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Psyche 5:279-280, 1888.

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August-December 18S9.1
PSYCHE.
PARASITISM OF HIPPODAMIA COKVERGENS.
-On page 188 of the present' volume of
Psyche is an article by C. M. Weed and C. A. Hart in which is recorded their observations on the lady-beetle parasite (Pe~ilitus ameyi- caws), an account of which was first given by Dr. C. V. Riley on page 101 of volume I of Insect life. All of the observations referred to in these articles speak of this parasite as attacking Megilla maculata except in one instance where Dr. Riley speaks of one spec- imen of C. 9-notata which was probably
attacked by the same parasite. I wish to add H. convergens to the list, a single spec- imen of which I took on the 17th of August, 1889,from a corn leaf where it was standing dead, over a little brown cocoon exactly as M. mifcdafa is represented in Insect life. The parasite had escaped when the discov- ery was made.
This has been the most common lady-
beetle at Ames, Iowa, the past summer
wherever plant lice have been abundant.
C. P. Gillette.
-
EMPHYTL'S CIXCTUS IN AMERICA. - Late
in the autumn of 1887 I found a large num- ber of sawfly larvae, not before observed, on the under side of leaves of several species of rose bushes at the Arnold Arboretum and one or two other places in the vicinity of' Boston. Early in 1888 two or three sawflies emerged from some larvae which had been
kept in confinement from the previous an- tumn, but being forgotten little more than the wings were found. The larvae were
again plentiful in 1888 and about 15 Sept. 1 succeeded in raising several perfect sawflies. These I was unable to determine or to get determined for me. The past hummer I
raised one or two more from larvae and cap- tured a number of the sawflies as they were flying about rose bushes. Unable to findany American species to correspond with these, 1 referred to descriptions of European species and have been able to identify my specimens beyond doubt as E7n$hytus cincfns L. a spe- cies common in England and on the Continent. These American specimens also agree in all particulars with European specimens in the Museum of comparative zoology at Cam-
bridge.
7. G. Jack.
POWER OF VISION IN VESPIDAE. - One
day in the middle of July, while con-
fined by illness to my tent on the summit of the Roan Mountains, Col.,Iwas able to watch at leisure the operations of a couple of wasps which had entered the tent and were search- ing for flies along the tent roof. The tent was an ordinary wall tent, 10 ft. X 12 ft., where, lying upon his back, the observer might readily follow all the movements of these creatures. There were also in the tent perhaps a dozen or twenty flies, mostly col- lected near the ridge pole, especially, when not in flight, alighting upon a rope which stretched from one of the upright poles sup- porting the tent to the other, just below the ridge pole. The wasps were in incessant mo- tion, and in the course of one morning were seen to capture only three orfourflies, the flies usually beingable to dodge them whenever an attack upon them *:IS made I was unable to see that ii wasp accelerated its motion in the least when approaching the flies or directed its flight immediately upon them until ftith- in two or three inches of its intended victim; and as it often passed one by at no greater distance than this without any attempt at capture, the impression was strong that the warp's distinct vision while in flight did not exceed this distance. But what was most
surprising was the great number of mistakes made by the wasps. Every slight stain or defect in the canvas or minute shadow upon it was repeatedly attacked by the wasps as if they supposed it to be a suitable object for food. There seemed to be no power on their part of distinguishing between a spotof color upon the canvas having no elevation what- ever and an object or body resting upon it. Several times the shadow made bv n fly




