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Psyche 4:167, 1883.

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PSYCHE.
ON THE LIFE-HISTORIES AND IMMATURE STAGES OF THREE E UML OPINI. CORRECTIVE NOTE.
BY STEPHEN ALFRED FORBES, NORMAL, ILLINOIS. I regret to have to report a mistaken
identification of the species of Scelo-
donta mentioned in my paper "On the
life-histories and immature stages of
three enmo.Z//n/ (PSYCHE, Jan.-Feb.
1884,v,4,p. 123-130,pl. I).
When the images appeared in our
breeding cages last June (see PSYCHE,
v. 4, pa ~zg), I sent a pair of them to
Dr. J. L. Leconte, with a request that
he would take the trouble to determine
them for me ; and mentioned at the same
time the economic relations of the
species.
. In his reply, dated June 24, 1883,
from Alexandria Bay, N. Y., he says :
"I have examined carefully the speci-
mens of Gmp/;o#s [ Scelodonta] , which
were safely received just after my ar-
rival here. I find that they are without doubt G. @bescens; that species differs
from allied ones G. cwtifennis and
G. marcassita, by the more elongate
form and by the punctuation being ru-
gose only at the sides."
With this decision I, of course, rest-
ed content, until this month, when the
reception of specimens of Scelodonta
collected from evening primrose ( Oeno-
them biennis), in southern Illinois, in
the vicinity of strawberry fields, led to a review of this determination. It was
soon evident that these primrose speci-
mens were of a different species from
those breeding in strawberries, and had
also a different life-history, since they were taken in copula, in April, at which time the strawberry species was abun-
dant in the earth, in thelarval condition, not to appear as adult until June.
As the primrose specimens agreed
closely with all accessible descriptions of S. pubescens, I enclosed to Dr. G.
H. Horn a specimen of this lot, togeth-
er with one from the lot bred from
strawberry root-worms last June, with
a statement of Dr. Leconte's previous
identification of the latter as S. -pubes- cens.
In his reply, received this morning,
Dr. Horn determines the primrose spec-
imen as S. @bescens, and that from the




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strawberry as 3'. ~ebuZosus, saying fur- ther :
"The names I now give you are ab-
sol~itely typical as far 'as Leconte's col- lection goes. Last summer, his hedtll
was so poor and his eyesight so clecep-
five that I do not wonder that some of
his comparisons were erroneous."
When we further notice that he was
separated from his collection when he
wrote me, it need not surprise us that
for once Jove nodded.
So far as the paper in PSYCHE is con-
cerned, the errors will be eliminated if piibescens is changed to ne6dosus
wherever it occurs. as a reGxarnination
of all the collections referred to shows that they consist of nebzilosas only.
Illinois state laboratory of I atural history, 17 April 1884.
PROTECTIVE SECRETIONS OF SPECIES OF ELEODES. BY SAMUEL WENDELL WILLISTON, NKVV HAVEN, CONN. In coniiection with Dr. G : Dirmnock's
interebting article1 011 the glmds opening' externally in certain insects, it may be of interest to give some results of sever- al years' observations of certain tenebri- o'fzidae on the Kansas plains. The
following species, belonging to the germs Eleodcs, viz., E. acz~to~ 23. suturalis, E. tricost~ta, obso~e& E. ext?*icato,
E. JongicolZis, and 3. hispiJab?~is, arc abundant in the regions cast of the
Rocky Mountains, some of them very
abundant, and with one or two excep-
tions, they all, when disturbed, eject ;I pungent, vile-smelling liquid. Perhaps
the most disaereenble of these, in this
respect, is E. long-icoJI& a beetle about two and a half centimetres long, which
will eject a stream of fluid from the anal glands, sometimes to' the clihtance of ten centimetrcs or more.
This liquid h;is a
strong, persistent odor, and leaves i\
brown stain upon the skin.
Whether
acid or alkaline in its reaction T cannot IPsychc, Sept.-Oct. 1882 [i March 18841, v. 3, p. 387-401.
say, but its effect upon the skin is very much like the first solution of carbolic acid, though less strong. Several times
I have had small quantities reach my
eyes. with disagreeable efl'ects. Both
sexes are equally provided with the sc-
crction, and, ill individuals å´whic have not been exhausted, it is directed back- ward with considerable force, us I once
learned to my entire satisfaction. I had seized a fine, huge pair of E. Zo~zgicoHis by the thorax and held them up, at
what I deemed a safe distmce, for them
to eject their vile secretion before plac- . ing them in my collecting bottle: Un-
fortunately they were provided with an
unusually large quantity, and, both cjcct- ing it simultaneously, I received it on
ran face and hands. A very noteworthy
habit. moreover, in the species of this
genus at least, and a constant one is that, when approached, they stand almost
vei ticallj with the abdomen directed up- w;n"ds ready the moment they :ire
touched, to eject their mephitic secretion. Among the species given in the forego-




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