Article beginning on page 132.
Psyche 6:132, 1891.

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and well deserves a visit. In addition to the silk-moths that are usually present during the warm weather, the Papilioninae, or
swallow-tail butterflies, afford at the present time the chief display. The perfect insects of several species of the genus Papilio have appeared-P. cresjhontes, ajax, and asterias from North America, P. alexanor from the Mediterranean shores, and the handsome P. muackit from Japan. The last named has
been seen for the first time in the house this year, and offers a striking contrast to the other species of the genus that have pre- viously been exhibited in the Gardens, it being of black and golden-green colours in- stead of the yellows and blacks that we are accustomed to in our European swallow-
tails. P. cre.ybhon/es has appeared in large numbers in the house, but no varieties have been obtained. This also is the first season for two other beautiful Papilioninae, viz. Doritis u$oZZina from Asia Minor, and the Japanese Sericina telanzon. The latter
shows considerable difference in the mark- ings of the sexes. The North American
Limenitis di.t/ffus can be at present seen in all its stages, and is well worthy of atten- tion, the caterpillar moving along the leaf- stalks with a peculiar interrupted gait. Of the sphinx moths, the south European Deile- fhila alecto has already appeared, and D. nicae is expected. These insects are, how- ever, not seen to advantage in confinement, as then- superb powers of flight cannot be displayed in a small compartment. Two
examples of the Orthoptera are alive in the house-Diaphemera femorata, one of the
stick- or twig-insects from North America, and Emjusa egena from southern Europe.
The former has been reared from eggs laid in the insect-house, but these progeny are not so healthy as those obtained from fresh- ly-imported eggs. The Empusa is of a most bizarre form, and belongs to the family Man- tidae, the species of which feed only on liv- ingcreatures. The public is indebted to Mr. S. H. Carver for the opportunity of seeing living scoipions; he has sent examples of two species of this. group from Egypt, both of which unfortunately are unidentified, there being obvious difficulties in the way of carrying about live scorpions and compai ing them with dried specimens. There is a
third scorpion, from south Europe, living with its Egyptian congeners; it has a small delicate tail, and is altogether a less frightful creature, though assuming a menacing atti- tude with equal readiness. A spider, Lycosa fortosantanu, from Madeira, is healthy, and is a fine creature, thouyh insignificant by the side of its neighbour, a huge Mygale from South America. The latter, as well as the scorpions, is fed with mice, which are given to it dead, though in its native haunts a Mygale
ha& been kn )wn to prey on living
individuals of thebe small mammals."
The first number of the 18th volume oftlie Transactions of the American entomological society contains convenient analytical tables to the genera of Coccidae by Ashmead, as well as a catalogue of the described South Ameri- can Atilidae by Williston; one is rather sur- prised to see Dasypogon figuring in three different places. A monograph of the spe- cies of Cryptohypnus found in boreal Amer- ica by Horn will be welcon~ed by the coleop- terist; it includes thirty species and they aredivided into nine groups containing from one to seven species each. Other papers are less important. If the society would print a table of contents to each number on the va- cant fourth page of the cover it would be very welcome, etipecially as the head-lines of the pages are not very distinctive.
The issue of Insect life for June is a
double one and therefore makes even a
better showina; than usual. This journal has now certainly justified its publication, though grave doubts have been expressed as to the province of the government in the issue of a periodical, and it may still be questioned Pnche 6 132-133 tprc.1903). ht~:/lpsychmiiclub org&'6-132 html



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August ~Sgr.]
whether such a periodical should be open to direct contributions from others than the divisional force and those in the state exper- iment stations working in concert with them. Particularly technical articles like Lord Walsingham's seem out of place, and it
would be hard to justify them, when there are plenty of openings for their publication and they have only a very indirect bearingon economic entomology. Were such articles
omitted, the periodical would certainly gain in character, and as it is, quite apart from its value on the purely economic side, no ento- mological periodical in the world is so rich in interesting and varied notes on the habits of insects.
Apropos of the "jumping-bean" which is
twice mentioned in this number of Insect life, once in the answer to correspondents and again in the proceedings of the Ento- mological society of Washington, it may be well to call attention to a recently published foreign paper on Carcocafsa salfitans, and on another and nearly allied moth, (Ira- å´phoIi/// matrix, which causes similar mo\ e- ments in the fruit of Colliguayn brasi/ien.<is in Uruguay: the article, by Dr. Berg of
Montevideo, will be found in the Anales of the Sociedad cientifica argentina, vol. 31. The new moth is particularly interesting since the motor power in Dr. Riley's new jumping- bean is recognized by him as also a
Grapholitha.
Kolbe's Introduction to the knowledge of insects is so good that one must scold at its slow appearance. Begun in 1889, it has only reached its sixth number, and to judge by the scheme laid down in the prospectus it is not a quarter finished; we hope it is not, for though we find some oversights, it contains a rare collection of facts and some very in- teresting discussions; the present number deals with the structure of the legs and of the abdomen; the account of the ovipositor and of the claspers seems rather meagre
though
possibly more is to be given in the
next part.
A MOULTING-HABIT OF LARVAE OF PLA-
TYSAMIA CEANOTHI.-In watching a brood of ceanothi larvae, which are living on wild cherry, my attention has been drawn to a habit, noticed at each moult, and which I have not seen in other Bombycid larvae.
When first becoming quiet the larva spun a loose
web to the twig just in front of its
head, at a short distance. When the mask had fallen and the skin split in moulting, the larva grasped this loose web with its first pair of feet, and pulled itself along by it, till all the feet were free and could cling to the silk. Then moulting proceeded by the usual contraction and expansion of the muscles. This was done by every larva at every moult. Caroline G. Soule.
A "Manual of North American Butter-
flies" by C. J. Maynard has just been pub- lished by DeWolfe, Fiske, & Co. of Boston. It is a11 octavo of over 200 pp. with ten plates and numerous figures in the text, and de- scribes more than 600 nominal species.
The
first thing which strikes one on looking it over is the total absence of the slightest allusion to any of the early stages of butter- flies, excepting that a single chrysalis is fig- ured.
The only reference to the fact that
they have a history-a history the study of which forms the chief charm and interest in these insects, and the one thing to which all novices should be pointed-is in some such curt statement as "occurs in June and July." Not even a single reference either general or particular is
given to show that such life-
histories are known; we believe the word 'mlarva" or "caterpillar" does not appear he- yolid the third page where the body of the work begins. The second thing we notice, considering that the book "is intended for the use of the tyro as well as for the advanced student," is the absence of a single table to distinguish the different genera of a family, or the different species of a genus. Thirty- five genera of Nymphalidae, for instance, to be distinguished by the tyro with no other



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