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[August-December I &.
alighted upon the outside of the tent was pounced upon by the wasps on the inside, and such objects, mere shadows or stains, were repeatedly attacked by the same wasp over and over again, often with only half a minute's interval or even less than that. I can not now recollect exactly the estimate I made at the time (but failed to record) of the relative number of attacks upon false objects to those upon proper victims, but I am under the impression that the mistakes were to the correct judgments as twenty or thirty to one. My observations were con- tinued for two or three hours and repeated on subsequent days for briefer times, always with an identical result. These observations seem to be entirely in keeping with the
forced experiments ofProfessor Plateau upon the vision ofwasps, and lead to the conclu- sion formulated by him that the vision of these insects, even when in flight, is exceed- ingly defective, judged by our own standards. Samuel H. Scudder.
SECOND BROOD OF CALLOSAMIA PROME-
THEA.-L~~~ May and June a large number of Callosamia ĺ´prometh emerged in my house and mated. From these I obtained a brood of larvae some weeks in advance of those to be found out of doors. These pupated in
June'and July, and, to my surprise, I raised a second small brood of more than a dozen specimens before the 20th of August. Some of these hatched at a normal summer tem- perature, others in the sun, or near a fire. The greater part of them were males. The two sexes paired readily. On the 20th and 2sst respectively I found a large male hover- ing about the cage in which my females were kept. It would be interesting to know whether these free males belonged to another brood or had hatched from cocoons made by es-
caped members ofthe same brood to which my females belonged, as this would go far to- ward settling the question of an occasional second brood under natural conditions in this species.
The eggs laid by my females began to
hatch 4 September and at first ate well and seemed to be thriving; but by the 28th most of them had succumbed, either to some innate weakness, or to the unusual dampness which caused such mortality amongst larvae during the summer of 1889.
Ho Zm es Hinkley .
NOTES ON EMESA LONGIPES, De Geer.-
This interesting insect has been very abun- dant in Central Ohio during the past sum- mer, occurring especially in a row of Norway spruces on the university grounds, where we have collected great numbers by beating. I kept a number alive in the insectary, and obtained inany of the eggs, which I believe have never been described.
Besides the trees above mentioned these
bugs were frequently obtained in iniscel- laneous beatings in the woods, and occasion- ally occurred in numbers in carriage sheds. The only observation upon their feeding
habits I am able to record was made by an assistant, Mr. F. W. Rane, who found one in a shed devouring a small white moth,
possibly S'osoma virginica, grasping its victim by its strong front legs.
This Emesa, with its exceedingly long
legs and body, and small wings, seems
poorly prepared for flying, and as a matter of fact it is very difficult to get one to fly by disturbing it. That they do so voluntarily, however, was shown by their being taken on the wing in the middle of a field. In the Proceedings of the Bosl.on society of natural history v. 14, p. 391, Dr. Hagen states that the eggs are of an elongated, conical form. The only other mention of the eggs I have found is the following sentence by Mr. Uhler in the Standard natural history (v. 2, p. 277) : "We do not yet know where it deposits the eggs; but from analogy we are led to believe that these are glued to the twigs of bushes and trees, just as is the case with many others of the great group to-which
this species belongs."




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August-December 1889.1 F'5'2T?fL!?. 281
I obtained the eggs a number of times
during the month of September.
They were
from confined females, deposited on the
sides of the breeding cage, apparently being glued to the wood. They are black, 2.5 to 3 mm. long, subcylindrical in shape, with numerous longitudinal ridges having jagged edges. At the lower end is a. distinct flange, inside of which is a circular depression, from which arises a conical projection as shown at a in the accompanying illustration. These eggs are probably glued to the bark of trees, especially evergreens, as surmised by Mr. Uhler, and apparently this is the state in which the species passes the winter. I am indebted to my assistant, Miss Freda Detmers, for the drawings from which the accompanying figures have been reproduced. Clarence Mooyes Weed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE LARVA OF OSMODER-
MA SCABRA, BEAUV.-COLOR. Head testa-
ceous, mandibles piceous ; body sordid white, becoming semi-translucent toward the poste- rior portion, showing the color of the con- tents of the body; covered sparsely but
regularly with reddish-brown hairs; on each side of the first segment is a corneous testa- ceous patch ; spiracles and extremities of the thoracic feet also testaceous.
HEAD sub-ovate, slightly rugose, shiny
posterior portion and sides well rounded ; anterior portion angulated and somewhat
truncate.
CLYPEUS tl-ansversly oblong, sides ob-
lique, broader than long.
LABRUM rugose, rounded at the sides
and front, a little broader than the clypeus, but not as long.
ANTENNAE four jointed ; first joint cylin- drical, swollen at the apex; second and third joints about half as long as the first, also swollen at the apex; fourth joint conical, and about as long as the first.
MANDIBLES stout, quadridentate, at the
apex, excavate internally, base prominent with three broad blunt teeth.
MAXILLAE prominent, rather stout, not
extending beyond the mandibles ; lobe sub- cylindrical, with a sharp bristle at the apex. MAXILLARY PALPI extending beyond the
lobe, three jointed ; first and second joints subglobose, terminal joint longer, conical. LABIXJM subquadrate, somewhat broader
than long.
LABIAL PALPI, two jointed. first joint
cylindrical, second joint longer, conical. BODY curved, stout: rounded above and
flattened beneath, with numerous transverse wrinkles, except on the last segment which is smooth.
LENGTH about mm. WIDTH about 15
mm. Lives socially in decaying wood of
sweet gum (Liqztidawzbar) , hickory (Car- ya}. poplar (Puprilus) , willow (Sah'x), syca- more (Planfanus), sassafras (Sassafras), maple (Acer) , oak (+ereus), and chestnut ( Castmea) .
William BeiitenmiilZe~.




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