Cambridge Entomological Club, 1874
PSYCHE

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founded in 1874 by the Cambridge Entomological Club
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Article beginning on page 142.
Psyche 8:142-144, 1897.

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142 PSrC'HE. [November 1697-
21, 22. * Chiriquibia, 11. * Chlorizanthe, 21. Cotinis, 21, 22, 24. Euphoria, 23.
Genuchiniis, 23.
Gymnetis, 21, 22, 23.
Trichiidae. - Coelocratus, 23. Dialithus, 23. 'lkigonopeltastes, 23.
New genera are marked (*} ; the figure
following the name of the genus indicates the number of the plate.
The total number of species enumerated
is I, 101 contained in 1 9 genera; more than roo of the species are unnamed owing to the insufficiency of the material. Seventy-three ofthe species found in the Central American fauna occur also in America north of
Mexico.
Correction.-In the last number of Psyche, p. 131, col. a, last line of text but two, for 3 species, read I species.
TWO FORMS OF PRODOXUS COLO-
RADENSIS RILEY.
THE two forms here described were taken
by Mr. R. R. Larkin on flowers of Yucca, in company with the type form, in April, near the N. M. Agricultural College, Mesilla
Valley, New Mexico. Their desciiplion as varieties will probably prevent them from being regarded as distinct species by those who may receive specimens without knowl- edge of the circumsta~~ces under which they occurred.
(I.) Prodoxus coloradensis var. 11. lant7i.̤ Differs from the
type in being white, with
only indistinct traces of the black markings on the primaries. Of these markings, the marginal-band and
the Y-mark are usually
most distinctly traceable. The insect appears at first sight either white, or white slightly clouded with grey, but on comparison with the typical form it is seen that the markings, so far as traceable, exactly correspond in position.
(2 ) Prodoxiis coloradensis var. n. ronfluens. The two innermost dark bands or primaries coalesced in such a manner as to form a A, so that the dark markings of the wing consist of the marginal band, and two Ys, one in- versed, the other, as in the type, in the. ordinary position.
T. D. A. Cockerell.
~%%~ifhZ, Sf., s@p. 7, 1897.
WEED'S LIFE HISTORIES.
Books about insects for the ordinary reader are not common in America, and when one
appears which is simple, straightforward and correct, and especially if it deals with the creatures in all their stages, we are glad to welcome it. Such is Weed's Life Histories of American Insects, just published by Macmil- lan for $1.50. The sketches are mostly short and unrelated, so that the book may be taken up sit any point without missing connections, but it is suggestive of a vast deal more to learn and it is generally accurate and well presented. We notice only one bad slip,
where a Locustarian is figured as a " leaf- insect" -which it certainly is, leaf-insects occuring in several groups, but the only ref- erence to leaf-insects in the text is on the page facing this cut, where the Phasmids are said to be "composed of the walking-sticks and the leaf-insects." There are over a hun- dred illustrations.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB.
8 October, 1897. The 197th meeting was
held at 156 Brattle St., Mr. S- Ilenshaw in the chair. Mr. J. W. Folsom was chosen
secretary -pro fern,.
Mr. S. H. Scudder showed specimens of the huge Bruc/<ystola mugpza from Mexico, col- lected a year or two ago by Dr. Edward Pal- mer in Durango. Dr. Palmer writes that
they are sometimes very destructive to corn and beans, and if there is a deficiency of rain when the plants are young these grasshoppers feed on them because the grass is tough. At
the village of Msigdalena, he adds, li I saw a



