Article beginning on page 168.
Psyche 4:168, 1883.

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PSYCHE.
[May iSS+
strawberry as S. nehlosus, saying fur-
ther :
LLTl~e names I now give you are ab-
sol~itely typical as far as Leconte's col- lection goes. Last summer, his health
was so poor and his eyesight so decep-
tive that I do not wonder that some of
his con~parisons weie erroneous."
When we further notice that he was
separated from his collection when lie
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 piibescem is changed to nebulosus
wherever it occurs. as i\ re~xaminiition of all the collections referred to shows that they consist of nebuloszis only.
Illinois state laboratory of I alural history, 17 April 1884.
PROTECTIVE SECRETIONS OF SPECIES OF ELEODES. BY SAMUEL WENDELL WILLISTON, NEW HAVEN, CONN In connection with Dr. G : Dimmocl?s
interc5ting iiiticlel on the glands opening externally in ceitain insects, it may be of interest to give some results of se\ er- a1 years' observAons of cei tain tefiebri- oxidae on the 1Canii;is plains. The
following species, belonging to the germs Eleodcs, viz., E. aciifa, E. sutz~m//s,
E. tricostdtci, E. obsoleta. 2%. extricate, E. Io?zgicoZ/is, and E. hispiJab~is, :~rc iibuiidaiit in the regions east of the
Rocky Mountains, some of them very
iib~~ndant, and with one or two excep-
tions, they all, when disiti~rbcd, eject a pungent, vile-smelling liquid. Perhaps
the most disagreeable of these, in this
respect, is E. lo~zgicoJIis, a beetle about two and a half centimetres long, which
will eject a stream of fluid from the .inn1 glands, sometimes to the tlihtanci.~ of ten ccntimetrcs or more. This liquid h;is a
strong, persistent odor, and leaves a
brown st;iin upon the skin. WIiet!iei
acid or alkaline in its reaction I cannot ]Psyche, Sept.-Oct. 1882 [I March 18841, v. 3, p. 3S7-401
saj, but its effect upon the skin is veiy much
like the fiist solution of carbolic
acid, though less strong. Sevcial times
I have hid small quantities reach my
eyes. with di~agreeable eflkcts. Both
sexes are equally provided with the sc-
CI ction, and, i:~ in.lividurils 'which have not been exi~aiisted, it is directed back- ward with consides~ible force, as I once learned to 111~ eutiic satisfaction. I had seized a fine, huge pair of E. loqico!ZtĚ by the thorax and held them up, at
what I deemed a safe dist.ince, foi them to eject their vile secretion before phc-. ing them in my collecting bottle. Un-
fortunatelj they were provided with an
unusually large quantity, and, both cjcct- ingit siin~~ltancously, I received it on mj f~ce and hands. A very notcwo~tl~y
li'ibit. moreover, in the species of this genus at le'ist. and a constant one is that, when approached, they stand almost
veiticallj with the abdomen directed up- war& ready the moment they arc
touched, to eject their mephitic secretion. Among the species given in the forego-




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May 1884.1 PS 2T7-IE. 169
ing list, one (23. tricostatq if my mem- ory serves aright) seems to be entirely
devoid of this secretion, but yet has the same habit of standing erect. These
beetles are the veritable skunks of their order, and doubtless, like their ill-scented superiors, find protection in their com- paratively as formidable weapon. They
are apterous. and slow in their move-
ments, coming out from their hiding
places when the sun is declining, and
feed upon dead matter or excrements.
On the bare plains they are readily seen, and I doubt not that they find protection from birds, and perhaps from skunks
also, by means of their secretion.
[For further information on this subject, see Rec., 1430.1
A CURIOUS HABIT OF CALLOSAMIA PROALEZ'THEA. BY JOHN GEORGE JACK, CHATEAUGUAY BASIN, P. Q,., CANADA. FOR several years I have been very
much puzzled, in summer, to account
for numbers of green leaves, some being
partly eaten, found on the ground be-
neath trees having long petioled leaves, such as maples and poplars, the petioles of which apparently had been eaten
through by some insect.
Last summer,
while in New Jersey, I noticed similar
occurrences beneath a sweet gum tree,
Liquidambar styraciflua, and upon
looking for the cause I found that it
was the work of nearly full grown larvae of Callosamia $rome/hea, which were
feeding on the foliage. The petioles
of Liquidambar leaves are usually
very long (from 5 to 10 cm.)
and quite
slender.
To get at the leaves the caterpillar
was either obliged to abandon the
branch of the tree and
crawl out on the
leafstalk to the leaf, where it would be in a very dangerous position, with
slight foothold, and where it was very
probable that, owing to the weight of its body, it would break off the leaf at the node and fall to the ground ; or, the
caterpillar must contrive to bring the
leaf to itself in some way, while still
keeping a sure foothold on the branch.
To do this last required a little skill
and I found that the caterpillar was
equal to the task. Grasping the twig
firmly with the anal and sometimes one
or two pairs of the abdominal legs, it
would extend the remaining portion of
its body along the leafstalk, which it
commenced eating. As soon as the
leafstalk was about half eaten through,
the caterpillar would recede a little and eat another place half through or more,
and sometinies a third place. By this
time the leafstalk had become so weak-
ened that the leaf began to droop, and
the caterpillar, reaching forward again
as far as possible and grasping the stalk beyond the first incision, was able to
bend it, and, drawing the leaf up to
itself, eat it without loosing its sure
foothold on the tree.
Sometimes the leafstalk was eaten
through a little too far, or broke off in bending, which accounted for the green
leaves found on the ground.




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