Note on <I>Dynastes tityus</I>

54 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Tabanus mexicanus

^{and T.}

psammophilus,

^asobserved

by him

in Florida.

The

former _species flies only shortly ^after sunrise

and

_shortly^beforesunset,butattacks

warm-blooded

animals; the latter isa _strictly maritime _species, occurring only

on

the

open

beach of southeastern Florida, and probably never ^attacks

warm-

bloodedanimals.

SEPTEMBER

_2, 1886.

Five persons present. Vice-President

Marx

in the chair.

Mr. Schwarz,

referring to remarks

made _by him

at the last

meeting, ^{stated that} during ^the

months

of July

and August

^he

had

handled

many

living specimens ^of

Harpalus

caliginosus butwithout being^ableto perceive any stridulation; and _further, thatthe _flattening in the palpi ⁱⁿ

male

of

Hydrophilus

^ovatus

is not an

abnormal

_character, but occurs ^{in all} males of this species.

Mr.

_{Lugger, referring} to the accountof the

swarm

of Cicadas observed at Fortress

Monroe,

Va.,

on June

i7th, said that he

had

visited that locality

on

_July5th,

and

_captureda specimen ^of

Cicada

_pruinosa.

Mr. Schwarz

said that

on

_{July 5th} he heard the first

Cicada pruinosa

^at

Washington.

Mr. Smith

read a paper

on

the peculiar odor emitted

by Dynastes

tityus. This is well

known

^to entomologists, but duringthe present season the spiecies has developed ^{into a} pest.

In

two

States Virginia

and

Tennessee _they have been _locally so abundantas to saturate the air with the penetrating stench.

The

local boards of _health,

especially^thatof

Memphis,

Tenn., disinfected^all sorts offoul

and

_suspected localities withoutsuc- cess,

and

_only

by

^accident

was

the true source of the smell dis- covered. It

must

have _required

many

^{thousands of} specimens to have produced such an ^effect,

and

it isan interesting instance of a

new way

ⁱⁿ

^which

^{insectscan renderlife}

^burdensome

^to

^man.*

In discussing ^this

communication Mr. Lugger

^{said that the}

favorite food_-plantof the

Dynastes

^{is the}

Water Ash _(Fraxinus

sambucifolia)^,

which

is quite

common

ⁱⁿ the _vicinity of

Mem-

*See the Article, "Beetles as a nuisance,"byJ.B. Smith, ⁱⁿ Popular ScienceMonthly, ^xxx, pp.409-410.

OF WASHINGTON. 55

phis.

Mr. Schwarz

said that in this

and

other allied genera ^of Scarabasidaa the odor is emitted

by

^the

imago

^{aswell as}

by

^the pupa, whereas^{the larva is not, orat least}

much

_less, odoriferous.

Mr. Lugger

^{said that evenin the} phyllophagousScarabaeidas,

e.^., the genus Lachnosterna, ^the

imagos

^{emitteda faint,though} not unpleasant, odor.

Mr. Smith added

that also in the cop- rophagous genera, especially Canthon, ^the odor of the

imago

^is quite strong andunpleasant.

Mr. Schwarz

^exhibited the following species of ^insects

which

are

new

^to the fauna of the Districtof

Columbia:

^i.

Merope

tuber of the Neuropterous familyPanorpidce.

One

_specimen,

a male,

was

found

on August

^{22d undera stone in the}

woods on

a dry ^hillside near

Rock

Creek.

Upon

beingdisturbed the_speci-

men

ran off rapidly, ^{its fore}

wings

vibrating ⁱⁿthe

manner

seen in

many

^Noctuids,the hind wings,^atthe

same

_{time, covering}the

abdomen

_exceptingthe forceps.

Mr. Schwarz

reviewed thehis- tory of^this remarkable insect, of

which

_onlya few specimens^are

known

^tobeincollections.

Of

itsearlierstagesnothing^is

known, and

of its habits

we

_{have only} ^{a short note}

_by

^Dr. Fitch ⁱⁿ his Fourteenth Report, stating that the

two

specimens he captured

were

attracted

by

^thelightin his house. 2. Chcetoccelus setosus of the Coleopterous family Malackiidce, found on

August

^28th

on

dead

oak

_twigs near Bladensburgh.

The

_onlyother

known

localityfor this species ^is

Columbus,

Tex.,

where

^itoccurred

on

oldgrape^vinesinthedarkest portions of thebottom woods.

The

male appears^to be extremely ^{rare; the} female is

among

^our

^most

larviform Coleoptera, and, ^{for this}reason,^{liable to} be overlooked

by

collectors.

Mr. Smith

described a peculiar brushof hair atthebase of the

abdomen

in Schinia

marginata

(family Noctuidcz). ^{It is a} pencil of fine twisted strands set into a cup-shaped

membrane, and

_usually concealed ⁱⁿ agroove

between

the dorsal

and

ventral parts of the basal

two

_segments of the

abdomen. When

^firstre-

moved

from this groove, ^the

same

smell of

laudanum,

^{so notice-} able in

Leucarctia

acrcea, ^isalso observable here.

Spread

^out, a considerable brush of hair is presented.

The

insect has the

power

of voluntarily spreading ^{out this tuft,}

and

_probably, also, of again

withdrawing and

folding^it into place.

Mr. Schwarz

exhibited samples^{of the}bark of

Red _{Oak, show-}