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November 1897.1 PSYCHE. 143
procession going from field to field singing and praying that rain might fall so that the corn and beans might grow and that the grass might revive so that the grasshoppers would be diverted from the crops. A picture of a saint was carried at the head of the proces- sion, which was coniposed entirely of fe- males; the males remained in the village to have games of ' pitch and toss.' "
He further stated lhat Miss Katherine W. 1-Inston had reported to him the capture of one specimen and the sight of another of Fnonia coenfa at B~istol, Me., during the latter part of last July; there is only one rec- ord of a capture further north than this. He also read a letter from Mr. W. T. Bell of Franklin, Penn., giving the names of certain butterflies taken there the past year for the first time. These were given by Mr. Bell as TkecZa henrid, T. ni'phon, T. iym, var. arsace, Lib. bachmanii, CoZias coesonia, Terms
itcippe, and Papilio ajax, var. telamonides A more remarkable case of Libjdhma bach- manii was one seen close at hand by Mr. F. 11. Sprague in Wollaston, June 21, 1896; it was, however, not captured ; a similar instance was recoided in the current volume of Psyche. P- 43.
Messrs. Henshaw and Folsom remarked
upon the unhealthy condition of the leaves of maple trees in this vicinity during the early summer, a condition wide spread and notice- able. The leaves turned brown and withered on certain trees only or on certain parts of trees from no very evident cause. This phe- nomenon was attributed to loss of water from the punctures of plant lice, which had been unusually abundant antecedent to the discol- oration. The remarkably moist season of
1897 is a probable explanation of the abun- dance of Aphididae and, correlated with this, Coccinellidae were also very numerous, in- cluding the large Anatis r~punctata of the maple. It will be advisable, in future years, to spray maple trees just as soon as plant-lice appear upon them in considerable numbers, without waiting until their injuries are seen, because the aphides will then have disap- peared.
Mr. Folsom made some remarks upon the
anatomy of Collernbola and the difficulties attending the dissection of these insects. Mr. Scudder stated that Mr. J. A. Lintner had sent him for determination a specimen of the tropical cockroach, Nyctobora holoser- icea, which had flown into a house in Albany, Xi. Y., in September; it was probably import- ed with bananas. He a150 exhibited specimens of the large destructive locust of Argentina, Schisiocerca -paranensis, sometimes con- founded with 5'. feregrina, which had been sent him by Prof. Lawrence Bruner of Nc- braska, now engaged in studying its natural history in the province of Santa Fe.
The Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada. With special reference to New England.
By SAMUEL H. SCUDDER.
Illustrated with 96 plates of Butterflies, Caterpillars, Chrysalids, etc. (of which 41 are colored) which include about 2,000 Figures besides Maps and Portraits. 1958 Pages of Text.
Vol. 1. Introduction; Nymphalidae.
Vol. 2. Remaining Families of Butterflies. Vol. 3.
Appendix, Plates and Index.
The set, 3 vols., royal Svo, half levant, $75.00 net. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., 4 Park St., Boston, Mass.



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PSYCHE. [November 1897.
A NEWVOLUME OF PSYCHE
began in January, 1897, and will continue through three years. The subscription price (payable in advance) is $~,oo per volume, or $2.00 per year, postpaid. Numbers are issued on the first day of each month. Libraries and individuals generally ordering through subscription agencies (which only take annual sub- scriptions) will please notice that it is cheaper to subscribe for the entire volume at once directly of us.-Any early volume can be had for $5.00, unbound. Address Psyche, Cambridge, Mass.
Vols. 1-7, Complete, Unbound, - = - = - - $33.00. Vols. 1-7, and Subscription to Volume 8 - - - - $37.00. Vol. 7 contains over 500 pp. and 10 plates, besides other illustrations. Just Published, by Henry Holt & Co., New York. Scudder's Brief Guide to the Com-
moner Butterflies.
By SAMUEL H. SCUDDUR. xi + 206 pp.
12mo. $1.25.
An introduction, for the young student, to the names and something of the relationship and lives of our commoner butterflies. The author has selected for treatment the butter- flies, less than one hundred in number, which would be almost surely met with by an in- dustrious collector in a course of a year's or two year's work in our Northern States east of the Great Plains, and in Canada. While all the apparatus necessary to identify these butterflies, in their earlier as well as perfect stage, is supplied, it is far from the author's puipose to treat them as if they wereso many mere postage-stamps to be classified and ar- ranged in a cabinet. He has accordingly
added to the descriptions of the different spe- cies, their most obvious stages, some of the curious facts concerning their periodicity and their habits of life.
Scudder's The Life of a Butterfly.
A Chapter in Natural History for
the General Reader.
By SAMUEL H. SCUDGER. 186 pp. 16mo.
$1.00.
In this book the author has tried to present in untechnical language the story of the life of one of our most conspicuous American
butterflies. At the same time, by introduc- ing into the account of its anatomy, devel- opment, distribution, enemies, and seasonal changes some comparisons with the more or less dissimilar structure and life of other but- terflies, and particularly of our native forms, he has endeavored to give, in some fashion and in brief space, a general account of the lives of the whole tribe. By using a single butterfly as a special text, one may discourse at pleasure of many; and in the limited field which our native butterflies cover, this meth- od has a certain advantage from its simplicity and directness.
A. SMITH & SONS, 269 PEARL STREET, New York. BAKUFACTLRERSASDlilPORTEBSOF
GOODS FOR IN
Klaeger and Carlsbad
Boards, Folding Nets, Locality and
Special Labels, Forceps, Sheet Cork, EL
Other articles arc being added, Send for List,



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Volume 8 table of contents