REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



415 



insinuated themselves into onr mouths, noses, eyes, and ears despite veils anrl wet tow- 

 els, and now, atsnndown, we sought the shelter of this cave, the locality of which we 

 had discovered on a previous exploration, spread its rough door with grama, pre- 

 pared and ate our supper with keen relish, and lay down in our blankets for much 

 needed rest and sleep. 



Suddenly, about 10 o'clock, Mrs. Lemmon screamed, and rose up in bed, shaking 

 her arm and exclaiming. Rousing up, lighting a match and searching the grass of 

 our couch, a large, flat, black, nimble-looted bug was seen hurrying away into a 

 rock-crevice. 



The first bite was upon the arm of my wife, and it was pitiful to see the tears roll- 

 ing down her cheeks as she swung her arm about, while applying ammonia to allay 

 the pain of the wound, which immediately reddened and swelled, forming a convex 

 surface one inch or more across. 



After one hour or so, overcome by weariness we fell off to sleep, out of which I was 

 aroused by a sting on my leg. Furies of Dante ! How it hurt ! Every ganglion of 

 the nervous system seemed to be at once attacked. There was as much paiu in the 

 head as in the wounded leg. I caught the stealthy assassin aud preserved him for our 

 California Academy of Sciences. Other attacks during the night kept us awake for 

 most of the long hours, but the next and succeeding nights, being overcome with 

 fatigue and want of rest, towards morning the' bugs had their way and gorged them- 

 selves with our blood while we were unable to combat them . 



The swellings made by these monster bugs soon fester, with great itching and pain, 

 then discharge pus from the wound for several days afterward. 



From the size of this specimen, which is about medium, you see, when filled they are 

 about the bigness and shape of a common hazel-nut. The specimen sent is about 

 half filled with blood. Unlike the familiar fleas of Oakland and San Francisco, 

 that first gallop along your spine and hold a picnic under your shoulder blades be- 

 fore proceeding to lunch off your shrinking veins, the presence of these terrible bugs 

 is not felt until the keen thrust comes through your garments from their hard beak 

 over ^ of an inch long. It needs not, therefore, to crawl within your clothiug or 

 even your blanket in order to draw your blood. 



A gentleman living in Tucson and owning a ranch near the foot-hills of the Santa 

 Catalina recognizes this bug as an old offender, and states that some of the insects 

 have wings with which they fly about his cabin, with a loud fluttering noise. We saw 

 no winged specimens, however, and the gentleman may have referred to another insect 

 nearly allied to this most dreadful enemy we met with in all our four years' explora- 

 tion of Arizona. 



The Catalpa Sphinx (Sphinx catalpce). — Judge Lawrence C. John- 

 son wrote from Selma, Ala., under date of November 11, 1883, concern- 

 ing the fondness of the American cuckoos for the larvae of this insect : 



Last summer, speaking of the Catalpa Sphinx, it was mentioned how fond of them 

 are the American cuckoos. Afterthat, in July, lying ill a few days at a hotel in Eutaw, 

 Ala., I could hear the well-known notes of these birds as if in uncommon numbers. A 

 large water-oak (Q. phellos) shut out the prospect from my window ; but the cuckoos 

 frequently lit in it, giving me a good view of them. There they were, both species — 

 Coccygw erythrophthalmits, and C. anievicanus. The latter is more numerous in the 

 bottoms, but the river is only 2 miles away. The question with the sick man was. 

 What could be drawing these shy birds into the midst of a city f As soon as I could 

 walk out, the mystery was explained. Across the street stood a line of Catalpa (big- 

 nonioides). Every caterpillar was cleaned off of the upper branches. Not one to be 

 found much defoliated, except very near the ground. In the river-bottoms, where in 

 places the trees are plentiful, and hawks numerous, I have seen hundreds entirely 

 stripped of leaves. A grove of this kind occupies a part of Gardiner's Island (Dallas 

 County, Alabama), resorted to by fishermen to get the worms for bait. 



Notes on Cotton-Worms.— In November, 1883, Mr. G. H. Kent, of 

 Meadville, Franklin County, Mississippi, wrote as follows in regard to 

 the Cotton and Boll worms : The large, pale-green spider Oxyopes viri- 

 dans, as well as Clubiona pallens, were destroying a vast number of 

 worms and moths. A good many Aphis lions (Chrysopa), Mosquito- 

 hawks and Soldier-bugs were observed searching among the cotton- 

 plants for them also. The Thick-thighed Metapodius was found to be 

 the most abundant insect in the cotton-fields, and Mr. Kent was con- 

 vinced that they were destroying a great number of Aletias during 

 the season. The Devil's. Elding Horse (Mantis Carolina) was also very 



