The season of 1894 was, in this loaclity, of matter an unusual character. Spring appeared with March, lasting up to the 25th, when we had a series of light snow-storms and hard frosts, which continued to the 7th April. Then we had weeks of the most charming, moderate and enjoyable weather. After the middle of May we had frequent thunder-showers; the 28th was cold and snowy, with a killing frost at night. It remained cold to the 7th of June, when it changed to warm weather, and for the rest of June and throughout July we had an almost unbroken time of excessive heat. August was dry as well as hot, and its effects were seen in the coloured leaves of trees and bushes, and much more so in weeds and grasses. In the early part of September rain set in, which freshened vegetation greatly, but frosts followed at the end of the month.

In the February number of the Canadian Entonomoligist, Mr.Dyar very justly complains of the inadequacy of my descriptions of the above genera in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, for 1892. Both Preptos and Tamphana belong to the Eupterotidæ. Preptos is most closely allied to theEastern genus Tagora, walk., and differs in the following particulars:—Primaries with veins 5 and 6 from upper angle of cell, discocellulars angled outwardly and then inwardly close below vein 5; secondaries with discocellulars very obiique. No allied forms of Preptos oropus have as yet been discovered in America, although the species has been redescribed as Tagora corax Druce, Proc. Zool. Soc., London, 1893.

Full-grown larva.—Length about one inch. As in most Catocala larvæ, seven stripes, the dorsal gray, lilac tinted; the next blackish-gray, paler on the middle of the joints; the next about the same colour, but tinted with the reddish-orange that forms the broad bordering lines between the stripes; the next also blackish and below this dull orange. The bordering lines on the back whitish, distinct white on the folds; lateral fringe orange tinted. Piliferous spots orange, the posterior pair to each joint more prominent than the anterior pair; the anterior pairs on joints 6 to 8 paler. The posterior part of joint 9 elevated and white between the spots; back of the elevation, and reaching down to the legs, orange tinted black. Head dull lilac-gray, mottled with white, a blackish patch above on each side and in front two black spots on each side. Venter yellowish-white, with black patches in centre of joints.

The following table, adapted frorn Brunner von Wattenwyl and Stal, will enable any one quickly to determine the genera in his collection of U. S. Phasmidæ. Our species are few in number and all apterous. Only one of them, Diapheromera femorata (Say), extends into Canada.

A1 Tibiæ not furnished at apex beneath with a sunken areola to receive the base of the tarsi when bent upon them. (All of our genera of this division belong to the Bacunculidæ, in which the antennæ are much longer than the anterior femora and furnished with at least thirty joints, and the median segment is much shorter than the metanotum.)

Platyura lurida, n. sp ♀. Head and antennæ black, first two joints of the latter and the mouth parts somewhat yellowish. Thorax, pleura, scutellum, abdomen and legs, pale yellow, the tarsi toward the apex brownish-yellow, the thorax marked with three reddish-yellow vittæ. Wings hyaline, slightly tinged with yellowish toward the costa, otherwise unmarked; tip of auxiliary vein nearly twice the length of the humeral cross-vein beyond the base of the third; sub-costal cross-vein nearly three times the length of the humeral beyond the latter; anterior branch of the third vein oblique, ending its own length beyond the tip of the first; sixth vein reaches the wing margin. Length, 6 mm. Washington. A single specicmen from Prof. O. B. Johnson.

Robinsonia Grotei, sp. nov.—Head white, posteriorly shaded with yellow. Collar white, with a central brown spot. Thorax brown, with a central white line; patagia white, larerally edged with brown. Abdomen dorsally brownish-yellow, with a subdorsal row of small white spots, and a lateral row of small black spots; underneath whitish. Primaries above white, with the margins broadly brown, except at the apex, where the white extends to the fringe; an oblique brown band, from the costal margin at a third from the base to the inner angle, separates the white into two large spaces. Secondaries white, Primaries underneath white, showing indistinctly the markings of the upper surface.

