Notes on <I>Phengodes</I> and <I>Zarhipis</I>

62 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

DECEMBER

2, 1886.

Six persons

present. President

Howard

ⁱⁿ the chair.

Mr.

_J.

D. Sherman,

Jr., of Peekskill,

N. _Y., was

elected a

member

of the Society.

Dr. Riley made some remarks on

the larvae

and

larviform females of

Phengodes and Zarhipis,

^of

which he

furnished the following abstract^:

NOTES ON PHENGODES AND

ZARHIPIS.

Iread with

some

interest,whileinEurope^lastJuly,theaccountⁱⁿScience forJuly Qth of Dr.Horn's remarks onthe larviform female ofPh. laticollis

and Zarhipis ^{Riversii. I} have been familiar, since 1869,with the lumi- nouslarva

which was

then, followingOsten_Sacken, referredwithaques- tion toMelanactes. ^I exhibit alcoholic specimens ^{of the} form found by myself and ^{others in Missouri,} and which

was

first figured by

me

in LeBaron's _4th Rep. ^{Ins. ofIlls.}(1874); of another series corresponding with Zarhipis ^{received in} 1883 and _1884, from Mrs. A. E. Bush, ^of

San

Jose, Cal.^; onereceivedfrom

Henry

^T.

Thomas

_{in 1869,}of Franklin, Mo. ;

one {Phengodes}^receivedfrom Mr._J.

W.

A. Wright, Greensborough,^Ala., June, 1886; two (apparentlyPhengodes} ^{received in} 1875 from Mr.B. P.

Mann,

Cambridge, Mass.; others receivedfrom L. R. Alexander, Piocha, Nev., ⁱⁿ September, 1883; and, finally, one {Phengodes} from Mr. O.

Lugger, found near Baltimore,Md., in 1876.

The

structure in all these larvae is essentially identical, but they ^are divisible into three groups ^doubtless corresponding ^{to as}

many

genera.

In thefirstgroup {Phengodes}^themost

common

formispale oryellowish ingeneral color,with a medio-dorsal seriesof small, paler, double _spots near thehind margin^ofeachjoint; themandibles_sharpandsickle-shaped and the prothoracic joint elongate and narrowed anteriorly.

Another

colorational form in this group ^the one _originally described by Osten Sacken has thehornyparts

much

darker,almostblack, with a series of pale

brown

or fulvous dorsal_spots,two toeach_joint. In thesecondgroup {Zarhipis} the color^isequallyvariable,

some

of thespecimens beingpale

brown

and showing^{the small,} geminate, medio-dorsal paler spots^atbase ofeach_joint, butmostof

them

_being

much

darker,almost black dorsally withno_lightermarkings.

The

surfaceisrather

more

_{noticeablyshagreened} and the medio-dorsal depressed ^line

more marked

in this group than ⁱⁿ thefirst,from whichitisatoncedistinguishedby^thebroader,

more

trans- verse head; but particularlybythe broader,

more

transverse prothoracid joint,not narrowed anteriorly.

With

these exceptions the ^{structure in} thesetwo groups ^is essentially the same. In both, ^{the larvae} possess^a large ocellus at base of antennas,and in both they exhibit ^a remarkable peculiarityhithertonot_{noticed,viz.,a pair}of small spiracular orspiracle-

OF WASHINGTON. 63

likeaperturesonthe dorsal suturesbetweenjoints 4-11,and normallyquite hidden bythe telescoping of thejoints.

The

nature of theseopenings^can only be speculatedupon, ^asnodissections have_yetbeen

made;

they

may

be_olfactoryorgans.

In the paper, "

Zur

Biologic der Kafergattung Phengodes 111.,"by^Dr.

Erich Haase, published ^{in Isis for} 1885 (pp. 10-11), the author,without referring^toOsten Sacken's paper, ^citesthe observations of Dr. Hierony- mus,^ofCordoba, which^firstestablished therelationof themale

Phengodes

with this larva asthe female.

From

a larvareceivedfromMissouri_{in 1883,} and which

was

_keptfor

some

weeks in a glass jarwhere itcould be seen until it reached the pupa ^{state, I had,}withMr. Schwarz, already^atthat time decidedthatthelarva

must

bereferred toPhengodes, though^therehad been no occasion to publish the conclusion, because the specimen had unfortunately disappeared during one^of

my

^absences,and probably flown outasa beetle.

The

thirdgroup^consistsof the smallerlarvafrom Nevada,

which may

eventuallyprove ^{to be the}

young

^{ofoneof the} largerforms, though

more

_probablyitwill prove^tobelong ^to

some

other genus. ^{It is} lessnarrowedin front,the headisbroader,and thewhole body^issparsely besetwith_spinous^hair.

The

colorispale,andthe ocellusveryconspicuous eachside,looking almost^likea

compound

eye by^virtueofitsbeingplaced on an_irregularblack patch.

No

dorsal spiracular^orificesare noticeable.

Sofaras the specimensjustify

any

conclusion, the only^{differenceob-} servable between the _perfect femaleand the larva is in the

more

feeble mandibles andtarsiof the former.

A _long

discussion

on

various topics

connected with

this

Phen- godes matter followed

^the

reading

^of

Dr.

_{Riley's paper.}

Mr.

Smith

related his

experience with one

of the

luminous

larvag

found

atBritain,

Conn., and which was _kept

in captivity for a

number

of

weeks

;

but

it finally died.

Mr. Mann _spoke on

the

numerous luminous

larvas

which he found

in

and around Cam-

bridge,

Mass. Among ^{them he} had observed two

_forms,

one with

blunt, the other

with

_pointed

mandibles. A

third

form,

^of jet-blackcolor,

could

_extinguishtheir light^atwill,

and

there

were

also differences in the anal

segment. All were _kept

in captivity for a considerable length of time,

but none

transformed.

Mr.

Schwarz _gave

a

review

of the

geographical

distribution of the

North American Phengodini, and

^{related that}

on one

occasion

he had found

in ^lorida,

during daytime, 4

^or5

male _specimens

of

Phengodes plumosa on ^one

spot

among

^{the rootsof}grasses.

Mr. Schwarz

exhibited

samples

^{of small,}

square

^{rods of}

naph-

thaline

which,

^{in this}

form,

^is

known

in

commerce

as

"white

carbon," and used

for intensifying the flames of_gas-light.

The