/c / PROCEEDINGS OK THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY WASHINGTON Volume XV iriirs Irom \o\vmlier 7, 1912 t I IV CONTENTS Page ROHWER, S. A. : A new braconid from South America 144 Notes on the feeding habits of two adult sawflies. . . . 148 Two abnormally developed sawflies 149 Descriptions of new parasitic Hymenoptera 180 RUSSELL, H. M.: Observations on the egg parasites of Datana inte- gerrima Walk 91 SASSCER, E. II. and PIERCE, W. D. : Preliminary report of the finding of a new weevil enemy of the potato tuber 143 SHANNON, R. C. : Epimecis wiltii Cresson and its host 162 Feeding habits of Phlebotomus vexator Coq 165 SNYDER, THOMAS E. : Record of the rearing of Cupes concolor Westw. (Col.) 30 The ovipositor of Parandra brunnea Fab 131 Changes during quiescent stages in the meta- morphosis of Termites 162 TOWNSEND, C. H. T. : A new genus of Streblidse 98 WALTON, W. R. : The variation of structural characters used in the classification of some muscoidean flies 21 Efficiency of a tachinid on the lastinstarof Laphygma 128 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOLUME XV, No. 1 APRIL, 1913 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THB SOCIETY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 YORK ROAD BALTIMORE, MD. EDITORIAL OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice at Baltimore, Md., April, 1913. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON ORGANIZED MABCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday of each month, from October to June inclusive, at 8 P. M. Annual dues of active members, $3.00; of corresponding members $2.00; initiation fee (for active members only), $1.00. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1912. President .AUGUST BUSCK First Vice-President W. D. HUNTER Second Vice-President A. N. CAUDELL Recording Secretary. E. R. SASSCER Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROHWER * U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Editor ,....' W. D. HUNTER Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Sciences A. L. QUAINTANCE Executive Committee. THE OFFICERS. NATHAN BANKS. E. A. SCHWARZ. L. O. HOWARD. PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published quarterly by the Society at Baltimore, Md., and Wash- ington, D. C. Terms of subscription: Domestic, $2.00 per annum; foreign, $2.25 per annum; single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS will be entitled to 25 separates of each contribution, free of charge. Additional copies may be had at cost by notifying the Editor before the final page proof is returned to the printer. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOL. XV _ 1913 _ No. 1 DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW SPECIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BY OTTO HEIDEMAN Stal in 1873 founded the genus Leptodictya, 1 based on five spe- cies from Brazil which species he had described previously in his Hemiptera fauna of Rio Janeiro, 1858. Years later Dr. G. C. Champion 2 described two more species, collected in Guatemala and Panama; besides, he found in the former State specimens of Herrich Schaeffer's species, Monanthia tabida, which was described 1839 from Mexico. This species, unknown to Stal, Dr. Champion placed also in the genus Leptodictya, and added to Stal's diagnosis of the genus a few more new characters, of which the most im- portant one may be quoted herewith: "The expanded opaque margins of the pronotum are formed by two layers of membrane meeting on the outer edge, this being easily seen when the insect is viewed sideways." The genus Leptodictya has a wide range of distribution, from the neotropical region into the nearctic region. At the present time two new species have been found, and as they have not been recorded before from the United States, a description may follow herewith: Leptodictya plana, new species. Body elongate, oblong, extremely flat. Head short and narrow, with five rather long spines, two in front close together and one above them in the middle, the first three spines reaching to the base of second antennal joint; two other spines originate' from the basal part of the head, projecting a little upwardly; the buccal laminae broad, abruptly extended beyond the head, rounded at tip, the hind part somewhat narrower and rcflexed ;it the edge, finely reticulated. Rostrum hardly reaching the middle coxae. 1 Stal, Enuni"r;itio Hemipterorum, part m, pp. 121-127 (1873). 2 Champion, Biologia Centrali Americana n, p. 23 (1897-1901). 1 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Antennae long, basal joint more than twice the length of the second, third joint slender and four times as long as the apical joint. Pronotum narrowing anteriorly, finely punctured, at the disk feebly convex and the transverse depression behind very faint; humeri broadly thickened; the triangular posterior portion of pronotum somewhat depressed, pointed at apex; the three carinse feebly raised; the lateral mem- branous margins of pronotum straight, not rounded, anteriorly rectangular, with two and three rows of small areoles; hood small with rows of minute cells, a little depressed at the sides, in front nearly triangular, behind obtusely rounded, at top a sharp carina with its apex pro- jecting nearly in an upright position. Elytra narrow and long, the sides feebly rounded, apical part obtusely shaped, discoidal area reticulate, long, fusiform, extending as far as the apex of abdomen, bounded by two promi- nent longitudinal nervures, a blackish narrow str'eak passes obliquely over the discoidal area in the direction of the outer nervure without touching the same; the subcostal margins very narrow, biseriate throughout; costal margins hardly broader than the discoidal area, irregu- larly netted, the cells rather small; some cross- nervures at the sutural area infuscated. The lateral expanded margins of pronotum and the head yellowish; surface of the thorax with the triangular prolongation somewhat greenish-gray; abdomen light brown. Length, 3.2 mm.; width across the widest part of elytra, 1.2 mm. FIG. 1. Leptodictya pinna Heidemann. Described from a single male specimen. Wistar, Indian Terri- tory, July 3 (H. S. Barber). Type: No. 15326, U. S. National Museum. This species resembles in general appearance the Mexican species Leptodictya tabida H. Schaeffer. It has the same straight, mem- branous, lateral margins and the three linear carinae of the pro- notum; but otherwise it is quite different in beitig distinctly narrower across the elytra and the pronotal lateral margins are more opaque, the cells somewhat smaller and the veins less promi- nent; besides, the spines in front of head do not project beyond the second antenna! 'joint. The young brood and foodplant are still unknown. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. Leptodictya simulans, new species. Body oval-elongate, flat and brownish. Head with five short, whitish spines; the three in front stick close together, making it appear as if there were only one thick, blunt spine; bucculse somewhat convexly rounded, finely reticulated. Antenna? moderately long; basal joint subequal in length with the terminal, both black; the second half as long as the first and dark brown. Eyes black, rather prominent. Pronotum grayish-yellow, finely punctured, with three low whitish carina?; the neck blackish; lateral margins of pronotum distinctly rounded, opaque, yellowish-white, and with two or three rows of areoles. The hood longer than broad, not covering the head, yellowish-white with rows of small areoles, the crest sharply carinate. Elytra oval-shaped, transparent, yellowish-white, strong- ly iridescent; lateral margins from the base to the apical part very feebly rounded but at the apex broadly rounded; discoidal area narrow and long, extending to the middle of elytra, the sur- face of the area a little concave, finely reticu- lated and with a conspicuous black narrow streak, which runs diagonally from the inner margin of the nervure toward the outer one, dividing the discoidal area into two parts; subcostal area with two rows of minute cells; costal margins broadest simulans Heidemann. near the middle, irregularly areolated at the base, the areoles small, gradually becoming larger toward the apex, veins some- times more or less infuscated, except at the inner part of the costal margins. Length, 3 mm.; width across the middle of elytra, 1.4 mm. Described from several specimens, male and females: Old Point Comfort, Virginia, April 19, 1891 (E. A. Schwarz); Drummond, Virginia, June 7, 1905 (H. S. Barber); Alabama, (C. F. Baker); Clemson College, South Carolina (G. G. Ainslie). Type; No. 15327, U. S. National Museum. This North American tingid seems to belong to a group of species which have the membranous lateral margins of pronotum more or less rounded, instead of distinctly straight as in Leptodictya plana and Leptodictya tabida H. S. The species is nearest allied to Champion's Leptodictya cretata from Guatemala, Central America. However, the North Ameri- can species can be distinguished at once by a black, narrow streak that divides the discoidal area into two parts; furthermore, our insect is smaller, the areoles of the elytra somewhat irregularly arranged, and some of the nervures more or less infuscated. The FIG. 2. Leptodictya 4 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY specimens from Old Point Comfort were found on the beach of Chesapeake Bay swept ashore by the waves. A NEW SCELIONID FROM QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, PARA- SITIC ON ACRIDIID EGGS, WITH DIAGNOSIS OF AUSTRALIAN SPECIES 1 : (Hymeiioptera; Proctotryooidea.) BY A. A. GIRAULT. FAMILY SCELIONIDAE. SUBFAMILY SCELIONINAE. Genus SCELIO Latreille. 1. Scelio ovi, new species. Normal position. Female. Length, 4 mm. more or less. The same in all respects to Scelio australis Froggatt, but the scape, pedicel, and sometimes the first funicle joint of the antenna are reddish-brown like the legs instead of being black: also the venation differs in that the stigmal vein of australis is somewhat shorter, straight but at its extreme tip bent : this vein in ovi, how- ever, is longer, its whole length slightly convexly curved, the convexity distad; the blunted end of the vein in australis points proximo-cauclad; in ovi, the extreme end of the vein has a slight blunted appearance which is turned slightly distad. The wing fumation also differs in that there is a distinct stigmal spot in australis, round and covering the basal half of the stigmal vein and the apex of the marginal, while in ovi the spot is elongate, does not involve the marginal vein, though originating at the base of the stigmal, but follows the latter on each side for a half, two-thirds, or sometimes, its whole length; it is thus less clear cut than in australis. The sculpture of both species is practi- cally the same; ventrad, the proximal half of the second (first body) segment of the abdomen is punctate; the striations of the same segment dorsad are coarser than that of the following seg- ments; the metathorax at the mesial region is sulcate, the sulci with transverse divisions; laterad, in the dorsal aspect it is densely punctate and covered with whitish pubescence. This refers to both species. The antennae are 12-jointed. The coxa? are darker, the mandibles bidentate, the teeth acute; the proximal funicle joint is always suffused with brownish (ovi). 1 Contribution No. 1 from the Entomological Laboratory of the Sugar Experiment Stations of Queensland, Mackay. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 5 From the species choctoicetes Froggatt, ovi differs in having t lie- proximal funicle joint of the antenna red, the wings darker and all the abdominal segments in the dorsal aspect longitudinally striate; also probably in venation, but the description does not allow comparison. From 15 specimens, 2-3 inch objective, 1-inch optic, Bausch & Lomb. Male. The same, but differing in abdominal and antennal characters. Thus, the abdomen is blunt at extreme apex; the antennae are 10-jointed, less compressed fusiform, but the middle of the flagellum widest; the first funicle joint is not so long and the following joints not so wide; the scape and pedicel are nearly black, the first three funicle joints with more brownish but still dark, the remaining joints reddish-brown like the legs. Antennae with very fine, close white pubescence. Joint 3 of funicle widest, cup-shaped, the second joint intermediate in length between the first and third. From two specimens, the same magnification. Described from 15 female and 2 male specimens reared from an acridiid egg-mass found in alluvial soil in a cane field adjoin- ing the Mulgrave River at Nelson (Cairns), North Queensland, April 8 to 10', 1912; also 2 females captured on the surface of the ground along a bare strip in a paddock or meadow near acridiid egg-masses; the same general locality, dark compact soil, April 19, 1912. The first eggs mentioned were most likely those of Locusta danica Linnaeus, which has been very numerous at Nelson the past several months, but Locusta australis has also been mixed in with it to a certain extent. Subsequently the following specimens were found in my col- lections: Five females captured from the surface of the ground along a road, April 29, 1912; a female June 10, 1912, at light in the evening at a private residence; a pair taken by sweeping in a forest at Nelson, February 16, 1912; a female similarly captured, January 29, 1912; three males captured with a female of australis from the ground in a meadow, Nelson, June, 6, 1912; and a female from the ground among the young of danica, May 6, 1912. Habitat: Australia North Queensland, East Coast (Cairns District). Types: No. Hy / 989, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, 2 males 2 females, tag mounted. Cotypes: Catalogue No. 15250, U. S. National Museum, Wash- ington, D. C., 4 females remounted on tags from alcohol. 2. Scelio australis Froggatt. Scelio australis Froggatt, 1910, Farmer's Bulletin No. 29, Depart- ment of Agriculture, New South Wales, Sydney, pp. 34-35, figures 1, la. 6 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY This species was described from the Herbert River, Queens- land, from specimens reared from the eggs of Locusta australia. In a forest near Nelson, North Queensland, I captured a male and a female specimen of this species by sweeping grass, April 19, 1912. Its original description does not give all the necessary specific characters which I have noted in foregoing. Thus, for this genus, in order to describe species recognizably it is necessary to give not only the sculpturing in detail, but also the degree of wing fumation, the shape of the stigmal spot, the details of the venation and those of coloration. A variation in the coloring of the antenna seems to be correlated with a variation in the vena- tion. Of itself, I think one would hesitate to consider a species of this genus distinct did it differ from another only in the fact that the first two or three antennal joints were of a different color, since a variation of this kind would be expected to occur with many of the species. I describe the male herewith: Like the female, b\it differing in the following characters: The antennae are as in the male of ovi, but differ in coloration in that they are brown at base, only the first two funicle joints and the pedicel being darker brownish and the tip of the scape blackish; they are alike structurally. One male specimen, captured later, was only two-thirds the size of the others. Later, I found australis common at Nelson, usually accompanying ovi. The following specimens were captured: Two females, four males from surface of the ground in a meadow, May 18, 1912; a female June 6 in the same place; three females on the ground along a road, April 29, 1912; two females May 6, on the ground mingled with young danica and finally two females from the ground, along the grassy borders of a tram-line at Nelson, mingled with the young of danica, May 18, 1912. In the original description of australis, Froggatt (loc. cit. p. 34, ^F 7) seems to have made a mistake in this statement: "the thoracic segments, which are well defined, are thickly marked with fine parallel stria on the undersurf ace ; these striae are shorter, as there is a smooth shining patch at the junction of each segment." The abdomen was doubtless in mind, since the ventral thorax is like the dorsal, the abdomen striate in my specimens, while both the figure of Froggatt and his statements to me in a letter bear this out. 3. Scelio froggatti Crawford. This species was described in the Proceedings of the United States National Museum (Washington, D. C., U. S. A.), vol. 41, 1911, from Childers, Queensland. On December 24, 1911, while sweeping along the floor of a forest on the coast of North Queens- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 7 land, opposite Double Island (10 or more miles north of Cairns) I captured a male Scelio which is undoubtedly this species. It is both like ovi and australis, but the striation along the dorsal and ventral aspects of the abdominal segments is rugolose, the striae curved and interlacing around punctures and hence shorter and not nearly parallel; the antennas in this specimen are wholly honey-yellow, but otherwise like those of the males of ovi. The strong striae converging toward the mouth are conspicuous; the proximal tarsal joint in the posterior legs is decidedly shorter than with either ovi or australis, arid "the size is smaller (at least with this specimen). The parapsidal furrows distinguishable, as distinct as in the other species noted (ovi and australis). There are six species of the genus now known from Australia, all parasitic upon acridiid eggs. I give herewith a diagnosis of them, constructed from the literature and the foregoing specimens. The three species occurring in Queensland are distinct from the three known from New South Wales and this is expected from the difference in latitude. KEY TO THE FEMALES OF THE AUSTRALIAN SPECIES OF SCELIO LATRE1LLE. Black, the legs reddish brown or yellow, the fore wings infuscated. I. Head smooth, polished, with a few scattered, fine punctures or a few converging striae. . Scape, pedicel, and at least first two or three j oints of f unicle fulvous; segments 1 and 2 of abdomen longitudi- nally striate, segment 3 finely reticulate, segment 4 with similar sculpture at base, the succeeding segments hardly sculptured; ventral segment 3 of abdomen with punctures on each side of meson and segment 4 with the same punctures but cover- ing a smaller space. Face without striae pulchellus Crawford Scape, pedicel, proximal and apical f unicle joints fulvous; abdominal segments all finely, longitudinally stri- ate, but the fifth segment with a median smooth area and ventrad the segments all having the middle of each smooth; face with some strise; abdomen dark brown fulgidus Crawford II. Head rough, rugose or rugoso-punctate for a large part, especially at the vertex. (1) Abdomen wholly longitudinally striate or rugulose, dorsad and ventrad, except maybe medially and at the incisions of the segments. Abdomen longitudinally striate; parapsidal furrows dis- tinct. 8 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Antennae wholly black. Stigmal vein straight but bent at its extreme tip, the blunted end pointing proximo-caudad. Stigmal spot distinct, round, covering basal half of stig- mal vein and apex of marginal australis Froggatt Antennae black with the scape, pedicel, and, usually, the first funicle joint reddish-brown. Stigmal vein slightly, convexly curved along its whole length, the tip very slightly turned distad. Stigmal spot 'elo'ngate, not involving the marginal vein ovi Gir ault Abdomen longitudinally rugulose. Antennae wholly dark brown; parapsidal furrows more or less obliterated froggatti Crawford (2) Abdomen only partly longitudinally striate, some of the segments finely punctate in the dorsal aspect. Segments 3, 4, and 5 of the abdomen covered with fine, close, shallow punctures, giving them a sha- greened appearance; fore wings lighter than usual; scape and pedicel of antennae reddish brown. Beneath, abdomen finely longitudinally striate chortoicctes Froggatt SUMMARY OF THE HOSTS OF SCELIO LATEEILLE IN AUSTRALIA. Species. Host. Authority. australis Froggatt. Locusta australis Brunner, v. \V Froggatt, 1. c., p. 35. chortoicetes Fro^gatt Chortoicetes terminifera Walker. Froggatt, I. c., p. 30 froggatti Crawford Gastrinogus musicus Fabricius * Frogatt in litt , Mav 6 fulgidus Crawford Ckortoicetes tertninifera Walker 1912. Crawford I c ovi Girault (given as Pachytylus australis) See above pulchellus Crawford Chortoicetes pusilla Walker Crawford, I.e. 1 From what I can gather this appears to be a synonym of Locusta danica Linn. In the origi- nal description of the parasite, Crawford gave by mistake (as Mr. Froggatt Informed me by letter) Chortoicetes terminifera as the host. Though so far removed from the scene of actions of other species of the genus, yet the habits are the same in Australia as in North America, for instance. I have to thank Mr. Walter W. Froggatt, Government Ento- mologist, New South Wales, for his kindness in furnishing me with Crawford's descriptions of the species of the genus and for a few facts in connection with hosts as noted. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 9 CRITICAL NOTES ON SOME SPECIES OF MYMARID^ FROM THE SANDWICH (HAWAIIAN) ISLANDS, WITH COMPARATIVE NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN, NORTH AMERICAN, AND EUROPEAN FORMS. (Hymenoptera; Chalcidoidea.) BY A. A. GIRAITLT. I have recently obtained a few specimens of Mymaridse from the Sandwich Islands through the kindness of Mr. Otto H. Swezey, all of the genus Polynema Haliday; also I have captured in North- ern Queenlsand and in Fiji one or two species of the family com- mon also to these islands and in one case to North America. The Myrmaridae of Australia also, now, are tolerably well known to me. Inasmuch as the Sandwich Islands are situated in a position geographically between North America, Fiji, and Australia, it is interesting from the standpoint of geographical distribution of animals to make this comparison, since it will be shown as prob- able that most of the indigenous forms of the family occurring in Hawaii, North America, and Australia (also Europe) are quite peculiar to those continents, fulfilling our expectations. It is also shown probable that such species as are common to several of the continents or islands have been distributed through commerce or else are parasitic upon widely distributed species or genera or families of insects. I make the detailed comparisons herewith. SUBFAMILY GONATOCERIN.^. Genus ALAPTUS Haliday. 1. Alaptus immaturus Perkins. Perkins described this species in 1905 from Bundaberg, Queens- land, Australia, it having been reared from leaves of sugar cane infested with leaf-hopper eggs, but these latter were doubtfully the host. In the second volume (part vi) of the Fauna Hawaiien- sis, Cambridge, England (1910, p. 661), the same author records the species from the Sandwich Islands, "Oahu and probably all the islands; bred from the eggs of Pso'cidse." But previously, also in the introduction to the bulletin containing the original descrip- tion of the insect, on page xxiv, it was stated in regard to its host: "Eggs of Psocid feeding on fungus growing on honeydew excreted by leaf -hoppers." Thus, the doubtful host implied in the original description was given by mistake, probably, and the host is a psocid, as would be expected. Since, I have captured the species in several localities in North Queensland, once from the foliage 1 Contribution No. 2, Entomological Laboratory, Sugar Experiment Stations, Mackay, Queensland. 10 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY of citron growing wild near the jungle, but which was imported and planted by a settler some years ago. I have compared the species with others of the genus in a paper on Australian Mymaridse now in manuscript and it should suffice to say that it is a good species, but a typical one of the genus, there being no peculiarities which may be connected in any way with its habitat. The occurrence of this species in the Sandwich Islands would appear rather remarkable to me did I not have reason to think that it was introduced there with the other Australian parasites of sugar-cane insects, as described in Bulletin No. 1 of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association. No direct statement is made to that effect, but it seems very probable. If it was not intentionally introduced, then its presence can be explained by the fact that it is associated with commercial plants such as sugar cane and citrus fruits and was distributed by commerce. These explanations are the most likely and reasonable ones, for otherwise we would have to accept others which in this case would be not incredible, but less reasonable in the face of the first two. The species most probably is native to the east coast of Australia. 2. Alaptus globosicornis Girault. This species was described from Florida in North America. It was recorded to have been reared from a coccid on citrus fruits in 1907. About three years later Girault recorded it from Hono- lulu, in the Sandwich Islands, where it had been captured in an office as early as 1900. It was thus found earlier in the Pacific than in North America. Late in 1911 and early in 1912 I cap- tured a number of specimens of it in North Queensland, where it appears to be the commonest species of the genus, but forms what appears to be a distant color variety; the Hawaiian speci- men also appears to be a similarly distinct variety. In Queens- land the species was found only in settled areas where citrus fruits are not uncommon; in the Sandwich Islands the office where the species was captured was very probably an insectary or an ento- mological or quarantine office where imported insects and trees would likely be placed for a time. Thus, again, I think the explanation of the wide distribution of this species is that of commercial dispersal, the parasite being carried along with its host. This seems the most likely. The fact that the species is split into geographical varieties would tend to show that it has been distributed over its present-known range for some time, but a variation of this kind, namely, of general body coloration, does not necessarily have to have a long period of time for its consum- mation, but, I believe it is known, may ensue after the exposure of a comparatively small number of generations to the new climate. The species is a characteristic one, because of the submoniliform OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 11 autennal funicle, but it is as peculiar in its relation to North Amer- ica and European species as it is to those of Australia. Genus LEIMACIS Foerster. A species of this genus (peregrina Perkins) has been described from Honolulu and I have an Australian species captured in North Queensland; the two species are distinct, since they differ in general coloration and markedly in the ciliation of the fore- wing and length of the antennal club. SUBFAMILY MYMARIN.E. Genus ANAGRUS Haliday. 1. Anagrus armatus (Ashmead). In my paper on Austrialian Mymaridee, mentioned previously, I will give evidence that this species is common to North America, the Sandwich Islands, the Fijian Islands, and to Australia. The matter need not be gone into here, but I desire merely to account for its occurrence in these widely separated countries. The species was first described from Florida in North America, more than twenty years ago. Recently, I showed that it was very common in North America, and the evidence which I will present in the paper referred to shows that it is distributed from the east coast of the United States as far west as the Rocky Mountains and is parasitic upon leaf-hopper eggs deposited in the soft parts of various plants, those recorded being the grape and apple (both inferred, since the parasites appeared from twigs of those plants infested with external hosts which are very doubtful hosts of this parasite), an economic Empoasca (a definite, unpublished record from host egg in leaves) and from a Liburnia on grass ; also Perkins records it from Liburnia or similar eggs in Australia, the plant doubtless sugar cane, another grass, but no statement is made that it was originally found on that plant. However, Perkins had discussed the parasite as an associate of the sugar cane and introduced it into the Sandwich Islands for the purposes of the economic entomology of that crop. The above facts, namely, that the species occurs in four widely separated countries and that it is associated with cultivated plants widely transported in commerce, represent effect and cause, since I believe that little or no doubt can be entertained otherwise. The opportunities for the distribution of this insect during the last century from one continent to another by commerce have been enormous, for what plants have been more widely inter- changed than the grasses and fruits? There is nothing to con- tradict this view. This species, also, is very similar to, yet dis- 12 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY tinct from, brocheri Schulz of Europe. In this connection, Perkins has stated: "Anagrus of the Mymaridse attacks the eggs of the Delphacidte alike in Europe, America, Australia, Fiji, and China, and even the species hardly differ in these countries." Subgenus PARANAGRUS Perkins. 1. Paranagrus perforator Perkins. This species was described from Fiji. It was obtained from the eggs of various genera of delphacid leaf-hoppers, usually in grasses, rarely in sugar cane, and was introduced into the Sand- wich Islands in connection with the economic entomology of sugar cane. Its occurrence in .those islands is thus accounted for, but just recently I have captured several specimens of it in North Queensland in an area planted with sugar cane and I have no doubt that its presence here is due to introduction with that plant; more than this, however, it may be the same species as Paranagrus optabilis Perkins described from Queensland, since the two forms are very much alike, and according to Perkins optabilis also occurs in Fiji. The two forms differ only in the presence of an exserted ovipositor in one (perforator) "for a length equal to that of all the joints of one of the hind tarsi taken together." But my Queensland specimens of perforator have the valves of the ovipositor exserted to an extent somewhat less than that described originally. Both specimens are connected with sugar cane. Genus POLYNEMA Haliday. 