I
•>
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF
WASHINGTON.
Volume XIII, 1911.
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY,
QUARTERLY CARLISLE, PA. WASHINGTON, D. C,
IQI I.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME XIII.
Page
The Diffusion of Insects in North America F. M. WEBSTER... 2
A Preoccupied Name in Wasps S. A. ROHWER... 4
Notes on the Grass-feeding Hemileucas and their Allies.
HARRISON G. DYAR... 5
A Note on Halisidota cinctipes Grote HARRISON G. DYAR... 10
A New Dianthidium from Paraguay CURT SCHROTTKY... 14
An Arctian New to Our Fauna HARRISON G. DYAR... 15
Notes on the American Species of Olene Hiibner.
HARRISON G. DYAR... 16
Two Noctuids New to Our Fauna HARRISON G. DYAR... 20
Facts in The Life History of Goniops chrysocoma.
W. L. McATEE... 21 Two Species of Phycitinee New to Our Fauna.
HARRISON G. DYAR... 30
A Synonymic Note HARRISON G. DYAR... 30
A Preoccupied Name in Saw flies S. A. ROHWER... 31
Ecdysis in the Diptera FREDERIJK KNAB... 32
Descriptions of Six New American Heterocera.
WILLIAM SCHAUS... 42 The Weevils of Victoria County, Texas.
J. D. MITCHELL and W. D WIGHT PIERCE... 45
Notes on Pterostichus johnsoni Ulke C. V. PIPER... 62
A New Basilodes from Texas HARRISON G. DYAR... 64
Two New North American Species of Eustrotia.
HARRISON G. DYAR... 68 A New Genus for Cirrhophanus duplicatus.
HARRISON G. DYAR... 69
Note on an Arizona Notodontian HARRISON G. DYAR... 69
Paranthaclisis hageni in Texas N. BANKS... 71
A Simple Trap-Light Device H. S. BARBER... 72
An Epidemic of Fungous Disease among Soldier Beetles.
C. H. POPENOE and E. G. SMYTH... 7o
Rediscovery of Rare Spiders N. BANKS... 76
Brief Notes of Two Recent Trips L. O. HOWARD .. 77
A New Cactus-frequenting Orthopteron from Texas.
A. N. CAUDELL... 79
A New Species of Dioryctria HARRISON G. DYAR... 81
Xiphidion Stridulations H. A. ALLARD... 84
A New Coloradia HARRISON G. DYAR... 89
iii
CONTENTS.
The Attack of a Larval Hemipter upon a Caterpillar.
F. ALEX. MCDERMOTT... 90 Hymenoptera in Smith's Insects of New Jersey, Third Edition
1910 H. L. VIERECK... 93
Notes on Indian Neuropteroid Insects NATHAN BANKS... 99
Some Factors Influencing the Development of the Boll Weevil.
W. DWIGHT PIERCE... Ill A Note on the Occurrence of Chrysomyza demandata Fabricius.
C. N. AINSLIE... 118 The Occurrence of the Myrnarid Genus Stethynium Enok in West
Australia A. A. GIRAULT... 120
A New Pelecinus-like Genus and Species of Platygasteridae.
J. C. CRAWFORD and J. C. BRADLEY... 124
A New Species of the Genus Cheiloneurus... .J. C. CRAWFORD... 126 Some Remarks on the Eggs of North American Species of
Hemiptera Heteroptera OTTO HEIDEMANN.. 128
Studying the Stridulations of Orthoptera H. A. ALLARD... 141
Corrections H. L. VIERECK... 148
A Note on Ascodipteron NATHAN BANKS.. 149
Review of Work by Pantel and Portchinski on Reproductive and Early Stage Characters of Muscoid Flies.
CHARLES H. T. TOWNSEND... 151
How Emphor Drinks FREDERICK KNAB... 170
Dr. A. Lutz's Studies of Brazilian Simuliidse.
FREDERICK KNAB... 172
A New Species of North American Tingitida3...0. HEIDEMANN.. 180 On the Parasitism of the Larvae of Pollenia rudis Fab. in
Allolobophora chlorotica Savingy D. KEILIN... 182
A New Mymarid Genus and Species from North America Allied ,
with Anthemus Howard A. A. GIRAULT... 185
Frederick C. Pratt, Obituary W. D. HUNTER... 189
Daniel William Coquillette, Obituary 196
Description of the Larva of Monoleuca semifascia Walker.
C. V. RILEY... 210
A Curious Habit of One of Our Phorid Flies NATHAN BANKS... 212
Notes on Apantesis figurata Drury S. D. NIXON... 232
Two New Hymenoptera J. C. CRAWFORD...
