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Psyche 4:265-268, 1883.

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ENTOMOLOGICAL ITEMS.
DR. A. GESTRO, whose address is at the
Museo Civico, Genoa, Italy, would like a correspondent with whom he could exchange coleoptera of Italy, New Guinea, and the Malay archipelago, for those of North Amer- ica.
0"
HERR LEHRER FRANZ BUZEK, in Rako-
witz, Hungarian Austria, desires to ex-
change coleoptera and lepidoptera of his own locality for those of North America." Address as above given.
ASSISTANT WANTED.-Dr. C. V. Riley is
looking for some one experienced in collect- ing and mounting insects, to assist in the work of the Division of Entomology at the Department of Agriculture in Washington. Salary according to ability. Applicants may address him at the Department.
SOUTH AMERICAN INSECTS FOR SALE.-
M. Louisa Ross, Hyde Park, N. Y., offers for sale a IS-drawer cabinet containing ten drawersof butterflies, one of moths, one of more than 200 beetles, and one variety drawer, all South American ; one of moths and one of butterflies, both North American ; syste- matically arranged. Price, $500, which is stated to be very much below cost. The
beetles will be sold for $60, if bought separ- ately or with the most rare of the butterflies. The other specimens may be sold by the
drawer.
The collection is at the Cooper In-
stitute, New York City, where it can be seen. STAPI-IYLINIDAE OF BUENOS AIRES.-Mr.
Felix Lynch An-ibalzaga has just completed a paper, entitled "Estafilinos de Buenos Aires," which occupies the first 392 pages of vol. 7 of the Boletin de la Academia nacional de ciencias en Cordoba, and which is an im- portant contribution to the coleopterous fauna of the Argentine Republic. The au- thor gives descriptions and notes upon 118 species (belonging to 58 genera) which are found in the province of Buenos Aires. A few of the species are North American.
The next meeting of the American associa- tion for the advancement of science will be held at Ann Arbor, Mich., commencing
Aug. 26th 1885. The Entomological club
will meet at that place on August 25th 1885, according to its by-laws; exact locality not yet determined.
Will those members of the club or other
entomologists who expect to be present
please notify one of the undersigned, and also send in the title of any papers they ex- pect to read, and state the length of time they expect to occupy, so that a program can be arranged? The exact place and hour of meeting, as well as the program so fa^ as fixed, will be published later.
John B. Smith, Brooklyn, N. Y., Chairman. Herbert Osborn, Ames, Iowa.
B. Pickman Mann, Washington, D. C.
Committee.
DATA ON ANNUAL ADDRESSES. The ear-
lier annual addresses of the retiring presi- dents of the Cambridge entomological club, of which we publish in this numero that for 1885, were as follows :-
~ s t annual address, by S: H. Scudder,
Jan. 1878. [See PSYCHE, Jan.-Feb. (14 June) 1878, v. 2, p. 97-116 (Rec., I~oI).]
2nd, by E: P. Austin, 10 Jan. 1879. [See PSYCHE, 1879, v. 2 : (14) Mar., p. 217-223; (11) Apr., p. 227-228 (Rec., 1434).]
31-d, by E: Burgess, 9 Jan. 1880. [See
PSYCHE, Mar. (I May) 1880, v. 3, p. 27-43 (Rec., 2943).1
4th, by E: Burgess, 14 Jan. 1881. [Not
published; see PSYCHE, Jul.-Sep. 1881 (7 Mar. 1882), v. 3, p. 245 (Rec., 2950).]
5th, by E: L. Mark, 13 Jan. 1882. [Not
published.]
6th, by S: El. Scudder, 12 Jan. 1883. [Not published; see PSYCHE, Jan.-Feb. (5 May) 1883, v. 4, p. 13. ]
7th, by B: P. Mann, 11 Jan. 1884.
[See
PSYCHE, Apr. ("14 June) 1884, v. 4, p. 155- '59- I




