THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



31 



Insects named — 0. P. Faulkner, Bridgeport, Conn. 

 — >>o. 1 isnol Kecroplionis americanvs, Ollv., which is 

 a much larger and handsomer iusect with the elevated 

 middle part of the thorax looking like i-ed sealing-wax, 

 but i\1 marginalus, Fabr. Both have similar burying 

 hiibits. No. 2 is Creophilus vtllosvs, Gray. — usually found 

 luuler small pieces of carrion, where it preys upon car- 

 rion-eating insects. We have noticed the allied Zitto- 

 irophus cingulafvs, Gmv.jV/hich haunts cowduugs, fly 

 off from its favorite abode with a large Huter in its 

 mouth. 'So. Sis CoccineUa Upunctata, Uxm. No. 4 is 

 not Melanotus communis, Schonh, but M. inccHm, Lee. 

 The two are very closely allied, but incertiis is on the 

 average a considerably larger species . No . 5 is Scarites 

 sulterraneus , Fabr. "VVe have dug up many of this spe- 

 cies from the burrow.s of the large southern Dung-bee- 

 tle, Copris Carolina, Linn., .ind believe th.at it lays its 

 eggs there and in other such situations, and that its 

 larva lives upon dung-feeding larva;. No. 6 is Vloma 

 impressa, Melsh. , very abundant in all its stages under 

 decaying bark in the woods. This species was for- 

 merly confounded with U. culinaris of Europe, which, 

 as the name denotes, haunts kitchcn.s. No. TisV/i* 

 fasciafuf, Oliv.— The Slater family is a very difficult 

 one, very numerously represented in the U. S.; and it 

 is impossible to identify your species from your descrip- 

 tion, which neither specifies the size nor includes a 

 single generic character. 



Beetle named — Wade Keyes. Florence, Ala.—YoviT 

 Beetle is Culopteron [I.yeus] ierminale, Say, and is tolera- 

 bly common, occurring on a variety of diiiercnt plants. 

 Tlie larva, which is cUiy-ytlluw jiirtlily spotted with 

 black, and very closely n m mlil, ,< tli.' wingless female of 

 the European genus 7v //(,,. a- li;.iirra by Westwood 

 (lutrod. I, p. 247, fig. 1^}, occurs under prostrate logs, 

 where it no doubt feeds upon tlje numerous larvje that 

 arc found in such situations We have bred this beetle 

 through all its stages, and upon one occasion, having de- 

 termined to preserve a pupa of this species as a cabinet 

 specimen, we pinned it throvigh the thorax with a very 

 fine No. 8 pin. Directly after we had done this, we 

 changed our mind, removed the pin, and replaced 

 the pupa in the breeding-jar. A week or two after- 

 wards this very same pupa developed into a perfect 

 specimen of the beetle; thus showing how tenacious of 

 life some insects are. If a lamb was run through the 

 breast with a sword, and then left to shift for itself, it 

 would not be very apt to develop into a perfect full- 

 grown sheep. LeConte in his Catalogue, but not in his 

 edition of Say's Entomology, considers ierminaU Say 

 as a mere variety of retiwlatum Fabr., which has 

 across the middle of its wing-cases an additional black 

 band, but is otherwise undistinguishable. We have 

 captured hundreds of both forms, and as we have never 

 met with any intermediate grade, we incline with Say 

 to think ierminale a true species. It would be interesting 

 to know whether or not reticulatum differs in its larval 

 and pup-al stages from terminale. 



moth named— IF. G. Barton, Salem i/a««.— The 

 moth which you describe as having the front wings 

 pink edged at tip with yellow, is probably Alariaflor- 

 idii, Guen. This insect expands about one and a quar- 

 ter inches, and you will find an account of its larva by 

 Mr. W. Saunders in the Canadian Eutomologiit, Vol". 

 II, page 6, or in Dr. Fitch's twelfth Report. It feeds 

 on the Evening Primrose {(Enotlura.) 



boring into Cucumber— &. W. C, Alton, 

 III.— The pale worm which enters and bores into your 

 cucumbers, and which is nearly of the same color .is 

 the inside of that vegetable, produces a very strikingly 

 marked moth of a yellowish-brown color, with an iris- 

 colored reflection , the front wings h.aving an irregular 

 semi-transparent dull yellow spot, not reaching their 

 front edge, and constricted at their lower edge, ^nd the 

 hind wings having their inner two-thirds of this same 

 semi-transparent yellow. The moth is new to us, and 

 during a recent trip E.ast we found no Entomologist who 

 could identify it. It belongs to the genus PJiahllura, 

 and is evidently Cramer's nitidalis, though the larva is 

 said by Guenee to feed on potatoes. We have found 

 this worm quite common in southerly latitudes the 

 present year, boring into melons, both musk and water. 

 A very similar worm, which however we have not yet 

 bred to the moth state, has been this autumn exceed- 

 ingly destructive to the cucumbers near Eock Island, iu 

 Northern Illinois. In company with this, but in 

 smaller numbers, we have also met with a rather 

 smaller worm, of a pale light yellow color and dotted 

 with black very much like the lar\a of the Cuirant 

 Worm Moth. (See Figures, aa in this Number). We 

 have not yet reared this last to the moth state, but hope 

 to do so before long. Of course, in a northerly latitude , 

 insects do not develop as eariy in the ye-ar as they do 

 further South. 



0. L. Barler, Alton, III.— The worms which have 

 ruined so many of your Nutmeg Melons by boring into 

 them, and causing them to rot, are the same species 

 spoken of above. 



E. .s. Smith, Petely, ifo.— The worm boringinto your 

 Crook-neck and Hubbard squashes is the same species. 



Caterpillar of tbe lo Moth — if™. Tihhsley, 

 Wtst Baden Springs, Orange Co., Ind. — The grass- green 

 worm found on Locust, with a conspicuous white and 

 lilac-colored line along each side, and covered with 

 numerous tufts of yellowish-green prickles, is the larva 

 of the lo Moth (Saturnia lo, .Sm. .lud Abb.) The moth 

 receives its name from two conspicuous eye-spots on 

 the hind wings, in allusion lo the ancient Greek hero- 

 ine lo, who, as the fable went, was jealously guarded 

 by the hundred-eyed Argus. The sexes difler very 

 greatly from each other, the general color of the jf 

 being deep yellow, while that of the $ is purple-brown; 

 though the same pattern is observable in both. The 

 caterpillar is capable of stinging with its spines. 



TVorms on Clierry and on AVbitc Beecli— Zl. 

 B. Waite, Springwater, J\'. Y. — The worm that is "play- 

 ing foul with your cherry trees ' ' had spun himself up 

 before he reached us; but from a peep that we got at 

 him through a rent in the cocoon, he appears to be 

 different from anything known to us. The other larva 

 that usually feeds on beech, but will .also eat grape 

 leaves, was also spun up; and as we ha\e no beech near 

 us and are almost entirely unacquainted with the insects 

 that infest that tree, we thought it useless to disturb 

 him; more especially as, if the cocoon was cut open, 

 the larva would most probably die, and by nursing the 

 cocoon carefully through the winter we hope to breed 

 the moth from it next summer. If we succeed next 

 year in rearing the moths from cither or both of your 

 two cocoons, we will take care to advise you immedi- 

 ately what they are. 