A Preoccupied Name in Sphecoidea S. A. ROHWER.. 234
A True Internal Parasite of Thysanoptera H. M. RUSSELL... 235
A Tendency Towards Posterior Erythrization in the Psammo-
charidse NATHAN BANKS... 238
Zwei neue Afrikanische arten des Genus Triatoma (oder Conor -
hinus) Laporte ARTHUR NEIVA.. 239
The Synonymy of a Thynnid genus S. A. RoHWER... 240
IV
,
PROCEEDINGS
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF
WASHINGTON.
Volume XIII, 1911.
(MEETINGS OF MARCH 3, 1910, AND APRIL 7, 1910)
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY,
QUARTERLY CARLISLF., PA. WASHINGTON, D.W/
IQI I.
Entered as (sworul-class mailer July 28, 1P09,
at the post office at Carlisle, Pennsvlvania, under the Act
of July 16, 1894.
THE
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF WASHINGTON.
ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884.
The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday in each month, from October to June, inclusive, at 8 P. M., at the residences of members.
Annual dues of active members, $3.00; of corresponding members, $2.00; initia- tion fee (for active members qiily), $1.00.
OFFICERS FOR THE ?EAR 1911.
President F. M. WEBSTER.
First Vice-President A. L. QUAINT ANCE.
Second Vice President E. F. PHILLIPS.
Recording Secretary .' H. S. BARBER.
Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROHWER.
U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the
Washington Academy of Sciences A. D. HOPKINS.
Executive Committee.
THE OFFICERS, L. O. HOWAUD, E. A. SCHWARZ, HARRISON G. DYAR.
Publication Committee. HARRISON G. DYAR, A. L. Q.UAINTANCE, J. C. CRAWFORD.
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ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.
Published quarterly by the Society at No. 1 N. Pitt street, Carlisle, Pa., and Washington, D. C. Terms for subscription: Domestic, $2.00 per annum; foreign, $2.25 per annum; single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington.
Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS shall be entitled to 25 sepa- rates of each contribution, free of charge. Additional copies may be had at cost by notifying the Publication Commiit.ee before the final page proof is returned tn the prlnter.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF WASHINGTON.
VOL. XIII JANUARY MARCH, 1911 No. 1
MEETING OF MARCH 3, 1910.
The 238th meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. Marlatt at his home, 1521 Sixteenth Street, NW., on the evening of March 3, 1910, and there were present Messrs. Barber, Burke, Caudell, Crawford, Crumb, Dyar, Gahan, Gill, Hatnmar, Heidemann, Hopkins, Howard, Knab, Mar- latt, Morgan, Peairs, Popenoe, Rohwer, Runner, Sasscer, Schwarz, Walford, Webb, and Webster, members, and Messrs. N. Kourdumoff, P. R, Myers, W. Postiff, and E. W. Wall, visitors.
The minutes of the previous regular meeting. and of the special meeting of February 19 were read and approved.
Mr. C. B. Hardenburg, of Pretoria, Transvaal, was pro- posed for corresponding membership and the name referred to the Executive Committee.
The President announced that he had appointed as a com- mittee to draw up a biography of Mr. Ulke, Messrs. Howard, Schwarz, and Banks.
A letter from Mr. Titus Ulke expressing thanks for the action of the Society was read.
The first paper of the evening was "Trends of Diffusion in Insects," by Professor Webster.
The second paper was "Notes on the Grass-feeding Hemi- leucas and their Allies," by Dr. Dyar.
The last paper, "The Stridulations of some Cone-headed Grasshoppers," by Mr. Allard, was read by title.1
Already published, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., xn, 121, 1910.
2 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
THE DIFFUSION OF INSECTS IN NORTH AMERICA.
[Author's Abstract.] BY F. M. WEBSTER.
It does not appear necessary to at this time go into minute details with reference to the possible general trend of insect diffusion in North America, as this matter has been previously covered in a paper published by myself in Psyche tor April, 1903.
Possibly it might, however, be well to call attention to some facts, notably the occurrence of European species on the northwest Pacific Coast, and the greater similarity between specimens found there and those taken in Europe than speci- mens of the same species taken in the Eastern United States. Also, to the well-known fact of a temperate or even tropical climate having once existed in what are now the cold and barren sections of the North. And, in the light of Lieutenant Shackleton's recent discoveries in the south polar regions, we may assume an almost parallel condition to have once obtained within the Antartic Circle, thus tending to prove what has previously been suspected, namely, a land connection between Australia, South America, and South Africa. What followed this period of warm temperature in the southern Antartic re- gions we do not know, but in the north we know that the ice sheets of the Glacial period crowded their way southward in many cases far into what is now the United States. Just what the effect of these immense ice sheets was beyond the southern extremities of the glaciers themselves we can only suspect, but judging from the fossil remains of insects found in the Tertiar}' rocks of Colorado, Wyoming, and British Columbia, we have every reason to suppose that northern species were driven far to the southward, and that, with the disappearance of the ice sheet and the recovering of the gla- ciated area with vegetation, these species, perhaps more or less modified in habits and appearance, would gradually drift back and reinhabit the glaciated territory.
