REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I9IO 6/ 



Stable fly (Muscina stabulans Fall.) . This rather 

 common fly was reared last May from larvae in bee comb found in 

 association with a few small beetles which live in decaying animal 

 matter. This record is not unprecedented, since, according to Dr 

 Howard, this species has similar habits in Europe. The maggots of 

 this fly usually occur in decaying vegetable matter, fungi etc., 

 though they have been reported as living in cow dung, and Megnin 

 records finding puparia in the mummified bodies of children. This 

 species was captured at Washington several times on human 

 excrement. 



Saturnia pavonia Linn. One specimen of the dark reddish 

 brown cocoon of this Bombycid was found on nursery stock at Roch- 

 ester. The cocoon is 3.5 cm. in length, 2.5 cm. in diameter and with 

 one end somewhat produced and partially open. The moth, which 

 was easily reared, has a wing spread of 7.5 cm., is smaller than our 

 well known Calosamia promethea Drury, and the coloring 

 is mostly in shades of gray with distinct ocellate spots on both the 

 anterior and posterior wings. There should be no difficulty in 

 excluding this rather large species. 



Insects and paper. Three years ago, through the courtesy of 

 the A. T. de la Mare Printing & Publishing Company of New 

 York, we received a large sheet of paper badly disfigured, though 

 just from the calendering rolls. An examination showed that a 

 May or June beetle had been caught in the heavy rolls and literally 

 crushed into the paper, its body fluids making a smear some 12 

 inches long. A most interesting feature was the preservation of the 

 hard parts, especially the legs and antennae, so perfectly that there 

 was no difficulty in referring the victim to the genus Lachnosterna. 

 An equally interesting specimen of this kind of work was discovered 

 in a recent publication. The victim this time was a crane fly. The 

 paper presented substantially (pi. 17, fig. 2) the same appearance 

 as noted above, portions of the insect remaining even after the 

 paper had been subsequently printed upon and bound. These acci- 

 dents suggest the possibility of a novel ornamental card or sheet 

 made by rolling into the paper the delicate wings of certain common 

 insects, thus obtaining an effect impossible from purely artificial 

 methods. 



Agromj^za melampyga H. Lw. Numerous specimens of this 

 small, yellowish and black marked fly were reared the latter part of 

 May 1910 from walking-leaf, Camptosorus rhizo- 

 phyllus, collected at Hudson Falls May 16, 1910 by Stewart 

 H. Burnham, assistant to the State Botanist. The infested leaves 



