LETTERS FROM THE SOUTHWEST.

OF WASHINGTON. 361

titles of

works

_published.

He

criticised the

book

fortheomission ofall references tothe literature of the family

name.

Prof.

Smith

read apaper^entitled

" An _Essay

atthe Classifica tionof the

American

Noctuids."

He

_gave considerableimport ance to the position of vein 5 of the hind

wings

^as indicating the groups ^Trifinae

and

Quadrifinse, basing ^{the division}

upon

^the position of the vein rather than^itstendency^toobolescence,

which

he regarded ^{as a}

more

_secondary character.

He

also

showed

a seriesof phylogenies

which

he

had

_prepared for the genera ^of several groups. Dr.

Dyar

took exception ^{to Prof.} Smith's idea thatthe Quadrifinae

were

the

more

generalized, stating that

it

would

be expected ^thatthe three-branched

median

vein repre sented the lower_type as inthe Notodontians, ^etc. Dr. Gill re

marked

that ^itdid not follow that the highest Noctuids should necessarily have the most specialized venation. Prof.

Smith

brieflyexplained ^his position ^further. Dr.

Dyar

^{called attention}

to Arsilonche albovenosa,

which

has been considered to bethe

same

as the

European

species. Dr.

Chapman

^has

^shown

^{in a}

letterrecently received ^that the _genitalia of the

European

^form

differfrom those of the

American

form asfigured

by

^{Prof. Smith,} thus indicating a specific distinction as claimed

by

^Grote.

Mr.

Ashmead

also

remarked on

Prof. Smith's _paper.

In theabsence of

Mr. Schwarz, Mr. Benton

^{read the}_following

letter written

by Mr. Hubbard

while in the southwest, ⁱⁿ _1897.

LETTERS FROM THE SOUTHWEST.

By ^H.

^G.

^HUBBARD.

Insect

fauna

^{in the}

burrows of

desert rodents.

YUMA,

AR.,

March

_{30, 1897.}

I findI have not reported

my

operations^at

Palm

Springs, Cala., since

March

_izfth. I have, in fact,notcollected

many

thingsdur ing the ^last

week

of

my

^{stay, as I}

was engaged

^{inthe laborious}

work

ofdigging^out

and

_exploring the

burrows

of

Spermophiles

andthe

Kangaroo

^rat

(Dipodomys

desertorum).

The

holesof thelatter baffled us _entirely,

and

I

am

sure I did notsucceed in reaching ^{the true nest as I}

had

to

abandon

the excavation ata

362 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

depth ^{of8 feet}because of the treacherous dust in

which we were

digging.

At

that point the burrow,

which

had

dwindled down

to a single tunnel,

was

still going deeper, descending ^{in .short} spirals,

and

_although there

were

occasional sleepingpockets ^lead ing^offfrom the gallery, as from those nearer to the _surface, they contained nothing but ^a few scattered fragments ^of grass.

A

small Tineid

moth

(apparently ^{not different}

from

our

common

clothes moth,

Tinea

biselliella),was, however,continually

com

ing

up

^{out of the} depth^{of the} hole,and this

seems

toindicatethat

we _might

have found at lasta true nestor incubation pocket^lined with _grass

and

_containing insects.

The

_{upperportion ofthe sys}

tem

^of_galleries

was

_{simply an} interminable labyrinth of holes ⁱⁿ tersectingeach_other,irregularly

and

_frequentlyinthe

upper

layers of _soil, but deeper

down

in

more

or less well defined layers or stores a foot or

two

_apart.

We

saw, of course, no sign of the rats, but ^their dung,

which

is in very small

and

hard _pellets,

was

scattered about the galleries in singlepieces, never in

accumula

tions.

The

holes,aboutthesizeof a man's_wrist,

were

linedwith dry

and

_extremely ^fine dust, in

which

_only a wingless^cricket

(Ceuthophilus^n. sp. ?)and anoccasional largeTenebrionidlarva appeared ^{to live in}considerablenumbers.

The

cricketssheltered themselves in pits or small tunnels as large ^as the little finger,

and which were

excavated_vertically in the roof, extending

up wards from

the gallery about 2 or 2^ ^inches. Nevertheless, ^I foundintheuppergalleriesanoccasionalspecimenof various small grey ^flies {Ler'iapectinata

Loew, ^Phorbia

fuscipes ^Zett.

and

PH. acra

Walk.)

^; very rarely an Aleocharid with _bright red elytra ^(?

Aleochara

n. sp.)

which

I found

more commonly

ⁱⁿ

the

Spermophile

^{holes; a}wingless roach

{Heterogamia

sp.} ; a

few

specimens^{ofa small}Carabid(

Tetragonoderus

pallidus}and a small Silphid

{Ptomaphagus

^fisus).

The most

interesting species is, however, ^{a rather small} black _Histerid, resembling^a Saprinus^but having^a single very ^slenderclaw

on

all tarsi (nov.

gen.}

and

thus resembling ^the genus Chelioxenus. ^{I secured} only3 or4 specimens.

Inone preliminary^{excavation in}

which

the_galleries

were

small

we

foundalso a single old

and

mutilated, but_living,

specimen

^of a large red

Aphodius

(A.coquilletti Linell)^,

and

_{a large,}mostre markable _Histerid, also allied to Chelioxenus, having ^{red elytral}

OF WASHINGTON. 363

spotsbut with_{only the}

humeral

striae,

and

these nearly ^obsolete.

