284 The American Naturalist. [Mareh, 
has had access to ample collections and literature, and has filled nearly 
one hundred pages with the bibliography of this comparatively small 
family. , 
Colors of Lepidopterous Larvz.—Prof. E. B. Poulton hasan 
` abstract of a memoir’ entitled “ The experimental proof that the colors 
of certain Lepidopterous Larve are largely due to the modified plant 
pigments derived from food.” He divided into three lots one batch of 
eggs laid by Tryphena pronuba, and fed them in darkness on green 
leaves, on yellow etiolated leaves and white midribs of cabbage. The 
last, whose food contained neither chlorophyll nor etiolin, were entirely 
unable to form the green or brown ground color.—Journal Royal 
Microscopical Society. 
Effect of Arsenites on Caterpillars.—Professor C. H. Fernald 
reports’ that in a series of experiments with various insecticides it was 
found that “gypsy caterpillars, when half-grown or larger, are not 
destroyed by any proportion of Paris green in water that can be used 
on fruit trees without injury to the foliage.” A new insecticide— 
arsenate of lead—was tried with satisfactory results. “It did not in- 
jure even the most delicate foliage, however large a proportion was 
used. In one case, 24 pounds to 150 gallons of water were used with- 
out injury to the leaves.” 
Life-history of the Mole Cricket.—Some interesting details 
of the life-history of the European mole cricket (Gryllotalpa vulgaris) 
were recently communicated by M. F. Decaux to the Societé En- 
tomologique de France. i 
In some specimens under observation copulation took place April 19; 
the eggs were deposited by the end of April, and hatched May 16. At 
first the young are gregarious. All the young of a given brood do not 
‘mature at the same time; those maturing earliest reproduce 25 months 
after hatehing, others 28 months, and a few even 35 months. : These 
insects, M. Decaux says, are essentially carnivorous—feeding on insects, 
worms and slugs—but they accommodate themselves very well to a 
vegetable diet. He believes that the galleries are made not to pursue 
insects, but as places of defense and concealment. 
News.—Prof. Charles Robertson has issued another instalment of 
his valuable papers on Flowers and Insects. 
ê Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 1893, pp. 255-265. 
- ê Thirty-first Rep. Mass. Agr. College, p. 28. 
* Bull. des Seances, No. 20, p- CCCXEI, 
