n 



'^ 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 



AND 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. 



Vol. XII. NOVEMBER, 1901. No. 9. 



CONTENTS: 



Hinds — Strength of Passalus cornutus 257 

 Blaisd ell— Pupa of Necrophilus hydro- 



philoid ts 263 



Weeks — Lepidoptera from Bolivia 264 



Fox — Certain genera of Hymenoptera 267 

 Harvey — Contributions to the Odonata 



of Maine, IV (concluded) 269 



] Babb — Passalus cornutus 279 



Fox — Letters from Thomas Say to John 



F. Melsheimer, 1816-1825.— VIII.... 281 



Editorial 284 



Notes and News 285 



Entomological Literature 286 



Economic Entomology 291 



Ashmead — A new Pammegischia 277 ' Doings of Societies 293 



Strength of Passalus cornutus Fab, 

 By W. E. Hinds. B.S. 



Entomological Laboratory of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. 



It is generally believed that insects possess tremendous 

 strength in proportion to their size. This belief rests largely 

 upon casual observations of applications of strength so striking 

 as to command attention. The true value of such observations 

 can, however, seldom be determined, because the observer has 

 taken no pains to accurately measure the strength exerted, and 

 it is difficult to estimate it closely. We are indebted to Euro- 

 pean entomologists for the few facts which have been recorded 

 upon this subject, as no record has been found of any experi- 

 ments in this line by American writers — a somewhat remarka- 

 ble fact since the field is so full of novelty and interest. 



The experiments here recorded were first suggested by the 

 very prominent horn upon the head of Passalus coriiiitus Fab. 

 (Fig. i), and though the work was begun as an interesting 

 novelty, the results obtained soon showed the possibility of an 

 extended series of experiments, and this article is written with 



