131 



Henshaw, asking help of bis unsurpassed knowledge 

 of tlie bibliograplij of American beetles; he kindly 

 replied as follons: — 



" Tbe Leconte collection contains a specimen of 

 ovatus, No. 1952 of bis manuseript catalogue. 

 Against tbis number Dr. Leconte wrote 'pear tree, 

 Harris, Mass.' As Harris collected all bis beetles 

 between 1820 and 1852, ovatus must bave been 

 bere [Massachusetts] as early as 1852. The late 

 Mr. J. P. Atkinson collected tbe species at Cam- 

 bridge Sept. 2nd, 1865 and there is a specimen in 

 tbe Leconte collection taken by Mr. Schwarz in 

 Cambridge March 20th, 1874. My earliest specimen 

 is labeled Wyoming, Mass., May 30th, 1874." 



It was thus evidently established in Massachusetts 

 by tbis time; a year later it was at Allegheny in 

 Pennsylvania, as Dr. Hamilton writes rae frora that 

 place. "I took tbis beetle in a cemetery bere in 

 1875 and it was tben apparently abundant. A 

 couple of years afterward it was excessively so, in 

 tbe same cemetery but is now [1894] much less 

 common than formerly." By 1878 it bad reached 

 Detroit, Michigan, when it is recorded in tbe Hub- 

 bard and Schwarz List. Mr. Heushaw bad it from 

 Hanover, New Hampshire as early as 1880; iu 1884 

 it came under Dr. Lintner's Notice in New York, 

 but Mr. Keinecke found it at Buffalo at least two 

 years earlier. About 1882 or 1883 it figured as 

 a strawberry pest in Southern Michigan, and tbe 

 year 1884 brings a record from Ottawa, Canada, by 

 Mr Harrington. Not later than 1886, I took it at 

 Iowa City, tbe record standing for years as tbe 

 most westerly ränge known for tbe species. In tbe 

 East bowever it was still beiug taken at new points 

 as the following notes show, tbe dates being those 

 of Publication : Nova Scotia 1 889, Chicago, Illinois 

 1889, Wayne Co., Ohio 1892, Quebec, 1892, In- 

 diana, 1892, New Jersey. The western rauge has 

 been greatly extended by tbe capture of tbis insect 

 at Laramie, Wyoming iu 1893 by Mr. Niswander 

 and at Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Mr. Cockerell in 

 July, 1894, the specimeus in both cases being sent 

 nie für ideutification. 



U will thus be seen that the recorded distribution 

 is very much extended of late and the species by 

 nu means restricted in ränge. Thougli the dates 

 are iiisuffieient for the traciug of the exact path of 

 tili' insect it at least appears tu bave slowly sprod 

 westwaid and southwestward from the New England 

 States whoro it may have been intioduccd from 



Europe. From the scattered records and the absence 

 of 0. ovatus from many points within its ränge, 

 worked by diligent collectors I judge that it is not 

 very aggressive in invading new territory but doubt- 

 ess tolerably easily introduced in shrubbery or 

 other nursery stock. 



A Word as to food-babits bere and I am doue. 

 Dr. Hamilton takes it on various bushes, it has 

 been recorded from Muskmelon (Webster), Straw- 

 berry (Weed), Borage (Cook), Currant (Mrs. Wick- 

 hara). Mr. Webster also found it breeding in roots 

 of Blue-grass. At Iowa City it has been found 

 under boards and often in bunches of pine shingles 

 — the habit of thus creeping into crannies would 

 greatly aid in extending the distribution by artificial 

 means and explain its appearance in new localities 

 where it could not have been introduced with plauts. 



Carpocapsa saltitans aus Mexico. 



Während des Aufenthaltes des Herrn Heyne in 

 Zürich hatte ich Gelegenheit dieses interessante 

 Thierchen zu beobachten. Der Falter legt die Eier 

 in die Blüthen einer baumartigen Euphorbiacee, die 

 Eaupe entwickelt sich zwischen Sommer und Früh- 

 jahr in den Fruchtkapseln und ergibt im Juni den 

 Schmetterling. Sie verursacht in der Kapsel ein 

 ziemlich starkes Geräusch, einen Laut, der selbst in 

 einem grossen Zimmer deutlich hörbar wird. Zu 

 meiner grossen Verwunderang bewegte sich hie und 

 da eine der fest geschlossenen Kapseln vom Platze, 

 bei ungestörter Ruhe sollen sie sich auch ziemlich 

 weit vorwärts schnellen; es ist kaum zu glauben, 

 welche Kraft das doch gewiss sehr kleine Räupchen 

 bat. Eigeuthümlicher Weise verstummt das Geräusch 

 bei Berührung der Kapsel sofort und auch nicht mehr 

 die kleinste Bewegung lässt erkennen, dass Leben 

 darin sei. 



Sollte einer der Herreu Mitglieder schon Näheres 

 über das Thierchen berichten können, so möchte ich 

 um Veröffentlichung seiner Erfahrungen bitten. 



M. B. 



Anmeldung neuer Mitglieder. 



Herr A. Grunack Geh. Registratur, Berlin, 

 Herr Karl Matzenauer, Jurist, Brunn. 



