Some Old Correspondence Between Harris, Say, and Pickering.—III

Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, Sep 2018

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Some Old Correspondence Between Harris, Say, and Pickering.—III

International Journal of BETWEEN HARRIS SAY PICKERING.--III. [HARRIS TO SAY.] MILTON (Mass.) Nov'r I . To Thomas Say Es. Dear Sr SOME - plnastri of Fabricius. The same specific name occurs in Melsheimer?s catalogue; but I find no species by that name in the works of Fabricius which I possess: These are his Entomologia SyslemaNca, 5 vols. 179 2- 798 & his Syslema leulheralorum, S. R]zyngolorum, S. Piezalorum, & S. Anllialorura, 5 vols. ISOt-iSo5. Neither does the specific name inastri occur in Gmelin?s innd. Curculio 2Venuphar Herbst I do not find in Fabr. or Gmelin, & have not access to the work of Herbst. I must thank you to refer lne to the number of the Journal Acad. Nat. Sc. in which your description of Slenocorus tridens is to be found. Last September I was so fortunate as to discover the male of that species of Aegeria of which sent you the female in the spring, & to wh. I gave the name offulvicornis, in a former letter. After repeating my definition of the species I will, agreeably to your request, add the characters of the male. Aegeria (fulvicornis) brunnea, alis posticis hyalinis; margine postico, stigmateque costall fuliginoso antennis tarsisque fulvis, abdomine barbato. Mas minor, alis anticis basi hyalinis, apice opacis; ano tribarbato, barba media perlonga, fulva. The most remarkable characteristic of the male is the extremely long, slender, bearded appendage to the abdomen, of a tawny or dirty yellow colour. The whole length of the male from the head to the extremity of this appendage is I8y of an inch; this appendage is not quite iy of an inch; beivg nearly as long as the whole body. Standing obliquely on each side of the anus is a little fuliginous tuff. The abdomen is somewhat fulvous beneath. The anterior & intermediate extremities are fulvous, the latter however have a dark patch on the genicula & tibim. The first joint of the posterior tarsus is much more pilose than in the female; the hair near the union of the tarsus & tibia is fuliginous, the remainder fulvous. The pectinations of the antennm are slightly fuscous. This is the only male that I have ever seen, & I found it on the identical currant bush from which I had the preceding year taken the females. I have this season met with a species of Cicindela that is new to me, & which I cannot identify as any one of those described by you in the Trans. Am. Philos. Soc. Phila. I818. I have called it Cicindela (erythrogaster) * obscure fusca, elytris lunulis basi et apicis, fascia intermedia flexuosa, punctisque duobus albidis abdomine femoribusque viridis; ano late rufo. Length half an inch. Antennm green at base. Head cupreous, with two green abbreviated lines between the eyes. Mandibles white at the base, black at the points. Lip white, with a single tooth. Thorax cupreous obscure, with the margin & breast green. Elytra obs[c]ure, some*[See Harris, Entom. corresp., p. 2.] what cupreous, with a humeral & terminal lunule, an intermediate flexuous band, & two spots behind the band whitish. Abdomen green, the hypogastrium red. Feet obscure, thighs green. I have only met with one specimen, which was captured in a dry, graveIly pasture. Prof. Peck taught me to define the species in Latin & I have generally adhered to his advice, though it savours somewhat of pedantry. My friend, Mr. Fuller, has kindly taken charge of a package containing two boxes of insects for you. In box , (the bottom one) are some of the Coleoptera which I have collected. They are all numbered in order to facilitate you in naming to me such as have been described, & to enable you to indicate the nondescripts. I have kept a catalogue to correspond, with arbitrary names for all the species not as yet ascertained. From the want of books, plates, & access to other cabinets, but more than all, from the want of time to examine them I have made out but few of the species. These I have added, however, that I might from your information and experience, render myself dou3ly sure; & also that I might learn of you to what genera they are to be referred, according to the System of Dr. Leach in Brewster?s Encyclop. I prefer on most accounts his system to that of Latreille in the Regne Animal of Cuvier. Should it however be inconvenient to you to follow the first, I must content myself with having the genera according to the second; with such synonyms as may be necessary. No. of the Coleoptera I once supposed to be Cicindela trifasciata, F. but now think it must be you[r] C. vulgaris. No. 7 is probably 1?rachinusfumans F. No. 27 much resembles your iuprestis divaricala;but is evidently a distinct species, from the construction of the apex of the elytra. No. 37 is the luminous larva ? of some Lamj3yris" it is very common in low grounds in Sept?r and Oct?r. Nos. 66, 67 68, and 69 may perhaps be only sexual or other varieties of one species. The same may be true as to Nos. 36, 37, I38, and 39" No. 76 1 take to be your Arelo. lonl,a pilosicollis; No. 83 your M. sericea & No. 86 yo (...truncated)


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Some Old Correspondence Between Harris, Say, and Pickering.—III, Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, 6, DOI: 10.1155/1891/13593