141 



tion with accompany in ^c;- letter of transmittal dated September 2, con- 

 taining brief notes on their breeding liabits. These notes are of such 

 interest that we take the present occasion to place some of the princi- 

 pal facts on record : 



Mouodontomerus montlragus Asbm. — Bred iu August by Dr. A. Davidson, from a 

 larva or pupa of a wibl bee. Bre<l August 24 from a pupa of Xylocopa sp. 



I'oJychroma sp. — Bred July 30 from a larva or pupa of Chrysoboihris sp. 



Pteromalus puparum. — Four J ^ and 56 $ 9 speeimens issued May 6 from a cbrys- 

 alis oi Pyrameis carycv. 



Praon clicnopodiapliklts issued about June 10 from Aphis rum'icis fastened to tlie leaf 

 by their silken cocoons. (See Insect Life, vol. iv, p. 196.) 



Bmcon sp. Bred witli the above. 



Isocratas vulgaris Walk. — Bred with the above. 



Bracon sp. — Bred in May and June from larvse or pupi© of Tychius semisquamosus. 



Bracon sp. — Bred iu May from Thalpocliares cocciphaga received from Australia. 



Limneria fugitiva Say. — Bred May 28 from a caterpillar of CUsiocampa calif ornica. 



A SILK-COVERED WALNUT. 



Mr. Percy E. Clarke, of the U. S. Patent Office, has sent us an 

 English walnut completely and curiously encased in a fine gray silken 

 envelope, sufficiently dense to hide the contents. The nut was picked 

 in this condition from a tree growing on Capitol Hill, Washington, D. C. 

 In our oi)inion this silken casing was produced by the larva of the 

 Hand-maid Moth [Datana integerrima)^ since these caterpillars have 

 the habit of congregating together and spinning a carpet of silk during 

 the first and second molts. That they should have thus surrounded a 

 spherical nut, however, is somewhat strange. 



NEW LOCALITIES FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN FLOUR MOTH. 



This important enemy of stored cereal products has recently made its 

 appearance in Jamaica, W. I., and in California, and it appears to be 

 only a question of time when the species will be found in nearly all 

 parts of the world. Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell informed us in a recent 

 communication that he had found a '' fine lot of larvae of Ephestia 

 I'Hhniella in oatmeal bought in the streets of Kingston, Jamaica," and 

 Mr. W. G. Johnson, of Palo Alto, Cal., sends us specimens of the same 

 insect under date of August 30, with the information that it is making 

 its appearance in one of the largest mills on the Pacific coast and is 

 making rapid progress toward the destruction of the cereals in the 

 mill. 



DAMAGE BY CODLING MOTH IN NEBRASKA. 



Prof. Edw. Daniels, in a recent (conversation, informed us that hav- 

 ing traveled through the State of Nebraska the i^resent summer he felt 

 himself in position to estimate the loss from Codling moth the present 

 season in that State to be $2,000,000, nearly all of which might have 

 been saved by spraying. It is an ''oft'" year for apples, but fully enough 