1. Polynema reduvioli Perkins. Of interest generically because of the lengthened proximal joint of the antennal funicle, this species was described from the Sand- wich or Hawaiian Islands, it being parasitic upon leaf-hopper eggs in the leaves of sugar cane. Subsequently, it has been recorded from several islands of the Sandwich group. Mr. Swezey has sent me several specimens of it and I examine them herewith, with special reference to the relations of the species to North American, European and Australian species. As was to be expected, the species is closely related to those species like the type of Stephan- odes Enock, Polynema enockii Girault, Polynema psecas Girault- and the lengthened proximal joint of the antennal funicle is corre- lated in all with the peculiarly broad fore wings bearing very fine discal ciliation and the intense coloration of the yellow part of the body; also the serrated scape. I am the more inclined, since seeing this species, to recognize Enock's Stephanodes with at least the rank of a subgenus, but await, before considering this, the comparison of the three and with an Australian form. I still hold back, also, because of the species bifasciatipenne Girault, OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. L3 \vhich has no correlated color nor fore wings, but is peculiar to itself. At first I take the European species with lengthened proximal funicle joint (Stepkanodes) Polynema enockii (Girault). The females differ as follows: Funicle joints 4 and 5 are shorter and subequal in reduvioli and joint 5 is not nearly as long as joint 3 but distinctly shorter; also the fore wings are not quite so large, more graceful, bearing about 25 lines of fine discal ciliation; other- wise, I can not distinguish the two species; they are remarkably similar; the antennal scape in reduvioli bears the peculiar sculpture. The males of enockii differ from the males of reduvioli in having distinctly longer joints in the flagellum. The coloration of both species is the same. In regard to the North American psecas, the Hawaiian species, comparing the females first, differ thus: Only in the fact that the second funicle joint is shorter in relation to the first in the North American species, but in the same species I have seen a specimen where the two joints were subequal; this difference is certainly very small and it is extremely difficult to know what to do in such cases. By comparing the males, it is seen that they differ as in the case of enockii, the flagellar joints in psecas being distinctly longer. For the present, therefore. I leave the species separate, though they form suspicious units. In one specimen of psecas, the second funicle joint was yellow like the first. On November 4, 1911, I captured a single female Polynema from a window around the veranda of a private residence at Kuranda, North Queensland, a locality a few miles distant from the nearest sugar-cane area. This species bore a long proximal funicle joint of the antenna and as expected closely resembled the foregoing species. I now compare it with them. It resembles all but more nearly enockii and reduvioli, differing from the former in bearing fore wings like the latter; thus, as concerns the antenna 1 , it is intermediate or nearly between reduvioli and psecas. From the Hawaiian species I am unable to separate it, so that the species is common to the Sandwich Islands and Australia. From what Perkins states in the original description of his species (reduvioli} I have not much doubt -but what it is the same as hawaiiensis of Ashmead. In the Australian specimen of reduvioli, the proximal funicle joint was shorter than usual, but there seems to be con- siderable variation in this respect, as I have experienced with psecax. Hence, the English species is the most distinct, while the North American and Hawaiian forms are very closely allied if not the same. Here we have specimens of at least two distinct species of Polynema, and probably three, occupying an enormous area of the 14 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY earth and occurring in very distant countries with greatly dif- ferent climates; and the two or three are strikingly alike. The climate of North America is vastly different from that of Hawaii or North Queensland, and yet we find forms occurring in all three places that are so much alike as doubtfully representing two species. As concerns the occurrence of the Hawaiian form in Northeast Australia, the explanation again hinges upon com- mercial distribution, since the species is associated with sugar- cane insects in Queensland and the Sandwich Islands. Commerce seems to be accomplishing in a few years what nature takes thousands to do. I believe it is true in all genera that their species will be found to be more or less clustered in groups, and this seems to be nec- essary from their nature and the manner of their formation. These clusters of species must be viewed as genera in the making and although it must be conceded that natural genera occur, since it is allowed that species are natural, still from the standpoint of human experience and reason it is extremely difficult to say just where a genus commences and a cluster of allied species ends, just as it is difficult to say when a variety is a species. So we find it in this mymarid genus Polynema. There are species grouped according to the width of the fore wings, as longipes and its allies and the closely allied group of species including consobrinum, striaticorne, regina, and euchariforme. Enock separated one species characterized by a long proximal funicle joint in the antennae as the distinct genus Stephanodes; subsequently other species were found bearing the same character, two or three of them much alike in coloration, the structure of the fore wings, and other appendages and agreeing also in bearing a peculiar sculpture on the scape. But one of them is totally different in the structure of the fore wings and in coloration, and in still other species the peculiar sculpture of the scape occurs without the other correlated characters. This species group seems to be more on the way toward forming a genus, but since it is difficult to say just what the characteristics of the genus will be if the group is raised to that rank, it seems best not to accept the genus. If the long proximal funicle joint is taken as the separating characteristic, with what is it correlated and how long it is necessary for it to be, the species striaticorne and bifasciatipenne form connecting links between the forms bearing a short proximal funicle joint and those bearing a long one, and although these species have the sculptured scape (only rarely in striaticorne), but totally dif- ferent wings and color, where is the correlation demanded. There are no other characters available as a basis for separation. The above comparative notes are based upon these specimens: Polynema enockii Girault one male, one female mounted in OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 15 balsam, labeled ''Burnharn Beeches, Eng. 2.6.08, 23.7.08 (male); C. Waterhouse. Polynema psecas Girault Three females (from Illinois, U. S. A., Urbana, April 22, 1909, J. D. Hood; Mattoon, July 16, 1910; from United States National Museum collection, no labels); one male, Mattoon, Illinois, U. S. A., July 16, 1910. Polynema reduvioli Perkins two males, one female remounted from cards in xylol balsam, received from Mr. 0. H. Swezey and labeled "Honolulu, Oahu, 7.22.07/' males, and "Pahala, Hawaii, 12.2.05," the female. Also a female captured in North Queensland as above noted. 2. Polynema rubriventre Perkins. Mr. Swezey sent me two females of this species collected December 5, 1907 (12-5-07) at Kaumuchona, Oahu, Sandwich Islands, by himself. The specimens were mounted on cards. In order to remount them, these latter were removed from the pin and placed into a vial containing ordinary water. After a short while they had become dissolved from the cards and by gently shaking the vial were made to float freely upon the water. With a camel's-hair brush they were removed and placed upon a slide, upon which, after draining them, they were run through absolute alcohol and chloroform in succession, draining after each operation. Then being floated in chloroform, they were without difficulty removed to a central drop of xylol-balsam, merely by transferring them on the end of an insect pin dipped into the balsam; the balsam was then covered with a cover-glass. Gentle heat was then applied, placing the cover in its place and removing air and the mount was complete. This operation has been described because of the ease and rapidity with which it is performed and also because the mounts are sufficient for the purposes for which intended and no injury is done to the specimens. Perkins described this species from Oahu from an elevation of 1,500 feet and upward. It is not known to occur elsewhere than Oahu. Its original description agrees with the specimens before me. The characteristic black of the head and thorax and the ferruginous of the abdomen contrast; the legs are intense orange yellow; the valves of the ovipositor are exserted for a distance equal to the length of the distal funicle joint or about somewhat less than a fifth of the length of the abdomen and they are concolorous with the abdomen. The species is a large one, robust, with broad fore wings whose discal ciliation is dense and moderately long, not fine. The longest marginal cilia are only about a fourth the wings' greatest width; the fore wings are somewhat larger than those in the Sibylla Girault and has distinctly shorter marginal cilia; the fore wings also are distinctly fumated along the distal half of that portion of the blade which is distad of the venation 16 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY especially centrally or in the midlongitudinal line; the second funicle joint is the longest joint of the funicle, the third joint also long, twice the length of the moderately slender first joint, which is slightly longer than the pedicel. The distal three joints are all distinctly longer than the proximal joint and all subequal; the scape is not sculptured nor asperate; the club is rather short, stout, ellipsoidal. Marginal vein broad and short. Posterior wings without noticeable midlongitudinal discal ciliation, their cephalic marginal cilia somewhat longer than usual, bearing two lines of discal ciliation along each margin. The species is distinct from any which I have seen, though its fore wings are somewhat like those of the North American sibylla and perhaps somewhat like the English flavipes, but not much. I have seen no Australian species like it, but I have only two species of the genus which are new species and which appear to be indigenous. The male has never been described. 3. Polynema terrestre Perkins. Described also fom Oahu, Sandwich Islands. This is an enor- mous species of the genus, being noticeably more robust than the preceding species, rubriventris. Mr. Swezey sent me a pair mounted on cards, together with another male of the species mentioned below (poeta n. sp.) which was mixed in. The specimens were labeled "Polynema terrestris Perkins. Oahu, Kaumuchona, 9, 12.5.07; Olympus, d% 11.21.09. O. H. S." Both specimens were from the island of Oahu. The original description agrees with the specimens, excepting with the latter the tibiae of all of the legs and the scape were more or less brown or dusky, the distal funicle joint (and the two preceding ones also) in the female distinctly more than thrice its width, at least five times longer than wide, the club distinctly less than the combined length of the two preceding joints; also, the longest marginal cilia of the fore-wings are distinctly less than half the greatest width of the large fore wings, not more than between a third and fourth as long as the wing is wide. The scape is without sculpture; funicle joints all moderately long, the second very long. The fore wings have a smoky line across them at the marginal vein; the latter is rather long. The fore wings are broad and large, larger than in rubriventre, their discal cilia- tion fine and dense, somewhat as is reduvioli,.e&ch cilium, however, rather long. The tarsi are noticeably clothed with stiff, short bristles. The cephalic marginal cilia of the posterior wings is distinctly longer than the blade is wide and at tip the blade bears several confused lines of discal ciliation in the midlongitudinal line. The original description of this species is certainly not very explicit and is nearly the same as for the species gigas. For all OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 17 one may know to the contrary gig as may be the same as terrestris, since all that we know about it is that the legs are more or less brownish or yellowish. Now species of the genus may easily vary that much, that is, from yellow to brown in the legs and basal antennal joints, and making species on such differences is hazard- ous, to say the least. Because of such tendency to vary, the descriptions become all the more obscure. This species differs from any other species known to me, mostly in its enormous size, its large fore wings, which bear almost forty lines of discal ciliation across the wicles point, and the long antennal joint, especially the second and third joints of the funicle. It is distinctly larger than Cosmocomoidea morrilli Howard, which is a large species for the family. The fore wings are much broader than those of the North American graculus and sibylla. From the European flavipes it differs again in its robustness in body and appendages. The joints of the flagellum in male terrestris shorten distad, but the proximal joint is somewhat shorter than the second joint, which is at least six times longer than broad. The shortening becomes noticeable as funicle joint 8. Joints finely striate. The other male, which as stated was sent with terrestre as a specimen of that species, is quite distinct and appears to be unde- scribed. This case again illustrates how the members of this genus may be alike in color, yet different in structure, and also how careful we must be in dealing with these systematically difficult insects. I describe the species herewith. 4. Polynema poeta new species. Mule. The same as terrestre male, excepting as follows: Decidedly smaller, slightly smaller than rubrii-cntre but still large for the genus, measuring about 1.40 mm. The pedicel, scape, abdominal petiole and all of legs except the black distal tarsal joints, chrome yellow, the convex margin of the scape asperate slightly. Joints of the tarsi and of the fla- gellum all somewhat shorter than in terrestre. The fore wings are entirely different, except in the marginal vein. Thus, they are noticeably narrower though of the same shape, while the discal ciliation is coarser and less dense (only about twenty-six lines across the widest portion of the blade), the longest marginal cilia about slightly over a third of the fore wing's greatest width. The thorax apparently without sculpture, the parapsidal furrows distinct, curved, a transverse line of fovea; across the apex of the scutellum, near the margin. Joints of antennal funicle where longest (joints 2-5) at least six or more times longer than wide, the second somewhat longer than the first, which is subequal to joint 6; 7 somewhat shorter than 1, while joints 8-11 are subequal and only about four times longer than wide. The joints are longitudinally striate. 18 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY From a single specimen, 2-3 inch objective, 1-inch optic. Bausch & Lomb. Female. Not known. Described from a single male specimen received from Mr. 0. H. Swezey as above noted. The species is characterized by the shape, size and ciliation of the fore wings, which are broader than in most species of the genus, resembling those of sibyha, nearly, though the marginal cilia in that species are longer. Habitat: Sandwich Islands -Oahu (Olympus). Type: Cat. No. 15251, U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C., the above male (mounted on a slide with a pair of Poly- nema terrestre Perkins). 5. Polynema tantalea Perkins. The fourth species received from Mr. Swezey is native to the Sandwich Islands and was described form Oahu. It is a large species, but not so large as terrestre, to the naked eye appearing intermediate between that species and rubriventre. It is charac- terized as far as other species known to me are concerned by its ferruginous color and clear fore wings, the head black (sometimes in balsam having a metallic greenish tinge, though I doubt the realness of that) and the distal five antennal joints, the distal tarsal joint. I was sent two specimens, but they represent two apparent species, neither of which agree with the description of tantalea. A male specimen agrees, however, excepting that the abdomen is black only at tip. Here again is a case where it is impossible to identify with certainty the specimens from the descriptions, since no comparative descriptive notes are given for the species, more especially in regard to the fore wings in which these two species differ. I shall thus consider the male specimen as tantalea, since it agrees nearly with the description of that species (its abdomen is obscurely dusky nearly to base, black at tip); the female, however, appears to be undescribed; it differs from apicalis in having the third and fourth antennal joints yellow and the wings hyaline, from perforator presumably in bearing a shorter club, a shorter proximal funicle joint, shorter marginal cilia of the fore wing, and the yellow third and fourth antennal joints; and from oahuensis, a third similar species described by Perkins from Hawaii, in having the four distal joints of the anten- nae black, the head all black and shorter marginal cilia of the fore wing. As regards tantalea as represented by the male specimen, it differs in having the fore wings less broad, the discal ciliation denser but of about the same quality; thus, the tantalea bears about thirty-four lines of the cilia across the widest blade portion, while the other bears about thirty denser lines. The difference is noticeable, but without more material I merely designate this OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 19 female specimen as a narrow-winged variety of tantalea. I do this with some diffidence, realizing the difficulties, but at the same time remembering that it is the business of systematic entomology to detect these differences and record and interpret them. The male specimen of tantalea has the distal joint of the flagellum somewhat shorter than the proximal funicle joint; the joints are finely, longitudinally striate; the line of fovese on the scutellum is com- posed of two obliqued straight lines on each side of the meson, meeting at the meson. The line appears to be a broad, convex curve in the variety. In tantalea the length of the longest marginal cilia of the fore wing is equal to about a fourth of the wing's greatest width. The caudal marginal cilia of the posterior wing are very long, longer than the longest cilia of the fore wing. The forewings are broader than those of the North American sibylla, with shorter marginal fringes. Polynema tantalea longipenne, new variety. Female. Ferruginous, the distal five antennal joints, the distal tarsal joint, the intermediate and posterior tibiae, the basal portions of the cephalic tibiae, the marginal vein, and the head black or blackish. Funicle joints 1 and 2 suffused with dusky. Fore wings slightly stained at the distal half of that portion of the blade distad of the venation. Proximal funicle joint subequal in length to the pedicel, not quite half the length of the second joint, which is a fourth longer than the third; funicle joints 4, 5, and 6 subequal, each a fourth shorter than the third and distinctly longer than the first, the club not quite equal in length to the two preceding joints combined. Fore wings nearly as in Polynema sibylla, but the mar- ginal cilia are shorter. Like tantalea, except as noted above in regard to its fore wings and probably the foveate line across the scutellum. Described from a single female specimen received from Mr. Swezey and labeled ''Polynema tantalea Perkins, Kaumuchona, < )ahu, 12.5.07. 0. H. S." Habitat: Sandwich Islands, Oahu (Kaumuchona.) Type: Cat. No. 15252, U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C., one female in xylol-balsam (mounted with a male specimen of tantalea). The foregoing male of tantalea was collected by Mr. Swezey at Tantalus, Oahu, October 15, 1911. Thus we have seen four common species of Polynema indig- enous to Hawaii which are distinct from native North American and Australian species of the genus, so far as is known ; also from native European species of the genus so far as my limited knowledge of these latter goes. Also, it has been shown that there is a relation between the species so far known to exist in several continents 20 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY and the presence of commercial crop plants with which they have become associated. These facts bear out the conclusion long reached by naturalists that these widely distributed species must once have been confined to their place of origin in some one of the continents now occupied by them so recently. I may add that Dicopus psyche, which I recently described from Fiji, has subsequently been found in North Queensland. MEETING OF NOVEMBER 7, 1912. The 262d regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Prof. T. B. Symons and Mr. A. B. Gahan at the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C Street N. W., on the evening of November 7, 1912, and there were present: Messrs. Baker, Barber, Burgess, Busck, Caudell, Cory, Craighead, Crawford, Cushman, Duckett, Fisher, Gahan, Gill, Green, Heidemann, Heinrick, Hopkins, Howard, Johansen, Knab, McAtee, Marshall, Middleton, Myers, Quain- tance, Rohwer, Russell, Sanford, Sasscer, Schwarz, Siegler, Snyder, Symons, Walton, and Wood, members and C. C. Craft, J. R. Malloch, and R. C. Shannon, visitors. The following proposed at the 261st meeting of the Society were elected active members: C. T. Greene, Carl Heinrick, J. D. Hood, F. Johansen, and W. Middleton. In addition the following names were proposed for active membership: F. C. Craighead, A. B. Duckett, and W. S. Fisher. Under suspension of rules, the three were elected. Under new business the Recording Secretary read the following proposed amendments to the constitution : Article IV to be amended to read as follows : The officers of the Society shall be a President, a First Vice- President, a Second Vice-President, a Recording Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer, and an Editor, to be elected by ballot at the annual meeting. There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers of the Society and three members to be elected by the Society in the same manner and at the same time. Article V to be amended as follows: Section 4. The Editor shall edit the magazine published by the Society under the direction of the Executive Committee. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 21 Section 5 to be the present Section 4. Article III, Section 3, third paragraph to read as follows: Honorary members shall be proposed only by the Executive Committee. They shall then be voted upon by all of the active members of the Society, the ballot being taken by mail, due notice of the Committee's nominations having been sent to each mem- ber. Ballots received later than 60 days after the mailing of the Committee notice shall not be counted. A unanimous vote of the Executive Committee shall be necessary to a proposal and a four-fifths vote of the active members casting ballots shall be required to elect. The question of a seal for the Society was mentioned and it was moved and seconded that the Executive Committee take up the matter with power to act. Under the title ''Some recent Experiences in Europe" Dr. L. 0. Howard spoke of his last summer's trip to England, France, Holland and Germany for the purpose of interviewing European shippers of nursery stock to America and the officials charged with the carrying out of the foreign inspection laws. He also spoke especially of the International Entomological Congress at Oxford and showed photographs he had taken of many of the European entomologists in attendance as well as of others he had visited on the continent. The second paper was presented by Mr. W. R. Walton: THE VARIATION OF STRUCTURAL CHARACTERS USED IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF SOME MUSCOIDEAN FLIES. BY W. R. WALTON, Bureau of Entomology. Since the publication of Baron Osten Sacken's admirable Essay of Comparative Chsetotaxy 1 in 1881, the use of characteristic bristles as a means to the classification in the Cyclorapha has become general among dipterologists and has resulted as a whole to the great advantage of science. There must, however, exist a limit beyond which these chsetophorous characters become un- reliable, especially as a guide to specific values. So it has been with this idea in view and in hope of securing data regarding such limitations that these somewhat fragmentary studies have been undertaken whenever proper material and time permitted. 1 Mitth. d. Munchener Entcm. Vereins, vol. v, pp. 121-138. 18S1. 22 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Calliphora viridescens Desvoidy, a common blow fly referred by some authors to the family Muscidse and by others to the Sarco- phagidae is a species known colorationally from its North American congeners by the black cheeks and beard, but structurally solely by the presence of a third pair of posterior intraalar bristles. An opportunity of studying the relative constancy of this char- acter was afforded during the year 1908 at Harrisburg, Pa., by rearing it in considerable numbers from the putrid body of a snake. No less than 540 full sized individuals, comprising three species, having been reared from the body of the reptile which in life, could not, have exceeded 24 inches in length. Of the number mentioned above 247 proved to be C. viridescens. The entire series was examined individually and the results tabu- lated, they are as follows: Number of specimens examined 247 Number of males examined ' 131 Number of females examined 116 Number of males abnormally bristled 20 Number of females abnormally bristled 32 Total number of abnormal specimens 52 or over 20 per cent Number of males with supernumerary bristles 20 Number of females with supernumerary bristles 30 Number of females with less than 3 intraalars 2 In nearly all cases where supernumerary intraalar bristles occurred they were smaller than normal. In other words there was an apparent tendency of the most cephalad towards obso- lescence. In several cases 110 less than five macrochaetae replaced the usual three, the more frequent number, however, was four and the aberration was bisymmetrical or otherwise. Two indi- viduals possessed but a single pair of posterior intraalars on each side and could therefor not be distinguished structurally from Calliphora erythrocephala. In no group of the Diptera have chsetotactic characters proven of greater service than in that exceedingly large and homogeneous assemblage designated in the works of the more conservative authors as the family Tachinidae. Some nineteen years have elapsed since Dr. S. W. Williston 2 pointed out the remarkable structural variation to which the spe- cies Belvosia bifasciata Fabr. is subject. He remarked the vari- ation in the ciliation of the fascialia, comparative length of the antennal joints, angularity of the fourth vein and in the male, of the length of the anterior claws. So it is perhaps not surprising that a corresponding variation is found in the number and ar- rangement of the macrochaetae particularly of the thoracic region, but also of the abdomen in this species. 2 Insect Life, vol. v, p. 238. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 23 The appended table has been constructed from ten specimens of the above mentioned species, ranging gradually from 12 to 19 mm. in length, measured from the outer edge of the front to tip of abdomen. These measurements probably represent the ex- tremes of size in the species, although Mr. D. W. Coquillett 1 gives them as 13 to 17 mm. In the existing synoptic tables, the branch of the dichotomy running out at Belvosia reads "Ocellar bristles wanting." By reference to the present analysis it will be seen that these bristles are present in five out of the ten specimens examined, in four of them only on one side of the head, in the remaining case bisym- metrically developed. When present they are directed forward, not strongly developed but perfectly distinct from the surrounding hairs with an ordinary hand lens. In Mr. Coquillett's table of the genera, dichotomy 116, one branch of which runs to Belvosia we read "Second segment of abdomen never bearing more than four marginal macrochsetae." By the present analysis we see that they may vary from 2 to 6 and are asymmetrically placed in two out of ten cases. Mr. Coquillett further says "Our species (of Belvosia) have four post sutural (dorso central) and four sterno pleural macro- chaeta?." It will be seen that this occurs in only one-half the specimens examined. The fact is these macrochaeta? are wofully variable in number, size and arrangement. 2 A glance at our table shows that the marginal macrochaeta? of the scutellum increase in number almost directly as the length and robustness of the body, in fact generally speaking the larger,, stouter, and therefor more fully developed the specimen, the more numerous the macrochseta? become on all parts of the thorax. Mr. C. H. T. Townsend 3 has said: "It has been alleged that much of the sg-called synonymy in this superfamily, as it stance in the Aldrich Catalogue, is due to a misguided erection of species on stunted specimens developed from underfed larva?, through a lack of acquaintance with the breeding habits of the species. It is well known to all students of the Muscoidea that the females sometimes, if not frequently, carry the act of oviposit ion to an extreme, ovipositing upon larva? that are already overstocked with 1 Revision of N. A. Tachinidae, p. 84. 2 The author wishes to disclaim most emphatically any intention or attempt to discredit this admirable and indispensable paper of Mr. D. W . Coquillett's. It is a pioneer work and necessarily not perfection. Mr. Coquillett was fully aware of the fact, and had he lived to complete his life work, it is altogether probable that a perfected revision of his paper which he contemplated would have eliminated any fault in the content of the original work. 3 The Taxonomy of the Muscoidean Flies, Smithsonian Misc. Col. No. 1803, p. 19. 24 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY eggs. This has been observed and recorded in a number of in- stances. It has been observed at the Gipsy Moth Laboratory of the Bureau of Entomology in Massachusetts that tachinids would oviposit at times upon larvae covered with eggs, while masses of unstocked larvae were abundant close by Similar conditions could hardly arise except through man's interference. The stunted specimens always exhibit practically the same characters, and if there is any exception, the true status of a specimen is quite recognizable." Specimen Nos. 1 and 2 are taken from a series of 14 reared from one pupa of Basilona imperialis. Furthermore it contained in addition to the 14 which emerged one dead Tachinid puparium and a shriveled larva, the puparia were crowded tightly together occupying every available space within the pupa shell. The larva of the host was collected from nature at Catawissa, Pennsylvania and sent to the Division of Zoology at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where H..O. Marsh made the rearing. E. imperialis is a native species and since there is practically never an abnormal plentitude of these large insects, at most, never so many as to upset the equilibrium of nature, it must be admitted, in the light of the facts noted below, that too many larvae fed upon this individual, to permit of a full development of the resulting adults. There is no evidence here of "mans interference." Specimen number seven was reared from a pupa of B. imperialis collected from nature as a larva at Rockville, Pennsylvania, by A. B. Champlain. It will be seen that it measures 4 mm. longer and is very much more heavily bristled than specimens number one and two. It was the sole inhabitant of the host pupa, which was rather a small one for the species. But that this Tachinid is capable of still further development is shown by the measure- ments and chaetophorous adornments of examples 8, 9 and 10. So it may be assumed that had more food been available for specimen 7, further development would have resulted. In other words, it appears probable from the evidence here adduced that not only is the gradual increase in size due to increased food supply but the number and size of the macrochaetae increases almost directly with the size of the individual. Correlated with this is a gradually increasing brilliancy in color. The stunted specimens are pale, the golden bands of the abdomen are faded and the wings nearly hyaline, the squamae dirty white. At the other extreme of size and chaetophorous development, the colors are most brilliant, the bands of the abdomen are splendidly golden in contrast with the remainder of the abdomen which is intensely shining black, the eyes in life are purple and iridescent, the wings and squamae are a very dark brown. Between these extremes there is a gradation of color. It may be seen from the foregoing OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 25 that the genus Belvosia as now known is based upon structural characters which are quite variable. Fortunately, that indescrib- able something which we call "habitus" is strongly in evidence in the genotype B. fasciata. But the question immediately arises; what about those genera and species of Muscoidea based almost entirely upon chaetotactic characters and where habitus is weak? In a series of 130 specimens of Winthemia quadripustulata reared from larvae and pupae of Laphygma frugiperda collected mainly on the grounds of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., during the month of September 1912, 9 specimens or about 7 per cent were found which cannot be properly placed specifically by the existing tables. Two group characters are used in these tables, one being the number of dorso central bristles, the other, the number of sterno pleurals. No variation was found in the number or arrangement of the former. In the latter, however, the number and also the arrangement was found to be variable to the extent noted above. Seven of the variants are males, five of them large specimens. The two females are smaller than aver- age size. In the males the arrangement of the sterno pleurals giving the left side first is as follows: In the females It will be seen from the foregoing that the variation is both symmetrical and otherwise in the series and that the supernumer- ary bristle may be placed either at the anterior or posterior corner of the sterno pleura. Thus the stability of this character in Winthemia is evidently far more absolute. There is also apparent in this series a considerable variation in the comparative lengths of the second and third antennal joints and in the width of the latter. In justice to Mr. J. D. Tothill it should be stated here that an examination of the cotype material of his Winthemia fumiferance shows the species to be obviously distinct from W. quadripustulata, notwithstanding the above noted failure of the sterno pleural characters. There is one other character used in connection with the Tachi- nidse which needs careful investigation, namely, the hairiness of the eyes. In a series of 24 specimens, 12 males and 12 females, of Myiophasia cenia Wied. reared as parasites of Chalcodermus ceneus Boh. by G. G. Ainslie of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology, at Clemson College, South Carolina, the males have hairy eyes 26 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY and the eyes of the females are bare. The amount of pilosity of the male eye varies. Mr. C. H. T. Townsend 1 has erected the genus Ennyomma on a single male of this species because of the hairy eyes and has since declared 2 "The genus may be distinguished from both Myio- phasia and Phasioclista by its thickly hairy eyes." The hairiness is variable and is a secondary sexual character at best; further comment is unnecessary. Few of us will be willing to assent with Mr. C. H. T. Townsend 3 that "these forms cannot be classified in the ordinary way .... there is no such thing as a species in the generally accepted sense," and further "the only safe course to pursue is to give a name to every assemblage that can be distinguished from other assemblages." etc. This sounds suspiciously like an acknowledgment of defeat. The Muscoidean flies are subject to the same general laws of development as all other insects and can probably be classified without erecting a new system of nomenclature. Dr. S. W. Williston 4 has said "We yet know very little about individual variation in this family (Tachinida?), or the real value of many characters now used. The absence or presence of a bristle may be found to represent a group or species, but we should first learn how constant the character is in species." Nineteen years have since elapsed and his statement still applies to the situation. The required knowledge cannot be obtained with a pen and a few dried specimens, though rivers of ink flow. Nor can the problem be solved by the use of the dissecting needle and a vivid imagination. The patient study of specific variation in even a few of the most homogeneous groups will certainly throw considerable light on the subject and this method is perfectly practicable for any worker who has the opportunity of rearing tachinids in numbers. As was acknowledged at the beginning of these remarks, the studies herewith included are but fragmentary in character, never- theless, the evidence drawn from them points quite strongly toward several definite conclusions. 