natural science news. 



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The larvas of those moths, such 

 as the Sphinges, or Hawk moths, 

 which spin no cocoon, descend 

 deep into the earth, where they 

 transform into chrysalids and lie 

 in deep earthen cocoons. 



The wild bees may now be found 

 frequenting flowers in considerable 

 numbers. Both sexes of the Hnm- 

 ble bee, 'the Leafcutter bee, and 

 other smaller genera abound dur- 

 ing the warm days. 



One's attention during an unus- 

 ually warm and pleasant day in 

 this month is attracted by clouds 

 of insects filling the air, especially 

 towards sunset, when the slanting 

 rays of the sun shine through the 

 winged hosts. On careful investi- 

 gation these insects will prove to 

 be nearly all ants, and, perhaps, 

 to belong to a single species. 

 Looking about on the ground, 

 an unusual activity will be noticed 

 in the ant-hills. This is the 

 swarming of the ants. The au- 

 tumnal brood of females has ap- 

 peared, and this is their marriage 

 day. 



The history of a formicarium, or 

 ant's nest is as follows: The work- 

 ers, only, hibernate, and are found 

 early in the spring, taking care of 

 the eggs and larvse produced by 

 the autumnal brood of females. 

 In the course of the summer these 

 eggs and larvae arrive at maturity, 

 and swarm on a hot sultry day, us- 

 ually early in September. The fe- 

 males after their marriage flight, 

 for the small diminutive males 

 seek their company at this time, 

 descend and enter the ground to 

 lay their eggs for new colonies, or, 

 as Westwood states, they are often 

 seized by the workers and retained 

 in the old colonies. Having no 

 more inclination to fly, they pluck 

 off their wings and may be seen 

 running about wingless. 



We have noticed that those fe- 

 males that do not return to the old 

 nest found new ones. In Maine 

 and Massachusetts we have for 

 several successive years noticed 

 the swarming of certain species of 

 ants during an unusually warm and 

 sultry day early in September. 



The autumnal brood of Plant 

 lice now occur in great numbers on 

 various plants. The last brood 

 however, does not consist exclu- 

 sively of males and females, for of 

 some of the wingless individuals 

 previously supposed to be perfect 

 insects of both sexes, Dr. W. I. 

 Burnett found that many were 

 in reality of the ordinary gemmi- 

 parous form, such as those compos- 

 ing the early summer broods. 



The White Pine Plant lice 



lyLachnus strobi) may be seen lay- 

 ing their long string of black oval 

 eggs on the needles of the pine. 

 They are accompanied by hosts of 

 two-winged flies, Ichneumons, and 

 in the night by many moths which 

 feed on the Aphis-honey they se- 

 crete, and which drops upon the 

 leaves beneath. — From Packard's 

 Insect Calendar. 



Culture and Biology. 



One hears it said everywhere 

 that Huxley was an example of 

 the cultured man of science, and 

 that such an instance is conspicu- 

 ous by its rarity. Similarly it is 

 frequently asserted that he was a 

 man naturally inclined to letters 

 and culture, who had become a 

 man of science by the accident of 

 events. We believe this to be a 

 misapprehension. We do not dis- 

 pute that Huxley was a man of un- 

 usual and commanding ability, who, 

 in whatsoever environment he had 

 chanced to live, would have been 

 conspicuous among his fellows. 

 But a considerable part of his cul- 

 ture arose from a necessary conse- 

 quence of his scientific pursuits. 

 Most scientifiic men, like most ed- 

 ucated people, have an acquaint- 

 ance with Latin and Greek. But 

 it is also necessary that they should 

 make themselves familiar with 

 French and German. There are 

 very few who do not in addition 

 acquire a working knowledge of 

 Italian: a large number can read 

 Russian and a Scandinavian lang- 

 uage in addition. We venture to 

 think that among the educated 

 classes generally, among parsons, 

 journalists, lawyers, bankers, and 

 even men of letters, there are very 

 few possessed of this ordinary 

 equipment of scientific men. Al- 

 though the languages are acquired 

 as a professional necessity, often 

 as a distasteful task, there are few 

 who confine their reading to foreign 

 scientific memoirs. Speaking of 

 our own acquaintances among men 

 living in London occupied in one 

 branch of science, we know one 

 who has amused himself by trans- 

 lating into English verse German 

 and Norwegian poetty; another 

 Russian and French; another who 

 is an authority upon Spanish dra- 

 matic literature; yet another whose 

 daily companion is Machiavelli. 

 And if it came to a contest in Con- 

 tinental light literature, we could 

 make up a scientific eleven in 

 whom we should have every con- 

 fidence. — Natural Science, {London") 



Apatura celtis (Bd-Lec.) 



It was on a sultry clay in the 

 first part of August, when I stroll- 

 ed along a road leading through a 

 fine spot of open forest in search 

 of butterflies. It was a day which 

 would not allow an entomologist 

 to be lazy, for the woods were 

 merely teeming with insect life. 

 I had not walked very far along 

 the road, when all at once some- 

 thing flew with a whirr past my 

 face. Following the object as 

 best I could with my eyes, I no- 

 ticed it settle on an old burned 

 tree, not fifteen yards from the 

 place where I stood. Making my 

 way through thorn bushes and 

 creepers, cautiously, I came 

 within ten feet of the tree, where I 

 had seen it settle, when, whirr! it 

 again brushed my face. Aston- 

 ished at this queer action I stood 

 perfectly still, thinking it must 

 come back, in this I was not mis- 

 taken, for I had not long to wait, 

 when not only one, but three set- 

 tled on the tree. I now made the 

 rest of the way without disturbing 

 my game. Arriving there I no- 

 ticed they were all to high for my 

 net to reach them, thinking how 

 would be the best way to get at 

 them, I came to the conclusion, 

 that it would be as well to chase 

 them away, as to allow them to sit 

 where they were, so taking a bit 

 of bark from the tree I threw it at 

 the lowest one, which was about 

 fifteen feet from the ground. To 

 my great surprise the butterfly was 

 not frightened by the object, but 

 to the contrary took after the same 

 and returned to the tree after the 

 piece of bark had reached the 

 ground but this time setttled about 

 two feet lower. As this was not 

 low enough for me to make a strike 

 I proceeded to throw another 

 piece of bark up the tree, expect- 

 ing the butterfly to alight still 

 lower on its return, but this time 

 all three took after it and prompt- 

 ly returned to the tree when the 

 bark struck the ground. It was 

 rather amusing play on their part. 

 Repeating my action over and 

 over again, I at last succeeded in 

 getting one low enough to try a 

 blow. A jump and a hit, were a 

 moments work and he was my prisj 

 oner, and now occupies his well 

 deserved place in my collection. 



Now, I suppose the reader 

 would like to know the name of 

 my captive, it is a male of Apatura 

 celtis (Bd Lec) which is here very 

 rare. 



Hermann Schwarz, 



St. Louis, Mo. 



