Vol. xxiv] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 343 



occurred to me that the conditions prevailing then shape the 

 subsequent activities, at least in many cases. These one or 

 two facts bearing on the general question were casually noted 

 in regard to the contents of a lantern trap placed in a cotton 

 field near Paris, Texas, in 1904: Three out of four evenings 

 noted were warm, dark and still, (May 2, 11 and 15) and the 

 beetles of the genus Lachnosterna were abundant, forming 

 most of the trap contents; the fourth evening (May 14), 

 the beetles were absent, only small species of Lepidoptera be- 

 ing caught in numbers. The day was clear and pleasant, but 

 the evening cool. The lower evening temperature and greater 

 light here are indicated. The maximum temperature this day 

 was about seven degrees lower than that of the other three 

 days, but the minimum was half a degree higher than that 

 of Alay 15. The three days on which they were abundant 

 were each warmer than the preceding day and the evenings 

 dark. The patent fact shown is that the activity of these 

 beetles was fluctuating, true also for the Lepidoptera, 

 abundant some of the nights, at others scarce or absent alto- 

 gether. 



13. The Death Feigning Habit of Trox. (Col.). 

 Specimens of this genus which I captured under the skin 

 of some animal lying upon the ground in a wood near Paris, 

 Texas. ]\Iarch 6, 1904, at once assumed a death-feigning atti- 

 tude as soon as disturbed. They remained perfectly still, the 

 legs drawn in close to the body and rigid, the beetles upon 

 their backs. Their extraordinarily hard bodies and curious 

 form, combined with an association of brittleness which one 

 obtains by looking at them, are heightened by the rigid attitude 

 assumed in the first movement. They certainly do not appear 

 especially nourishing at any time. 



14. The Extraordinary Tenacity of Life in an Elaterid, as Com- 

 pared with other Insects. (Col.). 

 A large elaterid of the genus Alans was captured at Hous- 

 ton, Texas, from a concavity in a stump where it was hiber- 

 nating, January 30, 1904. It was placed in a cyanide bottle 

 and upon my return to Paris, pinned and labeled in the usual 