1. The chsetotactic characters as at present used in the classifi- cation of Muscoids are variable to a considerable degree and should be tested whenever opportunity permits. 2. These characters are in some species subject to variation with the fluctuation of food supply of the larva. This phase of the question must be investigated in connection with any studies of specific variation. 1 Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. xvm, p. 370. 2 Taxonomy of Muscoidaen Flies, p. 58. 3 Taxonomy of the Muscoidean Flies, p. 13. 4 Insect Life, vol. v, p. 238. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 27 3. The hairiness of the eyes in some forms of Tachinidae is a secondary sexual character and is therefor not available as a primary generic character, unless both sexes are known to the describer. There are also certain other recommendations which could be adopted to advantage in the study of the Muscoidean flies, namely: a. The erection of a genus on a single example of either sex is folly and should not be permitted. b. The proposal of a new species on a single specimen or a series representing only one sex is inadvisable. c. The creation of either a genus or species on solely chsetotactic characters without a careful study of ample material is unwise. d. The variants of a species should be conserved under one species name until good and sufficient evidence is adduced to prove they are otherwise. The splitting of species in the genus Lucilia 1 as practiced by Mr. Townsend is a negative example of what is here meant. ANALYTICAL TABLE, CONSTRUCTED ON TEN SPECIMENS OF BELVOSIA BIFASCIATA, SHOWING STRUCTURAL VARIATION. Ocel- lars Dorso- centrals Acrost- ichals 1st Abd. mar- 2d Abd. mar- Mar- ginal scutel- Sterno- pleurals Fasci- alia bristled Length body Width abdo- ginal ginal lars on men - 43 43 ^^ 43 43 ^^ ^ 'bi "M "M M ~ u *^ "u "Si ** "ui ^ 5 3 2 o ,3 5 J 5 ,3 S JS 5 mm mm 1 1' 1 4 4 1 4 i 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 \ i 12 51 From series of 14 reared from a single larva of 2 4 4 :; 4 i 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 i 13 6 Eacles imperialis, Cata- wissa, Pa. 3 4 4 4 4 i 1 1 1 5 4 4 4 i I 13 6 Collected, Hertford, X. C. 4 4 4 1 4 i 1 1 1 4 4 4 3 i 1 14 61 Collected, Hertford. N. C. 5 4 4 4 4 i 1 1 1 5 5 4 4 1 ! 15J 7 Collected, Hertford N. C. 6 1 5 1 5 4 i 1 1 1 5 5 4 5 1 4 loi Collected, Anacostia, D. C. 7 5 6 5 5 3 2 3 3 8 6 6 6 i 1 4 16 8 Reared from larva of Eacles iinperiulls, Rock- vtlle, Pa. 8 1 1 6 6 4 4 3 3 3 2 8 G 7 7 f 3 18 9 Collected, Hiirrisluirg, Pa. g 1 5 5 5 5 3 2 2 3 6 6 6 5 i 1 18 9 Collected, Harrisburg, Pa. 10 1 5 5 7 !l 3 3 3 3 6 5 r, ;, i } I'.i 9 Collected, I'ideiiook, Pa. 1 Taxonomy of the Muscoidean Flies, pp. 118-123. 28 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY It seems possible that the studies of the internal anatomy of these flies upon which Mr. C. H. T. Townsend is at present work- ing may eventually prove useful as an index to group relations. But the mass of undigested facts, near facts and conjecture with which he is at present deluging the devoted heads of his con- fre" res will require an immense amount of elucidation, rearrangement and generous elimination before becoming available for use. To conclude, there is great need of careful rearings of species belonging to homogeneous groups, from known parents, for the purpose of studying variation of structure, color and size within the species and, failing which our knowledge of the true relations of the Muscoidean flies will never extend much beyond its present meager limits. In discussion, Mr. Malloch said that the tendency towards variation in the number of macrochsetse in Diptera is more pro- nounced in the higher groups, such as the Anthomyidse and Tachinidse, where the number of those macrochsetse is much larger than in the other groups such as the Tetanoceridse, Ortalidse and Phoridffi. In those groups with a few thoracic, or leg macro- chsetse there is but little tendency to variation, and as a rule their number and situation is remarkably constant. When any dupli- cation such as in the frontal bristles, occurs in the Acalyptrate Muscidse, it is the almost invariable rule that the normal bristle is reduced in size and moved from its usual position. When variation, either duplication or reduction, in the number of macro- chsetffi occurs it is almost impossible to place species of Tachinidse by using the tables of genera in the published works on the family. Too much weight has been placed on the length of the third an- tennal joint as compared with the length of the second. This also is a character that is prone to vary, as is also the length of the hairs on the arista. The hairs on the eyes, while under normal conditions easily discernible, in many species in the males, are most difficult to detect in the females of the same species. This applies not only to the Tachinidse, but also to the Anthomyidse, in which family far too much use has been made of this character in generic tables. In the latter family the generic tables in Willis- ton's Manual are of little use for the identification of some groups. About one-half of the species in Fannia (Homalomyia), for exam- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 29 pie, cannot be relegated to their proper position, because the calyptra are not noticeably dissimilar in size as required by the table. In examining large numbers of Diptera during the last 10 years, submitted form various Institutions and individuals in England and Scotland, it has been impressed upon me that the more macrochsetae a species has the more prone they are to vary in number and strength, and the larger the number of veins, such as in the Therevidse, Tipulidse and Asilidae, the more variation there is in the number and course of those veins. It is rarely the case in species without recurrent veins that there is much variation, though I have seen several specimens, probably about half a dozen, out of about 7000 or 8000 Phloridae examined in which abruptly terminated, instead of complete, veins occurred, or in which a small appendiculate vein was present, or a fork absent. In such cases only a thorough knowledge of the group will give one the necessary basis for identification. Arbitrary tables fail with abnormal specimens in any order, and the general habitus of the insect coupled with special knowledge must nec- essarily serve for identification purposes. Mr. Schwarz remarked that in Coleoptera macrochaetae are to be found in many parts of the body and are successfully used as specific characters especially in Carabidse and Staphylinidse. As far as the North American. fauna is concerned, Dr. Leconte was the first to call attention to their importance. In many instances the macrochaetae are lost but the pores remain and are remark- ably constant in their position, for instance in the genus Platynus. They do not seem to occur in the large phytophagous families, at least not in the imago stage, unless we consider the sensitive hairs on the antennae of certain Cerambycidae and Rhynchophora as macrochaetse. The third paper on the program was read by Mr. Thomas E. Snyder: 30 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY RECORD OF THE REARING OF GUPES GONCOLOR WESTW. (Goleoptera.) By THOMAS E. SNYDER, Bureau of Entomology. The position of the family Cupesidse in the classification of Coleoptera has long been of interest to the systematist. So far as is known there are but meagre descriptions of the habits of these beetles and no figures of the larvse exist. The larvae of C. concolor are wood-borers, excavating longitudinal burrows in solid but decaying chestnut and oak wood; the burrows are packed with fine, digested boring dust. The pupal cells are cylindrical with rounded ends. Larvse were first taken from the solid but decaying wood of the butt of a chestnut telegraph pole near Boykins, Virginia, on August 9, 1910, but remained unidentified. The pole had been broken off during a storm and reset sometime previous and the butt was lying on the ground. On May 1, 1912, numerous larvae were found in the wood of a solid but decaying oak log lying in the woods near East Falls Church, Virginia. Some larvae were in the prepupal stage. On May 22, one larva was found to have pupated since the preceding day. The pupa had transformed to a living adult sometime before June 6 on which date the adult was mature and another larva was found to have pupated. A third larva pupated on June 20 (since June 19). On September 17, 1912, similar larva? were found in the decaying wood of a black oak stump near Elkmont, Tennessee, in the outer layers of wood but have not yet transformed. Bur- rows of the larvse have been found in old, oak trestle timbers. The larva figured is 23.5 mm. in length, white, elongate and sub-cylin- drical. Body gradually broadening from the sixth to the eighth abdominal segment, ninth abdominal segment conical, with numerous long hairs on sides, armed with more heavily chitenized sharp tubercles, being produced to a narrow, heavily chitenized, cylindrical anal process; anal process widening at apex, tip concave. Pleural ridge on all abdominal segments. Prothorax prominent, approaching the characteristic dilation of Eupsalis and Lymexilonid larvae, broader than head and other thoracic segments. Prosternum broad, flat, armed with numerous chitenized asperities. Legs 5-jointed excluding claw; first joint large, flattened, fleshy lobe. Labium with hairs on anterior portion. Antennae 4-jointed. Maxillae with all three parts distinct; lacinia thick and fleshy, with long hairs pointing inward on anterior portion, palpi 3-jointed; galea 2-jointed. Labium black, chitenous, chisel-edged emarginate, with 2-jointed palpi. Mandible black, chitenous with large, blunt basal tooth and 3 other teeth. Pupa figured is 11.5 mm. in length, white, body somewhat flattened, abdominal segments gradually broadening; anal segment widest, conical; PROC. ENT. SOU. WASH., VOL. XV. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 31 genitalia with 2 lateral, curved, chitenous hooks, pointing anteriorally. Dorsal carina running the whole length of the body, becoming more dis- tinct toward the end of the abdomen. Antennae lying ventrally, over- lapping the elytra. Head bent ventrally at right angles to prothorax. First pair of legs lying between other pairs. EXPLANATION OF PLATE I CUPES CONCOLOR WESTW. Fig. 1. Larva (23.5 mm.), (a) ventral view, (b) lateral, (c) dorsal, (d) mouth parts, ventral view, (e) anal segment, ventral view. Fig. 2. Pupa (11.5 mm.). Note last two joints of the left antennae of pupa figured are deformed, (a) lateral view, (b) ventral view. Fig. 3. Adult Photographs by H. S. Barber. Drawings by C. T. Greene. OBSERVATIONS ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF MIGROMALTHUS DEBILIS LEG. (Goleoptera.) BY HERBERT S. BARBER, (Bureau of Entomology.) In February, 1911, Mr. T. E. Snyder of the Bureau of Ento- mology, brought me for determination, some minute larvse he had found in the buried end of a chestnut telegraph pole in this city. They were utterly strange to me but by chance the almost for- gotten plate (here reproduced) of Micromalthus by the late Mr. H. G. Hubbard, 1 the first figures published by him, came to mind and the details there shown agreed so exactly with the fresh larvae, that the determination was considered positive. The history of our knowledge of this beetle is interesting. In August 1874, Messrs. Hubbard and Schwarz found a colony of larvae, pupse and teneral imagoes in a red-rotten oak log near Detroit, Michigan. They sent specimens to Dr. LeConte, whose descrip- tion of the new genus and species, placed tentatively in the Ly- mexylidse, appeared in their "Coleoptera of Michigan" 1 with Hubbard's description and plate of figures appended at LeConte's request. Its assignment to the Lymexylidse was decided upon after correspondence between LeConte and Hubbard, the latter having found some points of similarity in the larvse of Hylocattus. 1 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., xvn, 1878, pp. 666-668 pi. xv. 2 1. c., p. in::. 32 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY I do not know of another published reference to the beetle, except the checklist inclusion of the name, and Blatchley's 1 reference to the original capture by Hubbard and Schwarz. In August of about 1882 or 1883, a flying adult lit on Mr. Schwarz's newspaper while he was reading in front of Professor Riley's house (on R st., near 13th, this city), and was imme- diately saved for the collection. Twenty years later (August 9, 1902) one alighted on my shirt while I was riding with Mr. Schwarz one warm afternoon on the Cabin John Car, just out- side the District. This remained unique in my experience for nine years, until Mr. Snyder's larvae were identified. Mr. Charles Dury writes that on August 9, 1911, one lit on his paper at dusk in Cincinnati, Ohio, this being his only experience with the species. Mr. Snyder has found the larvae occasionally since, and has kindly furnished the following locality and host-plant records. The first colony found extended 2 or 3 feet below the brick side- walk in the base of a chestnut telegraph pole (on 9th Street near "P" Street N. W. Washington, D. C., February 3, 1911), the larvae making shallow longitudinal burrows filled with fine, boring dust in the porous layer between the harder layers of annual growth. These burrows occurred only in the moist outer layers of the wood which had reached the red stage of decay. A second colony was found at East Falls Church, Virginia, March 18, 1912, in the moist outer layers of a decaying chestnut log and, in the jar of this material kept for rearing, a winged adult was found alive on July 20, 1912. Another colony was found near the same locality, on June 4, 1912, living in a chestnut stump; and a yellow pine log at Natural Bridge, Kentucky, (September 6, 1912) con- tained a very numerous colony of larvae in the rotting, softer parts between the more resinous annual rings. 2 1 Coleopt. of Indiana, 1910, p. 895. 2 Subsequent to the presentation of this paper, the breeding cell of this material disclosed on February 8, 1913, a few little, legged larvse and when the rotten wood was broken up it was found that the colony was apparently just coming to maturity. Several specimens of the reproductive form were isolated, one of which began giving birth to young almost immediately (tail first and active, but becoming quiescent for a time afterward). Another, much shrunken, was with her nine young in her cell. Another cell contained twenty-one young but the mother could not be found. Two others of the reproductive form show the mandibles and anal armature of the unborn embryos through the dorsal integument, fourteen in one, eight in the other. A number of mature larva? in various stages between the still feeding, dark- colored specimens (having the alimentary tract distended with food), up through the slow process of preparation for moulting, into the white repro- ductive form were found and isolated. Isolations of the progeny have been made in the hope of ultimately getting the winged adults of both sexes. It is sincerely hoped that someone will secure the missing links in the life cycle and also determine the factors controlling the development OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 33 One day last August (1912), Mr. Snyder remarked that a cer- tain old chestnut log on Plummer's Island, Maryland, looked right for them, and in a few minutes showed me a colony there. Since then I also, have been able to find them, for these larvae seem to occur in almost any old red-rotten or yellowish-brown decaying oak or chestnut log, lying in the woods along the Potomac, but the original capture by Hubbard and Schwarz, i.e. the occur- rence in one colony of numerous larvae, pupa?, psedogenetic repro- ductive form and winged adults ready for issuance, does not seem to have been duplicated. My first suspicion that we were dealing with a really remarkable case, came while looking at one of the vials of material that Mr. Snyder wished identified. This contained three forms of larvae, but the idea of identity was so improbable, that its expression then would have seemed out of place. In addition to the normal legless larva figured and described by Hubbard, there was a form about one-half its length, similar in head and anal appendages and furnished with long, slender, weak legs which are most remark- able in the chitinized elongate tarsus, bearing two claws (see plate III, fig. 2&). The third form was more robust than the normal larva and seemed to be almost free from segmentation; the whole body being soft and formless, the head indistinct, soft and white, except the tips of the mandibles; the tail devoid of the chitinous armature, but terminating in a blunt, transverse carina. It was thought for a time, to be some obscure Dipterous larva, but some resemblance in the contour of the head, and its repeated occurrence with MicromaUhus larvae, suggested the possi- bility of its being a prepupa. This hypothesis was shattered one afternoon at Plummer's Island, when embryos began issueing alive, but in an oval shape, from the ventral surface, close to the tip of the body of one that had shortly before been isolated in a small vial. I watched two issue, but my field lens was too weak, and more urgent work pressing. Next morning there were seven young legged larvae crawling about in the vial, while the mother was somewhat shrunken and remained inactive. Lateral and ventral views of this specimen are shown on plate III, figures 1, la. while figure 2 of the pacdogenetic or sexed broods. Perhaps it may be merely a change in temperature due to exposure of the log to sunshine, or food modified by the growth of other organisms or ferments in the rotten wood. Mr. Schwarz recalls that the original capture was in a large log in an open space in a swamp and that the sun shone freely upon the log, while the adult reared by Mr. Snyder was from a log on an open, sunny hillside. It seems impera- tive that we secure the sexed adults, particularly the egg-laying female amd determine if the young larva; hatching from her eggs are identical with the young legged larvae here shown. 34 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY is one of her young. Thinking she might give birth to more, she was kept in a hollowed, split chip, with some of her young. but she r -uddenly about a week later, and her young had :-d in the wood. Two other isolations of this sort yielded three and five, legged larvae from the supposed pre- pupal form, and these legged larvae crawled into the pores of the wood. fed. lost their legs, and became the normal larva of Hubbard. These larvae appear to be remarkably slow in their growth, four months (August to December i showing but slight increase in the of young specimens in captivity. It is impossible to say at -ent. what substance in the rotting wood furnishes their nutri- ment. Often the young larva is found following one of the com- paratively large pores of the oak wood, leaving the hole behind it plugged with fine particles from the walls of the pore which seems to be only very slightly enlarged, only the tyloses appearing to have been eaten. After the newborn, legged larva had been left a hours in the crevice of a chip, the alimentary canal could be seen to contain minute quantities of food, of a brown color like the decayed wood. An examination of Hubbard's alcoholic material discloses several specimens of the reproductive form, some of which contain em- bryos, while others had given birth to their progeny. A single specimen of the normal tailed and legless form of larva, is remark- able in that the body contents has separated into oblong oval bodies, assuming the appearance of the embryos in the repro- ductive form. This may be accidental or it may be significant. In another vial are numerous pupa? some of which seem to support the idea of the occurrence of winged adults of both sexes, but as they have been in alcohol for nearly forty years their condition is not the best. X xual differences are observable among the few winged adults still preserved hi the collection. These are thought to be males although the anal structures, seen in cleared - ,-s. are not comparable with the genitalia of any beetle known to me. 1 - -cimen was sent to Mr. Fredk. Muir of Honolulu, who, with Dr. Dav - - published an extended paper on the male genitalia of beet!-:- Trans. Ent. Soc.. London. 1912. pp. 477-642. plates XLII-LXXVIII) and his repl; - TO leave the sex still more uncertain. He write- I should have pronounced it a female. There is no dfjinite male .nd the only way to settle the point definitely is by dissection of the body of a fresh specimen for the testes or ovarian tubes. If this be a male then the only form I can assoc . -vita is Cyphon and Microcara, -. :-h Sharp and I have not yet been able to connect with any other form, or even to associate together with any certainty. Micromalthus may -omewhat like Cyp'^ :'. I am here only judging by the aedeagus and not bv anv other external structu PROCEEDING.- MOLOGICAL SOCIETY 35 It would be out of place now. to formulate a definite explana- tion of the unusual life cycle, that is here apparant. and which may be summarized, as far as has been observed, into the five stages: <'1:> viviparous, larviform. reproductive stage, in cell in wood, giving birth to 2 legged larva, which crawl into f the wood. feed, and mor;. Dining. the legless larvae de- scribed and figured by Hubbard. and from which it is believed either the reproductive form 1 or ~ 'he pupae of. (5) the winged adults are derived. We may have here merely a case of extreme sexual dimorphism, as in Phengode*. which lay eggs or the Strepsiptera, which are viviparous, but if so, how is the fertilization of the helpless, repro- ductive form hi the cell of the wood, often some distance under- ground, accomplished, and how can a new colony become estab- lished in a fresh log? There must be a migratory stage, more capable of travel than the crawling first larval stage. Perhar - winged, egg-laying female will be found, proving the birth of I legged larvae, from the degraded mother, to be paedogenesis. similar to that found in Miastor. The well-known agamic, viviparous reproduction of the Aphids may be considered a peculiar t of psedogenesis in which the young, being of the form of the adult may acquire wings or other adult characteristics, although they still remain essentially larvae, the males and egg-laying females being regarded as the only really adult individuals. The comprehensive article on viviparous and ovo-viviparous reproduction in the Chrysomelid genus Orina. by Champion and Chapman 1 brings together the literature on viviparity in beetles. The first mention seems to be Schiodete's account of the finding of well-formed larvae, in the dilated abdomen of the very remark- able temitophilous Staphylinid. Corotoca. It is unfortunate that this paper has been followed by a period of sixty years hi which, apparently, no corroborative observations have been made on these beetles which Pr - r Reinhardt found with certainty in every tree-nest of terrain ~ . :nined in the vicinity of Lagoa Santa. Minas Geraes. Brazil. For the present the genus should stand alone in our classifica- tion, probably representing a distinct family, but it is not improb- able, that some of the obscurely treated exotic genera of the Malacodermata. will be found to be allied to it. The possible relationship to the the Xitidulidse. is suggested by the supple- mentary third antennal joint of the larva and is somewhat sup- ported by the habitus of the adult. 1 Tr. Ent. Soc., London, 1901, pp. 1-1S plates i ari-i ! Vid. Selsk. Skr. 5R. nature, og math. Afd. Iv. B-ls>4. author's sepa- rate, pp. 14-17. plate i. PLATE II. H G HubbirA MicromaltVms debilis Lee. and larva. 36 PLATE HI. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. XV. MirUOMALTII TS DKBILIS LECONTK OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 37 The genus Telegeusis described by Horn 1 , as belonging in the Drilidse, shows some points of similarity, but the differences in venation, and genital organs are too fundamental, it appears, to allow their close association in the classification. Closer compari- sons should, however, be made of Telegeusis and Atractocerus to determine the assignment of the former to the Lymexylonidse 2 The importance of these observations was recognized so late in the season that the writer failed to collect sufficient material to permit the dissection of the reproductive form, and on account of ill luck and difficulty in the breeding, many of the larvae kept under observation have died. Lest some unforseen changes make it impossible to carry on further observations during the coming season, it is thought best to make the data so far secured avail- able to those who may be better prepared to work out the com- plete life cycle and to make the important histological studies. EXPLANATION OF PLATES PLATE 2. REPRODUCED FROM HUBBARD* Fig. 1. Micromalthus debilis Lee., larva enlarged twelve times. Fig. 2. Head and thoracic segments, lateral view; much enlarged. Fig. 3. Terminal segments showing the anal appendages, lateral view. Fig. 4. Head from above, very much enlarged. Fig. 5. Head from below, with mandibles omitted. Fig. 6. Right maxilla, seen from below. Fig. 7. Right antenna seen from below. Fig. 8. Anal appendages, seen from below, very much enlarged. Fig. 9. Corneous triangular piece lying above the mentum, with the left mandible thrown back, seen from above; the ridges upon the under surface of the mandible are indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 10. Imago. NOTE: For the sake of distinctness, the appendages in fig. 3 are drawn too large in proportion to the segments. The proportions are more cor- rectly given in figures 1 and 8. PLATE 3. Figs. 1, la. Dorsal and lateral photos of reproductive form after it had given birth to seven young. Length about 3 mm. Thoracic segments con- 1 Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., vol. v, 1895, p. 242, plate xx. 2 Since the above was written a specimen of Telegeusis was sent to Mr. F. Muir of Honolulu, who has kindly examined its genitalia and reports it to be a typical Lymexylonid approaching nearest to Atractocerus afri- canus. 5 Proc. Amer. Philos. So., 1878, vol. xvn, p. xv. 38 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY tain irregular mass of dark foreign matter. Asterisk (*) indicates point whence the embryos issued. Fig. 2. One of the legged larvae borne by No. 1, much more enlarged. Length, distended, about 1.7 mm. 2a, head greatly magnified; 2b, sketch of hind leg, showing the two claws at tip of the chitinized tarsus. Fig. 3. Larva, nearly full grown, in its gallery; much enlarged. Length about 4 mm. IDENTITY OF SGOTIONEURUS STENOSTIGMA PROV. BY A. B. GAHAN. Through the courtesy of Rev. V. A. Huard of the Provincial Museum, Quebec, it has been the writer's privilege recently to examine the type of Scotioneurus stenostigma Prov. The genus was erected by Provancher (1886) for the reception of two sup- posed species of Aphidiinse. One of these species, S. dives, was afterward found by its author to be the male of his previously (by pagination) described Ephedrus incompletus. In recording this fact Provancher (1888) whether intentionally or not, trans- ferred the species to the genus Scotioneurus, notwithstanding it is plainly an Ephedrus and it has been so recognized by several writers since Provancher, [Urich (1893), Hopkins (1898), Gahan (1910 and 1011)]. The identity of the other species, 8. stenostigma, which must be considered the type of the genus, has remained more or less of a mystery. Dr. Ashmead (1901) regarded the genus as a syno- nym of Ephedrus and in this he was followed by Szepligeti (1904) who indicated by a question mark his doubt as to the correctness of this conclusion. In a revision of the Aphidiinse of North America, the present writer (1911) made the following statement with reference to the species in question. "The type of Scotioneurus stenostigma has not been examined but judged by the figure of the wing given by the author it is believed not to belong to this group." This in effect left the genus and species unplaced in the classification. It is with considerable satisfaction, therefore, that I am now able to state definitely that the species is not an Aphidiinse but that it belongs in the Alysiidse. Unfortunately the antennse of the type specimen are missing, making exact determination diffi- cult but it apparently runs to the genus Aspilota in Foerster's table of the Alysiidse and is congeneric with specimens placed in that genus in the collection of the United States National Museum. A description drawn from the type follows : OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 39 Aspilota stenostigma Provancher. Scotioneurus steonstigma Prov., Add. Faun. Canad. Hym.. 1886, p. 157. Female. Length 1.6 mm. Antenna; broken. Head transverse, the occiput, vertex, frons and temples smooth and polished with scarcely any pubescence; occiput concave; temples broad, about as wide as the eyes; the vertex is divided by a shallow median longitudinal furrow; as viewed from in front the head is shorter than wide, the face below the antenna 1 smooth and covered with rather long hairs; eyes elliptical; cheeks short, clypeus prominent, its anterior margin convexly rounded, impunctate; man- dibles tridentate, the median tooth slightly longer and more acute than the two lateral; viewed from the side the face is slightly convex below the antennse. Mesonotum smooth, polished, with sparse hairs, the parapsidal furrows absent on the posterior two-thirds, slightly impressed anteriorly; a short, shallow, longitudinal impression on the median line of the mesoscutum just before the scutellar fovea; scutellum smooth, polished, the scutellar fovea large and deep; mesopleurse smooth, polished, with a short longitudinal more or less oblique crenulate furrow near the middle. Propodeum ob- liquely truncate, with a short median longitudinal carina anteriorly before the truncation, finely rugulose, the spiracles distinct, though not large; metapleurse nearly smooth. Wings hyaline, the stigma linear, scarcely wider than the postmarginal (metacarp) vein which is thickened slightly throughout its length; radial cell reaching to the wing apex, first cubital cell small, separated from the first discoidal and from the second cubital; second abscissa of radius more than twice as long as the first transverse cubitus, and nearly four times as long as the first abscissa; third abscissa of radius more than twice as long as the second abscissa: recurrent nervure joining the second cubital cell at an angle with cubitus so that the second cubital is five-sided. Abdomen about as long as the head and thorax, petiolate, compressed into a sharp keel ventrally and at the apex; its first segment slightly wider at the apex than at base, two and one-half times as long as wide, regulose; following segments smooth and shining: ovipositor exserted about half the length of the abdomen and upward curved. Color Scape, pedicel, palpi, mandibles toward the tips and legs strami- neous; head and thorax brownish black; pleurae, propodeum and abdomen except ventral segments one and two more or less piceus, nearly black; tcgulac, wing veins and stigma yellowish brown, the stigma and marginal veins slightly darker than the others: ventral segments one and two more or less stramineous; ovipositor sheaths piceus. 40 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY BIBLIOGRAPHY 1886 PROVANCHER, L'ABBE LEON. Additions et corrections au volume n de la Faune Entomologique du Canada, traitant des Hymenopteres. Quebec, 1886, p. 156. 1887 CRESSON, E. T. Synopsis of the Hymenopters of America North of Mexico. Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., Philadelphia, 1887, supplemental volume, p. 232. 1888 PROVANCHER, L'ABBE LEON. Add. Faune Canad. Hym. 1888, p. 395. 1893 URICH, F. W. Insect Life. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Ent., Washington, D. C. vi, p. 197. 1898 HOPKINS, A. D. U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. Ent., Washington, D. C., Bui. No. 17, new series, p. 46. 1898 DALLE TORRE, C. G. DE. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus, Auctore Dr. C. G. de Dalle Torre, Professore Oenipotano. Braconidae. Leipzig, iv, p. 15. 1901 ASHMEAD, W. H. Ichneumon Flies. Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C., xxin,-p. 185. 1904 SZEPLIGETI, Gy V. Braconidse. Genera Insectorum publics par P. Wytsman, Bruxelles. Fasicule 22, p. 183. 1910 GAHAN, A. B. Proceedings Entomological Society of Washington, Washington, D. C., xn, p. 189. 