Sexual brush in <I>Schinia marginata</I>

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-}

56 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

ing the

work

^ofanundescribed Scolytid ^beetleof thegenus Pity- ophthorus.

The

_galleries

which

_{are partly}ⁱⁿ thebark and_partly inthe outermostlayer of the

wood

are theprimarygalleries,^i.e., those

made _by

_{the parent} beetle, and exhibited a featurehitherto not observed in any ^other Scolytid.

The

female beetle bores straightthrough ^thebark; then follows a very short gallery ^ver- tically

downward,

^{and this is crossed} immediately

below

the entrance hole by an extremely long ^transverse gallery.

The

novelty ^{consists in} the short

tvertical

gallery,

which

_evidently is

constructed only^for the purpose ^of enabling ^{the beetle to turn} around without_getting

on

theoutsideof thetree.

The

larval gal- leries, ^if therebe any, are not yet

known.

The new_{speciesbelongs} toLeConte's group^B,and

may

^becalledPity- ophthorus querciperda. ^Itisclosely allied toP. minutissimus,withwhich

itagreesⁱⁿ size,form,and coloration,but from which it differs in the sculptureand pubescence^{of the}elytra. Inminutissimus theelytra are finely andrather indistinctlypunctulate; the pubescence ^is fine,very sparse or nearly absentonthebasalportion of theelytra, anddenseronthe decliv- ity, butalways^{hair-like. In} querciperda ^the elytra are _{quite distinctly} rugosely punctulate, and, therefore, ^less shining.

The

_pubescence ^is

stout, moderately dense on the anterior part of theelytra and still denser and scale-likeonthe_declivity. In the twoCalifornian_speciesof thesame group ^the pubescence ^{consists of} long and ^{short hair} intermixed. P.

querciperda^occurs from

New

YorktoFlorida.

OCTOBER

_4, 1886.

Eight persons present. President

Howard

in the chair.

Mr.

A. _{Bolter, of} Chicago, ^111.,

was

elected a

member

of the Society.

Referring ^{to the nuisance created this season}

by Dynastes

tityus,

Mr. Howard remarked

thatthe smell

had

alsobeen _quite noticeablethisseason at Raleigh,

N.

_C.,

on

a street lined with

Hackberry

^trees (Celtis₎.

Mr. Smith

asked

whether

the larvae of Dynastes mature ⁱⁿ one or several seasons.

He _knew,

from actual observations

made _by

himself

and Mr. Schaupp,

^that

Luca-

nus dama

hasa period of^{at least}

two

_years.

Mr. Schwarz

said that, so far ashe

was

_{aware, no} observations

had

hitherto been published

on

the duration of the larval state in Dynastes.

Mr.