Nov., '04] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 307 



" Protective Resemblance" in Arizona. — Some years ago an 

 esteemed collector of the earlier day printed a little booklet on the birds 

 of Iowa, which was dubbed by Dr. Elliott Coues " the offspring of a 

 fading memory." A perusal of the recent article by Dr. Kunze (in 

 September News) leads us to wonder whether that gentleman may not 

 have given us an intellectual production deserving, in charity, the same 

 appellation. Referring to the Coleoptera alone, one finds scientific 

 names used which either exist not at all or must be grossly misapplied. 

 What is " Sphcenotica satiirTialis'" for instance ? Possibly Sphcznothecus 

 sutiiralis is meant, but it is a risky guess. Then one who has ever seen 

 Psiloptera drumuiondi may be pardoned for refusing to believe that 

 this insect is " a black Buprestid with an orange stripe across the thorax" 

 while Its companion, " Chrysobothris ^-punctata" is a total stranger to 

 our lists. We may presume that in the latter case the Doctor meant to 

 refer to C. octocola — but we can't be sure. Another name which evi- 

 dently owes its origin to this article is " PlusioHs worthit" which we may 

 assume to be an attempt to write PlusioHs woodii. May we be permitted 

 to doubt the occurrence of Polyphylla variolosa in southern Arizona, and 

 to think that the Doctor has forgotten the real name, as he says he has 

 done in the case of the red Longhorn that he found with it ? So much 

 unnatural history seems out of place in the pages of a journal like the 

 News, which assumes to be a medium for dissemination of science. 



Passing over the use of wrong termination in several cases, since this 

 fault does not wholly obscure the application of the names, we should 

 like to say that the protection afforded the large Buprestidae like Gyas- 

 cutus and Hippoinelas by their color is not in any way great — they are 

 easily startled and often fly from their resting places long before one is 

 in reach of them, depending upon their swift flight for safety. Their 

 principal enemies are birds and lizards and the harmony between the 

 beetles and their surroundings (they rest chiefly on the smaller twigs 

 where their bulk alone betrays them), is not close enough to deceive 

 such keen-eyed creatures. 



In conclusion, disclaiming any personal knowledge of the classifica- 

 tion of the Mantidae, we wish to ask if the Old World Mantis religiosa 

 really awaits the approach of other insects on the deserts of Arizona ? 

 and to add that the name "«z«a de la tierra" belongs to the fat sand 

 crickets {Stenopehnatus) which lurk in holes scooped out under cover of 

 stone or wood and not to the arboreal Mantids which are locally known 

 as "campomoches." — H. F. Wickham. 



Note on the coruco, haematosiphon inodora. (Duges), [Hem- 

 iptera]. — Prof. Herbert Osbom, in his invaluable account of "Insects 

 affecting Domestic Animals" (Bull. U. S. Ent. 5, 1896), has discussed 

 the Bedbugs (pp. 157-63). It must be noted, however, that his figure 

 (90) of "' Acanthia inodora^'' is incorrect in two important points; the 

 eyes in this species distinctly touch the pronotum, while Osborn makes 



