24i fiNTOMOLOGlCAL NfeWS. [Sept., *04 



■minimum. These flower beetles prefer Helianthus to any 

 other yellow composite, inasmuch as the yellowish or buff 

 color harmonizes with the host. The most of our Malachidae 

 are found on the pale yellow flowers of Prosopis juliflora, or 

 mesquite, especially in a season when there is a good honey 

 flow. The color of flowers and insects is very similar. 



That brilliant little Curculionid, Magdalis lecontei, if rightly 

 informed, I always found on the needles of young Pimis pon- 

 derosa, high up in the Pinal Mountains. The iridescence of 

 this beetle, predominating in a greenish violet, affords much 

 security in the clustered needles of the pine. It flies in July. 

 On the young shoots of the same pine I found Polyphylla vario- 

 losa in hiding. Before the expansion of the leafbud it is of a 

 reddish-brown color, protective to this chestnut-colored June- 

 bug. On the same young shoots I found a good-sized red 

 lyOngicorn, the name of which I have forgotten, and which is 

 quite uncommon. A lobate-leaved Querctis, as well as the 

 leaves of the mountain walnut, just as dusk sets in, attracts 

 the emerald Plusiotis lecontei, which this "gold-bug" as it is 

 called in Arizona, alights on. Plusiotis gloriosa, popularly 

 known as "silver-bug" in Yavapai County, because of the 

 silvery stripes on its green elytra, prefers the glaucous leaves 

 of Junipei'us occidentalism var. monosperma, which more nearly 

 harmonizes with this beautiful beetle. The leaves of this 

 juniper are silver-tipped and the young foliage is tinted bluish- 

 green. Plusiotis worthii, another great rarity, I took a few of in 

 the Huachuca Mountains, found resting in bright sunshine on 

 the leaves of an evergreen oak, Quercus emoryi. The color of 

 worthii is a glossy pea-green with lavender legs ; it is as large 

 as Polyphylla variolosa. "The green glossy leaves of this oak 

 are in perfect touch with this fine insect. 



Psiloptera drummondi, a black Buprestid with an orange 

 stripe across the thorax, affects the brown stems of old mes- 

 quite bushes during September, and is not readily observed 

 until it moves around the branch trying to elude the pursuer. 

 Chrysobothris 8-punctata often is found in company on the 

 same host, its dark-brown color agreeing with the mesquite 

 bark. A much larger Buprestid, black with a purplish sheen, 