1911 Idem. Aphidiinae of North America. Maryland Agricultural Ex- periment Station, College Park, Md., Bulletin No. 152, pp. 155, 157, 159 and 197. CHANGES IN THE MOSQUITO-FAUNA OF PANAMA. BY FREDERICK KNAB, Bureau of Entomology. That the changes in the physical features of the Panama Canal Zone brought about in the course of constructing the interoceanic canal would have a marked effect upon the life of the region has been repeatedly pointed out. It is unfortunate that no thorough study of the Panama fauna was made before radical changes in the character of the country had been brought about, so that their effect on its animal life might be determined. The aquatic forms are the ones that must be particularly affected by the topographic changes in the Canal Zone. Streams have been changed in their courses, swamps have been drained and new bodies of water created. The mosquito life of the Canal Zone, with its many species (considerably over 100 are known from the region) and great diversity of breeding habits, must be particularly affected by these changes. Many species of peculiar habits, such as the many forms breeding in the water between OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 41 the leaves of various water-bearing plants, or in water in hollow trees and bamboo stumps, must have been eliminated with the clearing away of the forest. Others, particularly those breeding in smaller pools, undoubtedly have found increased opportunities for breeding within the zone of operations and multiplied proper- tionately at least at times and in places. These opportunities for breeding must have fluctuated greatly with the progress of the work, involving as it does the constant creation of new breed- ing-places and their elimination or control. If it were possible to make a comparative study of the mosquitoes now existing on the Canal Zone with those found by Messrs. Busck and Jennings a few years ago, considerable changes could probably be shown to have occurred. Imperfect as our information is, I have data which show that such changes have actually occurred. It would seem that with the creation of Gatun Lake a new element has been introduced into the mosquito fauna, or at least brought into prominence. Among the most important, considered as an annoyance, of tropi- cal American mosquitoes, are the members of the genus Mansonia. M. titillans particularly is very widely distributed, occurring from Argentina to southern Florida, and is an aggressive biter. It is locally sometimes very abundant and troublesome. In working over the mosquito material from the Canal Zone collected by Messrs. Busck and Jennings from 1907 on, the absence of this characteristic species was most striking. Mr. Busck reported it from only one locality, Lion Hill, and Mr. Jennings did not send it in at all. Of a related species, Mansonia fasciolata, Mr. Busck obtained only a single specimen in the Zone, also at Lion Hill. Another characteristic tropical mosquito of very wide distribu- tion appeared to be absent from the Zone altogether. This is Aedeomyia squamipennis which ranges from Cuba to Argentina. Like Mansonia titillans, it is local and this local restriction only became comprehensible when the larvae of the two species were found by Mr. H. W. B. Moore of Georgetown, British Guiana. The larvse of both Mansonia titillans and Aedeomyia squamipennis occur associated with the aquatic plant Pistia belonging to the Aracea3. This plant floats in shallow water, its leaves spreading out at the surface, and to its roots the Mansonia larvse are attached, extracting their supply of air from them. Just how intimate the association is in the case of Aedeomyia we do not yet know. In lots of mosquitoes, taken recently and sent for determination by Mr. James Zetek, the entomologist of the Canal Zone, both Mansonia titillans and Aedeomyia squamipennis appear in con- siderable proportion. The former is second only to Anopheles albimanus in a catch from traps employed to capture mosquitoes attempting to enter habitations. The Aedeomyia squamipennis 42 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY all came from Gatun. Mansonia titillans occurred also in a lot from Miraflores. The explanation of the appearance of these mosquitoes in numbers is that the creation of the lakes at Gatun and Pedro Miguel has furnished an extensive habitat for Pistia and thereby abundant opportunity for Mansonia and Aedeomyia to breed. In the discussion of Mr. Knab's paper Mr. Busck said that the eradication of certain species of mosquitoes as well as of many other insects on the Canal Zone was no more than could be ex- pected as a natural result of the canal work and the sanitary measures in connection therewith. As the large trees with their host of water-bearing, mosquito breeding plant parasites are cut down and the bamboo swamps are drained, the shady habitat and characteristic breeding places of very many species of mosqui- toes are entirely abolished and the extermination within the Canal Zone of such species is necessarily effected. It is more noteworthy that certain other species of mosquitoes hitherto absent, or at least rare on the Zone, should have become established and abundant in spite of the constant warfare against mosquitoes by the Sanitary Department. But such is certainly the case with the two species Mansonia titillans and Aedeomyia squamipenms. The reason for this lies in their peculiar biology, closely asso- ciated with and dependent upon the water-plant, Pistia, which make the larva? of these species practically unaffected by any of the hitherto used control measures. The Pistia formerly occurred only sparingly and in small colo- nies, mainly in the so called "Black Swamp," but the plant has now enormously increased, due to the greatly enlarged open areas of water, especially by the formation of the Gatun Lake, which now covers the Black Swamp. Large floating islands of Pistia now occur and afford unlimited breeding possibility for the two mosquito species which attach themselves to the roots of the Pistia. The effect was particularly noticeable on the part of the lake which was formerly the Trinidad River and where Aedeomyia squamipennis, unknown hitherto from the Canal Zone, this sum- mer came by the hundreds every night, attracted by my acetelyn lamps and white sheets. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 43 In combating these species the Sanitary Department on the Zone will have a new problem and it will probably be necessary to fish up or otherwise destroy these large floating islands of Pistia. Under the heading of short notes Mr. Schwarz exhibited speci- mens of the Curculionid Anthonomus irroratus Dietz and berries of Eugenia buxifolia collected by him on the island of Key West, Florida during the month of April. These berries resemble good- sized peas and the Anthonomus was bred in some number from such berries which are slightly deformed. Upon further investi- gation it was found that the author of these deformations is a Cecidomyid. It appears that the Anthonomus larva destroys in some way the Cecidomyidous larvae. Mr. Schwarz remarked that this is not the first instance known where species of Anthonomus are reported as being inquilinous in Cecidomyidous galls as in- stanced by A. sycophanta Walsh, and A. aeneolus Dietz. Finally Mr. Schwarz stated that A. irroratus is manifestly synonymous with A. costulatus Suffrian, described from Cuba and that the latter specific name has priority. MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 1912. The 263rd regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. C. L. Marlatt at the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C Street N. W. on the evening of December 5, 1912, There were present Messrs. Baker, Barber, Busck, Caudell, Cory, Craighead, Cushmann, Duck- ett, Dyar, Ely, Fisher, Foster, Gahan, Heidemann, Heinrick, Hood, Howard, Mclndoo, Quaintance, Rohwer, Sanford, Sasscer, Scott, Schwarz, Shannon, Viereck, W^alton, and Wood, members; and Mr. G. E. Bodkin and Dr. G. F. White visitors. President Quaintance occupied the chair. The minutes of the preceding meeting were read and corrected. Mr. Rohwer read his report as Secretary-Treasurer. The chair appointed Dr. Dyar and Mr. Caudell as Auditors. Mr. Schwarz moved that the Society extend Mr. Rohwer a vote of thanks for the efficient manner in which he has conducted the financial affairs of the Society during the past year. Carried. 44 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Dr. Dyar as editor reported that three numbers of the Proceed- ings had appeared during the year and that a fourth number was now in the hands of the printer. Dr. Howard moved that the Society extend to Dr. Dyar a vote of thanks for the able manner in which he has edited the Proceedings and for his interest in financing this publication. Carried. The following names were proposed for active membership: N. E. Mclndoo, J. B. Gill, J. Malloch, and R. C. Shannon of the Bureau of Entomolqgy and Prof. J. B. Parker of the Catholic University. Under suspension of the rules all five were elected. Under new business the recording Secretary read the amend- ments to the constitution proposed at the 262d meeting. These amendments were voted on by paragraphs and adopted. The following officers were elected for the year 1913: President, August Busck; First Vice-President, W. D. Hunter; Second Vice- President, A. N. Caudell; Recording Secretary, E. R. Sasscer; Secretary-Treasurer, S. A. Rohwer; Editor, J. C. Crawford; addi- tional members of the Executive Committee: E. A. Schwarz; L. 0. Howard and Nathan Banks. Prof. A. L. Quaintance was nominated to represent the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Sciences. At the request of President Quaintance, Mr. G. E. Bodkin, Government Economic Biologist of British Guiana, South America, gave a short account of Economic Entomology in his part of the world of which the following is a brief res-urne": Briefly indicating the geographical position of British Guiana he went on to describe the insect pests attacking the principal crop, which is sugar cane. The giant moth borer (Castnia licus) bores out the center of the canes and thereby has caused enormous reductions in the yields of sugar during recent years. No parasites of this pest have yet been discovered for in all the stages of its life history it is singularly well protected. The eggs are deposited singly and the young larvae on emergence from the egg, bore directly into the cane, undergoing the larval and pupal stages in that position. The moths are diurnal. The small moth borers (species of Diatrcea )also cause very considerable damage, and the weevil borer (Sphenophorus sericeus) is at times harmful. Shot hole borers (a species of Xyleborus) invariably attack canes that have been previously weakened by fungi. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 45 Rice is also grown on an extensive scale, chiefly by native farmers (coolies imported from India). This crop is not seriously injured by insects as a general rule, but this season the young rice was in many cases entirely destroyed by Laphygma frugiperda. This insect in company with many other pests appeared in enormous numbers at the commencement of the wet weather, which, this year followed a prolonged drought. Mr. Bodkin also said that in the future he hoped to have more attention paid to the insect fauna of British Guiana; for from an entomological point of view it is an extraordinarily rich, inter- esting, and practically untouched field. He also expressed his gratitude to those who had offered to assist him in this project. NOTES ON THE YELLOW CRANE-FLY, TIPULA FLAVICANS FABR. BY A. N. CATJDELL, Bureau of Entomology. On October 28 of the present year I found the above named insect in great numbers at Rosslyn, Virginia. They had issued from clay soil near the river in a situation subject to inundation and at most times very moist. Many hundred adults were flying about and the pupal shells were found in numbers on the ground beneath the thin layer of leaves and debris which had accumu- lated since the last overflow of the river. As shown by an exami- nation of many old shells the pupa always project a considerable distance out of the ground when the adult emerges. Ordinarily they project about one-half to two-thirds their length, rarely as little as one fourth but often more than two-thirds, in some cases the shells being found entirely clear of the hole of issuance, indi- cating that they were entirely withdrawn by the adult in emerg- ing. The soil is of a yellow clay nature and well filled with small rootlets upon which the larvse of the fly probably feed. The occurrence of this species covers some weeks as Mr. Knab found them plentiful at this same locality as early as September 22. Still earlier in the season, in early August, this same situation was populated by another nearly related Tipulid of very similar super- ficial appearance and also a blackish marked species. Indeed this locality seems to be one very rich in its Tipulid fauna. Many of these flies observed at Rosslyn were copulating, some during flight and some at rest on the ground or on leaves or twigs. In one case observed by me an apparently freshly emerged female sat on the ground within an inch of what I presume was the pupal shell from which she had issued and was quite covered with a yellowish mass of males. There were six of these males massed over and around this female, one of them mating with her, the other five sitting almost motionless, some with the mouth parts touching her abdomen. 46 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY In 1886 J. Mik 1 records observations on certain Tipulidae mat- ing when the female is freshly .emerged. He states that the males sit and wait for the emergence of the females and when they appear mating commences immediately, even before the legs are entirely clear of the pupal shell and while the abdomen is still limp and watery. Observations of this character were made on species of three genera, Cylindrotoma, Dicranomyia and Trochobola. Mik records these observations to refute the idea advanced by another writer that the deposition of fertile eggs by a soft bodied freshly transformed female Coccinellid beetle was a case of par- thenogenesis. Mik argues that, while the insect is not fully developed externally, it is sexually perfect internally. Needham, 2 describes and figures the pupa of Tipula flavescens and states that he bred them in late September from clay subsoil brought up by crayfish in a glacial "pothole" in the state of Illinois. Many hundreds of the specimens observed by me at Rosslyn, Virginia, were killed by some fungus disease. Dead flies were found in some abundance sitting head upwards on twigs and weed stems, sometimes singly but generally two or more together, often as many as five or six being found in a mass. The abdomens of the dead flies were found to be filled with a pulpy mass similar to that filling the bodies of fungus-killed lepidopterous larvae. Flies freshly dead look as if perfectly well and active, unless it be that the legs are wrapped more securely around the twig or stem to which it clings. Specimens of these fungus-infested Tipu- lids were turned over to Prof. Webster for study and determination of the fungus. Other specimens are preserved in the National Museum collection. LUMINOUS COLLEMBOLA BY HERBERT S. BARBER, Bureau of Entomology. Very few of us walk at night in woodland paths without a lan- tern and this fact is perhaps the explanation of the extremely meager data available on the subject of luminous Collembola. The almost universal ignorance here in America, that such photo- genic function occurs in this order is, it is hoped, sufficient apology for the presentation of the following very imperfect observations, and re'sume' of previous notes which have been brought to my attention. It is hoped that these notes will yield an abundant crop of corroborative and advanced data by the end of another 1 Ent. Nachr., vol. xn, p. 315. 2 Bull. New York State Museum, No. 68, p. 280, 1903. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 47 season. Histological work on the photogenic organs of these primitive forms may be of much value in the problem of photo- biogenesis. One night last fall (October 18, 1912) the writer went to a spring in the woods on the Virginia shore of the Potomac opposite Plummer's Island, and noticed a faint point of light on the wet surface of a rock, which was at first mistaken for a young glow worm. A pocket electric flashlamp was held close to the luminous point and then lighted, revealing a small common-looking Collem- bolan. Thinking a mistake in location had been made the light was put out and when the eyes were again adjusted to the dark- ness the luminous point was located exactly by placing a finger on each side and the electric light again flashed on, corroborating the first observation. The live specimen was then gotten into a clean vial and examined with a hand-lens in the dark and also by artificial light. No local light organs were to be seen, the light being constant and general but not intense enough for one to see the legs or antennse. The possibility of its being a case of infection by luminous fungal or bacterial growth was considered but as the specimen remained alive and luminous for three nights this hypothesis seems improbable. More specimens were sought immediately and in moving a leaf a very short dim flash attracted attention. When the light was thrown on the place a minute (about 1 mm. in length) white Collembolan of another genus was found but as it was not seen to flash again it was not taken, the impression of the flash being thought to have been an optical illusion similar to "seeing stars." When, however, ten minutes later the same impression of a very short, weak flash was again caught and traced to the same kind of minute white Collembolan which, happily, flashed a second and a third time while under examination, it became evident that the flash was net subjective but objective. Further search that night was without success. Although the two little creatures, alive in a moist vial, were looked at frequently no light was again seen from the small one. The next evening more specimens were sought, but only two, one of each kind, were found. These acted as on the previous evening but the larger was crushed and lost in trying to get it into a vial. The smaller one was only seen to flash twice. Colder weather, and the increasing light from the moon made several more attempts to find material fruitless. The specimens were sent to Prof. J. W. Folsom who kindly determined the larger form as a species of Anurida hitherto un- reported from this country which may prove to be one of the European species, while the smaller form agrees fairly well with Neanura quadrioculata Guthrie. 48 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The light of Anurida was a continuous, pale greenish-yellow glow general throughout the body, and with a lens of 1^-inch focus could not be seen to be more intense in any organ of the body, but failed to display the legs and antennae. The specimens of Neanura were only seen to flash at the time of their capture, and then not while looking at them with a lens. The impression received was that the flash was very short, perhaps between one fifth and one-half second duration as compared to the average camera shutter speed, and was repeated after perhaps 20 seconds, while the third flash (seen the first evening) was so faint as to be easily missed. The fact that the light is flashed excludes the idea of infection by, or feeding upon luminous bacteria, or fungi, as a cause of the light while the length of time that the Anurida lived in the vial (more than three days) would seem to indicate that its light also is primary. The luminosity of the nests of Brazilian termites described by Castlenau (1850), Smith (1879), Severiano da Fonseca (1880), and Knab (1895) (1909), x is of interest in this connection for the descriptions of the multitude of minute moving lights which cov- ered the surface of the nests is strangely similar to the impression received from reading Allman's or Dubois' account of the appear- ance of the ground where the luminous Collembolans were found. Urich's account 2 appears to refer to another sort of luminosity, probably "foxfire." As will be noticed the writer's observations on the light of Anurida compare closely with Allman's and Dubois' observations on Anurophorus fimetareus and Lipura noctiluca respectively, while the flashes of Neanura quadrioculata (?) are similar but probably fainter than those seen by Molisch to emanate from Neanura muscorum. The notes by these three observers are the only other original observations that have come to the writer's attention. Mr. F. Alex. McDermott in answer to my queries was kind enough to cite various accounts of luminous springtails and in order to bring before American observers the data found in look- ing up these notes they are briefly abstracted and appended chronologically, the first mention being quoted entire. 1851 Allman, Proc. Royal Irish Acad. Dublin, vol. 5, p. 125. "On the omission of light by Anurophorus fimetareus." The note in full follows: "Professor Allman read a notice of the emission of light by Anurophorus fimetareus Nicolet (Leplura fimetarea Linn.). During a walk over the Hill of Howth near Dublin on a dark night in February last [1851] he was 1 See Science, October 22, 1909, vol. xxx, pp. 574-575 and Science, January 7, 1910, vol. xxxi, pp. 24-25. 2 Journ. Trinidad Field Naturalists Club, vol. n, p. 2SS, 1896. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 49 struck with a luminous appearance in the earth when disturbed to a depth of three or four inches; the light proceeded from numerous distinct points and lasted for more than a minute after its first appearance. On carrying home some of phosphorescent earth Dr. Allman was enabled to trace the phenomenon in question to the presence of numerous living individuals of Anurophorus fimetareus, from each of which there proceeded in the dark a faint but very evident emanation of light. Specimens of the insect preserved alive in a glass phial continued for many nights to exhibit this beautiful phenomenon which was also witnessed by Dr. Stokes and Mr. Haliday as well as by numerous other friends whose attention was directed to it by Dr. Allman. The light could not be traced to any definite point in the insect. The Anurophorus was very abundant on the hill and sub- sequent observations proved that the dark peaty soil which abounds in some places on Howth was almost the only part of this district from which it could be affirmed to be absent." 1885 Dubois, C. R. Soc. d. Biol. Paris, vol. in, ser. 8, pp. 600-603. "Le function photogenique des Podures" mentions All- man's observations and gives detailed account of his own obser- vations on luminous Podurids (similar to Lipura ambulans and L. armata) near Heidelberg in October 1881. 1890 Gadeau de Kerville, Les animaux et les vegetaux lumi- neux, pp. 98-100, knew only the two accounts just cited. 1894 Dubois, Rev. Ge"ne"ral des Sci. Pures et Applique's, vol. v, pp. 415-422, and 529-534; not seen by the writer but the following is said to be an English translation of it. 1895 Dubois, Rep. Smithsonian Institution for 1895, p. 418, plate xxiii, briefly mentions luminous Collembolans as causing, when numerous, the soil in certain continental localities "to become luminous like the sand of the sea which contains Noctilucse." He knew but one luminous species which he figures as Lipura noctiluca. 1896 Packard, Jour. N. Y. Ent. Soc. vol. iv, p. 61, alludes to the luminous Poduran Anurophorus. This is the only reference found in the American Mterature. but is probably based upon Allman's observation. 1898 Dubois, -Lemons de physiologie generaleet compare*e, Paris, pp. 418-420, quotes his previous account of his observations near Heidelberg, of Oct. 1881 on the species which is again figured as Lipurca noctiluca. 1904 Molisch, Leuchtende Pflanzen, Jena; notes the light of Neanura muscorum Templeton. In the autumn of 1901 he took a 50 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY piece of rotten wood near Prag and placed it in a glass dish to examine occasionally for luminosity. It remained nonluminous for a fort- night but then, when shaken in a dark room flashed, to his amaze- ment, with many fine points of light the flashes lasting from sev- eral seconds to half a minute. Knowing the light of fungi to be constant and spontaneous, i.e., not subject to stimulation, he con- cluded he must have an animal organism to deal with and, although difficult on account of the minute size, was able to ascertain that the light eminated from the little springtails. When isolated in a small tube these insects would flash on being shaken, but after a few repetitions the faculty of producing light seemed exhausted until after a time at rest, when they would again respond to mechanical stimulus with a sudden flash. He cites Dubois (1898) and con- cludes that other forms of the Collembola may also be found to be luminous. 1904 Ludwig, Promethus, Jahrgang 16, pp. 103-107, cites Allman, Dubois (1886) and Molisch and gives a lengthy discussion of the possibility of luminosity being a result of feeding on, or living in contact with luminous fungal or bacterial growths. 1905 Putter, Zeitschr. f. allegemein. Physiologic, Sammel- referate, 1905, p. 23, in a long article on luminosity in general, refers to Molisch's discovery. 1910 Mangold, Winterstein's Handbuch der Vergleichenden Physiologic, vol. in, 2, p. 290, in his long article "Die Produktion von Licht" leaves the Thysanura with the groups of insects doubt- fully luminous, and gives a condensed paragraph referring to the Allman, Dubois, and Molisch observations. Under the heading of short notes Mr. A. N. Caudell presented the following: On October 1 of the present year I collected at Rosslyn, Virginia, seed heads of a species of Bidens many of which were infested with weevil larvse, a single larva to the head. The larva lay hidden beneath the withered ends of the seeds it had consumed, Further search revealed some pupae also, and later adults issued, proving to be Conotrachelus geminatus Fabr. This weevil is not common and its habit of pupating in seed heads seems unusual. The late Mr. Ulke collected specimens here in the District and the National Museum collection contains material from New York, New Jersey, OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 51 Ohio and Iowa as well as doubtfully determined specimens from Little Rock, Arkansas and Montreal, Canada. As two of the eight or ten infested seed heads mentioned above contained pupae of a hymenopterous parasite the percentage of parasitism appears to be quite large. Adults of the parasite issued a few days later and were identified by Mr. Viereck as the Sigalphus curculionis of Fitch. EASTERN SPECIES OF RACHICERUS The three species of the East occur near Falls Church, R. flav- icollis at Glencarlyn in July; R. obscuripennis L. at Great Falls, fairly common, flying low and slow in June; and R. nitidus John, also at Great Falls in June. They may be separated as follows: 1. Thorax yellowish, legs (except tips of tarsi) yellowish; antennae of cf pectinate, 9 hardly so flavicollis Halid, Thorax dark, only humeri yellowish 2 2. Legs (except tip of tarsi) yellowish, thorax shining black, stigma and cloud beneath prominent; antennae hardly pectinate nitidus John. Femora and tibia more or less obscured; thorax dull blackish, stigma not prominent; antennae of d* strongly pectinate, of 9 less so obscuripennis Loew R. obscuripennis varies, much in size, some females being twice as long as others. N. BANKS. ASILIDS CATCHING HYMENOPTERA Poulton has listed a considerable number of Asilids that com- monly capture Hymenoptera. Besides his records are those of Cock- erell, Daecke, and Laurent in Entomological News, and the oft- quoted habit of Promachus in catching the honey bee. At Falls Church I have taken Deromyia ternatus on three occasions with a species of Vespa, and once with a honey bee; and Mallophora claucella with a species of Epeolus. N. BANKS. 52 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY NOTES ON DIPTERA In Can. Entom., 1911, p. 130, I described a new species of Laphria as L. dispar; I find that the name is preoccupied and would replace it by Laphria disparella n.n. In the fall of 1912 I took two rare Tachinids, Euceromyia robert- soni Towns, at Falls Church, September 14, and Trichopoda plum- ipes Fabr. at Great Falls, October 3. The Euceromyia was un- known to Coquillett, and the genus not in his table. N. BANKS. Actual date of issue April 9. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Page BAKBER, HERBERT S. : Observations on the life history of Micromalthus debilis Le,c. (Col.) 31 : Luminous Collembola 46 GATJDELL, A. N. : Notes on the yellow Crane-fly, Tipula flavicans Fabr. (Dipt.) 45 GAHAN, A. B. : Identity of Scotioneurus stenostigma Prov. (Hym.) . . 38 GIRATTLT, A. A. : A new Scelionid from Queensland, Australia, parasitic on Acridiid eggs, with diagnosis of Australian species. (Hym.). . 4 : Critical notes on some species of Mymaridse from the Sand- wich (Hawaiian) Islands, with comparative notes on Australian, North American and European forms. (Hym.) 9 HEIDEMANN, OTTO: Description of two new species of North American Tingitidae. (Hemipt.) \ 1 KNAB, FREDERICK : Changes in the mosquito-fauna of Panama. (Dipt.) 40 SNYDER, THOMAS E. : Record of the rearing of Cupes concolor Westw. (Col.) 30 WALTON, W.R.: The variation of structural characters used in the classification of some Muscoidean flies 21 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOLUME XV, No. 2 JUNE, 1913 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE SOCIETY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 YORK ROAD BALTIMORE. MD. EDITORIAL OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. Entered :is second-class matter at the postoffice at Baltimore, Md., February 28, 1913, under the A<>( of August, 24./W2 THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday of each month, from October to June inclusive, at 8 P. M. Annual dues of active members, $3.00; of corresponding members $2.00; initiation fee (for active members only), SI. 00. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1912. President. AUGUST BUSCK First Vice-President W. D. HUNTER Second Vice-President A. N. CAUDELL Recording Secretary E. R. SASSCER Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROHWER U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Editor W. D. HUNTER Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Sciences. A. L. QUAINT ANCE Executive Committee. THE OFFICERS. NATHAN BANKS. E. A. SCHWARZ. L. 0. HOWARD. PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published quarterly by the Society at Baltimore, Md., and Wash- ington, D. C. Terras of subscription: Domestic, $2.00 per annum; foreign, $2.25 per annum; single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS will be entitled to 25 separates.of each contribution, free of charge. Additional copies may be had at cost by notifying the Editor before the final page proof is returned to the printer. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOL. XV 1913 No. 2 MEETING OF JANUARY 10, 1913. The 264th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Prof. A. L. Quaintance at the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C street N.W., on the evening of January 10, 1913. There were present Messrs. Barber, Busck, Caudell, Craighead, Crawford, Cushman, Duckett, Fisher, Gahan, Gill (J. B.), Gill (T. N.), Green, Hall, Hein- rick, Holloway, Hood, Hopkins, Howard, Hunter, Johnson (F.), Knab, McAtee, McGregor, Mclndoo, Malloch, Marlatt, Morgan, Myers, Parks, Popenoe, Quaintance, Rohwer, Sasscer, Schwarz, Shannon, Siegler, Snider, Walton, Wood, members, and Messrs, A. H. Clark, W. T. M. Forbes, W. H. Sill, F. L. Simanton, and J. F. Strauss, visitors. President Busck occupied the chair. The minutes of the preceeding meeting were read and corrected. Mr. Rohwer stated the the Auditing Committee had examined his accounts as Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer and found them correct. Mr. Rohwer read a communication from the International Com- mittee on Nomenclature requesting the cooperation of the Entomo- logical Society of Washington by appointing two of its members to serve on the American Committee of Entomological Nomenclature. After reading the letter, Mr. Rohwer spoke of the recent action of the Executive Committee in recommending Messrs. Crawford and Caudell to represent the Society. Doctor Howard suggested the name of Dr. C. W. Stiles, whom he considered to be admirably fitted to serve on such a committee. A ballot was taken resulting in the election of Mr. J. C. Crawford and Doctor C. W. Stiles. 