Article beginning on page 371.
Psyche 8:371, 1897.
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the latest October twenty-eight. I
think it surviv6s the winter in the adult State as I feel confident I have seen on warm days in the middle of winter.
Scudder's observations concerning the
rounded tegmina of specimens from
Texas applies equally well to the
Arkansas form. There is also a
marked variation in the length of the
tegmina which are decidedly shorter or
somewhat longer than the pronotum,
Nine males, twenty-two females.
ffwetaZiotes ~iebrus~~ensis Bruner, -
This species has not actually been
captured within the borders of the State but I have two males and one female
which were taken a few miles within
the Indian Territory and as the species
occurs in Kansas and Texas and as far
East as Indiana and Illinois, I have
no hesitation in including it. The
specimens referred to are much larger
than those from Cordova, Illinois, and
West Point, Nebraska, in my collection.
The female measures 31 mm. the males
22 rnrn. and they are proportionately
robust.
(End.)
CRYPTORHYNCHUS LAPATHI (L.) IN MASSACHUSETTS. BY A. H. KIRKLAND, MALDEN, MASS.
A striking example of serious insect
damage resulting from favorable local
conditions is found in the occurrence of Cryp/orhjmhs Zapathi (I,.) in certain
parts of Eastern Massachusetts. In
Europe this beetle has gained much
notoriety as a borer in alders and wil-
lows, but in Massachusetts its attack is largely directed against the balm of
Gilead poplar. This leads us to a men-
tion of a very interesting -from an
entomological standpoint - state of
affairs now existing in Winthrop, Revere and some other shore towns. The land
being somewhat marshy and the balm of
Gilead the indigenous tree that thrives
best there, the streets and yards in the past have been largely planted with
this tree. By far the majority of all
shade trees on this low land are of this species of poplar. The weevil gained a
foothold here some time ago and having
an apparent preference for this tree
finds here nearly perfect conditions for multiplication and gives evidence of its intention to replenish at least this
particular section of the earth. The
branches or young stems, as the case
may be, weakened by the boring of the
larvae are easily broken down by
ice storms or high gales. At the present time there is hardly a sound balm of
Gilead in the localities mentioned and
it would seem probable that this weevil
in the future may become a considerable
pest in places where this tree is largely grown. The weevil breeds in nearly all
species of poplars and in willows. Mr.
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372 PSYCHE. [June 1899.
John G. Jack, in Garden and Forest, vol. X., page 394, has given a most interest- ing account of damage by this insect to
the willows in the Arnold Arboretum.
The damage there by the beetle is not
exceptional, for the writer has noticed
similar injuries in many of the larger
nurseries in Eastern Massachusetts. In
fact, some of our nurserymen are con-
templating abandoning entirely the cul-
ture of poplars and willows because of
the damage caused by this insect. The
matter of remedies being still under
consideration the writer has recom-
mended so far, in the case of infested
shade trees, only the destruction of the trees in June and a replanting with the
silver maple (Acer dasycarpum) or its
variety, Weirii, either of which makes a good growth in damp localities.
A GENERIC TABLE OF THE FAMILY PANURGIDAE: A REPLY TO MR. COCKERELL'S CRITIQUE ON THE SEGRE- GATION OF PERDITA COCKERELL.
BY WILLIAM 11. ASHMEAD, WASHINGTON, D. C. In Psyche for January 1899, Mr.
Cockerell has made some criticisms on
my segregation of the genus Perdita
Cockerell, which seem to require arcply. Now, I think the whole trouble with
Mr. Cockerell is expressed in his
opening sentence : "I hard& know what
to say about Mr. Ashmead's three new
genera, established in Psyche ftp. 284-285 at the expanse of Ferdita " ; and, had he waited a little longer and given himself more time to investigate the subject a
little more thoroughly, I am convinced
he would have been better able to have
said something more to the point.
Perdita Smith, in my paper, is not
defined, and the fact that Smith based
his genus upon a specimen without
maxillary and labial palpi has nothing
to do with the validity of the genus
Coclserellia.
The genus Perdita Smith, however,
h&s been recognized, and while the
labial palpi do not agree exactly with
the imaginary figure of Smith's, there
is still some resemblance, and the labial palpi are sufficiently different, according to my views, to readily distinguish it
from Cockerellia ; besides the other
characters mentioned by Smith hold
good, and these, as well as other
differences between it and Coclcereh,
will be brought out in my generic table
given below.
Mr. Cockerell surely must be wrong
when he says the male of P. hyalwa or
aliifimnis has the claws simple and the
abdomcn not banded ! I have examined
a great many males of this species and
all have the claws cleft, and the
abdomen banded. If Mr. Cockerel!
possesses a specimen without these
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