102 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Mch., 'l2 



At the Ceanothus in Virginia. 



By Nathan Banks, East Falls Church, Virginia. 



If ever there is a proposition for the adoption of an ento- 

 mologist's flower, I shall vote early and often for Ceanothus. 

 In June, that month of profusion of bloom, Ceanothus is the 

 most attractive enchanter of insect life. Its fragrance calls 

 and calls till around the white head of blossom there is an 

 encircling halo of admirers such as no flower in this vicinity 

 may boast. Bee and fly and beetle follow the enthralling odor 

 until they rest on that bed of white. The burly bumble-bee and 

 the handsome longicorn, the fiery wasps and sharp-clawed 

 Scarabaeids mingle with tiny beetles, delicate crane-flies and 

 other Diptera to feast on this bounteous hoard. The vicious 

 robber-flies hover about, the Phymata lurks in the flower, and 

 many another predaceous insect here finds an abundance of 

 food. 



Each year as the bright warm days of mid-June come around 

 I have taken a few days from my work to gather those insects 

 that have answered the call of Ceanothus. To stand 'neath the 

 broiling sun and watch this mazy whirl of restless insect life; 

 to hear the hum of a hundred tiny wings, mingled with the 

 sharper buzz of certain species ; to easily and stealthily push 

 one's way through the bushes, glancing anxiously here or there 

 for something new, with net in hand a-tremble for a lightning 

 stroke ; these are the pleasures of Ceanothus collecting that bear 

 pleasant memories on many a wintry day. Those specimens 

 bearing the little label "Ceanothus" will always have a charm 

 for me unequalled by the curious structures of many a more 

 wondrous species. 



There is great variation in the class of insect visitors accord- 

 ing to the environment of the flowers. At a patch near wood- 

 lands where there were many dead trees, a considerable variety 

 of Longicorns were always obtainable ; at another patch in an 

 open meadow few Longicorns were ever found. Some days 

 insects were scarce when one could not tell why, the next day 

 they might be abundant. A cloudy or clear sky, and the amount 



