Article beginning on page 63.
Psyche 9:63, 1900.

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PSYCHES
THE MELANOPLI OF KANSAS. -I,
DY S. J. HUNTER AND W. S. SUTTON, KANSAS UNIVERSITY, LAWRENCE. The discussions which follow refer
to species taken in the Statc during the field work of the past two seasons.
It
has not been the endeavor to ascertain,
at this time, the number of species
existing within tlic Slate. The study
has been conducted more cspccially
with reference to the subject of varia-
tion. Later it is probable that the work may take the form of a survey of the
group. The greater pint of the mate-
rial studied has been taken along the
Arkansas river south of OlTeilie in Ford county by I-Iunter, in Hamilton county
three miles east of Syracuse by Hunter,
and in Russell county about three miles
northwest of Russell, by Sutton. The
order followed in this group is that of
Scudder in his Revision of the Me-
lanopli.*
Hj+atensis Scudder. - Tegmina of
four of the six specimens exceed the
abdomen, in length. In two of these
cases one male and one female by '5.5
and 3 mm. respectively. Scndder says
tegmina about length of abdomen in
both sexes."
I11 his key, howevei, he
says tegmina distir~ctly surpass the ab- domen (in the male) or equal it (in
. .
*Rev. Orthopt. group Melanopli (Acridiidae) with special ref. to N. A. forms. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. XX. pp. 1-421, PI. i-xxvi.
the female) Male cerci straight, not
feebly down-curved."
Quite rare, taken only in buffalo
grass pastures. A species much sought
after by both parties while collecting,
and taken, as the field notes show, only on cloudy clays after rain. At these
times it was very itctive. Is it possible that its alertness midcr favorable condi- tions, warmth and sunshine, keep it
beyond the range of the collector?
Only tliree females and two males
(Fold county) and one male (Russell
county) were taken. The beautiful
white dashes upon the lateral aspect of
the thorax fade out entirely in the dried spccimensi. As far as our knowledge
extends, now first reported from Kan-
sas.
H. s$eciosus Scudder. -All speci-
mens have median carina of pronotum
" pink roseate," some conspicuously so.
IIumeral angle of hind margin of met-
azona hardly apparent. In the three
males before us the subapical tubercles
are transverse, and one distinctly
though not deeply bifid. Scuclcler says
this bifurcation occasionally happens
in drying. In this case shrivelling is
not apparent ; it appears to be a natural structure. Lower half of labrum and
space between vertical carinae of upper
half, piccons. Coloration here not
given by Scuckler. Several nymphs of
Pachc 9 063-64 (pre.1903). hfp //psyche aitclub orgBN-OOfi3 htd



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64 PSYCHE. [June TQOO,
the last ecdysis were taken. These
closely resembled the adult in form and
ground color, but differed in having no
red or roseate markings whatever.
Labrum marked as in adult, but anten-
nae green instead of pink; and each
segment inargined with piceous.
This species feeds largely upon
lamb's-quarter, Cheno$odiwn n,/b?~m,
and furnishes an interesting example
of protective coloration, in that green
and roseate markings of plant and
insect are almost identical. The in-
sect, therefore, is not readily perceived at rest upon this weed.
Two males, three females (Ford
county) one male, two females (IIam-
ilton county) one female (Russell
county).
AEOT.OPI.US.
A. rcgalis Dodge.- The variation
among the specimens before us is very
slight, being limited to shades of color- ation, and the ~narl~ngs of hind femora. They conform with Scndder's dcscsip-
tion. The range of coloration was
noticeable, the green varying from
light to dark grccn. One exceedingly
light colored female had doubtless been
taken soon after last moult. The
ground color varies from testaceous to
greenish ycllow.
Of the femur Scudder says " testace-
ons yellow with two broad ang~ilate
and sagittate bands darkest above ;" 0111- specimens present these features and in
addition a basal spot which sometimes
takes the form of a third oblique stripe. In some these angular bands fuse so as
to cover almost the entire surface of
the femur. The pallid base of hind
tibiae mentioned by Scudder takes in
our specimens the form of a clearly
defined annulus.
Fourteen males, four females (Ford
county) one female (Russell county).
July; common both in pastures and
cultivated crops, a rather late species
being most abundant in August.
AMERICAN FOSSIL COLEOPTERA REFERRED TO THE SCOLYTIDAE.
I have been greatly interested in
studying the tertiary Scolytids and
the work of a prehistoric beetle in
wood from interglacial clays,")"l~ich
YOU so kindly intrusted to me for that
purpose.
- -
*In a commuuication to S 11. Scudder.
The results of the exarniiiiitioii of the fossil Scolytid h i will be published elsewhere.- S. H. S., At best the Scolyticli~e are a trouble-
some lot to study, even with a, large
series of perfect specimens, and it is
often quite difficult satisfactorily to re- fer the species to their natural position. Therefore when we come to deal
with partially preserved remains and
irapressiuns of forms which were
buried in the mud of tertiary lakes, it




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