THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



31 



Insects named — C F. Faulhner, Bridgeport, Conn. 

 — Ko. Ws, not Kccropliorv 8 americanvs, Oliv., which is 

 a much larger and handsomer insect wilh the elevated 

 middle part of the thorax loolcing like red sealing-wax, 

 but K. marginutus, Fabr. Both have similar burying 

 habits. No. 2 is Creophilus viUosus, Grav. — usuaUy found 

 under small pieces of carrion, where it preys upon^ar- 

 rion-eating insects. AVe have noticed the allied Zpto- 

 trop/ius cinc/ulafiis, Giav. ,j,\-hkhhMmts cowdun^s, fly 

 oft' from its favorite abode witli a large Ilhlir in its 

 mouth. No. 3 is Coccindla Itpunduta, Linn. No. 4 is 

 not Melanotus commvnis, Schonh, but M.inceiius, Lee. 

 The two are very closely allied, but inceriiis is on the 

 average a considerably larger species. No. 5 is Scarites 

 suhterraneus, Fabr. We have dug up many of this spe- 

 cies fl'om the burrows of the large southern Dung-bee- 

 tle, Copris Carolina, Linn., .and believe that it lays its 

 eggs there and in other such situations, and that its 

 larva lives upon dung-feeding larva;. No. 6 is Uloma 

 impressa, Melsh., very abundant in all its stages under 

 decaying bark in the woods. This species was for- 

 merly confounded with If. culinarif of Europe, whieli, 

 as the name denotes, haunts Ivitchens. No.7is7/)« 

 fasciaius, Oliv. — The Eiatcr family is a very difiicult 

 one, very numerously represented in the U. S.; and it 

 is impossible to identify your species from your descrip- 

 tion, which neither specifies the .size nor includes a 

 single generic character. 



Beetle named — Waile Keym. Florence, Ala. — Your 

 Beetle is Culopteron ^Lycus\ terminale, S-ay, and is tolera- 

 bly common, occurring on a variety of difl'ereut plants. 

 The larva, which is clay-yellow prettily spotted wilh 

 black, and vei-y closely resembles the wingless female of 

 the Kuropean genus Th-ilus as figured by Westwood 

 (Introd. I, p. 247, fig. lii), occurs under prostrate logs, 

 where it no doubt feeds upon the numerous larva; that 

 are found in such situations We have bred this beetle 

 / through all its .stages, and upon one occasion, having de- 

 termined to preserve a pupa of this species as a cabinet 

 specimen, we pinued it through the thorax with a very 

 tine No. 8 pin. Directly after we liad done this, we 

 changed our mind, removed the pin, and replaced 

 the pupa in the breeding-jar. A week or two after- 

 wards this very same pupa develo])ed into a perfect 

 specimen of the beetle; thus showing how tenacious of 

 life some insects arc. If a lamb was run through (he 

 breast with a sword, and then left to shift for ilself, it 

 would not be very apt to develop into a perfect full- 

 grown sheep. LeConto in his Catalogue, but not in his 

 edition of Say's Entomology, considers terminale .Say 

 as a mere variety of reticulatum Fabr., which has 

 across the middle of its wing-cases an additional black 

 band, but is otherwise undistinguishable. AVc have 

 captured hundreds of both forms, and as we have never 

 met with any intermediate grade, wo incline with 8ay 

 to think terminale a true species. It would be interesting 

 to know whether or not reticulatum ditl'ers in its larval 

 and pupal stages from terminale. 



ITIoth named— IV. G. Barton, Salem J/ass.-pThe 

 moth which you describe as having the front wings 

 J pink edged at tip with yellow, is probably Alariaflor- 

 ida, Gueu. This insect expands about one and a quar- 

 ter inches, and you will find an account of its larva by 

 Mr. W. Saunders in the Canadian Entomologitt, Vol. 

 II, pageC, or in Dr. Fitch's twelfth Report. It feeds 

 on the Evening Primrose {(Enotlura.) 



Worm boring: into Cucumber — G. W. C, Alton, 

 III . — The pale worm which enters and boresHnto your 

 cucumbers, and which is nearly of the same color as 

 the inside of that vegetable, produces a very strikingly 

 marked moth of a yellowish-brown color, wilh an iris- 

 colored reflection, the front wings having an irregular 

 semi-transiiarent dull yellow spot, not reaching their 

 front edge, and constricted at their lower edge , and the 

 ^lind wings hiiving their inner two-thirds of this same i /■ 

 semi-transparent yellow. The moth is new to us, and 

 during a recent trip East we found no Entomologist who 

 could identify it. It belongs to the genus Phal-eUura, 

 and is evidently Cramer's niiidalis, though the larva is 

 said by Guenee to feed on potatoes . We have foimd 

 this worm quite common in southerly latitudes the 

 present year, boring into melons, both musk and water. 

 A very similar worm, which however we have not yet 

 bred to the moth state, has been this autumn exceed- 

 ingly destructive to the cucumbers near Rock Island, in 

 Northern Illinois. In company with this, but in 

 smaller numbers, we have also met with a lather 

 smaller worm, of a pale light yellow color and dotted 

 with black Aery much like the larva of the Currant 

 Worm Moth. (See Figures, aa in this Number). We 

 have not yet reared this last to the moth state, but hope 

 to do so before long. Of course, in anortherly latitude, 

 insects do not develop as early in the year as they do 

 further South. 



O. L. Barter, Alton, III. — The worms which have 

 ruined so many of your Nutmeg Melons by boring into 

 them, and causing them to rot, arc the same species 

 spoken of above. 



B. &. Smith, Petely, Mo. — The worm boring into your 

 Crook-neck and Hubbard squashes is the same species. 



Caterpillar of tlie lo Motli — i/rs. TihlcKley, 

 West Baden Springs, Orange Co., 7«(Z.— The grass-green 

 worm found on Locust, with a conspicuous white and 

 lilac-colored line along each side, and covered with 

 numerous tufts of yellowish-green prickles, is the larva 

 of the lo Moth (Saturnia lo, Sm. and Abb.) The moth 

 receives its name from two conspicuous eye-spots on 

 the hind wings, in allusion to the ancient Greek hero- 

 ine lo, who, as the fable went, was jealously guarded 

 by th(^ hundred-eyed Argus. The sexes difl'cr very 

 greatly from each other, the general color of the c? 

 being deep yellow, while thatofthe J ispurple-lirown; 

 though the same p.ittern is observable in both. The 

 caterpillar is capable of stinging with its spines. 



Worms on Cherry and on 'Wliitc Beech — D. 

 B. Waiie, Springicater, K. I'.— The worm that is "play- 

 ing foul with your cherry trees ' ' had spun himself up 

 before he reached us; but from a peep that we got at 

 him through a rent in the cocoon, he appears to be 

 different from anything known to us. The other lar\ a 

 that usually feeds on beech, but will also eat grape 

 leaves, wasalsospun up; andas we have no beech near 

 us and are almost entirely unacquainted with the injects 

 that infest that tree, we thought it useless to disturb 

 him; more especially as, if the cocoon was cut open, 

 the larva Would most probably die, and by nursing the 

 cocoon carefully through the winter we hope to breed 

 the moth from it next summer. If we succeed next 

 year in rearing the moths from either or both of your 

 two cocoons, we will take care to advise you immedi- 

 ately what they are. 



