ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 



AXD 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. 



Vol. X. FEBRUARY, 1899. No. 2. 



CONTENTS : 



Hancock— The Castle-building Spider 23 I Editorial 



Kincaid — The Psychodidse of the I Notes and News 42 



Pacific Coast 30 ' Entomological Literature 47 



Baker — On Two New and One Pre- I Doings of Societies 51 



viously Known Flea 37 i The Wasp as an Engineer . 52 



Bruner— A New Conocephalus 38 Exchanges i 



Lovell— Physiological Species Again 39 [ 



THE CASTLE-BUILDING SPIDER. 



By Dk. J. L. Hancock. 

 lUustrafious hij the Author. 



The sandy wastes bordering the lower end of Lake Michigan, 

 in Northern Illinois, are inhabited by several species of tube- 

 constructing spidei"S. Though any one of the forms occurring 

 here would repay study, for the present I will consider a spe- 

 cies which, from the peculiar habit of building a little c-astle or 

 nest at the opening to the tube, makes it of more than ordi- 

 nary interest. This Lycasid is likely to l>e taken at first glance 

 for the tiu-ret- spiders L. arenicola or Jj. turricola, hut it is 

 quite distinct from either of them. The spider is e(£ually ex- 

 pert whether eng-ageil as a carpenter, weaver, mason or digger. 

 all of which attributes shearings to bear some time or other 

 in making her eompletetl retrejit. The female shown in the 

 illustration, Fig. J , is always founel in the biurows when dug 

 out of the ground, unless some mishap has overtaken her. 



In the Fall of 1806 I found my way into an uncultivated lot 

 where weetis in profusion had unbounded sway, cenchrus 

 being particularh in evidence. Patches of high grass, sedges 

 and ragweeds made the open lay of ground a paradise of run- 

 ning spidei-s. Here it Mas the castle- building species seemed 

 perfectly at home, showing its varied accomplishments to best 



