We have lately studied the mouth-parts of a number of species of Bombus, both American and European, and adding our results to those obtained by Radoszkowski (1877) we find as follows :-

(1)Taking the first joint of the labial palpus of the ♀ as an index of the length of the mouth-parts (it is especially convenient for accurate measurement), we find that the longest-mouthed species is B. Gerstackeri, from the European Alps (our examples were collected by Friese at Engelberg), a species known to be the exclusive visitor of Aconitum lycoctonumin that region. The Aconitum (Knuth, Blütenbiologie, Vol. II., p. 53, fig.20) has the hood enormously produced, and is adapted only to bees with extremely long tongues.

In the Annales Soc., Ent. de France, LXIX., p. 171, P. Marchal publishes an article entitled “Sur un nouvel Hyménoptère aquatique, le Limnodytes gerriphagus, n.gen., n. sp.”

Mr. Marchal is to be complimented on his discovery and observation of the habits of this very interesting insect, but it is deeply to be regretted that the generic name which he has chosen is preoccupied, hence it becomes widely known. The name Limnodytes was employed by Dumeril and Bibron in their “Erpétologie généralem“ Vol. VUUU., 1841, p.510, for a genus of salamanders, hence I propose in its place the term Tiphodytes, nov. name.

Full-grown larvæ were taken on wild cherry (Prunus) in the latter part of September, 1901. Placed in a box over earth, they fed but a day or two, truned a deep green, and entering the earth two to three inches, formed rounded cells, in which they remained as larvæ all winter, transforming to pupæ just before emergence. They are gregarious, remaining in their web, filled with its mass of exuvia, untill full-grown, when, as their growth is completed, individually they drop from it and enter the ground. One which was kept under observation formed a pupa on April 28th, and emerged eight days thereafter. The pupal skin is very thin, showing distictly the parts of the enclosed imago. This brood commenced emerging April 25th, and a few individuals are still coming out, May 31st. In the eariler days the males predominated, later the females, Altogether, 134 males and 123 females have appeared. Copulation took place at once, the pair remaining in coitu from three to five hours.

As has been shown by several previous writers, the Synopsis published in instalments by Fieber, in Lotos, Volrtme III., all appeared on or before August 1853. Such being the case, all his new generic names have precedence over those of L. H. Fischer,* the preface of whose work bears the date, November, 1853, and which is unlikely to have appeared before 1854.

An article in the April number of the Canadian Entomologist leads me to offer a few remarks on this subject. The custom of forming new generic names by attaching a prefix or suffix to the existing name of a related genus has grown to serious proportions in recent years. There are several reasons why it should be discountenanced. For one thing,it almost invariably makes the name too long to look or sound well. This is no trifling disadvantage, although some entomologists seem not to appreciate the fact.

In my neighbourhood I find the typical Andrena Cressonii, Rob., and the form described below as A. dubia, the latter more rare. To compare this with the form described as A. Bridwellii,Ckill., I have obtained from Mr. Bridwell for examination thiry-three specimens taken by ghim at Baldwin, Kansas, and labelled A. Cressonii, A. Kansensis, and A. Bridwellii.

A. Kattsensis is the same as A.Cressonii, the colour of the pubescence being characteristic of unfaded specimetrs. Local specimens sometimes have the hind tibiæ and tarsi ferruginons in both sexes.

This species was described in the Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, Vol. III, p, 144, 1895, and the author stated: “I offer herewith a description of this species, being solely tempted thereto by the interest attached to its life-history; for, as far as I am aware, there is no other Scolytid known which normally develops within the cones of pine trees.” Possibly since that time a similar habit may have been observed in regard to other members of the Scolytidæ, but I cannot recall any reference to such observations. The beetle in question was first collected by me on May 24, 1884, and its capture was quite accidental. Mr. Fletcher and myself had that day visited a grove of white pines on the Gatineau, a few miles north of Ottawa, with the special object of collecting the somewhat rare little butterfly, Thecla Niphon, of which we succeeded in capturing several good specimens.

Herewith I offer descriptions of three new species of dragon-flies of the subfamily Gomphinæ of Odonata. Figures of the appendages of all will appear in my forthcoming handbook of the dragon-flies of North America.

Gromphus lentulus, n. sp.

Colours obscure (due in part to fading of specimen); face obscure yellowish, shining; frons above and occiput and the ridges above the lateral ocelli yellow, the remainder of the vertex brownish. Prothorax brownish, with a double median spot of yellow on the dorsum. Thorax obscure yellowish, with a faint indication of a pair of narrow stripes of brown beside the middorsal carina, and of broader antehumeral and humeral stripes; a brown pale line on the third lateral suture.

Anyone who has had even the slightest experience in attempting to get intelligent notes to accompany his acquistions by exchange has doubtless been sorely vexed–to put it no more strongly. Anyone who has tried to keep a careful record of the conditions under which his own collections were made has also doubtless felt the need of some better scheme than the regulation notebook. It is for these reasons that I suggest an idea whic I find very useful.

In the first place, I write (or print with a hand stamp) my own locality labels so that I can fix the places definitely. The ordinary entomologist, unless he has a large collection from precisely the same limited locality, can scarcely afford to have special labels printed, and general ones are useless when the collection is to be used for more than a purely æsthetic exhibition.