This appears to be sufficient basis for assuming a post- Glacial trend of insect diffusion from the tropical regions northward. And it would seem that the species working their way northward from Central America through Mexico might in some cases become greatly changed both in appearance and habits, There seems, however, to be a factor in insect diffusion from the south northward that has heretofore escaped notice. Ordinarily, insects accidentally imported into the United States or Canada from foreign countries become established along the
OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 3
Atlantic coast and gradually diffuse themselves inland, fol- lowing, as I have indicated in the paper to which 1 have pre- viously alluded, certain regular lines of progress. There are, however, a number of a species which occur inland that give no indication whatever of having been introduced through any of the seaports of eastern or, indeed, western United States. One of these is the now well-known To. \optera grain in nm, which has spread generally over the United States west of a line drawn from northeastern Ohio approximately to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We have almost been able to trace the dispersion of this species in the Red River Valley of the North. While it occurs along the Mexican border from Brownsville, Texas, to the Imperial Valley of Southern Cali- fornia, in only one instance has it been reported throughout the territory northeast of the line to which I have just alluded. Mr. Hay hurst reports its occurrence in the vicinity of Bos- ton, but no one else, with the most careful search, has been able to find it either in New York, New England, or New Jersey; only in southern Pennsylvania. It has not yet be- come destructive in the East to any extent north of the Caro- linas, while in the West its ravages have extended as far north as Chicago and Omaha. Besides this, although Texas was one of the later States to be brought under cultivation, this pest began its ravages as early in that State as elsewhere in the country.
With the present information we have there is far more probability of its having been introduced into and made its way northward through Mexico into the southwestern por- tion of the country than there is of its having been imported into any of the coastal seaports.
Another case in point is that of Meromyza praloruni, a European species which during the last few years has been discovered in the mountainous regions from Mexico north- ward into northern Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and it now turns out that what has been going under the name of Meromyza americana is only a lowland form of the European species. As we find this also all along the Mexican border, it affords another illustration of a probable Mexican or Cen- tral American origin.
When we call to mind the more recent natural diffusions of two Mexican species, whose spread has been actually observed, viz, Murgtintia histrionica and Anthonomus grandist we find a great similarity between their known diffusion over the country and the apparent diffusion of the two species Toxap- tera graminum and Meromvza pratorutn.
4 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
All of this leads me call attention to a possible means of in- troduction and diffusion of insects imported from Europe, not into the United States direct, but into Mexico and Central America, possibly also into northern South America, at the time of or soon after the Spanish conquests. It is well known that the Catholic priests as they pushed their way outward among the natives established not only their churches among the aborigines, but also the fruits, vegetables, and grains of their native country. It appears to me that we are now get- ting the first intimation of an early introduction of destructive insects, either among these imported grains or plants them- selves, or else in the material with which these were packed for their long voyage across the Atlantic. Possibly the re- cent introduction and spread of the alfalfa weevil {Phytono- mus mnrinns} so far inland as about Salt Lake, Utah, may offer an lliustration of what might have occurred in the earlier days following the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the country to the southward.
Within the last year or two we have found insects in the grain fields of the Indians in southern New Mexico and Ari- zona, especially the latter, where these grains have been grown for hundreds of 3^ears, but surrounded by a desert country over which it would be impossible for these insects, unaided, to make their way. Only last year (June, 1909) Mr. C. N. Ainslie, on the Pima Indian Reservation at Saca- ton, Arizona, discovered a gall fly whose larva attacks the seed pods of alfalfa and which can only be separated from Asphondylia miki Wacht., described as attacking alfalfa in Europe, by the shape of the galled pods.
The list of the species that might have been brought over and established in southern Mexico and Central and northern South America is not large, but the present indications are that as we become more intimately acquainted with the insect fauna of the country west of the one hundredth meridan, we shall find more foreign species, that, like those given in illus- tration, offer no possible explanation of their existence there on the score of having been imported into and spread inland from the seaports of the United States.
A PREOCCUPIED NAME IN WASPS.
Didineis vierecki, new name .
Didineis crassicornis Viereck, Tr. Am. Ent. Soc., vol. 32, 1906; p. 204; non Didineis crassicornis Handlirsch, Sitzber. Akad.
Wiss. Wien., vol. 46, 1887, p. 267.
S. A. ROHWER.
OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911
NOTES ON THE GRASS-FEEDING HEMILEUCAS AND THEIR
ALLIES.
[Lepidoptera; Saturniidae.] BY HARRISON G. DYAR.