It hasalso only a single^tarsal claw

and

the front

margin

^{of the}

posternum

^is deeply emarginate ^(nov.gen.}.

The

Tenebrionid larvae are distinct

from

_any I have seen before.*

The

Spermophile. ^a very ^small greyish or almost whits species,

makes much

smaller _holes, although ^the entrances are

begun

ⁱⁿ the hole of

some

_larger

mammal,

^{sothat forthefirst}

^two

feet itis frequently ^aslarge ^{as that}of the Florida

Gopher. The Spermophile

^holes

sometimes

branch near the entrance

and

always ^turn abruptly.

At

a depth of 3 or 4 ^feet they ramify

and

enter a

network

of_galleries connected with several external entrances. Frequently they are blind endsor small pockets,

and

sometimes in these there are large

wads

or nests of a peculiar softgrass

which grows

sparingly

on

the desert, or, at least in this oasis.

Some,

^ifnotall, of these grass

bunches

are _{nests, as} they are ^full offleas

and

mites,

and

^if near the surface theycon tain usually specimens ^of

Ptomaphagus

fisus.

One

nest

we

foundat the terminationof the deepest burrow, about5 feetver tical depth, ⁱⁿa layer of very dry gravel

and

_stones,

which was composed

not of grassbutof a soft material like inner bark

and

felted into aball with a cavity inside, evidently an incubating nest. It

was

also full offleas in larva

and

_{imago, and} alsomites.

Small bits of

dung

^{occur at}

random

in the

burrows and

^these

attract in considerable

numbers

the Aleocharid with red _elytra mentioned above,

and more

_rarely a peculiar Saprinusf with rather translucentchitine

and

with _oblique internal elytral spot.

A

_{large fly} larva eats into the _pellets of

dung and

^{there isalsothe} small Tineid

moth

mentioned_before,

and

a larger lepidopterous larva the

imago

^of

which

I did not see.

The

subterranean crickets ₍Ceuthophilus)

and

the gray ^{flies are} very

abundant

and Tenebrionid larvas not rare. In digging one ^{of thesenests}

we

uprooted ^a

common _woody

desert shrub

and

found in the rootsan

immense Cerambycid

^larva \_Derobrachys brevicollis\

which

I still have alive.

The

_elytra of this

Cerambycid were

frequently found in

and

about thenestsor holes of the

Kangaroo

^rat.

The

larvaor the Saprinus mentioned above ^I secured ⁱⁿ

good

^series.

*They^{have notbeenbred but}

may

^{belongtoCraniotusor}Triorophug.

--E.A. S.

tThis isa trueSaprinus^butquite differentfrom anyoneⁱⁿourfauna.

E. A. S.

364 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

I forgot^to mentionthat a_single specimen ^{of a}dark Apocellus Staphylinid ^beetle [A. tenuicornis Casey?]

was

taken

March

2zd in the gallery of a

Kangaroo

rat,

and

ⁱⁿ the

same

hole or system ^{of holes} near the surface I founda _large, dead Stenopel matus, with^the legs bitten of

by

^{the ratbut otherwise noteaten.}

My

^Indianhelper, Benito, ^a very intelligentfellow,

was

well ac quainted with ^this

"Idaho

devil^" as an

enemy

^{to their}agricul tural plantations. Benito

and

I

dug

^four days ^{at these}

burrows and

^I_paid

him

_{$1.25 per day, so} that the few insects found are valuable. I feel surethere are

more

_things tobe found in sub terranean

mammals'

_holes, but the labor

and

_expenseofunearth ing

them

are verygreat. ^It quite^tired

me

out.

MARCH

2, 1899.

The

_{I42d regular meeting}

was

held at the residence of Mr. E.

A.

Schwarz,

230

New

_Jersey

Avenue N.W.

Vice-President Gill in the chairand Messrs.

Ashmead, Schwarz,

Motter, Pratt, Dyar, Caudell, Chapin,

Vaughan, Howard,

Johnson, ^Patten,

Heidemann,

Benton, Matthis, Currie, and

Woods

alsopresent.

Under

thehead of u Short notes

and

exhibition ofspecimens,"

Mr. Benton

stated that

on January

^{22d he}

had

found brood

honey

^{bees in all} stages of

growth and new

adults, indicating egg-laying ^{the last of}

December.

This is a veryearly ^instance.

Mr.

Matthis exhibited specimens ^of

what

he takesto be

Bo-

reus

brumalis

Fitch,

which

he

had

_caught

upon

^the

snow

in the

Rock Creek

_valley aftertherecent blizzard.

He showed

_by

com

parisonspecimens ^{of a}

Boreus which

he

had

_caught last

Octo

ber ata high ^elevation on the

Big Horn

Mountains. This

was

a larger

and

darker

form

than

B. brumalis and

has not been specially identified.

Mr. Schwarz

stated that a

Western

Boreus

had

been described

by Hagen,

^and

Mr. Ashmead

stated that Fitch's types of

Boreus

are in the U. S. National

Museum. Mr.

Matthis

remarked on

theappearance ^of

Boreus

near Boston,

and Mr. Schwarz

stated that these insectsare

common

at

Cambridge,

rarelybeing found

on snow,

but readilyobtained

by

sifting

moss

in early spring.

Mr. Dyar ^showed

^a

^blown

^larvaof

Apatcla

hcesitata Grt.,