53 54 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Mr. Quaintance then read his address as retiring President as follows : ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. REMARKS ON SOME OF THE INJURIOUS INSECTS OF OTHER COUNTRIES. BY A. L. QUAINTANCE. Our knowledge of the injurious insects of the world at large with the exception of Europe and one or two other regions, is, on the whole, quite meagre. During the past decade or so, it is true there has been a notable increase in the attention given by governments to the subject of economic entomology in their respec- tive territories, and numerous publications are now appearing, dealing with the insects noxious to crops, forests, domestic animals, etc. and especially to man himself. The importance of such work in general has been perhaps the more quickly appreciated in view of the numerous brilliant discoveries in the field of medical ento- mology, which from the start have been of the greatest practical value. The economic investigations along various lines, now well under way, or but recently begun in many lands, will in due time make known the more noxious species with which the people of other -countries have to deal. The extent to which work of this kind has been undertaken may be judged by citing some of the countries where economic work has been or is now in progress, as Japan, Java, Straits Settlements, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Natal, British East Africa, India, Ceylon, Egypt, Turkestan, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, British Guiana, the West Indies, Mexico, etc. In view of our constantly increasing commerce with other nations, knowledge of their insect pests is of prime importance, as enabling us to better guard against their introduction. Aside from practical considerations, however, much scientific interest attaches to the biologic and other features of economic investiga- tions in other countries, which contain much of inspiration and suggestions for us. The writer personally has felt the need of a greater familiarity with the destructive insects, occupying the attention of entomologists abroad; and in the belief that this feeling may be shared, to some extent, by members of this society, he has brought together for your consideration tonight condensed remarks on some of the insects which attack crops outside of North America. Without doubt reference will be made to insects which really do not merit mention on account of their economic importance, and OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. OO species will have been omitted which should have been mentioned. It has not been possible to so thoroughly review the literature as to be reasonably sure even, of including all of the prominently injuri- ous species, and it has often been impossible to decide upon the proper economic status of a species from the authors' remarks. These details, however, lose some of their importance when we remember that the behavior of a given species in its natural habitat does not necessarily warrant the conclusion that it would be equally or more injurious if introduced into another country, though the assumption that it would, under a new environment, maintain, or even surpass, its reputation as a pest, is unquestionably a safe one. Of special importance, however, is a knowledge of the food habits and life history of a species, which considered in connection with its original habitat and systematic position, furnish adequate grounds for conclusions as to its probable dangerous or innocuous character. Time does not permit to dwell on the many interesting questions related to a subject of this kind, which, of itself, is too large to properly be considered in an address of this character. For instance, it would be of much biological interest, and of very prob- able practical value to summarize our knowledge as to what extent insects from other Zoological regions, as the Oriental, Neotropical, Ethiopian, etc. have adapated themselves in the Nearctic and in what life zones in North America they thrive and prove noxious. As is well known, Palearctic forms, especially European, constitute the bulk of our imported injurious pests, though many exceptions must be noted. ISOPTERA. Practically none of the Neuropteroid orders of insects are injuri- ous to crops, with the exception of the Isoptera, which contains two families, many species of which are at times plant enemies, but especially of houses and other wooden structures. The well known Termes lucifugus of Europe is a pest of buildings also attacking garden crops. Termes obesus Ramb. is probably the species responsible for the large amount of damage in India to houses, crops and trees. In Ceylon Calotermes militaris Desn. and C. greeni Desn. are period- ically pests of the tea plant. Termes lacteus Frogg. is destructive to buildings about Sydney, and in the woods, builds tall rounded nests or mounds, some of them 6 feet high. Coptotermes gestroi Wasm. is destructive to numerous plants in tropical Asia, as Hevea brasiliensis, mango, coco nut palm, etc. In- Formosa, Termes vulgaris Hav. is very destructive to sugar cane, the insects eating the roots and parts below the soil, often 56 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY killing the young plants. In Turkestan Hodotermes turkestanicus is noted for injuries to telegraph poles. ORTHOPTERA. Representatives of this order have been scourges to mankind from the earliest times, and accounts of their ravages occupy prominent places in entomological literature. All families, save one, contain injurious species, but the following especially merit notice. Locustidce (Acridiidce] . Schistocerca paranensis Burm. is the destructive locust of Argen- tina and surrounding regions of South America. Its distribution is given as Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. S. tartarica L. (C. peregrinum Stal.), a similar species, and with which the above has been at times confused, is an insect of the greatest importance in northern Africa, and western Asia. It occurs in southern Europe and is recorded from South and Central America. In the Sudan this species is stated to be the most important of all insect pests to crops, Orthacanthacris cegyptia L., the Acridium cegypticum of some authors, ranges over southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. Its history as a devastating species is too well known to require comment. Another important form, Calliptamus italicus L., ranges as far north as central Europe, and also inhabits northern Africa and western Asia. Dociostaurus moroccanus Thunb. , period- ically swarms over Algeria, living permanently in the higher alti- tudes. This species ranges over about the same distribution as the foregoing, and also occurs in Madeira. Colemania sphenarioides Bol., the so-called " Jolo Grasshopper," and Hieroglyphus banian Fab. are first class enemies of cereals, rice, etc. in Mysore State, the latter occurring also in China and India. In Formosa Oxya intricata Stal and 0. velox Fabr. are destructive enemies of rice, and Gelastorhinus esox Burr, does simi- lar injury in Formosa, and also in Japan. C yrtacanthacris septemfasciata Serv. is the plague locust of Natal, central and southern Africa, and is present in Borneo. This species particularly was the cause for the foundation of the South Africa Central Locust Bureau. Another species, the brown locust of South Africa,' Locusta pardalina Walk, is also a pest of prime importance. Some other species merit mention almost equally with the foregoing. Anent locust ravages in northern Syria, it was stated in the daily consular and trade reports that the commission appointed by the government required every rural inhabitant to collect and OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 57 deliver at least 55 pounds of locust eggs. In this way a total of 629,882 pounds of eggs were collected. Achetidoe (Gryllidce) . In this family are several species frequently noted in economic literature. The mole cricket of the West Indies, Scapteriscus didactylus Latr., is excessively injurious to tobacco, sugar cane and various other crops in Porto Rico. It is present in various islands of the West Indies, and occurs in South and Central America and in Mexico. Its presence in the southern United States is a well established fact. Gryllotalpa a/n'ccma Beauv. is recorded from Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In Uganda and Formosa, it is said to be ex- tremely injurious to rice. Oecanthus pellucens Scop, occurs in southern and central Europe, western and central Asia. It punc- tures grape canes and stems of other plants like our 0. nigricornis. Acheta bimaculata DeG., in Formosa, is very injurious to young vegetation of various kinds, especially cotton, tea, etc. THYSANOPTERA. There are many species in this order which have shown them- selves in the United States and elsewhere to be formidable enemies of crops, as Euthrips pyri, E. citri, and Thrips tabaci. The habits of these insects, in some cases, are quite favorable to their dissemina- tion from one country to another, and numerous species are already widely scattered over the world. Limothrips denticornis Haliday occurs general!}' over Europe, and infests oats, barley, and various fruits. L. cerealium Haliday, the so-called corn thrips, is distributed over all Europe. It is con- sidered by Uzel as one of their more destructive species, injuring corn, wheat, oats and grasses, the attack causing the grains to shrivel and become abortive. Heliothrips hcemorrhoidalis Bouche*, a species which Bouche thought to be native to America, is widely distributed over Europe and occurs in Australia. It is destructive to numerous plants, and is one of our more injurous forms. H . rubro- cinctus Giard, the cacao thrips, is spread over the West Indies, where it is one of the prime enemies of cacao, attacking the pods, tender shoots and foliage. It also injures the cushew, guava, mango, etc. and is recorded from Uganda. The insect has recently made its way to Florida. Thrips communis Uzel, in Bohemia, injures potatoes and beets, where it is regarded as quite destructive. T. flava Schr. injures blossoms ot pear, apple, plum, cherry, etc. and occurs on vegetables. In England, this species with T. physopus L. are known as pear '58 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY thrips. The former species occurs in widely separated regions in Europe and is probably generally present over the entire region. T. minutissima L., present in England, Germany and Bohemia, is another general feeder like flava and has about the same distribu- tion. Thrips sacchari Krueger with T. serrata Kobus attacks sugar cane in Java. Stentothrips gramineum Uzel is injurious to barley and other grains in Bohemia, while Drepanothrips reuteri Uzel is injurious to grape foliage in Sicily, especially to certain American varieties (Riparia) . Phloeothrips olece Costa is one of the important olive pests in portions of Europe, injuring the fruit and foliage. P. pallicornis injures sugar cane in Formosa. It is apparent that our knowledge of the injurious Thysanoptera is confined mostly to Holarctic forms. It is quite certain that other regions will furnish many species which, -in their present or new environment, will be quite troublesome. HEMIPTERA. Species of the order Hemiptera are of especial interest to crop producers, for the sum total of losses for which they are responsible, would amount to no small part of that chargeable to insects as a class. HETEROPTERA. Pentatomidce. Two species of the genus Eurydema, namely, ornatum L. and oler- acea L. are pests of cruciferous plants in Europe, and much resemble in habits and general appearance our harlequin bug. The former species occurs over most of Europe, Asia Minor, parts of Russia, Turkestan, etc. The latter is even more widely distributed and is recorded from all of Europe, Western Russia, Turkestan and Siberia. Several species, assigned to this family, are important in Aus- tralia, as Stilida indecora and Rhoecocoris sulciventris, which, both in the immature and adult stages swarm over orange orchards, suck- ing sap from branches, causing the fruit to fall. Biprorulus bibax is also an orange pest and is known as the spined orange bug. Philia basalts is one of the common fruit bugs of North Queens- land, and the so-called cherry bug, Peltophora pedicillata ranges from New South Wales to North Queensland. A similar species, P. picta Germ, also punctures cherries, causing the fruit to fall. In South Africa, Bagrada hilaris, the Bagrada bug, injures crucif- erous plants like our Murgantia histrionica Hahn. This insect occurs over central Africa, Algeria and the Arabian Desert. Bag- rada picta Fabr. also infests cruciferous plants in India. Plantia affinis Dallas infests growing rice in New South Wales. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 59 Aenaria lewisi Scott does much damage to rice in Japan by pierc- ing the heads. The insect is single brooded, the adults hibernating under trash in field and woodlands. Cuspicora simplex Walker the brown potato bug, and C. virescens Try on, are potato pests in the Illawarra and Toowoomba districts of Australia. Coreidce. In this family are several important species, though but few are seriously destructive. One spec ; es, the rice or paddy bug, Lep- tocorisa varicornis Fabr., is a serious pest to rice, ranging over Japan, China, India, Ceylon, Philippine Islands, etc. Mictis prof ana, the crusader bug, is abundant in citrous orchards in Victoria and punctures the shoots, blighting the twigs, often causing the crop to fall. Lygmdce. Nysius vinitor Bergroth, the Ruthergren bug of Australia, punc- tures fruits, as grapes, peaches, and the like, causing them to rot,, and is considered one of the most destructive plant bugs on that continent, swarming over fruit and foliage in countless millions. Oncopeltus quadriguttatus, the cotton bug, is common on cotton in the Richmond River section and ranges from Sydney to Queens- land. Oxycaroenus Icetus Kirby is a cotton pest in many parts of India. Only twelve days are required from egg to adult. Pyrrhocoridce. This family is of interest principally on account of several mem- bers of the genus Dysdercus, which contains species quite injurious to cotton in various parts of the world. There are some four or five Nearctic species and a single one from the Paleartic region, D. crucifer Stal occurring in Japan, the Philippines, etc. Some twenty species occur in the West Indies and South and Central America. Dysdercus sides infests cotton in New South Wales, staining the cotton fleece with its excrement, in common with the other forms of the genus, which seem always to infest cotton when grown within their range of distribution. D. cingulatus Fabr. is abundant on cotton in India, while D. fasciatus Sign, is the cotton stainer bug of South Africa, occurring also in Portuguese East Africa. Another species, D. superstitiosus frequents cotton on the Cape. D. insu- laris and D. pacifica occur on cotton in Fiji, but have not as yet caused much trouble. Certain species are pests to the south of us, i.e., D. ruficollis L., in Peru; D. howardi Ballou, considered quite important in Trinidad and Tobago; and D. andrece L. in Cuba. D. delauneyi Leth. is common in the Southern Islands. The harle- 60 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY quin bug of Australia, Dindymus versicolor, is a Pyrrhocorid and punctures ripe fruits. Tingitidce. Urentius echinus Dist. occurs on egg plants in India, though not as yet troublesome. The olive tree bug, Froggattia olivina, of New South Wales, has turned its attention from the wild to the cultivated olives, sometimes defoliating the trees. Stephanitis (Tingis) pyri Fabr., which inhabits Europe, Asia Minor, Russia, Japan, etc., is injurious to foliage of pear and is mentioned in most European works on economic entomology. Capsidce. In this extensive family, the species mostly live on plants and a few are of importance. The famous mosquito blight of tea in India and Ceylon is due to Helopeltis theivora Waterhouse while H. bradyi Waterhouse injures cacio in Java. Disphinctus politus Walker attacks the betel vine and D. humeralis Walker injures Chincona, in India. Gallobellicus crassicornis Distant, is a garden pest in Bombay, and in Pusa, attacks and breeds on tobacco. Calcoris angustatus Leth. attacks sorghum in South India. C. trivialis Costa injures the olive, vegetables, etc. in portions of southern Europe, and is present over northern Africa. HOMOPTERA. Cercopidce. The Cercopidse, though not numerous in species, are widely distributed over the world, though not many are troublesome to crops. Tomaspis varia Fabr., the sugar-cane frog hopper, is just now at- tracting considerable attention in Trinidad and Tobago. The young feed on roots of the sugar-cane plant, following these in cracks in the soil, and the adults feed on the the leaves. T. postica Walker occurs on sugar-cane in Mexico. Philcenus spumarius L. injures the sugar beet in Bohemia. Ptyelus costalis Wk. is a pest of rice and sugar cane in Formosa. JassidcB. This family has been but little worked in the newer parts of the world, though a few important species are to be mentioned as crop pests. Nephotettix apicalis Motsch. is a serious enemy of rice in seed beds in Japan and Formosa, and has caused a loss of $10,000,- 000 in a single year. The species ranges over Japan, China, Cey- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 61 Ion, the Philippines, etc. Another Jassid injuring rice in India is Tettigoniella spectra Dist. Three species of Idiocerus injure the shoots of mango in Saharanpur, namely, /. dypealis Leth., I. niveosparsus Leth. and /. atkinsoni Leth. Chloritia (Eupteryx) solani Kollar is the potato frog fly of England, as stated by Miss Omerod. Thamnotettix fuscovenosus Ferr. occurs in Italy, Corsica, Greece, Austria, etc., and in some regions injures the olive. Typhlocyba viticola Targ. injures the grape in Italy, as does flaves- cens in northern Africa. In Bohemia several species of Jassids injure the sugar beei, as Cicadula sexnotata Fall., Eupteryx atro- punctata Goeze, etc. Zygina subrufa Motsch., Deltocephalus dor- salis Motsch. and Strongylocephalus agrestis Fall, attack rice and sugar cane in Formosa, the latter species injuring the same crops in Japan. Fidgoridce. A notorious species in this family is Perkinsiella saccharicida Kirk., the sugar-cane leafhopper, which, on account of its injuries, led to the establishment in Hawaii of the Entomological Division of the Sugar Planters' Experiment Station. The pest is thought to have been introduced from Australia, and is known to occur in Java. Several other species injure sugar cane, as Phenice moesta Westw. and Pijrilla aberrans Walk., in India, and Delphax sac- charivora West., which some years ago was troublesome in the West Indies. Liburnia (Delphax) psylloides Leth. injures corn in Ceylon and India. Ricania zebra Dist., in the same region, in- fests rice and grasses. Hysteropterum grylloides Fabr. infests the olive, in Italy, and is general over all of southern Europe. Another European form is Hyalesthes obsoletus Sign, injuring young olives. Dictyophora pallida Dor. is the sugar cane fly of India, and is common in the Punjab, United Provinces, and Behar. Cane is said to be its only food plant. Psyllidce. The injurious members of this family are mostly of the genus Psylla, and numerous forms of decidedly economic importance occur in the Palearctic region. Thus, Psylla mali Schmidbg. ranges pretty well over Europe, and is a decided pest of apples. In England it is known as the apple sucker, where it is considered one of the worst of all pests to this plant. P. cratcegi Schr. occurs over Europe generally on apples and Cratcegus. P. pruni Scop, is also distributed over much of Europe, including Siberia. It attacks plum and prunes. P. pyri L. occurs on pear and has about the same distribution as the foregoing. P. pyrisuga Forst., also attacking pear, occurs over much of Continental Europe, and is 62 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY also found in Japan. In France it is known as the orange Psylla on account of injuries to oranges. P. cistellata Buckton causes galls on mango in Dehra Dun. Trioza obsoleta Buck, attacks the persimmon in Thana and a species of this genus injures the young growth of citrus trees in South Africa, where it is known as the citrus Psylla. Mycopsylla fid is found on native figs in Australia, the larva? hiding under the abundant milky sap which exudes from the punctures made. Homotoma ficus L. attacks the foliage of fig in Italy, the species being present also in Spain, France, Dal- matia, etc. The olive Psyllid, Eupkyllura otivina O. Costa injures the olive and has about the same range as the preceding species. Aleyrodidce. The Aleyrodidse is a family of wide distribution in the temperate and tropical parts of the world. Many species have already at- tracted attention by their injuries and a few constitute quite destructive pests. Aleyrodes citri and A. vaporariorum may be cited as examples of very undesirable introductions already effected. Two species injure tobacco, namely, Aleyrodes tabaci Gennadius, in Greece, and A. nicotiance Maskell in Mexico. Sugar cane in Java is attacked by three species, namely, Aleyrodes bergii Signoret, A. longicornis Zehntner, and A. lactea Zehntner. The guava in Brazil is infested with Aleyrodes horridus Hempel and A. goyabce Goldi. Aleurodicus cocois Curtis is a guava pest of importance in Trinidad, Venezuela and Brazil, and has long been known as troublesome to cocoanut palms in portions of the West Indies. A closely related species, A. destructor, seriously infests this plant in the Philippines. In Europe, Aleyrodes brassicce Walker has long been known as more or less destructive to cabbage, kale and other members of the cruciferous family. Aleyrodes youngi Hempel seriously infests cabbage in Brazil. Aleyrodes ribium Douglas occurs on red and black currants in England. Many other species might be men- tioned as of possible or actual economic importance in foreign countries. Coccidce. The Coccidse, as a family, is of the greatest economic importance. The mode of life of the species favor their wide dissemination, and very many are now practically cosmopolitans. In this family especially it is difficult to surmise the behavior of a species intro- duced in a new environment, with abundance of food, etc. Mr. Sasscer has kindly assisted me in the selection of a few forms, not yet found in North America, and which are evidently of importance in their present range of distribution. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 63 Icerya seychellarum West., attacks sugar cane, guava, palms, citrus etc., and occurs in New Zealand, China, Madeira, Mauri- tius, etc. Phenococcus olece Marchal, is an olive pest in Tunis. Pseudococcus sacchari Ckll. infests sugar cane in Cuba, Porto Rico, South America and probably elsewhere. Pseudococcus perniciosus Newst. & Wilcox is a mealy bug very injurious to the lebbek in Cairo, Egypt, where the tree is grown for shade. It also occurs on the Christ's Thorn and Sunt. Coccus (Lecaniwri) viride Green., the so-called green bug of Cey- lon, infests a long series of useful plants, but is especially destruc- tive to coffee. Its ravages to this crop have been practically respon- sible for the abandonment of its cultivation over the greater part of the planting districts of Ceylon. Lecanium krugeri Zehnt., attacks cane in Java. Three species of Chionaspis are Javanese cane pests, namely, C. depressa Zehnt., C. sacchari-folii Zehnt. and C. madierensis Zehnt. Parlatoria pyri Marlatt occurs on pear and apple in Manchuria. From its affinities, it must be regarded as a suspicious character. Aspidiotus oceanicus Lindinger is a pest of the coconut in the South Sea Islands, and A. lauretorum Lindinger, in the Canary Islands, infests a long list of plants, including Smilax, Hedera, Laurus, etc. A. destructor Sign., of very wide distribution outside of North America, occurs on the banana, coconut palm, tea, mango, and many other useful plants. A. sacchari infests sugar cane in Java. Aspidiotus africanus Marlatt, of South Africa, is seriously de- structive to the privet and fig, and infests, to a less extent, other cultivated plants, as apricot, quince and apple. It is also abun- dant on honey locust and pepper tree. Leucaspis japonica Ckll., occurs in Japan, China, and South Africa, infesting apple, pear, maple, magnolia, etc. LEPIDOPTERA. In this order, practically all of the families contain species more or less important economically, though the actual number of families containing notably destructive forms is much less. Nymphalidce. Brassolis isthmia Bates, the cocoanut palm butterfly is a trouble- some enemy of its host plant in the Canal Zone. Lyccenidoe. Virachola isocrates Fabr., in India, works havoc in pomegranate plantations and also injures guavas. Zizera labradus Godt. has 64 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY come into notoriety in Victoria by reason of its injuries to beans and peas. Thecla pruni L. injures plums in portions of Europe, but is not of much importance. Hesperiidce. Three species of this family are noted as destructive in India. Larvae of Gangara thyrsis Mo. are injurious to palms. The rice skipper, Parnara mathias Fabr. is at times destructive to rice, there being two broods on rice during the rains. Telicota palmarum Mo. occurs on date palm, and in widespread in India. Castniidce. A single species of this interesting South American family is to be noted, namely, the giant sugar-cane borer, Castnia licus Drury. It is quite destructive to sugar cane in British Guiana. It has been collected in various localities in the northern half of South America and also in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Trinidad, where it also attacks the banana. This species is also reported from Surinam. The larva? tunnel the canes, producing the so- called "dead heart." Notodontidce. Phalera bucephala Steph., the buff-tip moth, in England, is troublesome to many shade and fruit trees, including nuts. It occurs over Europe, except the polar region, Siberia, etc. Th aumetopceida . A single species, Thaumetopcea processioned L., the so-called pro- cession caterpillar of Europe is here to be noted. These caterpillars defoliate oaks, hard wood trees, and even attack field crops, as potatoes, beans, flax, etc. The species is evidently quite important to forests, and is interesting on account of the habits of the larva?, which, after they are about half grown, return after feeding, to definite localities on the tree trunk, usually a depression or other deformity. Lymantriidce. (Liparidce) . To this family belong some of our most notorious injurious in- sects, namely, the gipsy and brown-tail moths, tussock moth, etc. Here also belongs the famous "nun" moth of Europe, Lyman- tria monacha L. The caterpillars are polyphagous, but especially frequent coniferous and hard wood trees. This species, judging from literature, is one of the highly injurious European insects. The "nun" moth ranges over central and northern Europe, except the polar region, northern Italy, Greece, Japan, etc. Another OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 65 polyphagous species is Porthesia similis Fuessl. with about the same distribution as L. monacha. It is often very destructive to fruit trees. Euproctis subflava Brem. is very destructive to fruit trees of all kinds in the Punjab, and probably elsewhere over its range, in Japan, Corea, portions of China, Usuri, etc. Dasychira pudibunda L. is also a species of unsavory reputation in Europe and widely spread, occurring in central and northern Europe, Japan, China, etc. Orgyia gonostigma F. should also be mentioned in this connection and has about the same range as D. pudibunda. In New South Wales, Teia anartoides Walker is regarded as a serious pest, feeding on Acacias, roses, cherry, etc. T. contraria Walker, the bag shelter caterpillar, is reputed to kill stock, the hairs of the caterpillars being eaten in grazing, cause ulcerations of the mucous membranes. Lasiocampidce. Malacosoma neustria L. makes its tents on various plants, as oak, elm, fruit trees, roses, etc., occurring pretty generally over Europe except the polar region, and is present in western Asia, Siberia, China, Japan, etc. Gastropacha quercifolia L., spread over Europe, is at times of importance to fruit trees, as is Pcecilocampa populi L. and Odonestis pruni L. Lasiocampa trifolii Esp., occurs on clover, etc., in Europe and occurs also in England, and portions of Asia Minor. Noctuidce. This large family, as would be surmised, contains many highly injurious forms in different parts of the world. Charceas graminis L. is from time to time very abundant and destructive to meadows in portions of Europe, the larvae eating the roots of grasses. It is usually noted in devastating numbers in the mountain districts. Mamestra composita L., the army worm of New Zealand, seriously injures various grains and grasses. Dianthoecia compta occurs over central and southern Europe, and includes in' its food violets and carnations. Diloba cceruleocephala L. injures cherry, plum and apple in England, occurring also in Europe and Asia Minor. Hadena brassicce L. has a wide range, as Europe, Siberia, Japan, India and South America. Prodenia littoralis Bdv. is a serious pest of cotton in Uganda, Cape Colony, and Egypt, and occurs in the Canaries, Asia, Central America, etc. Gortyna ochracea Hubn. mines the stalks of Irish potatoes in Ireland, and occurs over central Europe, in Italy, Russia, Corsica, etc. Nonagria inferens Walk, bores the stems of rice in Formosa, while N. uniform/is Dgn. is the cause of much complaint in India during the cold wea- ther from its boring of wheat stems. N. exitiosa Oil. is said to be 66 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY the most destructive of all pests of sugar cane in New South Wales. Spodaptera mauritia Bdv. appears in great abundance on rice and grasses during the rains, or soon after, in India and has also been reported as quite destructive to Batangas rice fields in the Philip- pines. It is known as a pest also in Borneo. This species also attacks tobacco and vegetables. Calamistis fusca Hamp. (gener- ally referred to as Sesamia) is a first class pest of corn in the Trans- vaal, Natal, Cape Colony, Rhodesia, etc., while Sesamia cretica Led. is one of the worst of all pests to corn and sugar cane in Khar- toum. It ranges over Egypt, southern Europe, Asia Minor, etc. The larvae bore into the stems of the young plants, later attacking the ears of corn. Toeniocampa incerta Hbn. feeds on apple foliage and fruit in England; willow, oak and sloe are, however, its normal food plants. The species is distributed over much of Europe, Siberia, etc., and is recorded from North America. Two species of Xylina, namely, ornithopus Rott. and soda Rott. injure plums in Europe and have a wide distribution in the Palearctic region. In India, Heliothis assulta injures tobacco. In the same country the green shoots of the egg plant are bored by Eublemma olivacea Walk. Thalpochares scitula Rmbr. is noteworthy among Noctuids as feeding on scale insects in Italy. Plusia chalcytes Esp. feeds on foliage of peas, beans and potatoes in Australia, while P. agramma Guen. feeds on Cucur- bits in India. P. nigrisigna Walk, is also a common pest in India, feeding on lucerne, peas, etc. Cirphis leucosticha Hamp. is the East African cob worm and eats the ears of corn, as does our com- mon bollworm (Heliothis obsoleta). Diparopsis castanea Hamp. is the Sudan cotton bollworm, where it was probably introduced. It is also known from Beira, Delagoa Bay and Uganda. Sacododes pyralis Dyar, an allied species of South America, has similar habits. Larvae of Ontoptera intricata Walk, are said by French to be the most destructive of grass-eating grubs known to him. The females lay from 500 to 700 eggs each. Larvae construct tunnels which they leave at night to feed. Naranga diffusa Moor is a pest of rice and grasses in Formosa. One group, of the Noctuidae, (Aphiderince) contains several highly interesting and destructive forms, from the habits of the moths of piercing with their especially adapted probosces, ripe fruits, in order to feed on the juices. Mcenas salaminia Fabr. occurs in portions of Australia, as does Orthreis fullonica L. and is further distributed to Africa, India, Ceylon and the New Hebrides. Argadesa maternaL., Cosmophila erosa Hbn., Egybolia vaillantina, Sphingomorpha chlorea, Ophiusa lienardi are other names for fruit piercing moths mentioned in literature as troublesome in Australia or South Africa. C. erosa is also recorded from the United States. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 67 Agaristidce. A single Agaristid is to be noted. Phalcenoides glycine Lewis, a serious vine pest in Victoria, where it may have been introduced. Geometridce. Cheimatobia brumata L., known in England as the winter moth, is a fruit pest of importance in Europe. The larvae feed on most forest trees (except conifers), hedgerows, etc. The insect strongly resembles our American canker worms, the females being wingless. This species ranges over central and northern Europe, southern and western Russia, Greenland, etc. Chlorolystis rectangulata L. is the so-called green pug moth, occurring pretty well over Europe. In Ireland it is troublesome to apples. Abraxas grossular- iata L., the magpie moth, is especially troublesome to the currant, though fruit trees are attacked. Its distribution is very wide, as Europe, Siberia, China, etc. Hibernia defoliara Clerck is often damaging to fruit and other trees in Europe and is generally referred to in European textbooks. H. rupicapraria Hb. is also of wide distribution, and apparently of about the same importance. Anisopteryx cescularia Schiff. is an orchard pest in Europe, and is England is called the March moth. Its usual food is white thorn and black thorn, but it infests oak, elm, maple, etc. Biston grcecarius Stgr. is a pest of forage plants and occurs in Italy, Greece, Macedonia, etc. Biston suppressaria is a caterpillar pest of tea, injuring this plant periodically in India. Hemerophila atrilineata injures mulberry seriously in Japan, interfering with the silk industry. Cymbidce. Earias insulana Bvd. is the Egyptian cotton bollworm, or the spotted bollworm of India, causing a yearly loss in the former region of about $5,000,000. It attacks most malvaceous plants. It is recorded from North and South India, Burma, Siam, Australia, Mauritius, Uganda, etc. Earias faba Stoll, also known as the spotted bollworm, has similar habits, though in India it is more abundant than the former species. The larvae bore into cotton bolls and feed on the oily seeds. In the absence of bolls, the shoots are tunnelled. In warmer parts of India the insect may go through its life cycle in about thirty days, and they are active throughout the winter. Zygcenidce. Levuana iridescens Bet.-Baker, the coconut leaf moth, has for many years been a destructive insect enemy of the coconut and Royal palm in Fiji. It is apparently yet limited to these Islands. 