The discovery by Professor Cockerell that a species of Hcitii- lenca feeds upon grass in the larval state (Psyche, vin, 298, 1898) was an interesting addition to our knowledge of the food- plants of species of this genus. Recently it has transpired that the species is of economic importance by destroying the pastures and so injuring the cattle industry. Considerable interest in the matter has therefore developed, and I have been asked by Mr. Webster to look into the specific identity of the form con- cerned. This has been described by Professor Cockerell as Hemileuca sororia race olii'i<r, with its habitat in New Mexico. The species soron'us was described by Henry Edwards from a single female from La Paz, Lower California. A third form, which has been listed also as a race of sororius, was described from a single female from southwestern Arizona under the name hnul(iptri\)y B. Neumoegen. Allied forms extend well through- out Mexico as far south as the State of Vera Cruz, and one divergent form is before me from Parana, Brazil. On com- parison of all the known forms of Hemileuca allied to our grass-feeding species, I have reached the conclusion that the three names in our list, sororius, hualapai, and oliricr, repre- sent distinct species, not races of one species. Therefore the name sororins will hereafter be omitted from the North American list, while hualapai and o/h't'tr will be contained therein as distinct species. I am inclined to the opinion that all of the species here listed will be found to feed upon grass as larvae, except perhaps the aberrant species dukinfieldi Schaus. The species referred to may be separated as follows:
TABLE OP SPECIES OF THE HEMILEUCA ALLIED TO OLIVLE.
Veins of the wings lined with ocher yellow: Ground-color of fore wing blackish, inner line absent.
dukinfieldi Schaus Ground-color of fore wing pale gray, both lines present.
Hind wing without submarginal pale band rubridorsa Felder
Hind wing with submarginal pale whitish band. Larger: disk of thorax roseate; discal mark of fore wing
narrow norba Dru ce
Smaller: disk of thorax gray; discal mark of fore wing
large, white minctte Dyar
6 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Veins of the wings concolorous :
Costa of fore wing above ocher yellow.
Secondaries pale, whitish in the male, rose-color in the female. Lines of the fore wing faint, the inner one obsolete.
hualapai Neumoegen Lines of the fore wing distinct, both present.
Hind wing of male with no, or very faint, mesial band.
mania Druce Hind wing of male dusky shaded, with mesial and
marginal bands rather distinct lares Druce
Secondaries dark rosy brown.
Smaller, with much rosy tint numa Druce
Larger, with little rosy tint nitria Druce
Costa of fore wing concolorous or partly whitish.
Pale, the male largely whitish, the lines of fore wing
diffused olivise Cockerell
Darkly colored, the lines of the fore wing distinct. Inner line not angled in the middle.
Discal mark yellowish brown sororius Hy. Edwards
Discal mark white or whitish. With much rosy tint; discal mark narrow and
clouded marillia Dyar
With little rosy tint; discal mark large, distinct., lex Druce Inner line distinctly angled or the upper limb obsolete.
mexicana Druce Hemileuca dukinfieldi Schaus.
Hemileuca dukinfieldi Schaus, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1894, 235.
Described from Castro, Parana, Brazil. The types are be- fore me. This species is only distantly related to the forms here treated, and is included as the extreme development of this type.
Hemileuca rubridorsa Folder.
Hemileuca rubridorsa Felder, Reise der Novara, pi. 90, fig. 2,
1874.
Felder's description is without definite locality; his figure represents a female. A female specimen from the Schaus collection is before me labeled "Mexico," without definite lo- cality. It is also labeled " Enlencop/ucns norba Druce," but it differs from that in the uniform gray hind wings without submarginal pale band and in the broader yellow costa. It agrees well with Felder's figure. A male also is before me, collected by Mr. R. Miiller in Mexico City, which enables a definite location for the species.
OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911, 7
Hemileuca norba Druce.
Euleucophseus norba Druce, Biol. Cent. -Am., Lep. Het., II, 420, 1897.
Described from Amecameca, State of Morelos, Mexico. The type is before me, but no other specimens.
Hemileuca minette, new species.
Front of head ocher, sides and behind crimson, thorax gray, abdo- men dark red. Fore wing dark gray, the veins and costa dark ocher, fringe and inner margin pale; lines somewhat approximate, whitish, distinct, approximately parallel to outer margin, the outer wavy crenu- late; discal mark a large, white, diffused patch, bare of scales cen- trally. Hind wing gray, a whitish ray through the cell, a broad, dis- tinct, outer whitish band; fringe pale, veins lined with dark ocher. Beneath the ocher markings are broadened, but the lines of fore wing nearly obsolete. Discal mark and submarginal band of hind wing dis- tinct; base of fore wing shaded with crimson. Expanse 40 mm.
