14 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 12-No. 1 



ENTOMOLOGY. 



J. A. WRIGHT. 

 265 No. Beacon St., Brighton, Mass., 



ASSOCIAI'E EDITOR. 

 AfUlrrss all comiiiunipations for this department as above. 



With this issue, the Entomological Depart- 

 ment commences its second year. We thank 

 our coi-respondents and readers for their kind 

 assistance and forbearance. We have had 

 many diliiculties to contend with and many 

 of the articles have been too liberally seasoned 

 witli errors ; still we congratulate ourselves on 

 the fact that almost every article was original, 

 and the experiences of practical collectors. 



In continuing this department we ask the 

 assistance of our Entomological friends, both 

 by their subscriptions and contributions of 

 short articles on the Insect fauna of their lo- 

 calities. A little aid from each, would soon 

 make this a valuable medium for the inter- 

 change of views and the dissemination of use- 

 ful knowledge, relating to the descriptions, 

 habits and distribution of the insects of our 

 country. 



The new year, in ringing in. its changes has 

 not missed us. Mr. Bates, owing to a pressure 

 of outside business, has concluded to withdi-aw 

 from the Editorial management of this depart- 

 ment. He has l)een a faithful worker and was 

 ever ready and anxious to create an interest in 

 our branch of science. We have not lost his 

 services, however, as he has promised that we 

 shall hear from him often. 



Sphingidse of New England. 



BY W^KIGHT & BATES. 



SPHINX GORDIUS, H. 



Palpi reddish-brown ; head, ashy-gray. 



Thorax dark brown, bordered with graj-, and 

 with a gray doi-sal spot; tufts on metathorax 

 ])lack. 



Abdomen ashy-gray, with a slender black 

 dorsal line, and a ))road, tapering black stripe 

 on either side, cut at the first three antei'ior 

 segments with very light gray. 



Anteriors darker gray, with a brownish cast; 

 a brownish band crosses the wing near the 

 base, followed by another just beyond the 

 disc, and a third crosses the nervules, nearly 

 parallel with the second, both being bent in the 



middle, toward the margin; marginal space 

 brown, crossed near the anal angle by a darker 

 brown band, bordered with gray, which extends 

 to about the median vein ; the median and sub- 

 median veins are outlined with black and a slen- 

 der l)lack line originates near the base of the 

 wing and crosses the disc, following bej'ond it 

 the third sub-costal vein. Discal spot white. 

 Two black dashes occupy the spaces between 

 the median and the first, and the first and sec- 

 ond sub-median veins just below the discal spot. 

 The apical line is black, and the spaces between 

 the sub-costal veins are marked with black lines. 

 The costal vein, near the apex, is bordered an- 

 teriorly with gray. 



Posteriors light gray, with a brown band 

 crossing the middle and connecting with the 

 middle band on the anteriors, margin broadly 

 bordered with dark brown. 



Fringes white, dotted at the ends of the veins 

 with brown. 



Underside of anteriors light brown, and of 

 posteriors gray, ])oth lieing crossed about the 

 middle by a brown band, and margined with 

 the same color, the marginal ))and being most 

 conspicuous on the posteriors. 



Expanse three and one-half inches. 



Mature larva bright green, with a light stripe 

 on either side of the head, and seven oblique 

 white stripes, bordered above with violet, on 

 either side of the 1)ody. Caudal horn reddish- 

 brown. Length al)out two and one-half 

 inches. 



Transformation subterranean. 



Food plants, apple and ash and according to 

 Fernald, bay berry. 



Theories Entomological. 



BY PAUL REVERE. 



I noticed, recently, going the rounds of the 

 press, a lengthy article upon the power of fish 

 and burrowing larv?e to stand freezing and sus- 

 pended animation for months, after which they 

 are easily resuscitated by being thawed out. 

 The author of the article was a Dr. Piei'ce. He 

 appealed to me to write more glibly than intel- 

 ligently upon the subject, and to cover a theory 

 which he had no facts to demonstrate. 



I do not believe his assertion that the pup;e 

 of earth burrowing larv;e are frozen solid in 

 winter, and thaw out in the spring without in- 

 jury to the moths. I do think they can stand 

 extreme exposure and frost and still survive. 



The process of freezing imi^lies something 



