146 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



esting experiments recently made with a 

 colony of Dermestes, probably the familiar 

 larder-beetle (see a communication by 

 Miss Heustis in the Canadian Entomolo- 

 gist, vol. X, p. 141, 1878), gave the follow- 

 ing results : 



"They were confined in a glass jar, and 

 a piece of camphor placed therein. At 

 first they manifested some uneasiness, but 

 in a minute or two commenced travel- 

 ing about and over the camphor with 

 entire unconcern. Upon a small piece of 

 tallow being dropped in the jar, the effect 

 was instantaneous and ludicrous — a regu- 

 lar stampede ensued. The beetles fled 

 precipitately to the side of the jar, and 

 after endeavoring to effect their escape, 

 they huddled together in a mass, where 

 they remained so long as observed. The 

 jar was set aside, and upon looking at it 

 again a fortnight thereafter, only one dead 

 beetle was found of the large family. It 

 is presumable that they died soon after 

 their exposure to the tallow, and had eaten 

 up the dead bodies of one another." 



A similar experiment instituted by me 

 upon some larvae of A. varius, was not at- 

 tended by like results. The larvae did not 

 manifest any uneasiness from the presence 

 of the tallow, nor did they die from the 

 effects of it. While, therefore, I do not 

 believe that the odor of tallow will destroy 

 the larvae, I have reason to believe that it 

 is serviceable in preventing the deposition 

 of the eggs of Anthrenus, Dermestes and 

 similar pests. — J. A. Lintner. 



Intermittance of Phosphorescence 

 IN Fire-flies. — There has been an inter- 

 esting discussion recently at the meetings 

 of the London Entomological Society on 

 this question, some members urging that the 

 light is not intermittent, others again, that 

 it is Mr. McLachlan drew attention to a 

 previous discussion of the same subject, in 

 the course of which he had suggested that 

 the intermittance might be due to " slight 

 currents of air altering the position of the 

 insect when flying, and thus alternately ex- 

 posing and obscuring the light-producing 

 surfaces." Judging from our experience 

 with North American species of Lampyridce, 

 this explanation is not a valid one All 



our American species, so far as we know, 

 have the power of extinguishing their light, 

 whether in flight, at rest, or in captivity. 

 In flight there is no simultaneous flashing 

 of all the individuals in a given space, but 

 a constant and irregular flashing and ex- 

 tinguishing. In some cases there is a 

 single flash followed by extinction ; in 

 others, two successive flashes, and in others 

 again, three ; and if pursued, the insect 

 seems to have the power of suppressing 

 its light. 



These facts hold true of those species 

 which are luminous, and have power of 

 flight, in both sexes. Where, however, the 

 female has not the power of flight the 

 light is not intermittent, so far as our obser- 

 vations go, and the same holds true of the 

 luminous larvae of those species which, in 

 the imago state, give out an intermittent 

 light. Yet even these larvae and larvi- 

 form females possess the power of sup- 

 pressing their light, as everyone who has 

 collected them must have experienced to 

 his sorrow. A gem of soft blue light will 

 attract the attention from some distance, 

 in long grass, or damp places, such as these 

 larvae frequent. The collector approaches 

 cautiously, but, unless he is very wary, so 

 soon as he touches the object upon or 

 near which the light-giving specimen may 

 rest, the light goes out, and the specimen 

 very often escapes being captured ! 



We call the attention of all those inter- 

 ested in the fertilization of those beautiful 

 flowers, the Yuccas, to our remarks on the 

 True and Bogus Yucca Moths in the pres- 

 ent number. It is during the month of 

 June that observations can be made on 

 the habits of these interesting insects, and 

 we shall always be glad to publish addi- 

 tional experience or additional observa- 

 tions. 



^ — ^ 



In the Oefversigt of Finska Vetenskap- 

 Societetens forhandlinger Vol. xxi, 1879, 

 (Helsingfors), Mr. O. M. Renter gives a 

 synopsis of what is known on the habits 

 of mimetic Hemiptera, together with some 

 new observations on mimicry in this order. 



