210 
LETTERS FROM ALABAMA* 
allied' to the true Locusts^ is, I believe, Eomalea 
microptera. 
Two species of Lucanus, the Deer-beetle {L. 
clama), and the Elk-beetle {L, Elaphus)^ now 
crawl across paths in the evening. They replace 
our English Stag-beetle, which they very closely 
resemble, in size, colour, and form. The former 
has, however, rather shorter, and the latter much 
longer, jaws in proportion. The latter is also 
more slightly built, and has the head broad and 
flat, and raised above the thorax, like a very short 
pillar. The female of one of them, I know not 
which, is scarcely to be distinguished from the 
female of L. cervus. 
A pretty, but offensive bug, the Chequered Bug 
[Hammatocerus Parcis ?) ^ is found crawling on 
plants, in gardens, &c. The thorax is black, with 
a red margin, and the abdomen, whose edge ex- 
tends beyond the incumbent wings, is marked with 
alternate bands of black and scarlet ; the head is 
long, and produced into a narrow neck. 
I visited again, a day or two since, the little 
prairie knoll, which I have already mentioned, and 
which was a month or two ago so profusely clothed 
with flowers, and swarming with insect life. I 
expected to find insects equally numerous, though 
the species should be changed ; but I was much 
disappointed. The AsdepiaSy and all the other 
former flowers have disappeared, and though there 
are some new ones in their places, there are but 
very few butterflies. The pretty i^Pink-wing Moth 
[Deiopeia hella) was still abundant, flitting to and 
fro among the herbage, and hiding, when pursued, 
among the stalks of the grass. Returning, I ob- 
served a large stout Asiliis (A, Polyphemus?)^ 