One male, Mexico, without definite locality (Schaus collec- tion), probably from near Mexico City.
Type: No. 12931, U. S. National Museum.
This species, together with the two preceding, may prove to be varieties of one species. All apparently come from the high Mexican plateau in the vicinity of Mexico City. A large series of specimens is needed to decide the matter.
Hemileuca hualapai Neumoegen.
Euleucophseus hualapai Neumogen, Papilio, ill, 138, 1882.
Described from a single female from southwestern Arizona. So far as I am aware, no other specimens are known and the male is uudescribed. According to the description, the moth has a yellow costa and is therefore not allied to the other North American species, olivice Cockerell. Its nearest ally is the following, which, however, has a widely separated distri- bution:
Hemileuca mania Druce.
Euleucophseus mania Druce, Biol. Cent.-Am., Lep. Het, II, 420, 1897.
Described from Orizaba, Mexico. I have specimens from this place (Schaus collection) and from Motzorongo (R. Miiller) , both localities in the State of Vera Cruz, in the hot, moist country. The females are very rosy in color and must be very similar to hnuhipni Neum., but on the fore wings both the lines are distinct. The males vary considerably in
PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
the amount of rosy tint on the wing, most of them being largely brown.
Hemileuca lares Orucc.
EulcHCOplnrun hires Druce, Biol. Cent. -Am., Lep. Het., II,
420, 1897.
This is known to me only by Druce's figure. It is described from a single male from Duraugo City. This is on the west- ern edge of the high table-land, in a climate similar to that of Arizona. The species should be intermediate between in mini and hualapai, but unfortunately only the male of lures -is known and only the female of hualapai, so that no useful comparisons can be made.
Hemileuca numa Druce.
Enlem-opli;riis uitina Druce, Biol. Cent. -Am., Lep. Het., II,
421, 1897.
Described from Mexico City. I have specimens from there (Schaus collection) and also others sent by Mr. M tiller from the same locality. The high table- land centering in the vi- cinity of Mexico City is evidently the stronghold of the species of Hemileuca of the grass-feeding group.
Hemileuca nitria Druce.
Eitleucophxus nitria Druce, Biol. Cent. -Am., Lep. Het., II, 421, 1897.
Described from "Mexico" without definite locality. I have no specimens of the species. It is apparently closely allied to •nn ma, and may be a variety of that. Its relations cannot be well discussed without more definite knowledge of the exact locality.
Hemileuca oliviae Cockerell.
Hemileuca sororia, race olivix Cockerell, Psyche, vni, 252,
1898.
Described from Santa Fe, New Mexico. A large series of specimens is before me. This species has been made the sub- ject of a special bulletin by the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture.1
Hemileuca sororius Hy. Edwards.
Euleucophseus sororius Hy. Edwards, Papilio, I, 100, 1881.
Described from a single female from La Paz, Lower Cali- fornia, and otherwise unknown. It is very seldom that any
'Bui. 85, pt. v, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1910.
OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, }<>\\. ()
specimens are received from thfs region, which accounts for the paucity of our knowledge of this form. It may be, and probably is, locally abundant.
Hemileuca marillia, new species.
Rosy brown to dull rone-color. Thorax rosy brown with whitish overcast. Fore wing with the costa more or less marked with whitish, but no ocherou.s; lines broad, distinct, whitish; discal mark narrow, whitish, obscure. Hind wing rosy brownish in both sexes, with an outer whitish diffused line. Beneath the lines faintly reproduced, the basal part of the fore wing red. Abdomen dark rose-rod. Expanse: Male 50 mm.; female 60 mm.
Two males, two females, Tehuacan, State of Puebla. Mex- ico (R. Miiller, No. 1753;.
Type: No. 12932, L". S. National Museum.
This is closely allied to the following species, and may prove to be not specifically distinct therefrom. The present species comes from the southern end of the Mexican plateau, whereas Lex has been found some (>W) miles farther north. Specimens from intermediate points are needed to show the relationship of these forms.
Hemileuca lex Druce.
Euleucoph&us le.r Druce, Biol. Cent. -Am., Lep. Het., II, 42n,
1897.
Described from a single male from Durango City at the foot of the Sierra Madre. The species is not before me, but it is interesting to note the similarity in location with that of the allied oliiicr. 'Both species inhabit high, arid land on the eastern slope of a mountain range.
