188 BULLETIN OF WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOL. 1. NO. 3. 
to catch a glimpse of what might be going on at the few flowers 
still in bloom in that neighborhood. What I saw surpassed my 
expectation ; I had never thought of the possibility of witnessing 
such a gathering of flower-visiting insects so late in the season. 
The flowers on which the visitors were observed represented the 
following species: Erigcron annuus, Pers., Taraxacum officinale, 
Weher, Sonchns olcraceus, L., Melilotus alba, Lam. and Pasfi- 
naca sativa, L. Insects were numerous on the umbels of the lat- 
ter, the wild parsnip, a few specimens of which were still in full 
blossom, growing along the railroad tracks. About 2 o'clock in 
the afternoon, the situation changed very abruptly ; a cold wind 
set in from the northwest, driving the insects to shelter, and 
within a few minutes the flowers were deserted. This event 
marked the closing of the season. 
Below I add a list of the 40 species observed on that day, No- 
vember 4, 1900. This is an exceedingly late date of observation 
in our latitude : 
Hymenoptera. Andrenidae : ( i ) Halictus disparilis, Cr. 9 ; 
(2) H. laevissimus, Sm.cJ^ ; (3) H. pattonii, Ashm. 
(M. S.) 9 ; (4) H. inconspicuus, Sm. 9 ; (5) Halic- 
tus sp. ; 
Vespidae: (6) Polistes pallipes, Lep. ? ; 
Braconidae: (7) Apanteles sp. ; 
Ichneumonidae : (8) Ichneumon sp. ; 
Diptera. Syrphidae: (9) Chrysogaster nitida, Wied. ; (10) 
Syrphus americanus, Wied. ; (11) Mesogramma margi- 
nata. Say.; (12) Eristalis, meigenii, Wied.; (13) E. 
tenax, L. ; (14) Helophilus similis, Macq. ; (15) Syritta 
pipiens, L. ; 
Conopidac : (16) Oncomyia loraria, Loew. ; 
Tachinidae: (17) Phorantha occidentis. Walk.; 
(18) Tachina mella. Walk.; (19) Trichophora rufi- 
cauda, v. d. W. ; 
Sarcophagidae : (20) Helicobia helicis. Town. ; (21) 
Sarcophaga sp. ; 
Anthomyidae: (22) Phorbia fusciceps, Zett. ; (23 — 
24) Phorbia spp. ; 
Muscidae : (25) Stomoxys calcitrans, L. ; (26) 
Pollenia rudis, F. ; (27) Lucilia sericata, Mg. ; (28) L. 
cornicina, F. ; (29) Compsomyia macellaria, F. ; (30) 
Morellia micans, Mg. ; 
Scatomyzidae : (31) Scatophaga squalida, Mg. ; 
Sepsidae: (32) Sepsis violacea, Mg. ; 