In the December number, 1900, of this journal, page 369, the writer published the life-history of the above Arctian. During the past summer, through the kindness of Mr. A. Kwiat, of Chicago, in forwarding eggs of A. phalerata (laid 18th June), I have had the opportunity of still further studying this species, and, as these larvæ varied considerably fromthose described in 1900, the following notes were made :

In the larval stages i, ii and iii those bred in 1901 answered well to my former descriptions. In stage iv the larvæ were not so black as the specimens reared the previous year, but many of them showed the dorsal stripe. This stripe was also present in stage v, besides which 40 of the larvæ possessed a series of pale orange spots on sides between tubercles ii and iii, and iii and iv, and the skin of the body in a line with the upper spots(between tubercles ii and iii) was slightly grayish, not black like the rest of the skin; this and the spots gave the appearance of a faint lateral band, distinguishable on all segments but 2 and 13. In stage v in 1900 none of the larvæ showed the dorsal stripe.

We regret to record the death of Mr. R. J. Weith, of Elkhart, Indiana, which took place on Sunday, September 21st after an illness of only two days, from appendicitis. Mr. Weith was born in Prussia, on the 15th of September, 1847. At the age of twenty-five he came to America, and after visiting many f the large cities in the east and south, finally settled at Elkhart, where he lived for about a quarter of a century. For many years be devoted himself to the study of entomology and the collections of insects, especially Hymenoptera, and may notable captures.

Silpha Coloradensis, n. sp.– Form of inæqualis, but more elongae, black, except the tip of the abdomen, which is orange-rufocus; above clothed with short black hairs. Head densely punctate, the punctures regular over the greater part of the surface, those in front of the inter-antennal line smalll and less distinct; occipital transeverse impression deep; labrum short, broadly emarginate; antennæ black, club four-jointed, the last three joints pubesecnt, the terminal one longer, compressed, tip sinuately rounded. Thorax about one one-half times as broad as long, narrowed anteriorly, sides broadly arcuate in front, more suddenly so behind, basal lobe slightly and very broadly emarginate. Surface somewhat irregular, densely and very regularly punctate, sides somewhat flattened. Scutellum slightly concave, densely puncutred. Elytra as wide as the thorax and fully twice as long, the sides nearly parallel, outer margins distinctly reflexed, apices conjointly rounded, but sinuate externally, punctuation less dense than that of the thorax, each puncture with a recumbent hair.

In the Catalogue of the Lep. Phalænæ, p. 528, this species is incorrectly referred to C. venosa. The specimens there recorded are probably all C. venosa, at least those from my collections are. Mr. Geo. Francke sends me two fresh specimens of C. Cressonana. In these, as stated in my original description, Proc. Ent. Soc., Phil., June, 1863, the third stripe of C. venosa is wanting. The stripes on cubitus and branches and along anal region of primaries may vary from white (as I described them) to yellow, and the costa may be yellow (in the first instance)or red. For the yellow-striped from with red costa I propose the name var. Iutea. The fringes in C. Cressonana are entirely white, and I was careful to point out other differences from C. venosa, which should not have been overlooked by the author of the Catalouge above referred to.

During my last week of collecting in the Huachuca Mts., Cochise Co., Arizona, I found, Aug. 11th, 1899, eighteen Datana larvæ on a Manzanita bush (Arctostaphylos glauca) or Western bearleaf. This larva was not known to me, and therefore I was anxions to send it to theartist who made the figures for Prof. A. T. Packard's “Bombycine Moths.” To all appearance the larvæ were nearly full-grown, and I had a negative taken of them by an ornithologist camping near by, so as to have a memento left in case they should transform before reaching their destination. Cloudy rveather and drizzling rain late in the day made it difficult to obtain a good picture. I had to mail the insects early the next morning from Fort Huachuca, which is 12 miles from Ramsey Canyon, and further delay was hazardous.

D. anomalus, Robt. Specimens from Dr. Granicher, collected at Milwaukee, wwere examined.

D. occidentalis, n. n. for D. anomalus, Ckll.

Ann and Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 7, VII, 126 (Jan., 1901).

This differs from the true anomalus in its large size, more densely punctured mesothorax, finer and more numerous lines on the metathorax, dark tegulæ, abdomen distinctly punctured, quite closely on the second segment; denser pubescence on the abdomen nearly concealing the surface on the apical segments; apical margins of abdominal segmentgs testaceous.

In the March number fo The Canadian Entomoloigst, Page 74, I described a, to me, unknown larva, which, according to a statement of Mr. Wm. Beutenmuller, of the American Museum of Natural Histroy of New york, is that of Datana robusta, Strecker. Heretofore the imagoes of D. robusta had all been taken in Texas, and Dr. Dyar in Prof. Packard's Bombycine Moths, Vol. 1., page 120, is quoted as saying that the larva of Robusta was yet unknown. Some have claimed that the species described as Robusta too much resembled Perspicua, but it will be seen that the larva is distinct, and the imagines of both these species are entitled to the names as first described. The body colour fo Robusta larva in black, and the lines are yellow.

The following species of Semioscopis (Epigraphia) seem undescribed. They were sent for names by Messers. F.A. and H.D. Merrick, of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, and have donated by them to the National Museum. These new species closely resemble several of the European ones, yet seem all specifically separable.