80 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society Vol. XI 



May to early July. At one pile of droppings the fresh sand had 

 been thrown up and a lateral burrow extended west from the 

 pile for about fifteen inches. By running my finger under the 

 ridge I encountered a male, which apparently had come upward 

 from association with the female and, reaching the horse droppings, 

 was tunneling out. The female was in the burrow about ten 

 inches below the surface. About ten feet away another male was 

 taken from his burrow. Still another was found about two 

 hundred yards away from the first, at the bottom of an eight 

 inch hole, the entrance of which was at least six inches away from 

 the droppings. 



June i6, 1916, a visit to the same locality (near Medora, Kan- 

 sas) resulted in the capture of another pair on ^he same dune 

 where I took my first specimens. One was located under horse 

 droppings evidently three or four weeks old, almost covered by 

 drifting sand. This was a male. Between four and six inches 

 under the surface there was a mass of dung ij4 to ij^ inches in 

 diameter and several inches long. In it were found seven eggs, 

 two to three mm. in diameter, almost pearly white. Twenty 

 feet away another pile, partly sand covered, revealed another 

 burrow. In this at the bottom, about ten inches down, was a 

 female. Six inches under the surface there was a similar mass 

 of dung. It is evident that the species prefers droppings from 

 one to three weeks old, while fresher ones are chosen by Phancsus 

 difformis. Thus the masses for egg deposit are much drier and 

 less compact for the former than the latter. Phancsiis will also 

 use cow droppings, under which I have never found Strategus. 

 All the specimens I have taken were alive and perfect. 



By the fortunate finding of two additional specimens of Strate- 

 gus mormon in the sand hill region near Medora, Kansas, July 2, 

 the total catch of this insect for 1916 was increased to four speci- 

 mens — two pairs. 



The first specimen was found about three miles east of the lo- 

 cality where the other specimens of this species have been col- 

 lected. The specimen was a female, and was found dead under 

 cattle chips. The insect had only recently died, as it was relaxed 

 and in good condition. Under the droppings was the mass of 

 faeces in which the female deposits her eggs. The fragments of 