68 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Sesiidce. Sesia myopceformis Bkh. infests the trunk and branches of apple trees in Europe, as does S. pyri in North America. Trochilium crabroniformis Lewin is injurious to osiers, the larvae boring the stumps. It is recorded from England, Germany, Austria, etc. Cossidce. Cossus cossus (ligniperda) L. bores the trunk, limbs and branches of shade, park and forest trees, as well as orchard trees. According to Taschenberg 266 larvae were taken from one pear tree, while from 20 to 30, in individual forest trees is usual. The species is widely distributed, as much of Europe, Syria, Korea, etc. A near relative, Zeuzera pyrina L. is now established in the United States. Z. coffece Nietn. bores coffee stems in India, while Cossus tristis Drury bores the wood of apple and quince in South Africa. Hepialidce. Hepialis lupulina L., the garden swift moth of England, does great damage to roots and stalks of plants, as well as bulbs and corms. The larvae attack also the strawberry. It occurs over central Europe, Scandinavia, Italy, Dalmatia, etc. Hepialus humuli L. is a pest of the hop plant, the larvae tunnelling the roots. It occurs pretty well over northern and central Europe. Larvae of Charagia lignivora Lewin bore apple-trees in Victoria, while in Australia larvae of Pielus hyalinatus and P. imperialis live in the roots of trees. Pyralidce. Chilo simplex Butl., C. zonellus and C. partellus Swimb. are pests of cane, corn, sorghum, grass, etc. in India and Formosa, as is C. fuscatellus Sn. in Java. The larvae bore the stems of the plants. Diatrcea striatalis Snellen bores sugar cane in Java, like our D. saccharalis, and is one of their most important pests. A related, or perhaps the same species, D. auriflua Zell. similarly injures cane in India. Diatrcea canella, D. lineolata with D. saccharalis injure sugar cane in Trinidad. Heterographis bengallela Rag. tunnels the fruit of the custard apple in the region of Calcutta and Euzophera perticella Rag. is a wide-spread pest of the egg plant in the plains of India, the larvae boring the lower stems, while another species, Leucinodes arboralis Guen. infests the fruit. Nephopteryx rubri- gonella Rag. is the pear fruit borer of Japan and is very destructive to this crop. N. sagitiferella Moore, similarly bores citrus fruits in Perak and the Malay Archipelago generally. Phycita infusella Meyr is widely spread over India, and is known as the cotton bud moth on account of its injuries to cotton. Nymphula depunctalis OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 69 Dup. is common in India and feeds on foliage of rice. The larvae make cases of leaves and are able to live either in air or water. Godara comalis Guerin, infests, in Australia, the leaves of turnips and horse radish, and in the same country Conogethes punctiferalis Guerin, attacks ripening peaches, eating into and webbing over the surface, and pupating at the pit. Dichochrosis punctiferalis Guerin is quite injurious to castor beans in India, the larvae boring into the stems and seeds, often causing much loss. Pyrausta nubilalis Hb., ranging over central and southern Europe, Asia Minor, southern India, etc., is destructive to hops in Europe, the larvae boring the stems of the plants. Scirpophaga intacta Sn., in Java, injures sugar cane, the larvae boring the terminal roll of leaves and also the stem. Sylepta derogata Fabr. and Phycita infusella Meyer, are both cotton pests in India, the former feeding on the leaves, which it rolls, and the latter on the buds of the shoots, folding the young leaves together, which renders its detection easy. Glyphodes indica Saund., which much resembles our melon caterpillar, has in India about the same habits, the larvae defoliating melon and allied plants. Micromima olivia in Cuba rolls and eats the leaves of tobacco in the seed beds, attacking also the egg plant. Tortricidce. This family contains some of our most destructive insects and species of importance in other countries should be looked upon with suspicion. Omphisa anastomosalis Guen. is quite destructive to sweet pota- toes in Formosa and has recently been introduced (1900) in Hawaii, the larvae boring the roots and tubers. Capua angustiorana Haw^_~ the small apricot and vine moth, is destructive to these crops in England. It occurs over central and western Europe, in Asia Minor, northwest Africa, etc. Tortrix excessana Walker, native to New Zealand, injures the foliage and fruit of the apple, the latter being tunnelled in all directions, and for this reason is known by some as the railway bug. Tortrix ashworthana Newm. ( = Caccecia responsana), in Victoria, bores into apple much like our Carpo- capsa pomonella, with which it has been confused. This is regarded as a serious pest by reason of the character and amount of damage to apples. Tortrix divulsana Walker, (== Tortrix glaphyrana), the lucerne moth, is a regular pest in New South Wales, the larvae feeding on and webbing together the tips of its food plant. Pan- demis ribeana Hb., P. heparana Schiff. P. podana Sc. and related species in England infest various orchard trees often seriously. These are insects of wide distribution in the Palearctic region. Clysia ambiguella Hb. is one of the first class pests of grapes in France at the present time, the larvae eating the blossom clusters, and later 70 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY boring into the berries. This pest has a wide distribution over Europe, except in the polar region and occurs in Asia Minor, India and Japan. Two species of Olethreutes, namely, cynobatella L. and pruniana Hb., are worthy of mention as injuring buds, young leaves and blossoms of orchard trees in various parts of Europe, working much like the bud moth, Tmetocera ocellana Fabr. now well established in the United States. Polychrosis botrana Schiff. corresponds to our grape berry moth Polychrosis viteana Clemens, and it was long supposed that ours was the European species. This latter ranks as a vine pest in Fance with Clysia ambiguella, earlier mentioned, and is widely distributed over southern Europe. Notocelia roborana Tr. infests currant fruit in England, at times seriously, the larvse hollowing out the ripen- ing fruit. It ranges over Europe, except the polar region. Several species of Laspeyresia (Grapholitha) in Europe are troublesome insects and would probably prove very undesirable introductions in the United States. Larvse of L. woeberiana Schiff. bores the bark of cherry, plum, apple and peach trees. L. funebrana Tr., the red plum maggot of England, attacks fruit of plum in England and in the caterpillar state is said to be plentiful in plum pies. It would doubtless be very damaging to our prune industry on the Pacific coast. It occurs over central Europe, Scandinavia, Italy and Asia Minor. L. dorsana F. has about the same distribution and is of importance by reason of its injuries to peas. Laspeyresia schistaceana Sn. is an important sugar-cane pest in Java, the larvse boring into the more tender shoots. Carpocapsa splendana Hb. is a serious pest of walnut and chestnuts in Europe. The normal food is said to be acorns. It occurs in central and southern Europe, Sweden, England, etc. C. amplana Hb. infests hazel nuts, walnuts, etc., etc.. occurring in Germany, Austria, northern and central Italy. The so-called Natal codling moth, a species of Carpocapsa, is a serious enemy of guavas, oranges and mandarines in that coun- try. Sinmthis nemorana Hb. infests figs, and occurs in southern Europe, Asia Minor, Madeira, Mauritius and is reported from Canada. Paramorpha aquilina Meyrick has come into notice as an orange pest in Australia. The larva? bore through the skin and feed on the pith between rind and flesh. Crytophaga unipunc- tata Donovan is the cherry borer of Australia. The larvse are said to be excessively destructive to cherry and peach trees, and some times to plums. Galleries are eaten under the bark, the larvse later boring into the heart of the tree. Amorbia emigratella Busck, thought to be native to Mexico and Costa Rica, has recently ap- peared in Hawaii and is known as the leaf roller of sweet potatoes. It also attacks many kinds of shrubs and fruit trees. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 71 Yponomeutidce. A few forms in this family require mention. Yponomeuta mali- nellus Zell. Y. evonymellus L. and Y. padellus L. are recognized as of considerable importance to orchardists in England and portions of Europe, especially the first mentioned, which has just made its appearance in the United States near Geneva, N. Y. Y. padellus feed on plum and cherry in France, and on plum in Italy. Prays citri Mill, infests the orange in Corsica, Sicily, Ceylon and Aus- tralia, and recently it has been received from the Philippines. P. oleelus F. injures foliage of olive in Italy, and ranges over the Mediterranean region, where the olive is cultivated. In the genus Argyresthia are several suspicious characters. A. conjugella Z. is already established in British Columbia and has been taken in the Puget Sound region in Washington State. The slender larvse tun- nel apples and other fruits. It ranges over central and southern Europe, Asia Minor, Japan, etc. A. nitidella Fabr. is the cherry fruit moth of England, the larvse burrowing in the fruit. A. ephip- pella F. feeds on the shoots of cherry, the leaf and blossom buds of wild plum, also on the hazel. A. cornella F. attacks the leaf buds of apple. GelechiidcB. Gelechia gossypiella Saund. is another serious cotton pest and is almost universally distributed over India, Ceylon, Burma, Straits Settlements and East Africa. It has just now been found in Hawaii. It is known as the pink bollworm. and is generally asso- ciated with the spotted bollworms. The larvae also bore into the bolls and feed on the oily seed. Anacampsis nerteria Meyr. is injurious to ground nuts in Ceylon and South India, and is ap- parently quite important. Anarsia ephippias Meyr. also feeds on the ground nut in India and has been taken only during the rains. It feeds upon and rolls the leaves together. Elachistidoe. The pith moths, Blastodacna hellerella Dup., and B. vinolen- tella H. S. are insects whose larvae cause a good deal of damage to apple trees, especially nursery stock. The larvse bore into the buds, spurs and shoots, thus causing the foliage and shoots to die. The species work something like our Epinotia pyricolana Murtf. Antispila rivillei Stt. injures grape foliage like our A. Isabella and occurs in northern and middle Italy and Dalmatia. Coleophora anatipennella Hbn. the cherry case bearer, injures cherry buds in the spring time in England and occurs over central and northern Europe. C. flavipennella HS. injures pears in Europe in a similar way, while C. hemerobiella Z. feeds on apple, pear and cherry, 72 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Blastodacna atra Haw. is the apple fruit borer of Japan and is' one of their most troublesome pests. Lyonetiidce. Lyonetia clerkella L. mines apple leaves in Europe, but is not especially important on account of the character of injury. The species occurs over central and northern Europe, central Italy, Sardnia, etc. L. prunifoliella Hb. similarly mines plum and cherry leaves, and has a wider distribution than the former. Cemistoma scitella Z. mines apple and pear leaves, occurring over central and northern Europe, Dalmatia, Italy, etc. Cemistoma coffeella Perrottet is the coffee leaf miner of the West Indies. It has been introduced into Brazil and other coffee growing regions of the Western Hemi- sphere and does much damage to this crop. In Porto Rico, for example, it was held to have caused a loss of from $150,000 to $300,000 during 1904. Tineidce. Incurvaria rubiella Bjerk., known as the raspberry moth in England, is important, the larvse boring the shoots, thus lessening or destroying the crop. It is present in central and northern Europe, Corsica, Dalmatia, Russia, etc. Incurvaria capitella Clerk injures the fruit and shoots of the currant and ranges over central Europe, Norway, Sweden and Western Russia. Gnormw- ^chemo^eUopji Lower is a serious enemy of tobacco in India, Cey- lon and Java, the larvse boring the stems, causing gall-like swellings. Ereunetis flavistriata Walsm., is the Hawaiian sugar-cane bud moth, the larvse also eating the dead leaves of palms, bananas, pineapples, and sometimes eating the skin of the banana fruit. The peach moth of Japan, Carposina persicce Sasaki is one of the very destructive insects of this crop, more than 90 per cent being injured during some seasons. > vf DIPTERA. Tipulidce. Several species of this family are referred to in European litera- ture and are evidently of considerable importance. The larvae of Tipula oleracea L. injure various root crops, as well as those of T. paludosa. Pachyrhina maculosa Meig. has a record of serious injury to tulip bulbs in England. Cecidomyiidce, Dasyneura cenophila Haimh. is a gall maker on grape foliage, occurring in central Europe and the Mediterranean region. D. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 73 pyri Bouche, the pear leaf curling midge is distributed over central and northern Europe, though it has as yet attracted but little atten- tion by its injuries. Asphondylia lupini Silv. injures lupines in Italy, the maggots infesting and aborting the seed pods. This species was reared from its host by Coquillett at Los Angeles. Mayetiola avence March, injures wheat in southern Europe much like its cogener, M. destructor. Contarinia nasturtii Kieffer, the so-called " swede midge," infests swedes in Ireland, the maggots occurring at bases of leaf stalks. It occurs on various cruciferous vegetables in Europe. C. gossypii Felt infests the flower buds of cotton, causing the bracts to flare and squares to drop. This pest appeared in Antigua in 1907, and caused very serious losses at the time. It is apparently still confined to that Island. Ceci- domyia oryzce Wood Mason has been destructive to rice in Bengal. Parricondyla gossypii Coq. is a pest in Barbados, and is present in Montserrat. The red maggots occur under the bark of the stems of the cotton plant, which they may completely girdle, causing the death of the portion above the infested area. Bibionidce. The larvae of Bibio hortulamis L. live on the roots of various garden and other crops in Europe, the species also occurring in northern Africa and Asia Minor. Syrphidce. The Narcissus fly, Merodon equestris Fab., in Europe, is injurious to bulbs of narcissus, daffodil and amaryllis. The species is now well established in British Columbia. Anthomyidce. We have already received from Europe several of the injurious species of this family and other forms are yet to be introduced. Pegomyia hyoscyami Panz. infests the foliage of garden vegetable as beets and spinach, though apparently it is not of great impor- tance at the present time. P. betce Curtis, in England, is noted as of increasing economic importance and is just now doing a good deal of injury to beets. The larvae attack the mesophyll of the leaf. There are two or even three broods each year. Trypetidce. The Trypetid family of flies is one of almost world-wide distribu- tion and contains many species of the greatest economic impor- tance, as the so called fruit flies. These are especially destructive for the reason that thus far no remedies have been developed which 74 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY are of much value in lessening attack. With the exception of the Rhagoletis pomonella, no species is as yet notably destructive in the United States, though the notorious Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is well established in the Territory of Hawaii. Other dangerous forms are in the West Indies, some of them perhaps already established in South Florida. The family is especially rich in species in Africa, the East Indies and Australia, and in the latter country constitute a veritable scourge to certain crops. Ceratitis capitata Wied., is now pretty well distributed over the tropical and subtropical parts of the old world and occurs in Aus- tralia, South Africa, Brazil, Burmuda, Hawaii, etc. It infests practically all soft fruits, and numerous sorts of vegetables. It is notably injurious to peaches, oranges and guavas, but infests several dozen other fruits, vegetables and wild fruits. Ceratitis anonce Graham injures guavas and the sour sop, in West Africa, while C. punctata Wied. injures pods of the cacao in the same region. C. catoirei Guerin, considered by some identical with capitata, infests oranges in Mauritius. C. rubivora Coq., the Natal fruit fly, injures all sorts of cultivated fruits and is extending its range over South Africa. It apparently ranks as a pest close with capi- tata. The genus Dacus also contains a consideration number of forms highly destructive. D. tryoni Froggatt, the Queensland fruit fly, infests the banana, mango, peach, nectarine, orange and most other fruits. It is evidently a pest of first importance and ranges from India and Ceylon to Java, Amboina and Australia. D.ferrugin- eus Fabr., the mango fruit fly, also infests oranges, mangoes and other soft fruits and occurs in India, Java and probably many of the Islands of Malaysia. It is thought to have been recently introduced in the Philippines. D. cucurbits Coq., the melon fruit fly of India, Ceylon and Hawaii, infests most disastrously cantaloupes and watermelons in its range of distribution. D. bipartitus Graham, a West African species, attacks especially curcubits, though it is not regarded as a serious pest as yet. D. persicce Bigot, the peach fruit fly of India is very injurious to peaches, oranges, mangoes, etc. D. psidii Froggat is the South Sea guava fly, and is known from Fiji and New Cale- donia. The Sudan fruit fly is also a Dacus, the species not yet having beein dermined apparently. Dacus olece Rossi is an old time enemy of the olive in the Mediterranean region, including northern Africa and the Canary Islands. It is one of the prime pests of the olive in its territory. The Baluchistan fruit fly, Carpomyia pardalina Bigot, is also a melon pest of importance. Anastrepha serpentina Wied. and related species infest guava sapadillos, etc., in the Lesser Antilles, while several species of this genus infest fruits in South America, as A. striata,fratercula, serpen- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 75 Una, etc. Anastrepha ludens Loew is, of course, the principal pest of orange fruit in certain States in Mexico and was the occasion of the quarantine by California of Mexican oranges. Trypeta mus(E Froggatt, the Island fruit fly, infests bananas and other fruits in the New Hebrides and has been introduced into Australia. Acidia heraclei L. occurs in Europe and Asia Minor, and mines the leaves of celery. Platyparea pceciloptera Schrank occurs over cen- tral Europe and is destructive to asparagus. The female fly deposits her eggs on the tips of the young shoots, the resulting maggots living beneath the skin and tunnelling towards the base of the plant. It remains to mention a fly of the family Lonchaeidse, Lonchcea splendida, present in New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, which infests tomatoes, after the manner of fruit flies. Oscinidce. The Oscinida? include several species which in Europe are exceed- ingly troublesome to small grains. Chlorops tccniopus Meigen causes the affection known as "gout" on account of the swollen condition of the heads. The maggots are especially prevalent in barley, but are common also in wheat and rye. Another species, the Oscinis frit L., or frit fly, is especially abundant and injurious over northern Europe, attacking principally oats and barley, and constituing one of the most important pests of these crops. The maggots work in the stems of the host plants, about the level of the ground, causing these to wither and die. Injury by a second brood in the heads of these grains causes a blighting of the grains, producing the condition known in Swedish as "frits" from whence the name. Oscinis thece is sometimes injurious to tea in Ceylon, the maggots mining the leaves. A species of Agromyza mines the stems of peas in India, while still another form mines the leaves of crucifer- ous plants. COLEOPTERA. Byturidce. A single species in this family is regarded as quite troublesome in England, and occurs in France and Germany, namely, By turns tomentosus Fabr. It attacks raspberries, and the greater part of the fruit is stated often to be injured and made unfit for market purposes. The beetles nip off the blossoms and the larvae infest and feed upon the fruit. It will be recalled that our species, Byturus unicolor Say, infests raspberries in the same way, but is apparently much less important than its European cogener. 76 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Buprestidce. Capnodis tenebrionis L., distributed over southern Europe, attacks Prunus spinosa L. and various fruit trees, working something like our Chrysobothris femorata. Sphenoptera neglecta Klug attacks cotton throughout the nothern Nile provinces, the larvae hollowing out the stems. A similar (perhaps identical) species, S. gossypii Kerr., injures cotton in the same way over the cotton area of India. S. hypogea is a serious enemy of peanuts in South India, the larvae boring into the underground root stalks. Agrilus grisator Kerr. bores in lemon trees in the same territory, while the larvae of Belionata parasina Thunb. is also common in India and bores the trunks of guava and mango plants. Small leaf-mining Buprestids, Aphan- isticus consanguineus Kits, and A. kriigeri Rits. attack sugar cane in. Java, though the injuries have not been very important up to the present time. Bostrychidce. Dinoderus minutus Fabr. is common in the bamboo in India, and has been reared from cut sugar cane. Rhizopertha collaris Erichson bores into the limbs and branches of the apple in Aus- tralia, and is regarded as quite troublesome. Bostrychopsis jesu- ita Fabr. is the orange and fig borer of Australia, though it attacks also lemon and apple. The female places her eggs just beneath the bark, and the larvse tunnel the hard wood mostly longitudinally. On account of its borings, it has been called the augur beetle. Scarabaeidce. An important European member of this family is the Melo- lontha melolontha L., the common cockchafer, or May-bug. It is injurious in both the larval and adult stages, the grubs feeding on the roots of grasses, vegetables and young trees, and the adults upon foliage of elm, oak, etc., often completely stripping the trees. Most European works on practical entomology give this species extended attention, perhaps more on account of its commonness than its real importance as a pest. In India, Anomala varians Oliv. is injurious to rice and other cereals, the larvae feeding on the roots. Anomala vitis Fabr. injures the grape in Europe, Algeria and Tunis, the adults feeding on the foliage and the larva? on the roots of the plant, and also on roots of various grasses. One of the very troublesome sugar-cane pests of Porto Rico is a specie's of Lachnosterna, the grubs of which devour the roots of the plant. The control of this insect is one of the acute problems before the sugar-cane planters of the Island. Ligyrus bituberculatus Beauv. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 77 is of interest by reason of its attacking bananas in certain islands of the West Indies. The grubs tunnel the roots of the banana plant, and their injuries are apparently important. Phytalus smithi Arrow is destructive to sugar cane in Mauritius where it has evidently been introduced from Barbados, its native home. On one occasion 1,372,000 beetles were captured by the natives, who placed small branches in the ground upon which the beetles climbed. Holotricha vidua is reported as the most destruc- tive enemy of sugar cane in the Philippines and has necessitated the abandonment of certain fields. In India, Ceylon, Straits Settlements, Philippines, etc., Oryctes rhinoceros L., eats into the soft tissues of young palms, often killing the trees. Diphucephala colaspidoides injures fruit trees in Australia, especially cherry. The beetles come from the ground about "cherry time" and often in such countless multitudes as to strip a good sized tree in a very few minutes. Apogonia destructor R. Bos., as well as a related species, A. ritsemce Sharp, are destructive pests of sugar cane in Java, injuring the roots of the plants like Lachnosterna sp. in Porto Rico. Heteronychus morator F., in the adult stage, attacks the young cane at the base in Java, often boring in the canes. Xylo- trupes gideon L. also bores sugar cane in the Straits Settlements. AnisopUa austriaca Herbst., in Austria, Hungary and southern Russia, is one of the very troublesome Scarabids attacking cereals about blooming time, destroying the heads. Cerambycidce. Xylotrechus quadripes Chevr. is a serious enemy of coffee in Southern India, Assam, Sylhet and Burmah, the larvae boring the stems of the plant, especially those shaded. Caloclytus annularis Fabr. injures the bamboo, the larvse destroying the plants by their borings. Calamobius marginettus Fabr. is a European species which injures wheat. The adult oviposits below the head which the resulting larva injures. Batocera rubus L., occurring in south- ern India and Ceylon, is one of the large beetles found throughout the plains, the larvae being common under the bark of felled trees. The beetles penetrate the trunk of young coconut trees and there deposit eggs, the grubs eating to the top, thus destroying the leaves. The mango is also injured. This species has been recently intro- duced in Barbados, where its is doing considerable injury. An allied species, Melanauster chinensis Forst, is very injurious to fruit trees in Japan and China. Apomecyna pertigera Thorns, and A. histrio F., are common insects on cultivated crops in India, the former attacking cucurbits. Acanthophorus serraticornis Oliv. bores the mango in southern India, while Plocoderus obesus Gah. infests Sal wood, the larvae making large cocoons apparently of 78 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY calcium carbonate. Uracanthus acutus Blackl. injures peaches, apricots and plum in Australia. Steirastoma depressum L., the cacao beetle, is the most serious pest of cacao in the West Indies, and the Guianas the larvse living under the bark of the tree, and also boring the heart wood. Diploschema rotundicolle Serv. bores the orange in Brazil and is evidently a serious enemy of this plant. Apriona rugicollis Chevr. is a mulberry pest in Japan. The females oviposit on the branches, the larvse boring into the wood. Three years are required for the life cycle. Chrysomelidce. In this family are quite a number of injurious forms in different parts erf the world. The group ranks close to the Curculionidse in economic importance. Lema flavipes Suffr. is injurious to rice in Japan, in both the larva and adult stages. Hispa callicantha Bat. also injures rice in the same country, both adults and larvse feed- ing on the foliage. Crioceris merdigera L., cogeneric with our asparagus beetles, is distributed over all Europe and ig a decided pest of lillies in France, both the larvse and adults feeding on the foliage, the former protected by their excrementitious covering. Pachnephorus bretinghami Jac. and P. impressus Ros., replace, in India, Myochrous in America. They are quite injurious to the young shoots of sugar cane and to cereals. Chrysochrous chinensis Baly injures the sweet potato in Formosa. Galerucella tenella L. is common over Europe and attacks the strawberry, though not as yet important apparently. Galeruca semipullata in Australia, infests wild and cultivated figs, the dirty yellow larvse feeding on the leaves. Chcetocnema concinna Marsh, of Europe, is a pest of hops, the beetles defoliating the plants, attacking also the shoots. Chcetocnema basilis Baly is a rice flea beetle in India, and other species injure various crops. Haltica ampelophaga Leesb., the grape flea beetle of Europe is one of their more important vineyard pests. H. indigacea Illig. in Cape Colony, is injurious to buds and foliage of fruit trees in spring. Hispa cenescens By. is a very important rice pest in India. H. modesta We. has been reared from sugar cane in the same country. Leptispa pygmcea Baly attacks rice in Malabar. Brontispa frog- gatti Sharp, the palm leaf Hispa, injures the foliage of its host plants in New Britian and Solomon Islands generally. Scelodnota strigicollis Mots, is a pest of grapes in India. Its habits, are thought to be like those of our Fidia viticida. Odon- tionopa sericea Gyll., in South Africa, injures buds and leaves of fruit trees in the spring. Aulacophora hilaris Bvd. is a serious pest of cucurbits in Aus- tralia, where it is known as the banded pumpkin beetle. This, or OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 79 a related species (olivieri) is considered the worst leaf-eating pest with which gardners have to deal, attacking also the fruit of the cherry. Another species, A. foveicollis Kuest. is a cucurbit pest of importance in Formosa, India, etc. and, A. exacavata Baly is present along with the former, and has about the same habits. RHYNCHOPHORA. Among the Rhynchophora are to be listed very many of the worst insect pests of the world, and the number of species to be noted in the present connection is relatively large. AnthribidcB. The apple beetle of Australia, Doticus pestilens Oliff, falls here. It is supposed that eggs are laid in the young fruit. The grubs live in the apples, which, after about a month, shrivel and dry and remain hanging on the trees. The stages of the insect are passed in the fruit, the beetles coming out in the spring, ovipositing in the young fruit. Curculionidce. Several species of Otiorrhynchus are to be mentioned. 0. sul- catus F., native to northern and middle Europe, is now present in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. It injures both the roots and foliage of strawberry and raspberry plants. 0. corruptor Host occurs in Italy and attacks the foliage of the grape and almond. 0. singularis L. is a pest of raspberries in Europe. The beetles eat the fruit buds, blossoms and foliage and gnaw the bark of tender shoots. The grubs feed on the roots of the raspberry and various other plants. 