. Of the above twelve nominal species not including the aberrant dukinficldi Schaus; , eight are from the Mexican plateau ('two without exact localities), six (two doubtful; from the lower and best known part of that region, two from the central portion in State of Durango. Of the outlying forms, one is known from the peninsula of Lower California, one from southwestern Arizona, and one from New Mexico, while but a single species occurs outside of the high arid regions, namely, mcDiia Druce, from the State of Yera Crux. In the center of distribution several species may occur in the same general region, whether actually associated or not is not known; but in the outlying portions of the general area of distribution the species occur singly. Kvidently the ancestor of these species was an inhabitant of the Mexican plateau, where the larva.- fed upon grass in the absence, practically, of
10 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
all other vegetation. The group has in general confined itself to regions of the same general character Full data are not at hand concerning the single species known from the lower moist region in the State of Vera Cruz. Such data could not fail to be of interest.
Hemileuca mexicana Druce.
Metanastria mexicana Druce, Biol. Cent.-Am., Lep. Het. , I,
201, 1887. Dendrolimus mexicana Kirby, Cat. Lep. Het., I, 816, 1892.
This species was described as a lasiocampid, but, although no specimens are before me, it is evident from Druce's appar- ently excellent figures that it is a saturnian and a member of this genus. The species was described from two specimens in the collection of the late Dr. Staudinger, and are without exact locality. I have therefore left them out of considera- tion in the above, especially as it seems doubtful whether the two sexes are correctly associated. The male is represented with a dark discal mark, the female with a pale one, and there are other differences that would not be expected in sexes of one species. It is certainly regrettable that so many of the specimens in collections of this interesting group of Hemileuca should be without exact localities, as it so much increases the difficulty of the study of the geographical distribution of the forms.
A NOTE ON HALISIDOTA CINCTIPES GROTE.
Some years ago I placed Halisidota dcrcisii of Henry Edwards from Arizona as a synonym of H. ciuctipes, Grote from Cuba, and in this course Sir G. F. Hampson followed me in the British Museum catalogue. Very recently, how- ever, the Hon. Walter Rothschild has separated davisii and cinctipes as species and has further proposed the name under- woodi for the dominant continental form. Certain differences between these forms are apparent, and it may be a matter of opinion whether they should be treated as species or sub- species. Cinctipes occurs in Cuba and southern Florida. As compared with the continental underwoodi, the markings are thin and poorly contrasted, the black edgings powdery and with whitish edges. The discal markings have a tendency to obsolescence, breaking from the costal marks in the Cuban specimens and absent in some Florida specimens. In darisii from Arizona the markings that are present are well contrasted, but all those beyond the disk are obsolete or absent.
HARRISON G. DYAK.
OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 11
In discussion of the first two papers on the regular program, Dr. Dyar said: In the fauna of North America there are two very distinct elements, one a descendant of the early circum- polar fauna and not introduced and the second coming up from the south. In the Noctuidse, the Agrotinse are domi- nant in America, but also well represented in Europe. This element of the fauna probably arose in pre-Glacial times and then was driven southward. In the Lepidoptera the species in temperate North America coming from the south are in the minority. Arctia caja is almost the same in Europe and North America, and the form on the Pacific coast is most like the European form. In Asia there is a form like that in the Rocky Mountains. Halisidota comes from the south and is not in Europe. The ancestors of //. maciilata probably came up the west coast into California from Mexico, giving rise to another variety in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and from this the Eastern typical maciilata. The Limacodidse are both from the north and the south, but the latter dominant.
Mr. Rohwer said that in the Sphecoidea there are many ex- amples. In Trypoxvlon the frigidnm group is found in both Europe and America and is a northern element, while the rn foci net n m group found on both continents is apparently a southern element. The excavation group found only in America is a southern element, and comes as far north as New York.
Dr. Howard remarked that Professor Webster was discus- sing a modern diffusion, while Messrs. Dyar and Rohwer were discussing the ancient lines. It must be remembered that insect diffusion depends to a large extent on food plants. The diffusion in the United States has followed the life zones and the insects have tended toward their normal zones. Horticulturists trying to broaden the habitat of plants have not been encouraged. Meromyza is one of a class of insects carried in packing and so easily introduced. Insects intro- duced into the United States from Europe spread to their nor- mal life zone.
Dr. Hopkins said that we have to consider two factors very different — one influencing insects introduced and one influ-
12 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
encing native species. Professor Webster is referring to intro- duced species. In that case a trend is to be considered. Too much stress has been laid on circumpolar faunae. It is more natural to consider that insects have come up to us through geologic periods and palaeontology gives us some knowledge of this. We must consider rather that it was similar climates producing similar species both in Europe and America due to this similar climate causing parallel development.
Mr. Knab said that climate was of more importance than plant distribution in considering the distribution of insects, and cited as an example the species of the genus Melasoma in North America which have gone under the name of M. lap- ponica. There are three distinct forms related to lapponica in the United States, the first occupying the region from Alaska to California, the second the Great Lakes region to New England, and the third the South Atlantic States and Middle West, northward to the lakes. Their food plants, the willows, however, go south to Patagonia, but the species of this group fade out to the south and do not occur in Mex- ico. They are closely related to forms occurring in Europe and Siberia and are clearly of circumpolar origin. In order to understand our own Southwest we must know more of the pla- teau region of Mexico, which is a flat, dismal region. The only part of Mexico that is well explored is the slope and the low coast region in the state of Vera Cruz, but the table-land is not -touched.
