206 Forty-first Report on the State Museum. 



ment would be necessary, and if, as we infer from tlie above communi- 

 cation, it has been actually seen eating- into the* fruit, it would probably 

 be while engaged in such enlargement. It would be an interesting 

 fact if it had been observed in the act of making a perforation where 

 none previously existed. 



Service Rendered by the Pennsylvania Soldier-Beetle. 



In the Fourth Report of Prof. Riley on the insects of Missouri (page 



28), he notes his discovery that the larva 



of another species of GhauliognatJius — the 



G. Pennsylvanicus of De Geer (the C. Ameri- 



canus of Forster), "destroys the apple-worm 



while leaving the fruit, and in all probability, 



seeks them out while in the fruit." It had 



The' Pennsyi- previously been known to prey upon the larva 



vania soldier-beetle, Chau- of the plum curculio. Figures of the insect 



lilOGNATHUS PeNNSYLVANI- . ., , ^ -, o i , 1 



cus; a, the larva ;&, its head ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^ perfect stages are here given. 



enlarged; i, the beetle. In its final stage of a beetle — quite in con- 

 trast with its earlier life, it is believed to feed only on the pollen of 

 flowers ; and actively engaged in this pursuit, it may be found abroad 

 during the months of August, September aud October. From the 

 5th to the 18th of Aixgust, 1884, it was observed by me in unusually 

 large numbers upon the blossoms of the golden-rod, Solidago, at 

 Palenville, N. Y., the larger proportion of the individuals occurring 

 at that time mated. 



Comparison of the Two Soldier-Beetles. 

 G. Pennsylvanicua has frequently been figured in Entomological 

 reports, as, in addition to the previous citation ^ — ^in the First Missouri 

 Report, p. 19 ; Fourth Illinois Report, p. 108 ; American Entomologist, 

 p. 51, "A Friend Unmasked ; " Packard's Guide, p. 487, etc. By 

 referring to the figures given, with the aid of the following quota- 

 tion from Walsh, its congener, Chauliognathus ma7'ginatus — the newly 

 detected apple-worm eater — may easily be recognized in its beetle 

 state. 



A very closely allied species [to G. Pennsylvanicus], the margined 

 soldier-beetle ( C/i. marginatus Fabr.) swarms everj^where in South 

 Illinois in June and July, on the flowers of the blackberry, the redroot, 

 etc., but it is not met with in the more northerly parts of the State. 

 It might be readily mistaken at first sight for the other one, but is 

 distinguished by being several times smaller, and by usually having 

 its entire wing-cases except a very narrow yellow margin all around 

 (hence comes the specific name) occupied by the black color, which in 

 the other species forms a mere black patch at the tip. 



