Article beginning on page 169.
Psyche 5:169, 1888.

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February-March 1889.1 Ps2%
'HE. 169
it mated soon after casting its subimago pellicle it is probable that it would not have lived but a day or two longer. A. S. Packard.
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PAIRING OF XYSTICUS TRIGUT-
TATUS.
The engraving shows the pairing of one
of our most common crab spiders, Xysticus trigattatus Keyserling. The spiders were seen on the 5th of June, among the short grass in an open pasture between Salem and Swampscott, Mass.
The female held herself,
head downward. on a blade of grass with the abdomen turned away only enough for the
male to reach under it with his palpi. There did not appear to be any web on the grass, though there may have been a few threads for the female to hold bj. y. H. Emerton. TROX AT ELECTRIC LIGHT.
The fondness of various species of TroX
for electric light has increased considerably the list of species known to inhabit Illinois. The following list includes all known to me. I. Trox scabrosus Beauv. Taken at electric light at Springfield 20 June 1885, by Mr. C. A. Hart.
2. Trox monackus Hbst. There is a speci- men of this species in the collection of the State entomologist from Union Co. It has also been taken near Pittsfield 111.
3. Tross as'per Lec. One specimen ob-
tained at electric light at Springfield. 4. Troxfuuctatus Germ. Not uncommon
throughout the state.
5. Trose tuberculatus Deg. Specimens in
the State entomologist's collection taken at Centralia 22 April.
6. TYOX erinaceus Lec. Rather rare but
found throughout the state.
7. Tross ca$ZZaris say. Specimens in the State entomologist's collection from La Salk Co.
8. TYOX i;?aÌö'.ttriatu Beauv. Quite com- mon throughout the State.
9. Troxf'oveicolZis Hal. Rather rare.
10. Trox terrestris Say. I have seen speci- mens from Pittsfield.
I I. TYOZ cteqmzlis Say. Rare in northern and central Illinois.
12. Trox scaber Linn. Taken at Gales-
burg.
13. box airox Lec. Recorded by Horn
from Illinois.
Only eight other species are known in the United States.
C. W. Wood-worth.
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LUMINOUS EGGS OF INSECTS'.-E. Mulsant
observed and recorded in 1862 the fact that the eggs of Lamfyris were luminous. This ob- servation was confirmed by Dr. A. Laboul- bkne. who published the statement in 1882, but some entomologists have doubted the
fact of their luminosity. Wielowiejsky, who published a paper in 1882, that dealt thor-



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1 70 2's T*CIiWe [February-March 1889.
oughly with
says the eggs
of some exter
the luminosity of lam$yt-idae,
can be luminous only on account
nal substance which they derived
-om their mother, or on account of light- giving power of the young larvae within
them. Again, Laboulbhe and H. Lucas
have published (Bull, entom. Soc. entom. de France, 12 Sept. 1888, p. 133-134) the fact that the eggs of Lamfy~is noctiluca, as well as its larva, are luminous, and Laboulbfene states that the luminosity lasted about a week.
G: Dimmock.
PHOSPHORESCENCE OF MYRIOPODS.-M. J.
Gazagnaire has lately studied the phosphor- escence of Orya barbarica,an Algerianspecies of geofhilidae, and finds that it is caused by a viscid secretion from the pores on the ven- tral side of the whole length of the body. This is contrary to the view of Dr. R. Du- bois, who supposed the phosphorescence to have its origin in the epithelial cells of the digestive tract. M. Gazagnaire has further found that the phosphorescence does not oc- cur at all times, but that its appearance is during the time that the genital organs of the geophilidae are in a state of activity. G: Dimmock.
THE MECONIUM OF BUTTERFLIES : - M.
Theodore Goossens communicated a notice
to the Socidtd entomologique de France, 11 April 1888, on the above subject.
We trans-
late the notice in full from the Bulletin ento- mologique of that Society.
"If the rearing of larvae affords gratifica- tion in studying, as far as possible, their habits, it sometimes gives one bitter disap- pointments. Sometimes all the caterpillars, almost full-grown, die at once without a trace of diarrhoea or of fungi, that is to say of other causes than flikherie or muscardine. After having sought in vain the cause of the trouble, one forgets it until a similar acci- dent happens."
"Chance taught me one of the unknown
causes of this mortality.
For several years
I have reared different caterpillars in colored boxes for the purpose of determining the in- fluences of refrangibility upon lepidoptera. The blue being, among the simple colors, the one that favored best their development, I had placed some pupae of Vanessa fiorsa in a blue box. There were already in this box some half grown caterpillais of Fidonia
atomaria, but they were in a tube and the tube had a cork stopper. A Vanessa @orsa emerged, expanded itself, and, ready to take to flight, discharged the meconium which it had accumulated during the pupal state.
This meconium fell upon the stopper of the tube and immediately the twenty caterpillars "were dead. It was difficult to ascribe such a power to the meconium.
A second Vanessa
again furnishing this liquid, I took some of it on a brush, and put it in another box where there were some caterpillars of no value to me. In a short time they likewise died : but other caterpillars touched with dry meconium lived as usual.
"It seems then, that it is the vapor of this substance, composed mostly of uric acid, that has the property of killing caterpillars, and that when we rear caterpillars in the same ves- sel in which chrysalids are already formed, we subject ourselves to the same accident with- out suspecting the true cause."
G: Dimmock.
HOUSEHOLD PESTS.- The editor of Good
housekeeping received a considerable number of letters in competition for the prizes men- tioned on p. 59, of this volume of Psyche, and the decision as LO the merits of the vari- ous remedies proposed was left to Dr. C : V. Riley. The numero of Good housekeeping
for 2'7 Oct. 1888, gives Dr. Riley's letter in reference to the remedies proposed, and
quotes not only the letters of the prize-win- ners, but all those mentioned by Dr. Riley as meritorious. This collection of letters is an excellent symposium on remedies for
household insects. G: Dimmock.




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