366 



of similar borers — namely, a strong soap solution to wliicli lias been 

 added a small quantity of crude carbolic acid or a little Paris green — 

 ^ould, if applied at tlie right time, greatly reduce tlie damage. 



FOOD OF TAEA>*TrLA I^T CO^'FmEMENT. 



Our old Mend, Dr. J. M. Shaffer, of Keokuk. Iowa, has recently pub- 

 lished in a local paper an account of the feeding habits of a •• Tarantula" 

 which was found at Keokuk in the fall of 1890 in a bunch of bananas. 

 This large Theraphosid spider was kept by Dr. Shaffer and some iuter- 

 esting feeding experiments were followed out between the above date 

 and October 20th, when the spider became torpid and was subse- 

 quently placed in alcohol. Dr. Shaffer found among the many things 

 he experimented with that the spider fed upon Cockroaches, larvie 

 of Aj) at el a americana. Dog Day Harvest Fly {Cicada canicidari.'s). Eed- 

 legged G-rasshopper iCaJo])tenus femur n(hrum),KoTi>e Fly {Tabanus 

 at rat us). The following were also placed in the box. but were not 

 touched: Live mouse, raw beef. Colorado Potato-beetle. Cecroxua cater- 

 pillar, Tent-caterpillar [Clisiocampa ameyicana), larvae of the Interroga- 

 tion Butterfly (Grapta interrogationis), Five-spotted Sphinx {Jlao-osila 

 cingulata). Crickets, Carolina Locust {Bissosteira Carolina). The box in 

 which Dr. Shaffer kept the specimeu, and in which it made itself 

 quite at home, was 8 by 12 by 16 inches and had a glass cover. When 

 he placed in the mouse it did not seem to be in the least afraid of the 

 spider, but ate corn and cheese, and eventually gnawed its way out. 



EXTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHIXGTOX. 



May 4, 1893. — A paper by Prof. C. H. T. Townsend entitled '■ Xotes on the Conic o, 

 a Hemipterous insect "^hicli infests poultry in southern Xew Mexico/" ^vas read by 

 Mr. Schwarz, The author described the habits of the species which he identihed as 

 Cimex inodora Duges and added a description of the nymph. Discussed by Messrs. 

 Ashmead. Schwarz, and C. W. Johnson. Mr. Schwarz read descriptions of Anchonus 

 Jioridanus and. Loganius Jicits. both representing genera new to the North .American 

 fauna. The following notes by Mr. Wm. H. Patton were read: Discovery of the 

 male oi PterocJiUii^ o-fasciatus Say; Zefhus aztecus in Florida; N'otes on TTasps Xo. 1. 

 Mr. Ashmead presented a ■'• Synopsis of the North American species of Toxoneura 

 Say." Specimens were exhibited by Messrs. Heidemann and Schwarz. 



June 1^ 1893. — D. MacCuaig was elected an active member andH. H. Goodell. of 

 Amherst, Mass., and A. L. Montandon, of Bucarest. Eoumania, corresponding mem- 

 bers. Dr. Marx read a paper entitled ••' Continuation of the life history of the Whip- 

 tail Scorpion'" in which he described the habits and growth of a specimen of The- 

 lyphonuB giganteus during the second year of its confinement. Discussed by Messrs. 

 Schwarz, Marx. Howard, and Eiley. Mr. Ashmead presented certain •■ Xotes on the 

 family Pachyllommatoidea "' oi'Foerster. He gave a historical review of the views 

 of different authors as to systematic position of these insects and concluded that the 

 group is a subfamily of the Braconidse. He erected a new genus Eupachylomma to 

 contain two new Xorth American species. 



Mr. Frank Benton presented some "X'otes on the Death's Head Moth in relation 

 to Honey Bees '* describing his personal observations with this moth in south Europe 



