822 General Notes. [October, 



matters the Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum contains 

 a description of two new races o! >:. inhabiting 



respectively Southwestern Mexico and Guatemala, and the Tres 

 Marias islands, by Leonhard Stegneger, and in the same Proceed- 

 ings Mr. R. Ridgway describes two new Costa Rican birds, a new 

 fly-catcher and a supposed new petrel from the Sandwich islands, 

 a new owl from Porto Rico, and two new thrushes from this 

 country, one from the Rocky mountains, the other breeding in 



New York. The same Proceedings contain much ichthyologi- 



cal news, including a paper by Professor G. B. Goode on Bentho- 

 desmus, a new genus of deep-sea Trichiuridse, allied to Lepido- 

 pus. The species was first described as Lcpidohus elonsratns, by 

 F. E. Clarke, from examples taken in New Zealand, and has since 

 been found on the Great Bank of Newfoundland. Messrs. Jor- 

 dan and Gilbert publish a key to the species of Pomudasys 

 (= Pristipoma) known to inhabit the Pacific coast of tropical 

 America, eighteen in all, including P. castas, a new spenies, and 

 describe thirty-eight new species of fishes from Mazatlan, and 

 one from San Salvador. The genus Stolephorus (Engraulis) 

 receives four additions, Tylosaurus (Belone) two, Gobiesox four, 

 Muraena two, Ophichthys two, Lutjanus two. Among the fea- 

 tures of the collection described was a specimen of a Mai the and 

 one of Fierasfer, both new. Dr. T. H. Bean gives notes upon a 

 collection of fishes, with descriptions of new species and of a new 

 genus (Delolepis). In the same proceedings Dr. R. W. Shufeldt 

 gives some valuable remarks upon the osteology of Opheosaurus 



ENTOMOLOGY. 1 

 Buffalo Tree-hopper injurious to Potatoes. — Some years 

 ago we gave a short account of the transformations of this insect 

 (5th Report on the Insects of Missouri, pp. 1 19-125). The Buf- 

 falo tree-hopper {Ceresa bubaliis Fabr.) oviposits in young twigs 

 of apple, pear and other trees, subsisting in its later stages upon 

 the sap of these trees. It is a very common and widely distrib- 

 uted insect, but does become injurious to a serious extent. We 

 were greatly surprised, therefore, by the recent receipt of a num- 

 ber of specimens from Mr. W. M. Heilman, of Annville, Pa., 

 accompanied by the following note dated July 19th: "I mail 

 you to-day a box of insects injurious to potato plants, and plants 

 showing their modus operandi. The insects are probably a spe- 

 cies of tree-hopper, and it seems strange to me that they should 

 work on potatoes. They commenced work on potatoes in a 

 young orchard about four weeks ago, and I have not found that 

 they work or do any injury after their last molt or when they 

 become winged. They averaged about fifteen specimens to the 

 1 This department is edited by Professor C. V. Riley, Washington, D. C.to whom 