0. Icevigatus Fabr., occurring over middle Europe, is injurious to buds and shoots of plum, and 0. ligustici L. in central and southern Europe, attacks grape, peach and hops, etc., injuring the leaf and fruit buds, as well as the shoots. Several other injurious forms in the genus ought to be mentioned. Pach- neus litus and P. azurescens are serious orange pests in Cuba, the larvae feeding on the roots of the plants. Phyttobius maculi- cornis Germ., P. oblongus L., P. pyri L., occurring over Europe, attack various fruit trees, as well as Fagus, Quercus, etc. Banj- pithes araneiformis Schrank, present in central Europe, injures strawberry by eating holes in the green and ripe fruit. Sitona lineata L., distributed over Europe, and S. sulcifrons Thunb, attack the shoots of peas as they are pushing through the ground, and later, the foliage. Cleonus luigionii Motsch. present in central and southern Italy, is quite injurious to the beet, the larvae boring the roots. Liparus coronatus Geoze, is destructive to carrots in a similar way. Phytonomus variabilis Herbst. attacks species of 80 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Medicago, the larvae feeding on the foliage. The species is present over Europe. Euscepes batatce Waterhouse, the so called "scara- bee" or "Jacobs" of the West Indies, is a very important pest of the sweet potato, the tubers of which the larvae tunnel. It is also present in Hawaii. Cryptorhynchus gravis Fabr. is the mango weevil of eastern Bengal and Assam, while C. mangiferce Fabr., is the common species in South India and Ceylon. Mango weevils are, without doubt, the most serious pests of the mango in oriental countries. The latter species is said now to inhabit all the mango regions bordering the Indian Ocean, and adjacent islands, and occurs through the East Indies, the Philippines and other groups of South Pacific Islands. It is present in South Africa, Madagascar and other places. Ceutorrhynchus pleurostigma Marsh, ranging over Europe, is destructive to cruciferous plants, as is also C. assimilis Payk, of similar habits. Another species, C. napi Gyll., is also injurious to cabbage. Two species of Baris also attack cabbage, namely, B. cuprirostris F. and B. chlorizans Germ. Rhyn- chophorus ferrugineus F. is the red palm weevil of India and Cey- lon, infesting the toddy and coconut palms. The eggs are placed at a wound or cut in the soft tissues at base of leaf sheath, the larvae tunnelling through the tissues in all directions, making a cocoon of twisted fibres. R. palmarum L. is the palm weevil of Brazil, Cayenne, Surinam, the West Indies, and probably occurs on tropical coast of South America generally. The palm weevil is recorded as also attacking sugar cane in Trinidad. R. cruentatus Fab. occurs in Florida. Sphenophorus obscurus Boisd. is the destructive sugar-cane borer in Tahiti, Hawaii, New Guinea, Fiji, etc., It is widely spread but is not on the mainland of the United States. It also attacks the coconut. The female enters between a leaf sheath and the stem. A small cavity is cut with the mandibles, in which an egg is placed. The resulting grub tunnels upward in the cane, making occasional apertures to the exterior. S. sericeus Oliv. is a well known enemy of sugar cane in the West Indies, where it is designated the weevil borer. S. sordidus Germar injures the banana in the West Indies and is especially complained of in Fiji. The young suckers are attacked and quickly killed by the larvae boring in the base of the plants. It is said to occur from the South Pacific Ocean to the Islands of the Indian Archipelago. Balaninus nucum L., the nut weevil of Europe, is commonly injurious to the filbert, cob and wild hazelnut. Other species present in Europe are of more or less importance, as B. cerasorum Hbst., attacking sour and sweet cherries, and B. elephas Gyll., attacking chestnuts. On of the weevils of Europe which has not yet reached the United States, and which is without doubt a first class pest of the apple is OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 81 Anthonomus pomorum L. The female deposits eggs in unopened flower buds and blossoms of the apple. Its injuries were recorded as early as 1801, and there is now a considerable European litera- ture on the species. Cold, damp weather, retarding the opening of apple blossoms, is said to be quite favorable to it. The symp- toms of injury are the scorched appearance of the blossoms, and their failure to open normally. A. rubi Herbst., in Europe, injures the raspberry in about the same manner as the foregoing. The weevils of the new generation puncture the shoots and feed on the foliage. A. rectirostrislj. attacks stone fruits in Europe, especially cherries. The grub infest the pits or seeds like our Coccotorus prunicida apparently. The cotton square weevil of Peru, species of Anthonomus, probably vestitus Boh. injures cotton in a way similar to A. grandis. A. varipes DuVal injures the egg plant in Cuba, the beetles feeding on the tender buds. Magdalis is well represented in Europe by spe- cies occurring on useful plants. M. armigera Geoff, infests branches of plum trees. M. barbicornis Latr., the branches of apple, quince, etc. M. cerasi L., cherry and plum; M. duplicate, Germ., pear; M. ruficornis'Ij., various orchard trees, and M. violacea L., the pear. Apion apricans Hbst., of Europe, attacks red and purple clover. Eggs are placed in the blossom heads, the larvae eating the unripe seeds, reducing seed production. There are several broods each year. Rhynchites cceruleus DeGeer oviposits in tender shoots of apple, and then cuts off the twig just below the point of insertion of the egg. Considerable injury is thus done to young growing trees. The insect occurs over Europe. R. ruber Fairm, occurring in Greece, Corsica, Crete, etc., is a very local species, but which is quite a pest of the olive. The female oviposits in the fruit in which the grubs feed much like our Conotrachelus nenuphar. Other species of Rhynchites are of more or less prominence in Europe to one plant or another, as R. bacchus L., cupreus L., interpunctatus Steph., etc. Byctiscus betulce L., distributed over Europe, Asia, Siberia, etc., injures numerous plants in its range, and is especially likely to attack the grape. Diaprepes abbreviatus is present gener- ally throughout the West Indies, where it is destructive to sugar cane, especially in parts of Barbados. Rhinaria perdix Pascoe is a serious enemy of strawberry in Victoria and Tasmania, and to a less extent, raspberries. Both adults and larvae are destructive, though the larvae more so as they feed on the central "bud" of head of the plant, thus often killing the plants outright. Rhadino- somus lacordairei is said to be the worst insect enemy of straw- berries in Tasmania, and occurs in all of the Australian States, and perhaps in New Zealand. Another Australian pest is Leptops hopei Fahrs., which is said to be one of the most troublesome insects of Victoria, attacking especially apples and pears. Eggs 82 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY are laid in batches on the leaves, and the grubs crawl down in the soil and feed on the roots in which they cut galleries and furrows, often largely devouring them. Metatyges turritus Pasc. is quite injurous to figs in Natal and the east coast generally. Eggs are laid in the fruit in which the grub feeds. The species is two- brooded. Echinocnemus squameus Billb. is a rice pest in Formosa, the larvse feeding on the roots. A species of Phylaitis bores the stems of cotton in South India and Behar, fron the effect of which the plants become weakened, break off and die. Orthorrhinus khigi Sch. is injurious to grape in Australia, the larvse hollowing out the canes. Another species of the same genus, 0. cylindri- rostris Fabr., is a pest of the orange. The eggs are laid in the bark of the tree, a foot or so from the ground, the larvse boring into the wood in all directions. The tomato weevil of Victoria, Desiantha nociva Lea, has attracted some attention on account of its injuries to tomato. Certain species of Belus are regarded in Victoria as serious enemies of the apricot. Adults bore holes in the branches in which the eggs are placed, the grubs tunnelling the branch, thus killing the trees. The species mentioned are B. bidentatus, B. suturalis, B. irroratus, B. centralis and Belus sp. HYMENOPTERA. Tenthredinidce. Allantus cinctus L., distributed over Europe, infests normally the leaves of the rose, wild and cultivated, and is known to attack the raspberry. The prepupal larvse hollow out the canes, where also they pass the winter, transforming in the spring. Athalia spinarum Fabr., occurring in Europe, Algeria, etc., is injurious to the turnip, beet and cruciferous plants, destroying the foliage. A. proximata Klug, in India, feeds on cruciferous plants generally and is one of the commonest species of the plains. Two species of Hoplocampa are troublesome pests. H. testu- dinea Klug occurs over central Europe, and is quite injurious to apple in portions of England. The females oviposit in the apple blossoms, the larvse boring into the young fruit, which later fall. A related, and perhaps identical species, is already established in Washington State, and in British Columbia. H . fulvicornis Panz. also ranging over central Europe, attacks the plum after the same manner, and is a pest of importance in England. P'eronidea leucotrochus Htg. is injurious to gooseberry, the larvse eating the foliage like N. ribesii and is spread over central and northern Europe. Priophorus padi L., the plum saw-fly, ranges over central and northern Europe, the larvse feeding on the foliage, also attacking pear, rose, hawthorn, etc. Diprion pini L., distrib- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 83 uted over central and northern Europe, defoliates the pine, as its name indicates, to which at times, it is quite destructive. Arge rosce L. is a rose pest widely spread over Europe, and occurs in Siberia and Asia Minor. Janus compressus Fabr., of central and southern Europe, deposits its eggs in the buds of the pear, which the larvse hollow out, and later eat their way into the twig, tunnelling along the pith. Pam- philius flaviventris Retz is distributed over western Europe. It is known in England as the social pear saw-fly. Eggs are placed in groups of from 30 to 60 on under-surface of pear leaves. The young larvse at once commence to form a web, which is added to as they grow, sometimes reaching a length of a foot. The larvae also feed upon plum, cherry, white thorn and other rosaceous plants. The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of his colle igues, Messrs. Schwarz, Dyar, Busck, Caudell, Heidemann, Knab, Rohwer and others in connection with questions of nomenclature in the orders in which they are respectively specialists. Commenting on Professor Quaintance's address, Mr. Maiiatt said that he had been much interested in the presentation made, and that the subject was most timely in view of the recent enact- ment of the plant quarantine law which now furnishes, for the first time in the history of the United States, a means of excluding for- eign insect pests. It is therefore of especial importance just now to make available a publication which will give descriptions and, so far as possible, illustrations of all known important foreign insect, pests, for the guidance of state inspectors and others engaged in plant quarantine and inspection work. He said that he believed Dr. Howard had in view the preparation of a comprehensive bulle- tin covering this general subject, and that it was to be prepared with the aid of the many experts which Dr. Howard had as his assistants in the Bureau of Entomology. Such a publication, pre- pared with the aid of these experts and edited by Dr. Howard, should have a comprehensiveness and value which would make it of great usefulness. The inspection of plant material imported by the Department and other imported plant stock coming to the District of Columbia, largely under the expert management of Mr. Sasscer, has shown that much of such imported stock is infested, and the comparison 84 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY of the findings made from the local inspection referred to with that of state inspectors shows the great value of the wider acquaintance which the Bureau inspectors have with foreign insect pests. Neces- sarily most state inspectors are little acquainted with foreign pests, and have expert knowledge only of the common insect and fungous pests of this country. A publication, therefore, for which Professor Quaintance's address may furnish the basis, is very much needed. The classification of foreign injurious insects would perhaps be more useful to the inspectors and quarantine officers if it were based on countries and food plants. The inspector, then, knowing the country of origin and the character of the plants, could determine at once the known injurious insects which he would have to be on the watch for. A systematic classification of such insects could also be included, following the plan adopted by Professor Quain- tance. Mr. Marlatt added that a publication of this kind must neces- sarily be based on known injurious insects. It should not be over- looked, however, that the injuriousness of an insect in a foreign country (and this, was alluded to by Professor Quaintance) is not necessarily a measure of its possible economic importance if estab- lished elsewhere. The San Jose scale, for example, as found by Mr. Marlatt in northeastern China, was an insect of little impor- tance on native plants and fruits, presenting a very scattering and insignificant infestation. The wide horticultural exploration con- ducted later by Mr. F. N. Meyer in northern China and Man- churia resulted in his importing quantities of fruit twigs and trees for the Department of Agriculture. Much of this material was infested with the San Jose scale, but most scatteringly and giving no indication whatever of the tremendous power of damage which this scale insect has developed in this country. Many other illus- trations of the same sort will occur to most entomologists, and they simply emphasize the need of not only looking out for the known injurious species, but making the most careful inspection to detect any new form, however unimportant it may appear on the imported plants. This is particularly true of all plant stock imported from countries which have not been in close commercial relationship with this country and Europe. Practically all the scale insects, OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 85 in addition to the San Jose scale, and other pests found on the plants just referred to as imported from northern China and Man- churia proved to be new, and therefore with unknown potentialities for injury. This condition is also likely to be true of South Ameri- can, African, and most Asiatic countries. Inspectors should there- fore be especially vigilant in the examination of stock from such countries. Appreciating the special danger from such countries the Federal Horticultural Board, in the revision of its regulations, has very greatly restricted the importation of plants from all countries which cannot or do not have an adequate system of plant inspec- tion and certification. This practically limits free importation to European countries and European colonies which have well established entomological and plant pathological bureaus. From Asiatic and other countries where inspection is not possible the importation of plants is limited to small amounts, and these are to be held at the port of entry until thoroughly inspected and passed by federal inspectors, the provision being intended merely to fur- nish a means of entry of new and valuable fruits or ornamental plants. Mr. Marlatt extended his hearty congratulations to Professor Quaintance for the comprehensive and excellent manner in which he had covered in his address the field of foreign injurious insects. Dr. Howard stated that he had listened to Professor Quaintance's address with considerable interest and hoped the paper would be published in full. He made a few remarks on the work of insects in other countries and spoke of discussions which he heard at the International Congress of Zoology in reference to the quarantine law recently passed in this country. He mentioned a talk by Mr. Rogers of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries of Great Britain, who seemed to be of the opinion that the United States should accept the observations of experts in foreign countries before tak- ing any action along quarantine measures, but our distinguished colleague, Dr. S. A. Forbes, soon showed the fallacy of his com- ments. After remarks by President Busck on the capable manner in which Professor Quaintance conducted the meetings as President during the year, Mr. Schwarz moved that the Society extend to 86 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Professor Quaintance a vote of thanks for the efficient manner in which he managed the affairs of the society and for his timely and most interesting address. Carried. Mr. Gahan presented the following paper: SOME NOTES ON THE PALPI OF APHIDIIN^. BY A. B. GAHAN, Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station. In a previous communication before this Society, the writer called attention to certain variations in the number of antennal segments in various species of Aphidiinse. Among other species studied with regard to this variation was Diaeretus rapce Curt., the common parasite of Aphis brassicw. Recent study of the same species has brought to light another and more surprising variation, this time in the number of segments in the maxillary palpi. While apparently the palpi are more fre- quently four- segmented than otherwise, in a series of one hundred and fifty or more specimens there appear to be almost as many in which they are distinctly three-segmented. Not only is this true but several specimens were observed in which one palpus was plainly four-segmented while the other had but three complete segments. In cases in which the number of segments differs in the two palpi of the same individual, it is apparent that the difference is due to an imperfect separation of the third and fourth joints in one palpus. The point at which the division should have occurred is usually indicated by a more or less distinct notch on one or both sides of the segment. In specimens having both palpi three-segmented, usually no such notch is present but the third segment is generally, though not always, somewhat more elongate than is the case in the four-segmented palpi. That this is really a variation within the species seems certain, since a small series of specimens, all the progeny of a single female, shows individuals having three-jointed palpi as well as others in which the palpi are four-jointed. That it is not merely an acciden- tal variation is proven by the fact that in several large series of specimens reared from the cabbage aphis on widely different dates the same variability occurs. Both sexes vary alike and in about the same proportion, so that -the differences are in no sense sexual. In view of the fact that some importance has been attached by Haliday, Marshall and others to the number of palpal segments, in the classification of the Aphidiinae, it is of some interest to know whether the same variability occurs in other species and genera of OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 87 the group. With a view to the determination of this point, series of specimens (in each case numbering over ten and in some cases one hundred) representing the following species and genera have been studied: Ephedrus incompletus; E. caUfornicus; Praon colora- densis; P. simulans; P. occidentalis; Aphidius nigripes; A. poly- gonaphis; A. pinaphidis; A. ribis; A. phorodontis; and Lysiphlebus teslaceipes. In not a single one of these species was there found a similar variation. On the contrary the maxillary palpi of species of Ephedrus, Praon and Aphidius so far as indicated by the species studied seem to be constantly four-segmented, while in Lysiphlebus there are never more than three segments. The relative length of the segments does often vary slightly and in one or two instances specimens were found in which the segmentation appeared to be incomplete but in no instance was there found so remarkable a condition as in Diaeretus rapce. In discussing this paper Mr. Rohwer remarked on the variation in the number of joints of the palpi of sawflies and stated that within the genus Diprion he had found both symmetrical and asym- metrical variation of five to six joints of the maxillary palpi. Under the heading of short notes the following communications were presented. Mr. Rohwer called attention to the paper by A. Cosens entitled "A Contribution to the Morphology and Biology of Insect Galls," which appeared in the Transactions of the Canadian Insti- tute, volume ix, 1912, pp. 297-387, pis. 1-13. This publication deals with galls primarily from the botanical standpoint, but a number of very interesting observations were made which should become available to all entomologists interested in the study of galls. In Mr. Cosens' work he has discovered a number of new species and in the genus Pontania has been able to distinguish striking mor- phological differences between the galls of closely allied species. Mr. Cosens proves that the gall is produced by an enzyme, and also that the gall can be produced if the stimulus is not applied to the cambium layer. He also proves that certain inquilines in "Cynipid galls also possess the gall-producing power but to a less extent than the real producer;" and the "gall producing stimulus renders the protoplasm of the host more active and awakens in it 88 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY dormant characteristics but apparently does not endow it with the power of producing entirely new structures." Mr. Coseris adds that the awakening of dormant characteristics "has been demonstrated in the case of glands, trichomes and aeriferous tissue;" that "the shape of galls is controlled partly at least by the direction of the stimulus and the location of the egg of the producer. In galls such as those of the Lepidopterous types, where the larva burrows into the tissue after leaving the egg, this feature has no effect." It was found that "the relation of the various zones in the Cynipid galls is influenced in some cases by the early differentiation of the cambium layer." Besides these interesting conclusions the paper contains much valuable matter about the ecology of certain species of gall producing insects, and deserves serious consideration from entomologists as well as botanists. It is hoped that Mr. Cosens will continue this valuable work so that it may eventually be pos- sible to separate all the species of galls by their structure alone. Dr. Howard exhibited some photographs made by Mr. Hodge which were shown at the Cleveland meeting of the Ameri- can Association of Economic Entomologists. The pictures were of a device for catching house and stable flies. Mr. Hodge has devoted much of his time and energy to making a trap to catch these annoying insects. Dr. Howard described the manner in which these insects were captured and stated that in one trap Mr. Hodge had caught 37| quarts within a short period. He also spoke of another trap which was placed near a cow in which were caught 4 quarts, 90 per cent of which were Stomoxys calcitrans. Mr. Hodge stated at that meeting that this trap was placed there for only one week and would have doubtless caught more but for the fact that the trap was full. Dr. Howard then spoke of an additional orifice near the top which Mr. Hodge was placing on his latest traps which will permit a larger catch. Mr. A. C. Morgan then read the following paper: OF WASHINGTON; VOLUME xv, 1913. 89 AN ENEMY OF THE CIGARETTE BEETLE. BY A. C. MORGAN*, Bureau of Entomology. In April, 1912, Mr. W. D. Hunter and the writer, while inspect- ing a cigar factory at Key West, Florida, to determine the extent of loss clue to the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne Fabr., had their attention called to another beetle which was said to do damage to tobacco. The latter insect is known locally as the " Bicho grande," because the adult is much larger than that of Lasio- derma serricorne. During the examination of this factory several bright red and very active larvae were found in bundles and boxes of old cigars. Later the adults of this larva, a species of the family Cleridse were found. Experiments very quickly demonstrated that these red larvae were predaceous upon the larvae and pupae of Lasioderma serricorne, and later Mr. G. A. Runner found that the adult Clerid was also predaceous upon larvae, pupae and adults of the cigarette beetle. Adults were sent to Mr. E. A. Schwarz who determined the species as Thaneroclerus girodi Chevr. and stated that this was the first record for the United States. In Bull. Ent. Soc. France for 1880, p. xxxi, occurs the only reference to this insect in literature. Here Chevrolat described this species and added a note of which the following is a translation: "This insect, peculiar to Cuba, has been found by Girod in cases of injured tobacco (injured presumably by the cigarette beetle) and was given to me by M. Ant. Grouvelle. It is likely to be predaceous upon the larvae and perfect insects of the genus Catorama." It is interesting to be able to furnish the proof that this Clerid is predaceous upon Catorama, of which genus one of the old species is now known under the name of Lasioderma serricorne. Thaneroclerus undoubtedly occurs also at Tampa, Florida, for during October, 1912, Mr. G. A. Runner and the writer took a few specimens of a bright red larva apparently identical specifically with the ones taken at Kev West. In discussing this paper Mr. Schwarz mentioned the fact that another enemy of dry Cuban tobacco had recently been found in the United States. This species is Catorama tabaci Guerin which has frequently been reported as an importation from Cuba in vari- ous places in Europe. It was found in Cuban tobacco by a dealer in Philadelphia. More recently it was received at the Bureau of Entomology from the Lopez factory in Key West, Florida. In 90 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY this instance a large number of specimens in all stages were received. The species is larger than any of the native species of Catorama, and it is strange that its presence in the United States has not been located hitherto. On account of its large size it is likely to cause much more damage to cigars than the cigarette beetle. -W. D. Hunter exhibited a sketch of a very successful device for breeding Simulium perfected by Mr. A. W. J. Pomeroy during his connection with the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural His- tory. The device provides the two essential requisites in breeding Simulium larvae, that is food and well aerated water. It consists essentially of two wooden tanks through which water is allowed to pass. The first of these tanks is partly filled with algse. The water passing through this tank becomes impregnated with the detritus of the alga?. It then passes through a pipe to a second tank in w r hich the actual breeding takes place. This second tank is provided with lantern globes lying on the bottom on their sides but slightly tilted upward in the direction from which the water flows. When the apparatus is in operation the water passes into the second tank forming minute waterfalls when it flows into the lantern globes. The flow can be regulated so that the discharge through the chimneys is as shallow as a quarter of an inch. It is in this stream that the larvae or eggs are placed. In actual practice it was found that in this situation they were perfectly at home, not show- ing any tendency to leave the chimneys. In the original apparatus the tanks were about 5 feet long. This gave sufficient space in the lower tank for about twenty lantern globes which would allow the breeding of as many isolated lots of Simulium larvae in a space considerably smaller than the top of an ordinary table. Mr. McAtee presented the following note: While exploring Lake Pomme de Terre, near Hamburg, Louisiana, last September, my old negro guide inquired whether I would like to see how fish- bait was obtained in that locality. As I expressed an interest in the procedure he pulled up a long leaf stem of Nelumbo lutea. All of the stem except a foot or two nearest the leaf was thickly studded with larvae and cocoons of Donacia. The part of the stem bearing them was probably buried in the almost liquid bottom of the lake, the upper layers of which are composed of coarse vegetable detritus. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 91 It was noticed that the feeding larvae had the head and forepart of the body buried in the cavity they had eaten out of the stem, but that the posterior part of the body was standing out free in the water. This would suggest that, at will, they are able easily to pierce the wall of the stem with their modified spiracles and that perhaps the larva has some other means of securing a supply of oxygen. It would be very interesting to know the composition of the gas in the interior of these stems, as in all probability it is not the same as that of atmospheric air. The adult Donacia collected at the time these observations were made has been identified as D. cincticornis. The two following papers were read by title and accepted for publication. OBSERVATIONS ON THE EGG PARASITES OF DATANA INTEGERRIMA WALK. BY H. M. RUSSELL, Bureau of Entomology. The writer collected the data contained in this paper while sta- tioned at Orlando, Florida, during the years 1907 and 1908. The summer of 1907 seemed to have been favorable to Datana inte- gerrima Walk., the black walnut caterpillar, as the colonies of larvre of this insect were extremely abundant on the pecan and destroyed the foliage extensively. This abundance apparently resulted in a great increase of the egg parasites of this insect as the eggs of the last generation in the fall of 1907 were largely parasitized by minute Hymenoptera. This probably accounts for the small- ness of first brood in 1908. At the time of the fall abundance the writer collected a number of egg-masses of Datana integerrima and from these reared four species of parasites. The writer is indebted to Mr. J. C. Crawford, of the National Museum, for the determi- nation of three species and to Mr. A. A. Girault for the determina- tion of Trichogramma minutum Riley. Of these, Trichogramma minutum Riley belongs to the Trichogrammidse and Baryscapus sp. belongs to the family Eulophidse, subfamily Tetrastichinse, Telenomus sphingis Ashm. belongs to the family Scelionidae and the fourth, Ooencyrtus sp. belongs to the family Encrytidae, tribe Mirini. The eggs of the host were collected from August 23 until about the 10th of October, from the various pecan grooves around the station, and each mass was placed in a glass vial. Daily observa- tions were made and the parasites removed and recorded in the notes. These records have been placed in tables, as rendering the data more quickly and easily available to the reader. 92 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY In table I the total number of eggs parasitized by the 4 species of parasites is given. Thus, out of a total of 10,926 eggs of Datana integerrima contain tained in 22 egg-masses only 3924 larvae emerged, or 36.+ percent, while parasites emerged from 6365 eggs, or 58.+ per cent, and 637 eggs, or 5.+ per cent, failed to disclose either larvae or parasites. Among these many contained dead parasites, as revealed by dis- section. TABLE I. Record of parasitism of eggs of Datana integerrima, September and October, 1907. Date. Number of eggs. September 19 225 332 365 845 Octobers 258 901 807 272 1051 204 October 9 o & 1^99 o co 10 P CO TO -*j O O 6 . U T 1 *? 9 CO 4 ln- gaster nebulosa Poda (griseus Fabr.) A specimen of Sinea spinipes H. S. taken at Yaphank, Long Island, New York, in the pine region of the island. This is the most northern record of this species, described originally from South America and later recorded" from western United States, and here- tofore naturally considered strictly southern. 106 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Eggs and nymph of Melanolestes abdominaUs were also shown. This large Reduviid lives under stones and lays its eggs in the earth. The crown of filament that surmounts each egg is flush with the surface. The ova shown were secured from specimens in captivity. An egg-mass of Microvelia americana Uhl., which had been de- posited on the sides of an aquarium, just above the water-level wag brought to the attention of the meeting. From aquarium observa- tions it has been concluded that this tiny semi-aquatic bug deposits its eggs on stones or sticks at the water's edge, but not under water. The eggs are laid in a clear jelly-like glue, which secures them to the objects on which they are deposited. MEETING OF MARCH 5, 1913. The 266th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. C. L. Marlatt at his home 1521 16th street N.W., on the eve- ning of March 5, 1913, and there were present Messrs. Baker, Burke, Busck, Cory, Craighhead, Cushman, Duckett, Fisher, Gahan, Green, Hall, Hood, Hopkins, Howard, Hunter, Hyslop, Knab, Mclndoo, Marlatt, Popenoe, Quaintaince, Rohwer, Sanford, Sasscer, Shan- non, Siegler, Snyder, Webb, Webster, and Wood, members, and Messrs. H. Bradford, W. E. Edmonston, D. G. Fairchild, J. R. Horton, J. M. Miller, A. Rosenfeld, H. B. Scammel, and J. F. Strauss, visitors. President Busck occupied the chair. The min- utes of the preceding meeting were read and approved. Air. W. F. Turner was elected an active member of the Society. Dr. Hopkins proposed the names of J. M. Miller, Joseff Bruner, and W. D. Edmonston for corresponding members. In accordance with the by-laws these names were referred to the Executive Com- mittee for action. The first paper of the evening was "Monsters of our Backyard," by David Fairchild. This very interesting paper, which has been published in the National Geographic Magazine, was illustrated with lantern slides made from greatly enlarged photographs of certain common insects in characteristic attitudes. At the con- clusion of Mr. Fairchild's talk, Mr. Marlatt moved that the Society OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 107 extend Mr. Fairchild a vote of thanks for exhibiting these pictures for the first time to its members. The following paper was read by title: " Pseudomasaris Bred in California" by T. D. A. Cockerell. PSEUDOMASARIS BRED IN CALIFORNIA. BY T. D. A. COCKERELL. A number of years ago at Pecos, New Mexico, my wife and I found Pseudomasaris vespoides (Cresson) in quantity, visiting flow- ers of Pentstemon. Numerous efforts to follow the wasps to their nesting places were wholly unsuccessful, much to our disappoint- ment. I was therefore greatly interested to receive, a few days ago, a Pseudomasaris from Professor D. E. Merrill, with the infor- mation that it had been bred by Dr. George Robertson at Redlands, California, from a nest having the shape of an inverted cone, and composed principally of sand, fastened to the stem of some plant. In being fastened to the stem of a plant, the nest resembles that of Celonites, but apparently differs in the openings being directed upwards instead of downwards, as well as in the shape. The insect is very close to the Rocky Mountain P. vespoides, but apparently subspecifically distinct. Pseudomasaris vespoides robertsoni, new subspecies. Female: Like P. vespoides, but with the sculpture of the mesothorax not so coarse; scutellum with the small punctures closer and finer, the large ones few and very weak; median black lobes of abdominal bands rather more ex- tensive; last ventral segment of abdomen with a median black stripe, broad- ening basally, on its basal half. Habitat: Redlands, California, June, 1912 (G. Robertson). Type: Cat. No. 15529 U. S. N. M. MEETING OF APRIL 3, 1913. The 267th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. E. A. Schwarz in the Ssengerbund Hall, 314 C street N.W., on the evening of April 3, 1913, and there were present Messrs. Baker, Banks, Barber, Burke, Busck, Caudell, Cory, Craighead, Gush- man, Dyar, Fisher, Gahan, Hall, Heidemann, Heinrich, Hood r Hopkins, Howard, Hunter, Jennings, Knab, Meyers, Pierce, Roh- wer, Sasscer, Schwarz, Shannon, Snyder, Turner, Walton, and 108 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Wood, members and Messrs. Vernon Bailey, Adam Boving, H. G. Dyar, W. T. M. Forbes, and H. B. Kirk, visitors. President Busck occupied the chair. Mr. Rohwer reported that the vote taken in accordance with the constitution for the election of Honorary Members resulted in the unanimous election of Dr. David Sharp of England, and Dr. J. H. Fabre of France. Mr. Rohwer also reported that the Executive Committee had acted favorably on the najnes of J. M. Miller, Joseff Bruner, and W. D. Edmonson'for corresponding membership and on a vote of the Society they were duly elected. The first paper of the evening "The Insect Host of Forest M ria" by Dr. Adolph Lutz was read by Dr. L. 0. Howard. THE INSECT HOST OF FOREST MALARIA. t BY DR. ADOLPH LUTZ, Rio de Janeiro. I see by the PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY or WASHINGTON that Mr. F. Knab read a paper, "The Dependence of Disease Transmission by Blood-Sucking Insects Upon Habits." When Dr. L. 0. Howard cited a paper of mine Mr. Knab declared that he had just discussed this paper from his present view point with Dr. Dyar and they had come to the conclusion that I had mis- interpreted -the facts. A similar statement is repeated in a paper in the Journal of Economic Entomology. To explain this singular conclusion Mr. Knab thinks it highly probable "that the men ob- served by Lutz already harbored malaria in a latent form when they came into the region and that the exertion and exposure incident to the work caused the irruption of the disease. " If such an etiology of a typical epidemic was possible, which no competent person would admit, the people living here and inter- ested in the case would not have waited for two laymen to think of it and I would not have troubled to find a satisfactory explanation for a puzzling fact. Mr. Knab however continues: "It is a well known fact that in the tropics most persons appa- rently in good health have latent malaria." Leaving alone the fact that the place of observation and the places where the pa- tients came from have not a tropical climate, the statement itself is utterly erroneous and about equal to the statement that in hot countries everybody is suffering from liver disease. After exclud- ing typhoid fever and other pyrexias with different etiology, it has become evident that malaria is very much localized and by no means generally prevalent, even in tropical countries. In fact it OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 109 is wanting in many places where there are Anophelidse, which are by no means ubiquitous. My paper on forest malaria has been everywhere accepted with- out contradiction, and since I wrote it the facts have been confirmed by several people. Dr. Chagas observed another epidemic under absolutely similar conditions and near the same place and author- ized me to state that he is convinced of the correctness of my expla- nations, which is of interest, as he has observed several epidemics of malaria in different places and studied the Anophelidae found. I myself have seen another epidemic and there are some more on record showing the occurrence of epidemical malaria in places where there are plenty of epiphytic Bromeliacese and no swamps. It is now a generally recognized fact in this country that all the great works. of engineering, where hundreds and thousands of workmen have to sleep in the open air, will lead to epidemical outbreaks of malaria, even in quite uninhabited regions where there are swamps clue o the perodical inundations of the rivers. The observations in the uninhabited mountain woods of the coast range are quite analogous and just as certain, with the difference that the higher places get infected later and never in the cold season. On the other hand the very same workmen have clone the same work in the dry Campos regions and in the woods of the interior where there are no Bromelia Anophelidse without the slightest malarial manifestations. Of course a few chronic malaria patients must be present and these will be found amongst the workmen who previously took part in. similar work, but these people, far from being quite healthy, could be picked out and excluded, as I proposed long ago. In this country Cellia argyrotarsis is much more responsible for the spreading of malaria than albimana. Both the species are frequent in uninhabited places and only come near the houses when these are built in swampy regions, excepting very few stragglers. That they do not want or prefer human blood is shown by the quite well known fact here that they prefer the horse to the rider and large numbers of them might be caught on horses by persons who do not get bitten themselves. The same is true for all other species of Anophelidae. Now it is quite natural that the workmen in uninhabited places where big game is rare will attract the mosquitoes and if they stay long enough in the same place the epidemic will follow the increase of the infection in the mosquitoes who themeslvcs augment in num- ber through the facility of alimentation. It is a well established fact that a species might be an excellent intermediate or definite host of a parasite quite new to the country because the host for the other stage has only been introduced recently. 