i899] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 125 



Sometimes I spend a raornicg on the Miami River in a rowboat. 

 We I'ow along the shore under the mangrove and search the leaves 

 for larvae on coccoons. Here can be watched the whole life history 

 of the dark blue butterfly, Erycides batabano, which was fully re- 

 corded a year or two ago bv Dr. Dyar. It is a beautiful life in 

 every phase, from egg to imago. It is still fascinating to me, after 

 seeing it so many times, to peep into the carefully folded mangrove 

 leaf fastened with finest, strongest silk, and see the lonely larva of 

 rich purple red, the color he weai*s until his last moult. Then he 

 becomes quite a different creature, of soft bluish white with head 

 still of crimson. Then comes the gi'aceful white chrysalis and last 

 the butterfly of rich dark blue. On the mangrove too the little 

 white moth, Eupoeya slossonice lives its life. The genus is no 

 longer Eupoeya, but I have forgotten its latest name and have noth- 

 ing here to tell me of it. The larvae are lovely, soft, silvery green 

 things, hard to distinguish when flattened and motionless on the 

 green leaves, and the small white coccoon of parchment-like tex- 

 ture is a dainty cell in which to await its snow white wings. 

 Among the mangroves fly several species of small dragon flies, easily 

 caught from the boat with a net. And over and across the blue 

 wkter are always flying scores of little gray and white Fyralid 

 moths, a species of Nymphaella, 1 think ; perhaps the same one we 

 have by our northern w^iiGvs, N. maculalis. They often fly within 

 reach of our nets, sometimes even coming into the boat and resting 

 there. Our mornings among the mangroves are pleasant ones. It is 

 an indolent, luxurious way of collecting, not such hard work as 

 grubbing in wet sand or hunting under dank seaweed, and I like it 

 for a change. Sometimes we take a little naptha launch and go far 

 up the river almost to the everglades. There, the other day, I 

 landed and hunted about for half an hour. I took, for the first time 

 on the east coast, ^wr^^a beloe, a pretty day flying moth, with scar- 

 let body and transparent wings. I have taken many at Punta Gorda 

 on the west coast, but these are much larger than any I have seen 

 there. I took also the other day, on some flowers near the river, a 

 moth I suppose to be Hnrrisina australis. Stretch. The type came, I 

 think, from Florida. It is greenish black, with oi'ange collar, and 

 about the size of -ff. amer/ca/irt, perhaps a trifle larger. [ caught 

 too a ragged specimen of the butterfly J.p«iM/'cf^or«, the first I have 

 taken. Butterflies and moths are not nearly so abundant as in 

 former years The freezing weather of February 13th and one or 

 two later cool waves destroyed much insect life. The flowering 

 plants, too, were killed or temporarily injui-ed. leaving few blos- 

 soms to attract insects. Our evenings have been very cool, as a 

 general thing, and I have had little success in collecting at light. 

 Last week a warm, still evening, following light showers, brought 

 hundreds of beetles to the lighted piazzas. But the number of spe- 

 cies was small. Ptilodactyla serricorne came in great numbers, and 