A number of the bur-like fruits of Glycyrrhiza lepidota, a species of licorice native to Arizona and parts of New Mexico, were collected in the Mesilia Valley of the Rio Grande River, north of Las Cruces, in the fall of 1892. The following May, there were found issued from these burs many specimens of a Bruchid, which was identified at the Agricultural Department in Washington as Bruchus alboscutellatus, Horn. There were also many parasites issued, which were determined by Mr. Ashmead as Bruchophagus mexicanus, Ashm. I am indebted to Mr. Coville for the determination of the plant.

The Tachinidæ described below have a slender, rigid proboscis, of which the portion beyond the basal articulation is at least one half longer than the height of the head. All are from the Pacific Coast, and, except where otherwise stated, were captured or bred by the writer.

Siphona plusiœ,n. sp.—♂ ♀ Terminal section of proboscis—the part beyond the second geniculation—not more than three-fourths as long as height of head. Frontal vitta yellow, less than twice as wide as either side of the front next the antennæ; sides of front grayish pollinose, frontal bristles descending nearly to apex of second antennal joint, two pairs of orbital bristles; face whitish, the sides bare; vibrissæ inserted near the oral margin, only two or three small bristles above each; cheeks less than one-fourth as wide as height of eyes.

It must be conceded that there is a want of correspondence between authors as to the generic names employed in the Noctuidœ; perhaps a greater than in other families of Lepidoptera. The main cause appears to lie in the two systems of classification. The old system, under which the species were assorted into genera from their superficial characters, found its highest expression in the works of Guenée. The new system, commenced by Stephens and Lederer, deals with the ultimate structure of certain parts, and is yet working out its results in the direction which all systems must pursue, that of perfectly reflecting in our books the order which obtains in nature itself. To this end the new system must extend itself, and is extending itself, witness the work of Packard and Dyar, to a study of the insect in all its stages. Here a narrow insistence on any one character must defeat the general aim.

In a small collection of butterflies sent to me for identification, I find a good example of this very rare Hair-Streak, which was taken by Mr. William Metcalfe, of Toronto at Grimsby, on 24th of June 1894. This record is important, as it is the first one of an exact date and locality. Mr. Metcalfe states that the exact spot was along the Grand Trunk Railway track, near Grimsby Park, at the back of Mr. Harry Griffith's farm. The specimen in question is a male in good condition, although slightly stained with cyanide on the upper side. The figure given by Mr. W. H. Edwards (in his Butt. N. America, I., pl. 2, Thecla) represents this specimen admirably, although slightly larger. Mr. Metcalfe's specimen expands 22 mm., and has the orange spot on secondaries above only faintly indicated by a few rusty scales.

When out on a short visit to Ausable Chasm, June 29th to July 1st, I noticed, on June 30th, a female of this species ovipositing, and secured three eggs. These eggs hatched in due course, one about a day in advance of the two others. The first larva was placed on a clover leaf in a tin-topped jelly glass, but refused to feed and dried up. I then arranged a homeopathic vial of water in a wine glass, with earth to steady it, and a few leaves of clover passing through a hole in the cork into the water, and placed the two other newly hatched larvæ upon the leaves. One immediately set to work constructing its nest, but the other seemed lazy and not inclined to make a nest for itselt or share in the construction of the other. The nest was soon complete, and the occupants hidden from view. What tragedy took place within that nest I know not, but at the first moult only one caterpillar remained, and I thought that possibly the energetic one had lost all patience with his lazy brother, and had eaten him up. The dates of the first three moults were not recorded, but the fourth one occurred on 3rd of August.

X. The Dytiscidæ (Dytiscini and Cybistrini) of Ontario and Quebec.

The species included in the above tribes are all large or moderate sized insects, and among them are found those in which the perfection of specialization of the ♂ tarsi reaches the highest pitch. The basal disks on the anterior feet often attain considerable dimensions, while occasionally we find three well-marked sizes of disks on the same foot—as, for example, in Acilius. These make beautiful preparations for microscopic study, the method of treating them being as follows: cut off the leg a little below the knee, and place the severed piece in an aqueous 25% solution of caustic potash for a few days, until it becomes nearly transparent. Then take out of the potash and place in soft water for twenty-four hours, next removing to strong alcohol for about the same length of time. If now placed in oil of cloves for several hours, it is ready to be mounted on a slide in the ordinary way for examination by transmitted light. A great deal depends on carefuily watching while in the potash solution; the specimen should not be so dark as to obstruct the light-rays to any very great extent, nor so transparent as to render the overlying parts to be separated with difficulty from the underlying, as in the latter case the chitin is often rendered so pliable as to lose the original form. Each species has its own arrangement of disk bearing hairs by which it may be separated from its congeners, though the resemblance is sometimes very close.

