In the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1888, p. 136, Miss Mary E. Murtfeldt gives some notes on the development of Ceutorhynchus napi, Gyll., which had worked serious injury to cabbage in Missouri, the species having been determined, as stated by Miss Murtfeldt, by the late Dr. C. V. Riley, at that time United States Entomologist. Prior to the publication of Miss Murtfeldt's notice, she had informed me of her “find,” and on my writing to ask her if there was not a mistake, and if she did not refer to rapæ, she replied that she, too, had not felt sure of the correctness of the determination until she had written Dr. Riley a second time with reference to the species, and the determination had been reaffirmed. This appeared to settle the matter, and I was satisfied that napi must be correct, though not before known to occur in North America.

At the meeting (of February 3rd) of the Academy of Science, of St. Louis, Mo. (President Gray in the chair), Mr. Trelease exhibited several specimens, about three feet square, of a curious silk tapestry, taken from the ceiling of a corn-storing loft in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, by Dr. Francis Eschauzier, stating that he was informed that the larger specimen had been cut from a continuous sheet over twenty yards wide and about four times as long. The specimens, of a nearly white colour, and of much the appearance and feeling of a soft tanned piece of sheepskin, were shown to be composed of myriads of fine silken threads, crossing and recrossing at every conceivable angle, and so producing a seemingly homogeneous texture.

Length, 3.6 mm.; ceph.: long, 1.4 mm.; broad, I mm. Cephilothorax, sternum, femora i. and ii., blackish; rest of legs i. and ii. pale yellowish; legs iii. and iv. yellow-brown, the femora scarcely darker; abdomen black above, with a narrow white band across the middle and a white spot on each anterior lower side; venter pale. Cephalothorax broad, in ♂ a little narrower; posterior row of eyes procurved, the P. M. E. oval, fully their diameter apart, and about as far from the P. S. E.; anterior row strongly procurved, the A. M. E. fully their diameter apart, and about as far from the larger A. S. E. Sternum oval, pointed behind; legs of moderate length, femora i. and ii. stouter than others, femora iii. slightly excised before the tip behind. Abdomen not constricted, quite broad, somewhat depressed, epigynuin appearing much like M. montana, Em., but the openings are farther apart and more oblique. Tibia of ♂ palpus has short projection at tip on the outer side; the bulb is triangular in side view, the red parallel marks are along the outer edge; near the middle is a short tube.

The above family is of immense extent and attains, in the tropics, a considerable development in the size of its members, though not equalling in this respect its wood-eating neighbours, the Cerambycidæ. Towards the north, many groups fade out entirely and the large or gaily-coloured species decrease in number. Nevertheless, the representation in Canada is quite considerable, and since many of the species are closely allied and separate with some difficulty, while tables of genera are widely scattered, or, in many cases, not readily accessible, it has been deemed worth while to bring together the salient characters by means of which the collector in Eastern Canada may hope to identify his captures.

The object of this paper is chiefly to record some observations, made last summer, on a few parasitic forms, but mention is first made of two phytophagous species.

In the Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. III., pp. 130–131, Mr. Harrison G. Dyar writes as follows: “Prof. E. B. Poulton has shown that dorsal eversible glands are of general occurrence throughout the Lymantriidæ (Trans. Ent. Soc., Lond., 1887, p. 300) on the tenth and eleventh joints (segments), or rarely only on the eleventh joint (Dasychira pudibunda). Probably these structures are characteristic of the family, but Prof. Poulton did not find them in Demas. This genus has been considered to belong to the Noctuidæ, but English authors assume it to be a Lymantriid.

Aulacaspis texensis, n.sp.— ♀ scale circular, 123 mm. diameter, very slightly convex, dull brownish-gray or sepia-brown, becoming transparent at the edges; sometimes entirely whitish. Exuviæ exposed, sepia-brown, not far from central, 1st skin to one side of 2nd, but wholly on it, with some white secretion extending over the centre of the 2nd.

A large percentage of the half-tone reproductions from photographs, for illustrating Experiment Station Bulletins, are greatly reduced in value because of a lack of detail caused by heavy shadows, resulting from the use of opaque backgrounds near the objects photographed. To overcome this difficulty and to make such pictures of more value to specialists working in the fields of entomology, botany, and horticulture, a device, which is the outcome of combining several well-known principles, is here represented.

Belonging to that group of the genus having head combs arising in front of the antennal grooves in a line nearly perpendicular to the long axis of the head, instead of along the lower margins of the cheeks, and which includes the two species gracilis and fraterna.