480 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Dec., ’12 
The structure, life history and breeding habits, parasites and nat- 
ural enemies are treated as well as chapters on their relation to the 
spread of disease. The book concludes with a chapter on preventive 
and control measures, bibliography and index. An inexpensive book 
of this kind should have a wide circulation and be a considerable fac- 
tor in educating the people to take measures to do away with this 
dire pest and nuisance.—H. S. 
PoLY MORPHISM IN A Group. OF MIMETIC BUTTERFLIES OF THE ETHI0- 
PIAN NYMPHALINE GENUS PsEUDACRAEA. Nature XC, 36, 1912. In 
the above mentioned article Prof. E. B. Poulton gives a very inter- 
esting account of these butterflies and also their mimetic relationship 
to the Acraeine genus Planema. Dr. Karl Jordan came to the conclu- 
sion that Pseudacrea eurytus and its allies hobleyi, terra, obscura, 
rogersit and imitator were one species, based on studies of the genital 
armature of the male. Prof. Poulton studied large series from various 
localities and came to the conclusion that Dr. Jordan was probab!y 
correct in his opinion, but that at that time the final proof, breeding, 
was lacking. Dr. G. H. Carpenter recently found the egg of obscura 
in the Bugalla forest and succeeded in rearing it to the imago stage 
and it turned out to be terra, thus adding another link to the proof. 
Prof. Poulton hoped to be able to present this evidence before the Second 
International Entomological Congress, but the word (by cable) did 
not come until August roth, after the Congress adjourned. Prof. 
Poulton says it is really a very striking case, probably more so than 
any that we shall discover in the future, because quite twelve species 
sink as mimetic modifications of eurytus; the case also differs in a 
very interesting manner from that of Papilio dardanus, because this 
latter is only mimetic in the female, whereas the Pseudacreas are so 
in both sexes.—HENRY SKINNER. 
CoNnTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE LEPIDOPTERA OF 
North AmeErIcA. By WitttiAm Barnes and J. H. McDuNNouGH, 
Decatur, Illinois. 
Vol. 1, No. 4, “Illustrations of Rare and Typical Lepidoptera,” July 
Ist, 1912. This consists of 27 plates containing over 500 figures of 
moths in black and white half-tone. Many of the moths figured are 
types and many from typical specimens compared with the types. 
There are notes in relation to many of the species. It is exceedingly 
laborious to identify moths from descriptions alone, and illustrations 
are of immense value, even if they are only a partial aid and it be- 
comes necessary to verify from the descriptions. The authors give 
their experience in the use of photography in illustrating moths and 
