustus, Esthesoptis dispersus, 

 Eupagoderes varius and one or two Scyphophorus yucccz. 

 There was no chance to do any work along water-courses for the 

 simple reason that none such exist. The adventure referred to 

 prevented more than one day being spent here. 



