In the preceding volume of the Entomologist (vol. xvi., p. 186) an account is given of some of the Coleoptera found in September on Brigantine Beach, N. J.; and having been there this season from the 1st till the 18th of the same month, I propose to give a further account of some of the insects inhabiting that region.

Cicindela dorsalis Say is found in great abundance on the shore between the lines of high and low tide, keeping as close to the water as it can get. If too closely pursued it frequently takes wing, alighting in the surf and coming to the shore in the foam, from which it usually escapes before it can be taken. It is sluggish in its movements, running about a yard, then stopping, and so on alternately, and flying only when pursued, and then for but short distances. More than two-thirds of the females captured want either a part of an antenna or of a hind leg, these mutilations occurring on the right side in a large majority.

17. Embia (Olyntha) Mülleri, n. sp.

Wingless form, female? dry. Length of body 12 mill.

Body large, stout, black, very sparingly clothed with yellow hairs; shining, the head alone semi-opaque. Head large, flat, scarcely longer than broad, a little narrowed to the occiput; hind angles rounded; a shallow impression above with a short longitudinal engraved line; eyes black, small, not prominent; antennae only 21 joints present, which are as long as head, pro- and mesothorax; black, with yellow hairs, the 10 last joints strongly polished; 1st stouter, cylindrical; 2nd short, annular; 3rd cylindrical, as long as first; 4th and fifth very short; the rest successively longer, nearly pyriform, the last ones about ovoid. Epistom half as long as broad, sides rounded, front margin widely notched; labrum large, a little narrower at base, front margin rounded and a little yellowish, as well as the sides of the epistom; max palpi dark brown, villous, stout, compressed, the three basal joints short, equal, 4th longer, obliquely truncated at tip, 5th a little longer and larger, ovoid; labial palpi compressed, broad, 1st very short, 2nd about as long as broad, 3rd longer, the broad apex rounded.

Wishing to procure a good series of Silphidæ for my collection, about the middle of August I put some scraps of cooked meat into an empty tomato can and hid it under a shrub. I visited it after a few days but found it untouched. I then baited a can with uncooked meat and placed it in a similar situation.

In No. 7 of Entomologica Americana, Mr. G. W. J. Angell gives some interesting notes on this insect. Having examined a large number from various localities “showing a nearly complete gradual gradation from the finely maculate form of Philadelphica, to the strongly marked scalaris type,” Mr. Angell is of opinion that Philadelphica Lin., multipuncta Say and its supposed varieties, are all varieties of scalaris Lec. I incline myself to the belief tirat scalaris and philadelphica are distinct species, and as my experience of these forms appears to be different to that of some other col lectors, I give it in the hope that it may lead to a careful study of their life habits. I find that Dr. Harris' history and figure of scalaris fit it exactly as it occurs in the neighborhood of Montreal. For years past I have found it on elm and linden, and on no other plant or tree. Philadelphica and Bigsbyana I find on willow and alder; never on elm and linden. Dr. Packard in his Guide states that scalaris is abundant on the alder.

On the 20th October last, when in Brighton, Ont., I went to the woods in search of hybernating insects, and while examining the prostrate trunk of a small pine, found several female specimens of our large black ant, F. herculeana (ligniperda Latr.) in their winter quarters. Each ant was in an oval excavation in the wood, just under the bark, about an inch long and half an inch wide and deep. In each cell was found a single ♀ ant, together with from six to fifteen larvæ. On tearing off the bark, about half a dozen cells were exposed, on different and widely separated parts of the trunk. In one or two instances there was a single worker ant with the large ♀. The larvæ were about an eighth of an inch long, and were all alive. They were, in every case, crowded together in a mass, each one in the same position, with the head bent over in front. This observation is, I think, interesting, as it gives a clue to the manner in which colonies of this wood-destroying ant are established.

The common species of Acmaeodera, A. pulchella Hbst., which is marked with shining bronze-black and bright yellow, assimilates well in color with the flowers of Rudbeckia hirta L., so abundant along the edges of cultivated fields, upon which this Buprestid is found. The dark parts of the beetle, which are after an etched pattern, blend well with the rich dark stigmata of the flower, as the beetle lies next to these; while the bright yellow parts easily pass unnoticed in the inside border of the yellow corolla. It is noticeable that these flower-frequenting species are found chiefly on the flowers whose colors suit them best for protection; in fact the insects seem to have been modified in color to suit the flowers they live on. This species is seldom found upon any other flowers than those of Rudbeckia hirta L. I have once taken it upon the flowers of tansy, once upon a partially yellowed leaf of Œnothera, once upon a high dandelion flower, twice upon the orange-red flowers of Asclepias tuberosa L., and once flying about some of the many flower-bunches of a clump of sumachs. These are the only exceptions that I have noticed, and are but isolated instances.