I thought I had “said my say” on the Cunea-Congrua question, but Mr. Lyman's attack upon me demands a reply.

Mr. Lyman has made a military allusion in rather questionable taste. I would remind him that the reason the Boers have stuck to their guns is that, until now (May, 1900), their opponents have not been able to capture their guns, but have, on the other hand, furnished the Boers with new artillery and fresh stores of ammunition.

Phlepsius lascivius, n. sp.—Resembling altus, slightly larger and lighter coloured; margin of the vertex black either side of a light tip. Length 6 mm.; width 2mm.

Head as wide as the pronotum, vertex depressed at the base, anteriorly convex and rounding to the front, the apex slightly angled, hardly half longer than at eye, two and one-half times wider than long, more than half as long as the pronotum, front broad, convex in both diameters, roundingly narrowing below; clypeus with the margins straight; elytra rather stout and straight, flaring behind, the claval nervures parallel, not united.

Kermes trinotatus, n. sp.—Female scale variable in size, averaging about 5½ mm. long, 6 mm. wide, and 4½ mm. high; rounded above, somewhat flattened behind, convex beneath, front turned down into a more or less beak-like prominence; median groove obscure or broad and shallow; colour varies from bright argillaceous to dull gray; surface uniform, more or less conspicuously speckled with black; segmentation obscurely or plainly marked with dark spots. When the median groove is present it is crossed with more or less dark lines showing segmentation. There is a rounded dark spot on each side of the front, and an elongated dark blotch extending for a short distance above and below the anal opening: hence the specific appellation.

There has just come into my hands (April, 1900) the paper on this genus by Osborn and Ball in the Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci., Dec., 1898. As some of my conclusions regarding the species of this genus do not coincide with those of the above authors, it may be of interest to present another view.

Verticis, ramentosus and Striola are in the same condition Deltocephalus Melsheimeri used to be in: different authors might readily find many different forms that possibly fit the descriptions. Perhaps the types ramentosus and striola are in existence. I think more harm than good will come of attempts to identify these three forms without further data then the mere descriptions.

Male.—Head, palpi and thorax entirely black. Abdomen black with a very narrow white ring at the posterior edge of the second and fourth segments Anal tuft black. Legs black, with the hind tarsi dirty white. Fore wings transparent, with black borders and a broad black transverse mark. Hind wings transparent, with a narrow black margin. Under side of fore wings washed with golden yellow, basally. Hind wings same as above. Expanse, 20 mm.

The swarms of small Diptera that are to be found in the fields of fall wheat in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, during late autumn and in early spring, seldom fail to attract the attention of the entomologist who has occasion to visit these fields at the above mentioned seasons. That some species are attracted to these fields as mere visitants is indicated by the accompanying list, but that many others breed there, either upon the living or the dead portions of the wheat plants, is as clearly apparent.

In Entomological News, Vol. V., 1894, p. 210, Prof. Cockerell cited all of the Coccids known to infest ivy (Hedera). Since then other species have been found, and with his consent I have prepared the following notes for publication. Leaves of Hedera helix sent to Prof. Cockerell from Brazil, coll. Dr. F. Noach, May, 1898, proved to be infested by Chrysomphalus distyospermi, Morgan. And Mr. A. Hempel, of St. Paul's, Brazil, sent C. aonidum, L. Just recently he wrote me that C. dictyospermi, var. jamaicensis, Ckll. (minor, Berlese), was received by him from Lord Walsingham, infesting ivy at Cannes, France. Aspidiotus rapax (camelliœ) was found by E. E. Green on ivy in Ceylon (Coccidæ of Ceylon, p. 44. Dactylopius citri, Risso., was found at Kew Gardens, England, on a variety of ivy called Hedera amurensis (Newstead, Ent. Mo., May, 1897, p. 73).

Hœmatopinus columbianus, N. sp.

Head longer than broad, semicircular in front, wider and more depressed behind the antennæ, rostrum projecting; antennæ located in front of the middle of the head, the first joint large, deeply set in the border of the head, second joint the longest, third, fourth and fifth nearly equal, fifth slightly smaller; a strong bristle is borne on the postero-lateral angle. The pronotum is short, rather narrow, and the sternal plate is very broadly ovate, almost circular, but the sides posteriorly tapering slightly and the posterior border obtusely rounded or subtruncate. The second and third pairs of legs are nearly equal and considerably larger than the anterior pair, and their tarsal claws are broad and blunt or obtuse at tip.