Dr. Howard stated that the grasses were unimportant on the table-land.
Mr. Schwarz said that on the table-lands of Mexico there are three itnpoitant factors in the flora: the cacti, the mesquite, and the grasses. In the state of Durango grass is important. The fauna and flora of the table-lands was found by Mr. Schwarz to extend almost to the City of Mexico and probably goes further. The fauna of the plateau region is separated from the tropical fauna by a sharply defined line. Under the name Tropics are mixed up a lot of elements. The forest region of Tampico is similar to that of Florida and Cuba, but not like that of eastern Guatemala.
OF WASHINGTON. VOLUME XIII, 1911. 13
Mr. Schwarz remarked that tropical appearance does not al- ways depend on moisture, for in eastern Guatemala there is a large reg-iou with the appearance of the Potomac River region, but where it rains every day.
-Under the heading "Short Notes and Exhibition of Speci- mens" Dr. Dyar showed a copy of the first part of Lord Wal- singham's portion of the Biologia Centrali-Americana, which is to comprise the Tineina. He said:
The part shown has 24 pages with one plate, embracing the Lavernidse and part of the Gelechiidae. Though but a small part of the work, it exhibits the general style and make- up to be expected of the whole. The general plan of treat- ment employed in the previous parts on the Lepidoptera Heterocera is continued, perhaps unavoidably. This excludes all tables of families, genera, and species, as well as all diag- noses of old species, leaving the descriptive matter confined to the characterization of new genera and species. The treat- ment is accidentally much more largely monographic than in previous sections of the Lepidoptera Heterocera, owing to the circumstance that a large majority of the forms treated are here first described. Each new genus is accompanied by a text- figure of venation and head structure, a most useful and com- mendable innovation. We wish these had been given for the type species of the old genera as well. Such figures would have largely replaced the missing synoptic tables. There are in the part 36 species treated in 20 genera. Of these over 80 per cent of the species and 30 per cent of the genera are "new." The colored figures on the plate are given much en- larged. The names of the authors and works quoted in the bibliography are too greatly abbreviated. The less familiar ones are quite unintelligible. The work on the whole is ad- mirable, and in several important respects is an improvement on the previous volumes of the Lepidoptera. We desire to congratulate the eminent author on the appearance of the first part of this monumental work, which has been so long expected.
—Dr. Dyar read a communication1 from Mr. R. Shelford, of the University Museum, Oxford, England, which was a reply to Mr. A. N. Caudell for certain criticisms of Mr. Shel- ford's work. Mr. Shelford objected to Mr. Caudell's quota-
'Not accepted for publication.— EDITOR.
14 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
tious from his letters on the ground that the letters were pri- vate ones. He said that his reasons for not using the new name Blatclla instead of the preoccupied one Phyllodromia (for which he has been criticized) were that the genus con- tained a large number of heterogeneous species and needed re- vision, when the names would have to be greatly changed, while to change the generic name in the mean time would, he thought, only tend to increase the confusion. Mr. Shelford pointed out that his preoccupied name Ceratinoptera castauea, for which Mr. Caudell had proposed the new name shelf ordi, had been already renamed by himself Ceratinoptera usambar- ensis (Genera Insectorum, fasc. 73, Blattida}, Phyllodromiiuae, p. 19.)
Mr. Caudell said that he had not regarded Mr. Shelford's letter as private but as a scientific communication from a rec- ognized authority, whose opinion would be a matter of gen- eral interest.
The following papers were accepted for publication :
A NEW DIANTHIDIUM FROM PARAGUAY.
[Hymenoptera; Apoidea.] BY CURT SCHROTTKY.
Dianthidium vernoniae, new species.
Female. Black with a few yellow marks on the head and the three terminal segments of abdomen with broad yellow bands.
Head a trifle broader than thorax, almost nude, only with a few very short yellowish bristles, all over -coarsely and deeply punctured. Eyes a little convergent at base, their inner orbits with a narrow yellow line. Mandibles longitudinally striate, clypeus broader than long, with a shallow transverse depression before its apical margin. Scutum nasale trapesiform ; malar space practically none. Two small yellow spots between the insertion of antennae. Distance of hinder ocelli about one and a half diameters, distance from the eyes more than two dia- meters. A yellow line along the hinder margin of the head, this sharply truncate and deeply emarginate. Antennae 'fuscous, scape black, stained apically with a little ferruginous.
