25 



Asia Minor, Algeria, Madeira; North America — Canada, New York, 

 Philadelphia, Indiana; Tasmania; Australia; from which it appears 

 that the insect is already practically cosmopolitan, aud in fact may 

 almost be termed a household insect. The collections of the TJ. S. 

 National Museum and of Messrs. Heidemann and Chittenden, of 

 Washington, D. C, indicate the following localities for this species: 

 Locust Hill, Ya.; Washington, D. C; Baltimore, Md. ; Ithaca, N. Y.; 

 Cleveland, Ohio; Keokuk, Iowa. 



The bite of this species is said to be very painful, more so than the 

 sting of a bee, and to be followed by numbness (Liutner). One of the 

 cases brought to the writer's attention this summer was that of a Swede 

 servant girl, in which the insect was caught, where the sting was upon 

 the neck and was followed by considerable swelling. LeConte, in 

 describing an insect of this species under the synonymical name 

 Eeduvius pungens, gives Georgia as the locality, and makes the follow- 

 ing statement: k 'This species is remarkable for the intense pain caused 

 by its bite. I do not know whether it ever willingly plunges its ros- 

 trum into any person, but when caught or unskillfully handled it 

 always stings. In this case the pain is almost equal to that of the 

 bite of a snake, and the swelling and irritation which result from it 

 will sometimes last for a week. In very weak and irritable constitu- 

 tions it may even prove fatal." (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., Yol. VII, 

 p. 404, 1854-55.) 



The second eastern species is Melanolestes picipes. This and the 

 closely allied and possibly identical J\l. abdominalis (fig. 19) are not rare 

 in the United States and have been found all through the Atlantic 

 States, in the West and South, and also in Mexico. They hide under- 

 neath stones and logs and run swiftly. Both sexes of M. picipes in the 

 adult are fully winged, but the female of M. abdominalis (fig. 19) is 

 usually found in the short-winged condition. Prof. P. R. Uhler writes 

 (in litt.): "Melanolestes abdominalis is not rare in this section (Balti- 

 more), but the winged female is a great rarity. At the present time I 

 have not a specimen of the winged female in my collection. I have 

 seen sjjecimens from the South, North Carolina and Florida, but I do 

 not remember one from Maryland. 1 am satisfied that M. picipes is 

 distinct from M. abdominalis. I have not known the two species to 

 unite sexually, but I have seen them both united to their proper con- 

 sorts. Both species are sometimes found under the same flat stone or 

 log and they both hibernate in our valleys beneath stones and rubbish 

 in loamy soils." Specimens in Washington collections show the follow- 

 ing Realities for M. abdominalis: Baltimore, Md., Washington, D. C, 

 Wilmington, Del., New Jersey, Long Island, Fort Bliss, Tex., Louisiana, 

 and Keokuk, Iowa.; and for M. picipes: Washington, D. C, Rosslyn, 

 Ya,, Baltimore, Md., Derby, Conn., Long Island, a series labeled New 

 Jersey, Wilmington, Del., Keokuk, Iowa, Cleveland and Cincinnati, 

 Ohio, Louisiana, Jackson, Miss., Barton County, Mo., Fort Bliss, Tex., 

 San Antonio, Tex., Crescent City, Fla., and Holland, S. C. 



