Article beginning on page 110.
Psyche 5:110, 1888.

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110 PSYCHE. [September-October ISSS.
G. semiofacus Jsk. 1. c. p. 612.
melsheimeri Jek. 1. c., p. 613.
CNEMOTRUPES Jekel.
G. egeriei Germ. Ins. Spec. i, p. 144.
lecontei 9 Jek. 1. c., p. 592.
G. o$actzs Hald. Proc. Acacl. 1853, p.
362.
haldemaniJek. 1. c., p. 593.
ckevrolati Jek. 1. c., p. 595.
G. blackburnz'i Fabr. Spec. Insect. i,
p. 20, no. 85.
ewementi Say, Jour. Acad. iii, p.
210.
var. jekellii Horn 1. c., p. 317.
conicoZlz's Jek. 1. c,, p. 591.
G. dkei 11. sp.
G. occidentalls. Horn Trans. v. viii,
P. 144.
MELANOTRUPES.
G. hii 11. sp.
G. ckctlflaeus Lec. Proc. Am. Phil.
SOC. v. xvii, p. 402.
NOTE ON CHINCH BUG DISEASES.
BY STEPHEN ALFRED FORBES, CHAMPAIGN, ILL. Two diseases of Blissus leucojterus,
apparently efficient in si~ppressing an
outbreak of this species in 1882, were
described by me in my Report for that
year as State Entomologist of Illinois
(pp. 47-54) ; but neither of these has
been distinctly recognized since, until
the present season. Now, however,
the chinch bugs of the southern part of
Illinois are being very rapidly destroyed by both these diseases, and a third not
hitherto recognized,- the last (seen by
me first in July, 1887) due to a Botrytis distinct from the species (B. bassiana)
well known as the characteristic fungus
of mi~scarcline in the silkworm.
One of the two first mentioned is
caused by an Entomo/hthora whose
specific affinities I have not been able to learn.
The other is due to a microbe (the
Micrococcus insectorurn of Bim'ill*)
principiilly developed in the alimentary canal, and especially in its cecal ap-
pendages, which are often literally
crammed with it from end to end.
This disease somewhat resembles that
known as schlaffsucht or ftacheyie in
the literature of the silkworm. Its germ -
is freely cultivable both in beef broth
and in solid gelatine media, by the
processes usual in bacterial investiga-
tion.
Both the Erttomoffithora and the
Botrytis finally imbed the insect in a
white fungus,-the efflorescence of a
spore-bearing mycelium. The BO-
trytis has been much more abundant
-
*American Naturalist XVII, p. 319. This microbe, studied anew by Prof. Burrill from my recent cultures, solid and fluid, and from the affected chinch bugs them- selves, proves to be a Bacillus of peculiar character, and not a Micrococc~m.




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September-October ISS~]. PSYCHE. 111
and destructive in Illinois than the En- toinophtl~ora, although seemingly less
so at present than the bacterial form..
It now seems likely that these diseases, occurring as they do spontaneously
over a large area, will so011 suppress
what has probably been the longest-
continued destructive outbreak of the
chinch bug known in the history of that
insect. Their present activity is illus- trated by the fact that in a single field in Southern Illinois dead chinch bugs
imbedded in this mold were found by
an assistant, Mr. John Marten, so nu-
merous as to suggest a recent flurry of
snow.
NOTES ON THE WHITE ANT, FOUND ON THE BAHAMAS. BY CHARLES J. MAYNARD, NEWTONVILLE, MASS. Among the many objects of interest
that engage the attention of the Natural- ist on the Bahamas perhaps the most
striking are the nests of the White Ants. The first that I saw was in the vicinity of Nassau in a cultivated field. It is
the custom among the natives upon
clearing away any portion of the. low
growth of trees, that occupy the land
before it is tilled, to leave certain ones which serve for bean polls, or as a sup- port foi the stem of the yam which
climbs to a considerable hight. The tree usually selected is the gumbo limbo, that has long naked branches, the twigs of
which are only scantily supplied with
leaves. These trees are so very often
chosen by the ants as a support that it
is not infrequent to see two or three
nests in one field placed on them. The
color of these domiciles is nearly black and as they are often of a large size they form conspicuous objects, even when
seen from a distance.
The nest, of which I have spoken,
was placed upon a limb some three feet
from the ground, was about four feet
high by some two feet in diameter and
was very nearly of the form of an old
fashioned bee hive. This object in the
midst of the field presented such a
singular appearance that it was only
upon close observation that I convincecl myself that it was not something made
by the owner of the field, and placed
there by him for some purpose.
Subsequent observation showed that
the ants prefer to build in openings, and that the gumbo limbo is a favorite tree
on which to place their nests ; this may be explained by the fact that the trunks of these trees are covered with a smooth bark thus rendering the covered passages that the insects build between the ground and nests more easy of construction
than on rougher material. There are
two reasons, that appear plausible, why
the ants prefer open fields to less ex-
posed and more shady locations ; the
first of which is that they like the hot sunshine and free circulation to dry the moist material which is used in the




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