46 



OEKITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 12-No. 3 



that the specimeu has but recently emerged 

 from the pupa and would gradually gain its 

 color as it fed and become exposed to the air. 

 This is often noticed in the CarahUM. 



By the way, the Carabidce are spring beetles, 

 and by the time this article is printed, it will be 

 time to search under stones for the early spe- 

 cies, many of which will be choice and rare. A 

 good trap is to ])lace thin l)oards or pieces of 

 tin on the grass or among dead leaves, and after 

 a few hours you will get many good beetles 

 which crawl under for shelter. 



Many of the ground beetles, the Carabidce, 

 Staphylinidce etc., emerge as soon as the snow 

 is off the ground, before the sun gets warm 

 enough to entice other families from their 

 snug retreats, and it is well to search for them 

 before the leaf and flower beetles appear. 

 Look for L'l/cJirus in the dead leaves and under 

 stones where snails are to be found. 



Sphingidae of New England. 



q'HlNX DRUI'IFERAKUM ABB. 



Palpi black with a brownish shade. 



Head and thorax of the same color, with a 

 band of light gray on either side, meeting in 

 front of the antenna-. Metathorax brownish, 

 mixed with gray, with black tufts. Abdomen 

 grayish brown, with a slender black dorsal line 

 and a black band on either side, broken on each 

 segment by a light graj'^ spot. 



Anteriors light smoky-brown, shading to light 

 gray on the costal margin, and lightest toward 

 the base of the wing ; a series of tive black lines 

 occupy the spaces between tlie veins, the flrst 

 running from the base, just above and nearly 

 parallel with the sub-median vein, across the 

 darkest portion of the wing, and the last form- 

 ing an oblique apical line; another black line 

 defines the sub-costal vein at the disc. The 

 marginal space is ocx'upied by a broad whiteish 

 band, preceded by a wavy black line shaded 

 with white and followed on the margin by a 

 band of light brown. Fringes brown. 



Posteriors smoky-brown, gray at the base, 

 and crossed, at about the centre, by a grayish 

 band. Marginal band and fringes light brown. 



Underside of anteriors dark gray with a pur- 

 plish tinge. The base is slightly darker than 

 the margin, the shade being defined by a brown- 

 ish line, which crosses the veinlets nearly paral- 

 lel with the margin. The thi-ee black lines 

 nearest the apex, on the upper side, are faintly 

 shown. 



The underside of jjosteriors is gray, with a 

 dark brown band with irregular edges, cross- 

 ing near the centre, and a smoky-brown mar- 

 gin. 



The underside of the thorax has a yellowish 

 tinge, shading to dark brown at the junction 

 with the head. 



Underside of the abdomen gray, with a slen- 

 der black ventral line, and also one on either 

 side. 



Expanse three and one-half to four inches. 



The mature larva is bright green, marked on 

 either side of the head, with a vertical dark 

 brown stripe, and with seven oblique white 

 stripes, bordered above with purplish, on either 

 side of the body. Spiracles bright orange. 

 Caudal horn dark brown, touched with yellow 

 at the sides of the base. Length three and one- 

 half inches. 



Pupa dark reddish-brown. 



Food plants, plum, lilac and apple. 



The perfect insect appears in Jime. 



Early Spring Collecting. 



BY PAUL KEVEKE. 



Just as soon as the weather becomes mild and 

 the frost-fetteis are oft" earth and stream, it is 

 time for the entomologist to be moving. Not 

 with the net at first, but with a digger to look 

 for the burrowing pupa- and for pup;e beneath 

 logs, stones and leaves. Open spots, where 

 trees are few and far between, are the best 

 places to find the burrowers. The digger may 

 be a trowel, a chisel or a pronged fork. The 

 place to raise a sod for inspection, is within 

 eight inches or a foot of some tree, standing by 

 itself and in a light soil. The sod should be cut 

 four inches thick at least, and be carefully lifted, 

 then the edges of the hole should be examined 

 and the sod tapped softly with the trowel, and 

 the pupa3, which form no cocoon or a very weak 

 one, will drop out. Then the roots should be 

 torn asunder for Bombj'ces. A tree beneath 

 which cattle have gathered, if they have not ap- 

 proached too near the trunk, is best. Trees 

 situated on the edge of streams and dykes, in 

 friable soil, are promishiiig i)laces for the pupje 

 hunter. This is, in a measure, blind hunting; 

 but enthusiasm in the field and patience, have 

 much to do with one's success. 



AVhile searching for these subterranean pupse, 

 one should have an eye to walls, fences, trunks 

 of trees, copings and sheltered places for the 

 pupas of butterflies and moths. 



