1893.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 9^ 



perience that I must give my net to a companion to catch Pyrameis hun- 

 tera or atalanta, which had alighted on my back. That there is a mani- 

 festation of something akin to curiosity on the part of many Lepidoptera 

 is unquestionable. Butterflies return on the same round of glades in a 

 wooded tract, and every collector must have remarked that his quarry 

 is more easily secured if he stands still when a desirable butterfly passes 

 high above him rather than if he pursues. By experiment he might 

 further remark that a thrust with a conspicuous umbrella or net at a but- 

 terfly out of reach is almost certain to attract the insect's attention, and 

 that in a large per cent, of instances it will return all the more speedily on 

 account of the interference. 



In Indianapolis I was once attracted by a fine specimen of Papilio cres- 

 phontes, a butterfly rare in this locality, flying over a large flower garden. 

 I stopped and leaned over the fence to watch it. My comrade wished to 

 know why I stopped, but I begged him to be quiet. I had no net and 

 had little expectation of making any capture; but cresphontes flew around 

 from point to point, and after several uncertain circuits, in each of which 

 he gradually approached nearer to us, he at last ventured so near that, by 

 a quick motion, I actually caught him in my hand as I leaned over the 

 fence. It is curious to note that most of the memoranda as to venture- 

 some insects have to do with some species of Pyrameis. — O. S. Westcott. 



PuPARiUM OF Ceria signifera. — In recently going over some Diptera 

 that have been for some time in my collection unnamed, I found the fol- 

 lowing interesting specimen. It closely resembles a Conops, and might 

 easily be mistaken for that genus. It proves to be Ceria sigttifera Loew 

 $. This specimen was given to me by Dr. Henry Skinner; with it was 

 a card, to which was attached a leaf, and on this was a small pupa-case. 

 On the card was written the following: "Found near Bala, Pa. Dead 

 oak leaf on ground; hatched May 13, 1889." At first it was thought to be 

 the chrysalis of a small butterfly, but it is evidently the pupa of this fly. 

 It is about 12 mm. in length (the anterior part being broken in hatching) 

 the ground color of the empty pupa-case is brownish gray, roughly and 

 irregularly netted with black. There is a dorsal binate row of dark brown 

 tubercles, with single lateral rows alternating with those on the back; 

 above and below the lateral row there is an obscure row of small tuber- 

 cles, the posterior end has a long projection one-fourth its total length, 

 the greater part of which is a dark glossy brown. The ventral surface is 

 flat and firmly attached to the leaf. As far as known this species has only 

 been recorded from Mexico, Florida and Texas; regarding the specimens 

 from the latter locality in the type collection (Cambridge) there appears 

 to be some doubt (see VVilliston's Synopsis p. 262). Also identified Ceria 

 daphnceus Walker, collected in Jamaica, 1891, by myself. Ceria tridens 

 Loew; was collected by Mr. Mr. E. V. Beales at Denver, Col., not before 

 recorded east of California. — C. W. Johnson, Philadelphia, Pa. 



Note on Corimel^na albipennis Say. — This species, described by 

 Say in 183 1, seems not to have been recognized since, and Prof. Uhler, 



