322 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. case there were no sweet potatoes or other convolvulaceous plants within half a mile. Many times I accompanied the gardener for sweet potatoes, but failed to find this species either above or under the ground. Rhyiicophorus crue?itatiis. — This species breeds in the dying trunks or stumps of the Cabbage palmetto ; before pupating the larva forms an excavation, in which it constructs a cocoon in which to pupate ; this cocoon is from an inch and a-half to two inches in length, its walls being over one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, composed of fibre, cemented with some glutinous secretion. Cosso?ms, n. s. — Under the bark of a dead limb of the Rubber tree ( Ficus aiirea) five examples were taken. The basal half of the elytra, metasternura and abdomen are rufous. Length, .12-. 14 inch. Scolytidae. — An undescribed species belonging to a new genus (Schwartz) occurs in the dead or diseased bark of the Ficus in incredible numbers. It breeds entirely in the bark, and it is not possible to trace its galleries. Length, .04-. 05 inch. NOTES ON THE INSECT FAUNA OF SOMERSET CO., MAINE. BY PHILIP LAURENT, PHILADELPHIA. The following notes and observations were made during a two-weeks' stay in this county, ending on August 29th. The greater portion of our collecting was done in the neighbourhood of King & Bartlett Lake, and along the road leading out to Eustis. This section of Maine, if not the entire State, is anything but an " entomologist's paradise." The country is mountainous and covered for the most part with a dense growth of spruce, pine, birch, etc. Very little land in the entire county is under cultivation, so that those insects which we naturally look for in such places are almost entirely wanting. Many beautiful lakes are to be found in this part of Maine, but here again the entomologist is doomed to disappointment, as the water of the lakes is of an icy coldness, and very few aquatic insects are seen. The nights are invariably cold and but few insects are attracted to light. In a heavily-timbered country, such as we find in Somerset Co., Maine, it would naturally be supposed that the fallen trees would yield an abundance of insect life, particularly Coleoptera. A search of two hours, in which I overturned many dead trees and removed the bark from many others, resulted in the finding of exactly eight specimens of Coleoptera, and common species at that. Collecting with the umbrella and beating-net was a waste of time, as little or nothing rewarded our efforts. Cicindela.
BioStor
