I am indebted to my esteemed correspondent, Prof. C. H. Fernald, for a copy of his recent Synopsis of the Sphingidæ of New England. I have been greatly pleased with it, and trust that it will meet with that general distribution among the students of our beautiful science which it deserves. In the following lines I wish to present a few observations which the perusal of Prof. Fernald's book suggests.

Hemaris Tenuis, Grote.

Prof. Fernald remarks of this species: “The early stages and food plants are unknown.” Presuming that the statement of the learned Professor is warranted by an exhaustive search through the literature of the subject, I shall venture to supply from my own observation what strikes me as a surprising deficiency, since Hemaris Tenuis is one of our most abundant species in Western Pennsylvania.

Egg.—Elongate or oval, .03 of an inch long by .025 of an inch wide, ribbed longitudinally like a muskmelon by about 15 ribs; color pale yellowish green. Duration of this period 8 days.

Young Larva.—Length .10 of an inch; cylindrical, with 10 legs; grayish white, without marks except a bright scarlet transverse line across the posterior part of joint 2, jaws the same color, legs concolorous, the six thoracic slightly pink tinted. Duration of this period 6 to 7 days.

It is only comparatively recently that I have seen the article of Mr. B. Neumoegen upon the genus Arctia and its variations, contained in Papilio, vol. 3, p. 148. So far as my own experience and conclusions go, I am, except in two instances which I notice here, generally agreed with the views of this writer. Especially am I of opinion that recently there has been an unscientific and unsound attempt to class as one species forms of Lepidoptera quite different in appearance, upon insufficient evidence. I have formerly pointed out that Entomologists are naturally divided into two camps: the “lumpers” and the “splitters.” For my part I do not at all object to present species being thrown together as varieties, provided the evidence is complete that they are inter-dependent forms. What I object to is the hasty manner in which the most of the lumping is accomplished in some recent articles, such as Dr. Hagen's on Papilio and Mr. Hulst's on Arctia.

Harpalus viduus Lec. The type of this species was taken at Rock Island, Illinois. It must be somewhat rare, as it does not appear in any local catalogue nor exchange list under my notice. Here it is found in one place only, and that in some abundance—on the side of a high hill in its primitive state, possessed of a warm, friable, vegetable soil, with a scanty vegetation, and flat stones on the surface. The females have the elytra opaque, but not pubescent, as one of my correspondents claims they should be to meet the description of Dr. Leconte—“sericeo-opaca,” which here evidently means opaque with a silky lustre. The males are moderately shining. The beetle makes its appearance during September and October, though few of them mature till the following spring, remaining under the shelter of the stones, where from one to half a dozen are often associated. At first the beetles are of a pale color, the elytra gradually changing to black; but the head and thorax mostly remain red till winter. In the spring they are shining bIack, and are only then fit to be placed in a collection. In the great struggle for “survival of the fittest” the chances seem to be against this insect.

Now that we have been supplied by Mr. Uhler with a list of the Hemiptera Heteroptera of North America, which has been much needed, it will be interesting to know more about the geographical distribution of the species. The following list is short, but will nevertheless add to our knowledge of these insects. The species were collected at the same time and in the same localities with the Coleoptera given in my list (Can. Entom., xvii., p. 66–73), and the preliminary notes there given apply also here. The species were kindly determined for me by Mr' Uhler.

Found feeding on a wild cherry, September 19, 1884, two larvæ of this species. They were .80 of an inch long, nearly cylindrical, the body somewhat elevated in the middle, from which it tapers a little both ways, the dorsum of joint 12 with a slight elevation; eight low tubercles on each joint, from each of which arise a few spreading white hairs. Color green; a dorsal stripe that is mostly red on joints 3 and 4, and on the elevated portion of joint 12, the rest of the stripe yellow with a reddish, blotch to each joint; the anterior part of dorsum of joint 2 red, separated by green in the middle, yellowish round the edges. Head slightly bilobed; the lower part reddish green, the upper part more red.