IO2 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Mch., 'l2 At the Ceanothus in Virginia. By NATHAN BANKS, East Falls Church, Virginia. If ever there is a proposition for the adoption of an ento-mologist's flower, I shall vote early and often for Ceanothus. In June, that month of profusion of bloom, Ceanothus is the most attractive enchanter of insect life. Its fragrance calls and calls till around the white head of blossom there is an encircling halo of admirers such as no -flower in this vicinity may boast. Bee and fly and beetle follow the enthralling odor until they rest on that bed of white. The burly bumble-bee and the handsome longicorn, the fiery wasps and sharp-clawed Scarabaeids mingle with tiny beetles, delicate crane-flies and other Diptera to feast on this bounteous hoard. The vicious robber-flies hover about, the Phymata lurks in the flower, and many another predaceous insect here finds an abundance of food. Each year as the bright warm days of mid-June come around I have taken a few days from my work to gather those insects that have answered the call of Ceanothus. To stand 'neath the broiling sun and watch this mazy whirl of restless insect life; to hear the hum of a hundred tiny wings, mingled with the sharper buzz of certain species; to easily and stealthily push one's way through the bushes, glancing anxiously here or there for something new, with net in hand a-tremble for a lightning stroke ; these are the pleasures of Ceanothus collecting that bear pleasant memories on many a wintry day. Those specimens bearing the little label "Ceanothus" will always have a charm for me unequalled by the curious structures of many a more wondrous species. There is great variation in the class of insect visitors accord-ing to the environment of the flowers. At a patch near wood-lands where there were many dead trees, a considerable variety of Longicorns were always obtainable; at another patch in an open meadow few Longicorns were ever found. Some days insects were scarce when one could not tell why, the next day they might be abundant. A cloudy or clear sky, and the amount
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