Thorax robust, throughout covered with deep coarse punctures, except the vertical part of the median segment, which is minutely punctured above and smooth below. Pronotum very short, only its blunt lateral angles being visible. Mesonotum a little broader than long, with its lateral margin deeply depressed, the depression forming
OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 15
a narrow line, minutely punctured. Scutellum about four times broader than long, separated from the mesonotum by a very deep suture, its hinder margin sharp, overlapping considerably the median segment. Metanotum scarcely visible at the sides under the scutellum. Median segment coarsely punctured only at its base. Mesopleura anteriorly truncate, punctured like the rest.
Abdomen short, not longer than head + thorax, with large punctures on the sides of the first two body segments, decressing in size rapidly towards the middle and the apex. An indistinct ferruginous stain at the sides of first and second segments. A small linear yellow spot at each side of the third; the basal half of the fourth yellow and its apical half fuscous; the fifth with basal two-thirds yellow and the apical third ferruginous; the sixth segment yellow, with a very small fuscous apical spot. The pollen brush is yellowish white.
Wings dark, especially at the apex of the median cell and in the cubital cells, the radial cell almost black; the nervures and stigma deep fuscous; the transverse discoidal veins terminating behind the angles of the second cubital cell at equal distance.
Legs entirely dark, clothed with a thin griseous pubescence; that on the metatarsi dense, stouter, and reddish brown. Pulvilli short but distinct.
Length a little over 7 mm. ; width of abdomen '2.5 mm.
A second specimen has no yellow line along the hinder margin of the head and the yellow spots between the insertion of the antennae are scarcely distinguishable ; it has, however, an additional small yellow spot at each side of the clypeus; its length is 7.5 mm.
Paraguay, Tacuru-pucu, April 29, 1909 (type), and Puerto Bertoui, Alto Parana. Taken in flowers of Vernotiia sp. (Compositae).
I considered this as Dianthidium megachiloides (Holrubg ) (=Anthodioctes megachiloides} but the description, imperfect as it is, does not agree with my specimens in some important points. It is also near D. indescriptum (D. T.) (=Anthidium cogiiatttm F. Smith nee Cresson), but the abdomen of the atter is "pubescent, giving it a velvety blackness" and " the scutellum is orange-yellow," while D. reniouicr has the abdomen nude and the scutellum black.
AN ARCTIAN NEW TO OUR FAUNA.
Mr. R. A. Vickery has collected Halisidota aiitiulofa Walker at Brownville, Texas. The moth is common in Mexico and it is not surprising that it should appear at Browns- ville, where so many southern forms occur.
HAKRISON G. DYAK.
16 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
NOTES ON THE AMERICAN SPECIES OF OLENE HUBNER.
[Lepidoptera; Liparidse. ] BY HARRISON G. DYAR.
I have been asked for an exact determination of the pine- feeding species of Olene {Parorgyia) of northern distribution. It appears that the material before me is insufficient for a full comprehension of the subject. Especially material is needed from the Southern States, while a certain well-marked type of larva has never been associated with its proper adult. I have formerly reduced the number of species considerably, admit- ting but three in Bulletin 52, U. S. National Museum. I think that the number will have to be somewhat increased. I will consider the names in the order of Bulletin 52.
FEEDING ON DECIDUOUS TREES.
Olene achatina Smith and Abbot.
I have no material before me agreeing exactly with Abbot's figure. The form shown is like obliquata, with more of white, the brown markings distinct and broken into spots. It may be a southern race of obliquata, or distinct. The larva fig- ured may be wrongly associated. It is very unlike the larva of obliquata as determined by Seifert and others. A larva agreeing with Abbot's figure has been bred by me, producing the form basiflava.
Olene obliquata Grote and Robinson.
This form, with its variety parallela G. & R., has been well worked out by Seifert. The adult is characterized by the subterminal markings of the fore wing, while the larva is very distinct, its long, dense hairs showing no contrast in the tufts of joints 5 to 8, only a single pair of hair pencils in front, none behind, and none accompanying the tuft on joint 12. The distribution of the material before me is from Maine to Maryland. I have placed this form as a synonym to achatina, which can only be maintained if Abbot's larva is wrongly associated. New material from Georgia is needed to settle the point.
Olene tephra Hiibner.
I have no material agreeing certainly with Hiibner's figure. In the male 'no white is shown, in the female only a little around the discal mark. The resemblance is toward obhquata, but the inner line is too distinct and its parts too well marked and separate, besides the distinct markings on the hind wing
OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, lilll. 17
of the male, which occur in no obliquata before me. I have formerly referred the form as a variety of achatina, but fresh material from the Southern States is needed to positively identify this name.
Olene cinnamomea Grote and Robinson.
This is possibly only a variety of obliquata. It differs in the lines being brown, not black. It was described from a single female. I have males from