Prior to the advent of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the year 1883, this district was entirely unsettled, being, in fact, a terra incognita to all except servants of the Hudson Bay Co., officials of the Geological Survey, and Provincial Government surveyors. But it had been devastated to a large extent by forest fires, which occurred at intervals during a period of some fifty or sixty years previously. These fires entirely destroyed the virgin forest (which consisted chiefly of white pine) over large tracts, by killing the trees and leaving them susceptible to the attacks of their insect enemies, and presenting at that date (1883) a desolate appearance, caused by the thickly-standing tall bare trunks and stubs of trees, among which had sprung up a thick growth of saplings of white birch, poplar, etc.

The season of 1894 was, in this loaclity, of matter an unusual character. Spring appeared with March, lasting up to the 25th, when we had a series of light snow-storms and hard frosts, which continued to the 7th April. Then we had weeks of the most charming, moderate and enjoyable weather. After the middle of May we had frequent thunder-showers; the 28th was cold and snowy, with a killing frost at night. It remained cold to the 7th of June, when it changed to warm weather, and for the rest of June and throughout July we had an almost unbroken time of excessive heat. August was dry as well as hot, and its effects were seen in the coloured leaves of trees and bushes, and much more so in weeds and grasses. In the early part of September rain set in, which freshened vegetation greatly, but frosts followed at the end of the month.

X. The Dytiscidæ (Dytiscini and Cybistrini) of Ontario and Quebec.

The species included in the above tribes are all large or moderate sized insects, and among them are found those in which the perfection of specialization of the ♂ tarsi reaches the highest pitch. The basal disks on the anterior feet often attain considerable dimensions, while occasionally we find three well-marked sizes of disks on the same foot—as, for example, in Acilius. These make beautiful preparations for microscopic study, the method of treating them being as follows: cut off the leg a little below the knee, and place the severed piece in an aqueous 25% solution of caustic potash for a few days, until it becomes nearly transparent. Then take out of the potash and place in soft water for twenty-four hours, next removing to strong alcohol for about the same length of time. If now placed in oil of cloves for several hours, it is ready to be mounted on a slide in the ordinary way for examination by transmitted light. A great deal depends on carefuily watching while in the potash solution; the specimen should not be so dark as to obstruct the light-rays to any very great extent, nor so transparent as to render the overlying parts to be separated with difficulty from the underlying, as in the latter case the chitin is often rendered so pliable as to lose the original form. Each species has its own arrangement of disk bearing hairs by which it may be separated from its congeners, though the resemblance is sometimes very close.

I am scarcely warranted in attempting a detailed table of this genus, because a number of species are known to me only by a single sex; but in looking over the material, it can be readily perceived that there are two sections, the first represented by quercus, oregonensis and depressus, being characterized by great sexual differences in the mandibles, and the second, represented by all the other species, having the mandibles unmodified in the male. The second section may be divided into three groups: the first, represented by Agassii, pacificus and parvicollis, which, judging by analogy, have the hind tarsi long and slender in both sexes; the second, composed of californicus and thoracicus, having the hind tarsi short, at least in the female; and the third, with stout and triangular tibiæ, at present represented by Keeni alone.

The advent of another collecting season finds me with a very large proportion of my last year's captures still undetermined, and in many instances even unexamined. A few remarks, however, in regard to my success with the Hymenoptera may induce some of our younger members to pay more attention to this order. Probably 500 species were collected, a large proportion of which were of the smaller forms, and it seemed, indeed, that many of the larger species were much less numerous than in some seasons. Special attention was given to the collection of the microhymenoptera, for these are so poorly represented in canadian collections. In making a rough summary of the species, I find about 125 species belonging to the Aculeata, and 100 to the Phytophaga the remainder being distributed among the different families of parasitic forms. There are many interesting additions to my collection, and many gaps have been filled in. Mr. Ashmead's monograph of the Proctotrypids has made it abundantly evident that the knowledge of the Canadian species was very limited, and I made a special effort to obtain as many examples as possible. I took altogether about 350 specimens, and now find that over 50 species are represented. This will give any collector an idea of what he may expect to secure if he have the necessary patience to preserve and mount so much small and inconspicuous material.

Readers of the Canadian Entomologist will recall the controversy between Prof. Smith and myself as to the species described by Walker as Eudryas Stœ. Johannis, the type of which was examined in 1867 by Grote & Robinson, and pronounced a distinct species allied to grate. I had supposed the insect owed its name to the St. John's River, Florida, but,according to Mr. Smith (C. E., XXIV., 133), the type bore a label that it was taken on a church door in England. Mr. Smith, relying on the label, invented the theory that “in some way the pupa of the insect was transported to England, and through the vicissitudes encountered and aberration was produced.” This writer has “no hesitation in referring the species as a suffused aberrant grata.” There is no band on the hind wings, but, nevertheless, it is set down as a “suffused” specimen of grata, which always, so far as known, has a band! For my answer to this, see my paper, Can. Ent. XXV., 320, where, aided by Mr. Tutt's memoranda as to the given English locality on the label, I discussed the pro and con. of the above theory. Now I am in receipt of a letter from Mr. Schaus, that Eudryas Stœ. Johannis has been re-discovered in Mexico. My kind correspondent writes: “It will interest you to know that I have recently seen several specimens of Eudryas Stœ Johannis, Walk., from Mexico; they were sent to Mr. Druce by a native who is now collecting.” Thus the theory of the “vicissitudes of the voyage” vanishes; the specific validity of Stœ. Johannis asserted by us in 1868, before Mr. Smith was (entomologically speaking) born, is vindicated.

Mr. Schaus, in describing some new species of South American moths (Proc. Zool. Soc., Lond., 1894, p. 233), casualty refers the genus Apatelodes to the Eupterotidæ. As this genus has been placed among the Notodontidæ by American authors, it may be worth while to examine the arguments for this position.

The Eupterotidæ of Hampson are a series of mostly large moths from India, with geometriform markings, of a peculiar and rather characteristic appearance. The body is proportionately rather small and slender, and the fringes of the wings are long. Their hairy vestiture, broad wings and short cell suggest the Lasiocampidæ, where they are placed by Kirby. They are, however, frenate, and with the venation essentially of Notodontidæ, but without the accessory cell. Two genera, at least, are included (Gangarides and Cnethocampa), which differ considerably in habitus. In these, the body is stouter proportionately, the wings are narrower and the cell longer, while the general appearance suggests the Notodontidæ rather than the other Eupterotidæ. Mr. Hampson separates these families by the absence of the tongue in the Eupterotidæ; but, as this member seems to be equally lacking in the notodontian Melelopha (Ichthyura), the separation seems hardly very sharp.

The Ichneumonidæ have habits and peculiarities as distinctly their own as other families and orders of insects. In collecting them one will find, after a little experience, that certain species or even groups will frequent certain places where conditions are favourable and their host is likely to be found.