62. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



found. I describe these species in a paper on the Architecture of Vespa 

 Maculata Linn, read by me a short time ago, before the Ottawa Natural His- 

 tory Society. 



Wm. Couper, Ottawa, Ont. 



— « — 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTE. 



Hair Snakes. — One day last Fall, a friend of mine, on stepping from his 

 front door to the floor of the verandah, trod inadvertently upon a large spider. 

 On removing his foot he perceived something, not naturally belonging to the 

 spider, wriggling about on the ground, and on a closer inspection he disco- 

 vered two minute snakes; these he brought to me, and I found them to 

 correspond exactly with the description of the Gordius. They were, each of 

 them, about two inches long, although when twisted \x^y as they were in tight 

 knots, they occupied but a very small f^pace. Their size was that of a horse- 

 hair ; their colour dark brown, almost black, the extremities being even 

 darker than the intermediate portion. 



Have you ever met with an instance of the Gordius making the body of 

 a spider its temporary habitat? They are fresh-water Ahranchiata, but my 

 friend's house being near the river may possibly account for the fact of their 

 being found iu the body of the spider. — V. Clementi, North Douro, Oat 



Note by Ed. C. E. — We have never met with a Gordius parasitic in a 

 spider, having generally found them in grasshoppers, crickets, &c., and once 

 in a beetle ; but we are not surprised to learn that a large spider — probably 

 one of those so common under stones on the margin of rivers — should be so 

 infested. 



NEW ENTOMOLOGICAL WORKS. 



Catalogue op the Orthoptera oe North America, described previous 



to 18G7. Prepared by Samuel IT. Scudder. Washington : Smithsonian 



Institution, October, 1868. 90pp. 8vo. Price 75 cents. 



The Smithsonian Institution has already given a great impetus to the study 



of many orders of insects in America by its publication of Catalogues and 



Monographs ; it is now continuing the good work by the issue of the volume 



before us, which calls the attention ot students and collectors to a hitherto 



rnuch- neglected order. This Catalogue is an alphabetical list, according to 



genera, of all the species of Orthoptera which have been described by authors 



as inhabiting North America or the West Indies ; while giving references to 



all the authorities for a species, it does not take any notice of synonyms, 



but merely reports upon the present state of knowledge of the order. The 



Institution proposes to publish Monographs of American Orthoptera and 



requests the assistance of specimens from any part of the Continent. 