Mr. J. B. Lembert has kindly sent me some alcoholic larvæ of A. mariposa, and I may record a few points in comparison with the eastern A. octomaculata. Mr. Lembert has given the life history quite fully in the December number of the Canadian Entomologist, but our species have not been compared. The larva is especiaily interesting, as being the second one discovered in this genus. We have long been familiar with that of A. octomaculata, and everybody has described it; but the other species, though somewhat numerous, have remained unknown.

Anacrabro boerhaviœ, n. sp. or var.—♂ about 7 mm. long; differs from ocellatus by the yellow markings, which are as follows:—Dorsum of prothorax and tubercles yellow, the tubercles with a black central dot. Mesothorax all black, except a small yellow spot on each side at hind border, adjacent to yellow spot of scutellum. Scutellum with a pair of large yellow spots. Postscutellum yellow. Inner side of anterior half of anterior femora yellow. Tibiæ yellow, with more or less black behind. Tarsi yellow, slightly tending to orange. Segments 1-6 of abdomen presenting a yellow spot medially, and a large yellow patch on each side. The median spot on first segment is round, that on 2-3 transversely oval, that on 4 transversely spindle shaped, that on 5 broad with truncate ends, that on 6 nearly square, but slightly constricted on each side. Lateral patches more or less bifid at their inner ends, and produced to a point below on lateral margin of abdomen. Strongly punctured, much more sparsely on pleura. Pubescence of face and cheeks silvery. Eyes very large, at least as near together on middle of face as the two upper ocelli are to one another.

The Cleridæ are a rather small family of beetles, but make up for their comparatice scarcity by the beauty of form and colour shown by many of them. As a rule, they may be easily recognized by their resemblance to a few common types such as are found in all cabinets, and agree in possessing the followiong family characteristics: The antennæ are usually serrate, with the outer joints enlarged, forming an open or more rarely a compact club; the tarsi are five-jointed, the first or fourth joint often very small and indistinct, all but the fifth furnished with membranous appendages.

on 24th May Mr. Lachlan Gibb took a female, which he left alive to get eggs, a number of which were laid between the 25th and 29th. On the 14th June the eggs were hatching, and the larvæ were offered butternut leaves, which they eat readily, and matured very rapidly. About the 27th of the month, Mr. Gibb kindly gave me four of these larvæ which were then apparently more than half grown. They moulted once only, so far as my observations went, after I received them, and on 12th July three spun their cocoons, the fourth doing this on the 16th. Early in August Mr.Gibb asked me to take charge of his cocoons, and keep them with mine, as giving a better opportunity of getting another lot of eggs next season, and on 20th August I was surprised to find that one of Mr. Gibb's cocoons had disclosed the imago, a ♀.

This larva is a close ally of A. octomaculata, but differs from it in thepale head, the black bands broken in the subdorsal region, the small size of the subventral white spots and the absence of the conical tubercles which are represented by black spots. The food plant is the fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium).

The following is a list of Diurni taken in Southern Manitoba about Section 35, Township 2, Range 15, W. of the first principal meridian, near the Village of Cartwright, and collected at intervals during the last ten or twelve years:—

Papilio oregonia, Edw.—Only once seen, and taken three years ago—a rather worn specimen. Taken in July.

A. Eyes well developed; antennæ with circular iucisions or cleft only on one side; head and thorax usually stout and compact; head rarely angulated in front; lower edge of head and pronotum behind sometimes with combs, abdominal segments and discs of cheeks without … Pulex.

AA. Eyes wanting, or very rudimentary; antennæ with circular incisions.

B. Eyes entirely wanting; head and thorax stout and compact; head angulated in front, truncate several abdominal segments with combs of numerous spines, the whole body heavily bristled … Hystrichopsylla