l82 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, 'l6 



Note on use of antennae in CoUops vittatus. (Col.: Malachiidae). 

 Dr. George H. Horn described* the structure of the curiously modi- 

 fied second (or as he says really the third) segment of the antennae in 

 males of the genus Collops in 1870, and assumed their function to be 

 grasping the female antenna during copulation. Another use to 

 which they certainly are put appears from an incident observed 

 by the writer on Plummer's Island, Maryland, on July 7, 1912. 

 A male and female of Collops vittatus (Say) were found on a leaf 

 over the surface of which they advanced and retreated, constantly 

 maintaining a head-to-head contact. Upon close inspection, it was 

 seen that the female had her mandibles widely spread and that the tips 

 of them rested in depressions in the anterior surfaces of the modified 

 antennal joints of the male, the antennae of the latter being held 

 straight out in front and approximately parallel. If one of the pair re- 

 treated, the other followed, preserving the relation of the parts as de- 

 scribed. They were also observed to separate and to resume the same 

 posture. This behavior probably is a mating ceremony, and may per- 

 haps be properly regarded as a Collopid soul-kiss. — \V. L. McAtee, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Additional Iowa Pentatomoidea (Hem., Heter.). 



During the past two years the writer has indicated from time to 

 time some Pentatomids that have not before been recorded within the 

 borders of the State. As a partial result of collecting done during 

 the past summer the following additions to the State fauna may be 

 given at this time. 



Cydnus obliqiius Uhler. This fine Cydnid, which commonly occurs 

 in the western States and which has recently (1910) been recorded 

 from Nebraska by Zimmer, was found in some numbers in a sand area 

 near the Iowa River, two miles north of Iowa City. All the speci- 

 mens collected were found among the roots of a Rush Grass, Sporo- 

 bolus cryptandrus (Torr.) Gray, which grows in considerable abund- 

 ance in this small uncultivated area. In two instances, four individuals 

 were found about the roots of a single plant, but usually not more than 

 one or two were found under one plant. None of the bugs were ob- 

 served on the open sand. On May 31 a pair of these bugs was found in 

 copula. Thirty-six specimens are at hand, collected in May and No- 

 vember. 



Euschistits iristigmus var. pyrrhoccrus H. S. This variety seems 

 much less common than the typical iristigmus Say. Five Iowa speci- 

 m.ens, collected in August and November at Iowa City and Solon, are 

 at hand. The specimens collected in August were taken on wild rasp- 

 berry; those in November from under dried leaves. All five speci- 

 mens have the antennae entirely pale, the humeri spinose and average 

 somewhat smaller than tristigmus. 



♦Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. Ill, p. 80, June, 1870. 