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PRESERVATION OF INSECTS.-To remove
the verdigris which forms upon the pins
the pinned insects should be immersed in benzine and left there for a time; several hours is generally long enough. The ad-
ministration of this bath- cannot be too highly recorninended for beetlesnwhith have been rendered nnrecognizabie by grease,
especially when dust has been mixed with the grease. This immersion, of variable
duration according to circumstances, will restore to these insects, however bad they have become, all their brilliancy and nil their firht freshness, and the efflorescences of cupric oxide will not reappear. This
prcventntive and curative method is also readily applicable to beetles glued upon paper which have become greasy: plunge
thein into benzine in the bame way, and as gti111 is insoluble in the liquid, they remain fastened to their supports.
F'ruinose beetles,
which are few in number, are the only ones that the benzine bath can alrer; the others which are glabrous, pubescent, or scaly, can only gain by the process, and they will
always make a good show in the collection . ..-A. Duboie in Feziille des jeuaes nd- urmlktes, March 1885, p. 71.
NECROLOGY. Since our last issue an-
nouncements of the deiiths ofthe following en- tomoiogists have come to our notice :Constant Bar, entomologist at Cayenne, French Guin- na, died there in 1884. Professor Lauritz Es- mark, director of the zoological museum of the university of Christiania, died there in Dec. 1884. George Mawson, an English lepido-
pterist, died 10 Nov. 1884. L. Rudolf
Meyer-Dur. who has published articles upon c~itomology since 1841, died 2 March 1885, nt Zurich, Switzerland, aged 73. Louie An- gnete Remade Mors, a Parisian entomo-
logist and civil engineer, died at Paris, 7 Dee. 1884, at the age of 58 years. Major Frederic J. Sidney Parry, a London coleo- pterist, died I Feb. 1885, at The Warren, Bushey Heath, aged 74. Titian Ramsay
Peak, lepidopterist, born Oct. 1799, died 13 March 1885, in Philadelphia, Pa. Ed-
ward Caldwell Rye, a well-known English
coleopterist, and editor of the Zoological record, born in London TO April 1832, died of the smaIl-pox, in the same city, 7 Feb. 1885. Sidney Smith, entomologist and concholo- gist, died at Walmer, England, 28 Dec. 1884, aged nearly 80 years. Friedrich Stein, pro- fessor in the university of Prague, who was born in 1818 in Niemegk, Prussia, died 9 Jan. 1885 in Prague ; Dr. Stein was a well- known writer upon infusoria, and in earlier life the author of a number of entomological papers, among which the most prominent
was one upon the sexual organs and the
structure of the abdomen of female beetles, with nine large plates, published in 1847. The January (1885) numem of Rovartani
lajok gives a biographical notice, list of publications, and portrait of Dr. 0. T6mtrs- vdry, whose death we have already noted; he was born 12 Oct. 1852, at Magyard, Hun- gnry, and died 14 August 1884, at Den,
Hungary. G: D.
. .
UPON A PECULIAR ORIENTAL LOCALITY
FOR HONEY.*- Xenophon, in his descrip-
tion of the " Retreat of the ten thousand," says that his soldiers drank barley wine, oinon kritys, as it had been introduced into Egypt by Osyris 4000 years previously, according to the Egyptian tradition, to take the place of other spirituous liquors. Sophocles and other writers mention this barley wine also. Xeno- phon says likewise that his soldiers were in the habit of getting drunk by the use of a certain kind of honey, and were poisoned by it. It seems that the bees suck the nectar from the flowers of poisonous plants which are found in that region. Such an inloxicat- ing, soporific honey is still found there under the name of Melt meuomenon. I have suc-
ceeded by many tedious investigations in es- tablishing the following. I obtained the in- formation principally through a. former pupil of mine who is now settled in Kerchasund in Persia as a physician and apothecary.
Translated from Prof. Dr. Xaver I.tindcrer's "Mit. theilungen BUS dcin orient" (Dcutsch-amcr. fipotheker- ~titung, is Dec. iSSa, jilhrg. 3, p. &).



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I have already reported to you upon the
oriental snatiia for opium. Bul the opium which is produced for the western countries and for China is very little in comparison with the domestic consumption. In the dis- tricts around Erzerourn, around Kerchasund and farther into the Persian districts are to be found coioseal plantations, whose product is almost exclusively used where produced. In all probability it is the nectar of these poppy plants which gives the honey in those regions its toxic qualities.
This honey is used as asoporific for children and is employed also against various affec- tions, especially such as arise from improper food-sour milk, badly cooked rice, goat's milk, etc.-as for instance colic, and often is of aid where symptoms of death have already appeared.
The opium which is collected from the
poppy plants in those regions contains usual- ly ia per cent. and rarely less than 10 per cent. of morphium. I had an opportunity to see such opium in the possession of a Persian merchant. It consisted of round balls of a few drachms weight which were wrapped in goldleaf. This is the kind which is used principally for smoking and chewing.
PUPAL RETREAT OF CHARAGIA VIUS.S-
CENS.-M~: G : Vernon Hudson, in an article in the Entomologist for February 1885, en- titled "Life-h istory of Ckarafia Ttresceus," gives some interesting observations in regard to the habits of this bombycid from New
Zealand. The larva bores in the wood of
living trees, often in that of Ari$lotetia ra- ce- (New Zealand currant), Oleo apetala
(black maize) and Leptosjermm (manuka) . When ready to pupate the larva constructs a complicate tunnel, described as follows. "It consists of a spacious, irregular, but shallow, cavity just under the bark, having a large opening to the air, which is entirety closed with a thin silken covering almost exactly ihe same shape and size as the rtiimerous scars which occur at intervals up the trunks of nearly nli the trees. Three large tunnels open into this shallow cavity; one in the ~entre, which runb intu the middle of the stem ; and one on each side, which run right and left just under the bark. These are
usually very short, but sometimes extend half-way round the tree, and occasionally even join one another on the opposite side. The central tunnel has a slightly upward direction for a short distance inwards, which effectually prevents it from becoming flooded with water; afterwards it pursues an almost horizontal course until it reaches the centre of the tree, when it appears to suddenly terminate. This, however, is not the case, for, if the gallery floor is carefully examined a short distance before its apparent termina- tion, a round trap-door will be found wm- pactly constructed of very hard, smooth silk, corresponding with the surrounding portion of the tunnel so exactly that it a!mostescapes detection. When this !id is removed a long perpendicular shaft is disclosed, which runs down the middle of the tree to a depth of fourteen or sixteen inches [35-40 cm.],
and is about six lines [IS rnm.] in di-
ameter; at the bottom of this the elongate *&wens pupa sleeps quietly and securely
in an upright position, the old larval skin forming a soft support for the terminal seg- ment of the pupa to rest on. The upper
end of this verticill shaft is lined with silk, which forms a framework on which the trap- door rests when it is closed : the lid itself, being of a larger size than the orifice, which it covers, causes it to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to open it from the ex- terior, especially when it fits down very closely, which is nearly always the case as long as the insect remains in its burrow. The object of this most ingenious contrivance is in all probability, to prevent the ingress of insects; blnttne, slugs, spiders, and irnma- hire 'wetas' (Heandeinu) are frequently
found in both central and lateral tunnels, but they are quite unable to pass the trap- door, and are most likely entirely ignorant of the existence of the vertical burrow."



