96 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society Vol. XVI 



tarsal articulations. The ovipositor is presumably as long as the 

 abdomen when extended, the terminal lobes somewhat irregular, 

 with a length over twice the diameter and the dorsum thickly set 

 with long, rather slender spoon-like, chitinized processes; claws 

 moderately heavy, strongly curved, unidentate; the pulvilli as 

 long as the claws. Type in U. S. National Museum. 



COLLECTING NOTES. 



By E. L. Bell, Flushing, N. Y. 



While collecting in a glade on the side of a road running 

 through the woods near Kings Park, Long Island, N. Y., one day 

 during the latter part of July I was struck by the great number 

 of robber flies infesting the spot, and was particularly interested 

 in their activity in capturing various insects on the wing and 

 their remarkable dexterity in the chase. 



I saw one of those common little butterflies, Phyciodes tharos 

 Drury, lazily flying through the tops of the grasses, and as it 

 passed a small sumac bush a robber fly, Asilus sericeus Say, 

 suddenly darted out of the bush and pounced upon it as it flew 

 along ; and so rapidly was it all done that the little butterfly just 

 seemed to melt away in a blur before my eyes. The robber fly 

 did not fly far, but alighted about ten feet away, where I captured 

 it and its prey. The butterfly was quite dead when taken, al- 

 though probably not much over a full minute had elapsed between 

 its own capture by the fly and the capture of both by myself 

 in turn. 



Another incident occurred a short distance from the one just 

 related; this time the victim was a Strymon titus Fabricius. I 

 saw the butterfly fly in back of a small sumac bush, and as it did 

 not appear on the other side assumed that it had alighted. As I 

 wished to capture it, I went to the spot and stood looking to see 

 if I could see it anywhere on the leaves of the bush or the sur- 

 rounding vegetation. As I was quite sure that it must be there, 

 I was puzzled in not being able to locate it anywhere on the 



