[112] REPORT 4, UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



tudinally striate. Base of thorax and of abdomen witli pale pubescent hairs. Wings 

 hyaline, sparsely beset with miu-ate spines which increase radially and form a fringe 

 around the posterior half; the veins of front wings forming a sprawling W, with par- 

 tial cross veins i)roceeding from the lower angles, the basal cross vein longest ; t he 

 longitudinal veins with a few prominent spines. Abdomen, $ , showing but 4 joints, 

 the terminal three short and hardly distinguishable ventrally. — (Am. Ent., iii, p. 52.) 



In almost every larger group of organisms there are doubtful forms which it is dif- 

 ficult to classify, and between the three families of Chalcididae, ProctotrupidsB and 

 CynipidaB, of small hymenopterous insects, it is difficult, if not impossible, to give 

 definitions which permit the ready placing of some of the more osculant forms. Nor 

 can habit be any more safely relied on ; for while the first two families are essentially 

 parasitic and the la,st gall-making ; yet, according to present definitions, species of 

 the first are exceptionally gall-making, and species of the last, as in the present case, 

 exceptionally parasitic. 



Note 43 (p. 117). — The following is Mr. Hubbard's communication, together with 

 our editorial note as it originally appeared : 



Phora dletice not a true parasite. — In examining my breeding jars and boxes, I inva- 

 riably find a species of Phora present in them, whenever they contain any dead animal 

 matter. This is, so far as I can make out, the Ph4)ra aletias which Prof. Comstock 

 considers one of the parasites of Aletia. Mr. Trelease gives his experience with this 

 fly exactly as I should myself, from my own observations. He does not consider it a 

 true parasite, but yields the point to Prof. Comstock. Evidence is daily accumu- 

 lating in my notes of the purely scavenger habits of the Phora. To-day I watched 

 them pass through the meshes of fine muslin gauze, covering my breeding jars, in 

 which moths have died, or pupae been killed by dampness and mold. They (the flies) 

 gather about moldy food and excrement of larvae, but do not deposit eggs unless they 

 find dead moths, larvae, or pupae, and moisture. .The flies are very persistent in push- 

 ing through crevices, and I watched with interest the gravid 9 9 try to squeeze 

 through the gauze. Sooner or later, after many trials, a $ finds a mesh that is loose, 

 and gets through. I see that they have often widened the meshes and pass and re- 

 pass through.— (H. G. Hubbard, Centrevilie, Leon Co., Florida, Aug. 6.) 



[This Phora was obtained by us on several occasions from Aletia chrysalids, in 

 1879, and quite commonly by Mr. Schwarz, but we never considered it truly parasitic, 

 and doubt whether it ever is strictly so. — Ed.] — (American Entomologist, vol. iii, p. 228. ) 



Note 44 (p. 129). — In advocating the destruction of the moth by lights and fires one 

 circumstance has been generally overlooked, which, if proven to be correct, is almost 

 fatal to the theory of the usefulness of this remedy. We refer to the experience of 

 lepidopterists that the vast majority of the moths attracted by light are males. Our 

 attention was called too late to this fact to verify it in the case of Aletia by actual ex- 

 amination in the field, as the moths we found attracted by the lights had not been 

 preserved, but upon examining a number of Lachnosternas which had thus been col- 

 lected we found them to be all males with one exception. It is evident that if only 

 the males are attracted the effect of the remedy is reduced to almost nothing. 



Note 45 (p. 138). — So long as such cases of poisoning are liable to occur, it will be 

 well to widely publish the means of counteracting the poison. The antidote most 

 highly recommended and found in practice to be effectual is hydrated sesquioxide or 

 peroxide of iron, which may be purchased at any drug store. A few spoonfuls taken 

 soon after a case of poisoning will counteract any evil effects. Another very simple 

 antidote is to drink the water (or even to apply it externally) in which old, rusty 

 nails, or other rusty iron have been washed, or in which the rust scraped from old iron 

 has been stirred up. 



Note 46 (p. 140).— It is the uniform experience that the non-fertilized blossoms are 

 destroyed by wet application of poisons during the earlier hours of the forenoon or 

 even by a rain-shower at that time. This seems to be correct, though it is difficult 

 to arrive at a definite conclusion, as a great many blossoms are daily lost in conse- 

 quence of overproduction. So far as the experiments go, the wet application dur- 

 ing clear, hot weather in the forenoon seems to be more liable to injure the plant than 

 in the afternoon or during cloudy weather. 



Note 47 (p. 143).— An easy way of testing the purity of Paris green is to put about 