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METAMORPHOSES OF ARCTIC INSECTS. In
the chapter entitled, "Das insektenleben in arktischen landern," which Dr. Christopher Aurivillius contributes to the account of A. E. Nordenskiold's arctic investigations, pub- lished this year in Leipzig,* the author says : "The question of the mode of life of insects and of its relation to their environment in the extreme north is one of especial interest. Knowing, as we do, that any insect in the extreme north has at the most not more than from four to six weeks in each year for its development, we wonder how certain species can pass through their whole metamorphosis in so short a period. R. McLachlan adverts, in his work upon the insects of Grinnell Land, to the difficulties which the shortness of the summer appears to put in the way of the development of the insects, and expresses the belief that the metamorphosis which we are accustomed here to see passed through in one summer there requires several sum- mers. The correctness of this supposition has been completely shown by the intei-est- ing observations which G. Sandberg has
made upon species of lepidoptera in South Varanger, at 6g0 40' north latitude. Sand- berg succeeded in following the develop- ment from the egg onward of some species of the extreme north. Oeneis bore, Schn., a purely arctic butterfly, may be taken as an example. This species never has been found outside of arctic regions and even there occurs only in places of purely arctic stamp. It flies from the middle of June onward, and lays its eggs on different species of grass. The eggs hatch the same summer; the larva hibernates under ground, continues eating and growing the next summer, and does not even then reach its full development, but winters a second time and pupates the fol- lowing spring. The pupa, which in closely- related forms, in regions further to the south, * NORDENSKIOLD, A. E. Studien und forschungen veranlasst durch meine reisen im hohen norden. Au- torisirte ausgabe. Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1885. 9 + 521 p., 8 pi., maps, 0. il.
is suspended free in the air upon a blade of grass or like object, is in this case made in the ground, which must be a very advanta- geous habit in so raw a climate. The imago leaves the pupa after from five to six weeks, an uncommonly long period for a butterfly. In more southern regions the butterfly pupa rests not more than fourteen days in summer. The entire development, then, takes place much more slowly than it does in regions further south. Sandberg has shown, then, by this and other observations, that the arctic sun~mer, even at 70å N., is not suffi- cient for the development of many butterflies, but that they make use of two or more sum- mers for it. If then more than one summer is requisite for the metamorphosis of the butterflies, it appears to me still more likely that the humble-bees need more than one
summer for their metamorphosis. With us
only the developed female lives over from one year to the next; in spring she builds the new nest, lays eggs, and rears the larvae which develop into workers who immediately begin to help in the support of the family; finally, toward autumn, males and females are developed. It seems scarcely credible that all this can take place each summer in the same way in Grinnell Land, at 82' N., especially as the access to food must be more limited than it is with us.
The development
of the humble-bee colony must surely be
quite different there. If it was not surely proved that humble-bees occur at so high latitudes, one would not, with a knowledge of their mode of life, be inclined to believe that they could live under such conditions. They seem, however, to have one advantage over their relatives in the south. In the arctic regions none of those parasites are found which in other regions lessen their numbers, such as the conojidae among the flies, the mutillas among- the hymenoptera, and others."
Nos. 126-12s were issued 16 March ISS';.



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