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Psyche 6:69-70, 1891.

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April 1891.] , t'sYcffE. 69
ical, fauna of the canton of Valais, compris- ing the upper valley of the Rhone will be found in Prof. Ed. Bugnion's Introduction to Favre's Faune des coldoptferes du Valais, now publishing in quarto form in the memoirs of the Swiss society of natural sciences (vol. 31). Mr. Bugnion divides the district into three regions or zones, the lower, the sub- alpine or forest, and thealpine, their highest levels respectively at 800, 2,000, and 2,700 metres; the subalpine he further subdivides into a lower forest, whose upper limit
reaches 1,350 metres, and an upper forest region, the latter characterized by the preva- lence of conifers and rhododendrons. These divisions, as he points out in a note, differ from those of preceding authors, though not very greatly from the latest authority.
Heer
in 1837, writing for the whole of Switzerland, made out seven zones, each 450 metres in height after the field (campestre) which ter- minated at 300 metres ; the succeeding were the hill or colline with an upper limit at 750, the mountain (I ,zoo), subalpine (I ,650), al- pine (Z,IOO), subnivale (2,550), and nivale (3,000). Rion in 1852 made four divisions as follows :-
I. Zone of cultivation, 375-1,263 m.
2. " " conifers, 1,263-2,050 m.
3 " " alpine pasturage, 2,0504,760 m,
4. " " eternal snow, 2,769 m. upward.
Christ in 1883 also made four divisions :- I. Lower zone up to 5.50 m. (700 in south Switzerland).
2. Zone of deciduous trees, 550 (or 700)- I ,350 metres.
3. Zone of conifers, 1,350-2,100 m, (2,300 in central Alps).
4. Alpine zone, 2,100 (or 2,300)-3,000 m. (perpetual snow).
Professor Bugnion gives a large number of groups of specific forms, mostly Coleoptera, inhabiting two districts, or living under dif- ferent conditions, etc., in illustration of their geographical distribution, and after discuss- ing at some length the geological antiquity of insects endeavors to show from what
sources the different elements of the entomo- logical fauna of Valais were directly derived. THE ABBE PROVANCHER has completed the
third volume of the Faune entomologique du Canada which has been appearing from time to time as a supplement to his journal, Le naturaliste Canadian. It is entirely devoted to the Hemiptera, and makes a volume of 354 pages and five plates. A large number of new species are described, principally from the Province of Quebec; systematic tables of the groups lead to an easy determination of the species. It can be obtained of the au- thor at Cap Rouge.
The volume on the Hemiptera was to be
followed by a serial work on the Canadian Lepidoptera in the same journal by the
abbe Provancher; but the editor has been obliged to forego his intentions as his jour- nal is no longer to receive a subvention from the Quebec government without which its
publication is impossible, and it will accord- ingly cease with the end of the present vol- ume in June.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
CAMBRIDGE ENTOMOLOGICAL CLUB.
14 December, 1888.-The 141st meeting of
the Club was held at 156 Brattle St.
Dr. G.
Dimmock was chosen chairman.
Mr. Andrew G. Weeks was elected to ac-
tive membership.
Dr. H. A. Hagen remarked on swellings
along the midrib of the leaves of the young shoots of white oaks found by him which
contained hymenopterous larvae.
Mr. S. H. Scudder showed caterpillars col- lected this year, among them the adult and immature larvae of Terias lisa.
Mr. Scudder, in reply to a question in
regard to Anthocaris genutia, said that it was only found in New England along a line of trap-rock in the Connecticut valley.
Mr. Scudder then showed plates of eggs,
larvae, and pupae of butterflies, from his work on New England Butterflies now in
press, and remarked somewhat at length on certain species.
Pu&e 6 069-70 (pre. 1903). hfp //psyche aitclub orgt#6-006SI htd



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[April 1891
Mr. H. Hinkley showed specimens of Lagoa crispata which he had raised. It is interest- ing in that in hatching, it pushes the pupa skin from the chrysalis. The legs, anten- nae, etc., have separate coverings. There is also a sort of double lid to the cocoon. 11 January, 1889. The 142d meeting of the Club was held at 156 Brattle St. Mr. S. H. Scudder was chosen chairman.
The annual reports of the secretary and
librarian were read and accepted. The an- nual report of the treasurer was read and ac- cepted subject to the approval of the auditors. The club then proceeded to ballot for offi- cers for the ensuing year. The following were chosen : President: S. H. Scudder.
Secretary : R. Hayward. Treasurer : S.
Henshaw. Librarian : G. Dimmock. Mem-
bers at large of Executive Committee : G. Dimmock, and H. Hinkley. Editors of
Psyche : G. Dimmock and S. Henshaw.
The annual address of the retiring presi- dent, Prof. Wm. Trelease, was on Myrme-
cophilism (See Psyche v. 5, p. 171-180). Remarks were made by Mr. Albert E.Smith
on a leaf-cutting ant which is very injurious to the coffee plant in South America. These ants cut off the leaves and carry them away; they are supposed to use them to cover up their subterranean passages.
Mr. S. H. Scudder showed some of the
late Dr. Asa Fitch's manuscripts and read a note of his in which he recorded as early as 1855 the occurrence of Feniseca turqrci- m'us with plant lice.
Mr. Scudder next called the attention of the Club to the remarkable mode of suspen- sion in the chrysalis of the genus Thais, ex- hibiting specimens of the chrysalis of T. rt~mimz. In all the three species of this genus found in Europe the anterior extremityof the chrysalis is furnished with a double tubercle, bristling with short curving hooks, and the chrysalis, besides being attached in the normal way of the Papilionidae by the hinder extrem- ity and the girth around the middle, has also an additional support by the entanglement of these anterior hooks in a loop of silk spun by the caterpillar in preparing for pupation, and which seems to spring from about the same points as the transverse loop of the thorax. There seems to be very little reference to this peculiar mode of transformation by those who have treated of this genus, although it was distinctly mentioned by Rambur as long ago as 1840 in his Faune entomologique
d'Andalusie ; Boisduval, Rambui-, and Gras- lin in their work on European caterpillars describe and figure two species and Duponchel gives an independent description and figure of one of them,-all without reference to this peculiar mode of suspension, or to the unique structure of the anterior extremity, to which there seems to be no parallel in the Lepidop- tera. Rambur in the work referred to says (p. 243) : "The anterior extremity which is pointed and bifid is also furnished with little short hooks which hook themselves in two bundles of thick silk; it is thus supported by the two extremities besides the slight band of silk which embraces it. " Yet Doub- leday in 1846 says that "according to Dr. Rambur, when about to undergo their meta- morphosis, they not only fasten themselves by a transverse thread like the Parnassii, but also surround themselves by a very slight silken web," which Rambui- nowhere asserts and which is an entire mistake.
He then showed some living pupae of Pie- ris najae and called attention to the differ- ences between them and those of P. oleracea. The frontal spine is straight in P. e a e , short and hooked upward in P. oleracea.
The pupae of P. zajae are also more heavily marked. The larvae differ in the amount of pile and in the prominence of the larger wartlets. He stated that the specimens of P. oleracea from the temperate regions of Amer- ica and of P. na'pae from those of Europe are easily distinguishable in their earlier stages and also by the abdominal appendages of
the male imago.
Mr. A. E. Smith showed a part of his col- lection of Orthoptera from Brazil, and re- marked at some length on his collecting in South America




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