110 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The second paper of the evening, by Mr. Knab, in reply to Dr. Lutz, was read by Dr. Dyar. THE CONTENTIONS REGARDING "FOREST MALARIA." BY FREDERICK KNAB, Bureau of Entomology, Dr. Lutz's protest against my remarks on malaria transmission by Anopheles bohviensis Th.( = A. lutzii Th.) is interesting and stimu- lating. It seems almost superfluous to say that I have the greatest admiration for the work of Dr. Lutz as I am sure have all who have become acquainted with it. Personally I have derived much in- spiration from the writings of Dr. Lutz and to discredit him was far from my intention. The criticism to which he objects resulted naturally through the defense of an idea which I still believe is correct in principle. The question is a zoological one rather than a medical one, the pathogenic character of the parasite being merely an incident and th fact that Dr. Lutz is a skilled naturalist as well as a physician leads me to hope for points of contact. I must re- iterate, for the benefit of careless readers, that my remarks were, from the beginning, intended to cover only blood-parasites having life-cycles in alternate hosts and involving a blood-sucking insect. It may be here appropriately pointed out that a train of thought very similar to my own led Grassi to his great discovery, which was not, as generally formulated, that Anopheles transmits malaria, but that definite species of Anopheles do so. He conceived the idea that the transmitting blood-sucking insect and the disease must show the same distribution, and this corresponds very closely to what I have formulated. There is, therefore, really nothing new or startling in my contentions. What I -do claim, however is that this aspect should not be neglected by investigators. I have again carefully read Dr. Lutz's famous paper and also his present communication. From these it would appear that in the question under dispute, which involves the principle formulated by me, we agree on every point but one, namely the question of the insect host in the malaria epidemic under discussion. I am glad to admit that offering an explanation of conditions at such a dis- tance, and concerning which I had no accurate information, was rash ; but it was only a suggestion and is now withdrawn in the face of the facts brought forward by Dr. Lutz. We find ourselves on common ground in believing that the malarial outbreak observed among a large gang of workmen encamped in a previously unin- habited forest was not endemic there, but was brought into the locality by such of the workmen as already harbored the malarial parasites, and that it was transmitted from man to man by a spe- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 111 cies of Anopheles. I am, however, unwilling to believe that a species of Anopheles which is peculiar to uninhabited forests and under nor- mal conditions can not obtain human blood should forthwith be- come the host of a blood-parasite of man. It is true that such a case might occur and that we may have it before us in the one under discussion, but in my opinion this would be so exceptional that it would have to be very fully proven. There is every indication that the host-relation between the ma- larial parasites and certain species of Anopheles is conditioned by a very fine physiological adjustment. Thus it has been commonly observed that of a number of species occurring in a given local- ity and all obtaining their blood-meals from the same source, some serve as efficient hosts for the parasites while other species simply digest the parasites with the blood. Very often the commonest Anopheles of a region will not be the one to serve as host. This is the case, for example, with our Anopheles punctipennis, and it is well established that A. rossi holds a similar relation in the Orient. James and Liston may be quoted to good advantage in this connection: We have already mentioned that some species of "anopheles" are better malaria-carriers than others, and apart altogether from the fact that "ano- pheles" may be abundant in a place without there being any malaria at all, it often happens that the species which is present most abundantly is not the one which is carrying malaria at the time. It is, however, a difficul t matter to estimate the relative abundance of different species in any place, for some are much more easily seen than others, and the habits which some species have of secreting themselves among the straw of a thatched roof and of rest- ing only upon objects which are as nearly as possible the same colour as they are themselves, are very important. In order to exemplify this, it seems worth while to recount an instance which happened in our experience. In the malarious village of Ennur in the Madras Presidency, A . rossi was so abundant that on almost every straw of the thatched roof of every house three or four specimens of this species were resting. A careful search in the ordinary way did not reveal the presence of any other species, and it is cer- tain that, had there been no other object in the search than the mere deter- mination of the species of "anopheles" present in the village, the observer would have gone away quite satisfied that A. rossi was alone present. But the village was an extremely malarious one, and knowing that A. rossi was an inefficient carrier of malaria in nature, he was unwilling to believe that no other species was present in the houses. Fixing his mind, therefore, upon the thought that he was looking for A. culicifacies and not A. rossi, he again commenced the search with great care, and was rewarded not only by det <<<- ing the presence of A. culicifacies, but by catching a sufficient number of this species during several days' work, to prove that it was the species respon- 112 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY sible for the prevalence of malaria in the place and not the very much more abundant species A. rossi. 1 Now we find that upon a short visit of investigation Dr. Lutz found a single species of Anopheles in the locality and at once con- cluded that this was responsible for the malarial outbreak. "Ich war sofort iiberzeugt, die gesuchte jVIiickenart gefunden zuhaben obgleich damals liber die Charaktere der Malariaiibertrager noch nichts bekannt war. Als bald darauf erkannt wurde, das dieselben unter den Anopheles-ATten zu suchen seien, sah ich mit Befried- igung, das die neue Artein Anopheles war." He assumed that no other species of Anopheles could be present in the locality because it appeared to him that there were no suitable breeding-places other than the bromeliads. In fact I have found three species of Ano- pheles breeding in small pools in the bed of a mountain stream, where the topographic conditions must correspond very closely with those outlined by Dr. Lutz, and two of these species (A . argyri- tarsis and A. eiseni) occur also in southern Brazil. I have repeated these observations on two visits to Cordoba, Mexico (June, 1905 and December, 1907, to April 1908), and found the larvae on these occasions in a canyon which is virtually scoured out by the moun- tain torrent after every heavy rain. Similar observations are at hand from the rapid streams in Panama. Furthermore it may be pointed out that during a five months stay at Cordoba I did not capture a single adult Anopheles, and had I not collected the larvae I should have been led to conclude that no Anopheles occurred in that locality. It may therefore be pardonable if I express my in- credulity that no other than the bromelicolous Anopheles were present in the locality described by Dr. Lutz. Aside from this possible or even probable presence of other Anopheles, which ad- mittedly might be in such small numbers as to be a negligible factor, there may be still other sources of error. The question naturally arises : How completely and for how long a period were the work- men confined to the forest habitat? Did they not, singly or in small parties, take holidays outside that zone or make nocturnal visits to taverns and pleasure resorts beyond its confines? From what we know of the habits of Homo in general we have a right to suspect this! In short, the claim that a wholly "wild" species of Anopheles should become an efficient host of a human malarial parasite seems to me so improbable that no evidence other than the demonstration of the parasites in the salivary glands of the mos- quito will induce me to accept it. 1 A Monograph of the Anopheles Mosquitoes of India (first edit.), p. 53-54, 1904. 2 Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. etc., 1 Abt., Originate, vol. 33, p. 283, 1903. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 113 Lest I be accused of ignorance of the literature, I must state that I have examined a paper by Galli-Valerio in which that author claims to have found oocysts of the malaria parasites in the stom- ach-walls of a specimen of Anopheles boliviensis. 1 I am unable to accept Galli-Valerio's determination. The specimens were brought to him from the State of Parana. by a friend and were in very bad condition ("qui malheureusement etaient dans mauvais etat de conservation"). Even a very close student of American mosqui- toes might hesitate to positively identify such specimens, and I am not aware that Galli-Valerio had previously given any atten- tion to American mosquitoes! Dr. Arthur Neiva has rejected Galli-Valerio's results on other grounds: "For the cysts found by Galli-Valerio in mosquitoes preserved in alcohol, which had been sent to him from Parana, can hardly be looked upon as evidence, because under the circumstances it would be hardly possible to distinguish be' ween hasmatozoans originating from man or from birds." 2 As to my statements concerning the association of Anophe'es albimanus with man, it may be that I have been too positive. But the available observations, and new ones have come to hand since my papers were written, seem to show that my contention has foundation in fact. Naturally the association is not an intimate one, such as it is in the case of Aedes calopus and Culex quinque- fasciatus, and this I indicated in the beginning. The reason is obvious enough in the long period during which the malarial para- sites are present in the human circulation. We now know that Anopheles albimanus will fly long distances from breeding-places to obtain blood and fly back again to lay eggs, just as do certain species in India which are known to hold a similar relation there. Reqently veritable migrations of this nature have been observed. 3 In them the Anopheles albimanus were not carried involuntarily by the wind, but were governed in their movements by the food supply for the adults and by the available breeding facilities. Fi- nally there would seem to be a variation in the ratio of A nopheles albimanus to other species of Anopheles, according to the size of the settlements (within certain limits!) and the consequent available 1 Notes de parasitologie. Sur la presence d'oocystes chez Anopheles Lutzi, Theobald. Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. etc., 1 Abt., Orig., vol. 35, p. 85, 1904. 2 Contribuigao para o estudo dos dipteros. Observances sobre a biologia e systematica das anofclinas brazileiras e suas relac.aos com o impaludismo. Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Dipteren. Beobachtungen iiber die Biologic und Systematik der brasilianischen Anophelincn und dercn Beziehungen mit der Malaria. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, vol. 1, fasc. 1, p. 76, 1909. 3 Kept. Dept. Sanitation, Isthmian Canal Cornrn., for January, 1913, p. 43-46. 114 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY food-supply in man and animals. I do not think that this differ- ence is explainable by topographic conditions, but I believe that where conditions are otherwise favorable it is governed by the con- sideration just mentioned. Finally it must be admitted that, in formulating what I believe to be an important principle, I have been somewhat dogmatic. But the nature of the subject, and, except in the case of the most pro- nounced examples, the dearth of observations bearing upon it, have made this necessary. If I have caused students to think, to criti- cise, and perhaps to investigate from a new point of view, I shall feel that I have done something worth while. -In connection with the foregoing papers Dr. Dyar made the following remarks : "To state the matter concisely, certain workmen engaged in railroad construction in a wild, wooded country, were afflicted with malaria. Dr. Lutz, investigating the outbreak, found no other Anopheles present but the species breeding in the epiphytic bromeliads in the forest, A. lutzii Theob. He concluded that they were responsible for the outbreak of the disease among the workmen. At the time of his investigation, it was not known to what a de- gree of specialization the malarial relation had established itself. It was thought that malaria in man was to be considered as con- veyed by Anopheles as against other mosquitoes. Lutz's conclusion was, therefore, at the time a natural and plausible one. But we now know that the malarial relation is a highly specialized one. Each kind of malaria is conveyed usually by but one or two species of Anopheles in a locality. Often we have in a given locality several species of Anopheles present, only one of which is capable of carry- ing the form of malaria prevalent there. Mr. Knab has pointed out that for such a delicate relation to have established itself, an habit- ual association of the vertebrate host and mosquito host must have preceded; in other words domestic or semidomestic Anopheles only will be found to be malaria carriers. This view renders Dr. Lutz's conclusion less plausible than when viewed in the former light, and, in conversation with Mr. Knab, we had concluded that Dr. Lutz's explanation was probably erroneous. Certainly, in view of recent discoveries, Dr. Lutz's explanation is at least unlikely and unusual and can be accepted only after strict proof. It seems to me that there are three possible theories to account for the outbreak of malaria observed by Dr. Lutz. First, that the true carrier was overlooked. Second, that the disease was spread OF WASHIXGTOX. VOLUME XV, 1913 115 by Anopheles lutzii from a latent case among the workmen, and, after the incubation period, first in the mosquito, then in the man, appeared generally among the men as a result of the b:~ 'he infected lutzii. Third, that there exists a form of malaria among wild animals in the forest, conveyed by A. lutzii, and that man is subject to this disease when specially exposed by residence in the forest and so bitten by the mosquitoes already infected from the wild animals. In regard to the first alternative, it is difficult to discuss possible sources of error at this distance from the facts, distance both of time and space. It is. however, true that the ordinary malaria carrier may be overlooked, especially if one is p d by an orig- inal idea or theory one wishes to establish. The men may not have been as strictly confined to the camp as supposed, and there are a thousand and one possible chances of error, any one of which may have been operative. Personally I believe that Dr. Lutz was the victim of some error of this kind. 1 In regard to the second alternative, the chance that a wild spe- cies of Anopheles, never before having carried hum an malaria, should be in a condition to do so when malaria cases were presented, seems remote. The condition is possible, but unlikely, and should only be accepted after rigorous proof. The ordinary malarial parasite should be proved to develop in Anopheles lutzii. The third alternative is no more than an interesting possibility. Xo malarial organisms are known to inhabit wild animals and be transferable to man. though it seems possible that there might be parasites of monkeys, conveyed by forest Anopheles, and man per- haps susceptible to them. If such a relation exists, it could be demonstrated by suitable study, but I think we are not entitled to invoke it as an explanation of the present case merely on a -ability. A- between the second and third alternatives, there should be at ! It seems to me probable that some ordin;. 'htles like A. albini or argyritar*>* was really present, but overlooked by Dr. Lutz. It app from his article that he was too much impressed by the apparent lack of ground breeding-places. He found species of Janthinosoma and others present, which are exclusively ground-pool breeders, but he cla?- - .em as occasionally breeding in bromeliads. Apparently he accounts for their presence by their supposed faculty of occasionally so breeding: but th> surely an error. When Janthinosoma could be present there must certainly have been abundant opportunity for the breeding of ordinary Anopr.>. 116 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY once evident a difference in the time of appearance of the disease after the men were encamped in the forest. In the second case the disease would appear much later than in the third. But the first alternative might show either a long or short period, according to what the actual mode of infection was, whether by the infection of local overlooked Anopheles from latent cases among the men them- selves or by infection of the men individually outside of camp by already infected mosquitoes. But whatever explanation be the true one, the burden of proof rests upon the investigator, in this case Dr. Lutz, and we have the right to expect that proof should be complete or to reject the explanation offered." Continuing the discussion Mr. A. H. Jennings said: "In 1909, a survey of the basin of the Chagres River in Panama was made by the engineers of the Isthmian Canal Commission. The parties engaged on this work suffered from malaria and in March of that year I was instructed to make a general investigation of the mos- quito fauna of the region with special reference to the sources of malarial infection. The Chagres, Boqueron and Pequini rivers were ascended, the latter to within a few miles of its headwaters, and a careful study was made of mosquito conditions along all of the streams traversed. Except along their lower courses, the country through which these rivers flow is uninhabited and seldom penetrated by the na- tives, who venture into the interior during the height of the dry season only. The dry season is so only in name in the country surrounding the sources of the rivers comprising the Chagres sys- tem; heavy rains and sudden floods occur even during this season and few days pass without more or less rain. I found Anopheles albimanus Wied., the principal malaria carrier of the Panama region, to be entirely absent from the uninhabited country and this was not from the lack of suitable breeding places, as many such were found. The only species of Anopheles present along the upper reaches of the rivers were eiseni and neivai. The former I found breeding with some freedom in pools at the rocky edges of the rapid streams and also in tree-holes, both situations being characteristic of the species. Anopheles neivai was found in the leaf axils of bromeliads and was not found in any abundance. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 117 Both of these species are, in my experience strictly sylvan in habi- tat, never being found beyond the confines of dense bush. Neither I nor any of the party were attacked by Anopheles while traveling up or down the river, during which journeys we camped for a num- ber of nights, entirely without protection, upon the dry shoals at the edge of the river, nor during the whole of my stay near the head- waters. There our protection consisted of a tent fly, open at the sides, pitched at the river's edge and before retiring at night we invariably sat about by the light of lanterns. In spite of this exposure and the attraction offered by a consid- erable number of men and unscreened lights, we escaped attack. This may be partly accounted for by the comparative lack of abun- dance of mosquitoes, but their being unaccustomed to feed upon such hosts as man is also suggested as a factor. Some monkeys are present in these forests but large mammals of all kinds seem to be rare and represented principally by a few herds of peccaries, an occasional tapir and very rarely a deer. This may be a coincidence and the correlation, if it exists, between an uninhabited country and biting habits may be purely local, but it must be remembered that the country which Doctor Lutz describes is also normally uninhabited. In spite of the conditions I have described, malaria was frequent and severe. Malaria is endemic and highly prevalent in Panama and the Canal Zone outside of the controlled areas, and the engineers engaged upon the work had been exposed to infection for more or less lengthy periods during their Isthmian experience. The bush- cutters, boat-men, etc., were recruited principally from among West Indian negroes, long resident in the country and from the native population, more particularly from those of a migratory and roving disposition. From the known prevalence of latent malarial in- fection among the Panamanian population and from the habits of the class of men comprising the laborers attached to the party, as well as the antecedents of the engineers, it is safe to assume that practically every man of the five parties on the work, or possibly 150 men, carried with him into the bush a latent infection which required only hardship and exposure to develop an acute attack of malaria. 118 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Exposure was experienced by all and included, besides great phys- ical exertion, constant wetting from wading streams, often above the waist and every hour of the day and from drenching rains interspersed with periods of hot sunshine. The conditions did not require the presence of malaria trans- mitting Anophelines and it is very clear that they played no part in causing the malaria from which the men suffered. It seems to me that the situation closely parallels the one de- scribed b3^ Doctor Lutz, as to character of forest, of men employed, conditions of work and mosquitoes involved, and that probably in that situation, as certainly in the one I have just described, the agency of forest-breeding anophelines in causing the occurrence of malaria may be safely excluded." The remainder of the evening was devoted to the following paper by Dr. Hopkins and the discussion which ensued. DISCONTINUOUS GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. BY ANDREW D. HOPKINS, Bureau of Entomology. The discontinuous geographical distribution of animals and plants is a subject of special interest and importance to the taxon- omist, the ecologist, the investigator of technical and economic problems, the student of geographical distribution and of the broader questions of evolution. If the same species or the same genus is established in many widely separated areas of the same country or continent or in the countries of different continents, we want to know something about the controlling factors which have brought it about. I seems to me that the greatest difficulty to be met with in any comprehensive consideration of the subject from published data is the wide range of difference in the interpretation of specific distinc- tion by taxonomists. There is often a marked difference of opin- ion on this fundamental question among those who work on the same group, but, when we consider the great difference in the inter- pretation of the range or limits of specific distinction among special- ists in entomology or zoology, or in the entire field of biology, the complications in the difficulty of determining a reliable basis for comprehensive study or conclusions is overwhelming; in fact is prohibitive of reliable results. The genus of one author becomes a OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 119 subgenus species or subspecies of others or even a variety in the mind of the extremist who insists on the widest range for specific and generic characters. In an effort to define the distribution of such a complex, what are we going to do? Who are we going to accept as the authority? Naturally we will be inclined to accept the one who is nearest in accord with our individual opinions. If we are familiar with the genus or species, as the case may be, per- haps our opinion will be worth something as to the range of dis- tribution, but suppose we are not familar with the genus or species of one author although we may be an authority on some other group, and we want to compare the distribution of his concepts with what we consider be to a species in our special group. In such a case our conclusions as to the governing factors in the distribution, will not be worth much beyond those based on our own interpreta- tion of a species and personal knowledge of the range in its distri- bution. Yet broad generalizations have been based on just such uncertain data by biologists and zoologists in the past and will be in the future until some common standard is established. If the leading biologists would meet on some common plane of reasoning by withdrawing from their fortified positions of extreme opinions (under a flag of truce if necessary), and would be guided by a sincere desire to get together on some of the more essential evidences and facts as to the units for comparison, something of real importance and value would be accomplished. There has been a great deal of speculation on the probability that certain widely separated land masses of two continents were connected at some remote period, because of the presence in both areas of the same or similar genera and species. The theory of circumpolar distribution during periods of uni- form mild climatic conditions and of separations and isolations during the frequent glacial disturbances is a most attractive one considered by many to be a simple explanation of the occurence of the same genera and species in the boreal and temperate zones of two continents. Undoubtedly the periods of glaciation which prevailed at various geological times in different parts of the world have had a marked influence on the distribution of plants and animals and especially certain discontinuous distribution. It is evident, however, that a number of examples in glaciated areas, in addition to those in areas out of the range of glacial influences, can not be explained by the glacial theory of distribution. In looking for examples of discontinuous distribution, I must naturally give first consideration to insects and to the group of in- sects which has received my special attention, namely, the Scolytid beetles. 120 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY According to a system of classification which will soon be pub- lished, these beetles represent a super-family, with representatives in every part of the world where woody plants grow. The four families are represented in all of the great faunal areas, while the subfamilies, genera, and species become more and more restricted with the descending rank. There are, of course, some notable exceptions to be found in genera and species which are more or less cosmopolitan. There are, on the other hand, a great many genera and species which are, so far as known, exceedingly restricted in their distribution. While, as a rule, species and groups of closely allied species fol- low the distribution of their hostplant species, there are examples of species of insects which are more restricted in their distribution than that of their host plant. There are also a great many examples of allied plant species in different countries being the hosts of the same genera and very similar species of insects. Among these, there are to be found some of the more striking examples of discontinuous distribution, es- pecially under the broader conception of a species. Under a more restricted conception, the number of such examples is greatly reduced, so that under this conception the subject would resolve it- self into one of discontinuous distribution of closely allied species. The subject of so-called paired or parallel species is of special interest in connection with a study of geographical distribution. There are some striking examples of paired species in the genus Dendroctonus which if they occupied the same local faunal area would be difficult to separate on account for their close resemblance in structural characters. These paired species are brevicornis and barberi, frontalis and arizonicus, mexicanus and parallelocollis, monticolce and ponderosce, piceaperda and engelmanni, punctatus and micans and terebrans and valens. In each case the pairs are more or less widely separated from each other in their geograph- ical distribution, as for example; micans of northern Europe and punctatus of the Appalachians of North American ; frontalis of the southern states and arizonicus of Arizona; barberi of Arizona and New Mexico and brevicornis of the Pacific slope states, Idaho, Mon- tana and part of Wyoming; ponderosce of the central and southern Rocky Mountains and monticolce, of the northern Rocky Moun- tains and Pacific Slope. There are a large number of similar cases of so-called paired spe- cies in other genera and the supposition that some of them are one and the same species has led to considerable confusion relating to the true range of a species. Between North America and Europe we have several examples such as Xyleborus pyri of America and Xyleborus dispar of Europe, Dryoccetes autographus of Europe and OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 121 Dryoccetes septentrionis of the western coast and Alaska of America, Xyloterus lineatus of Europe and Xyloterus bivittatus of eastern and western North America, Hylurgops glabratus of Europe and Hylur- gops pinifex of eastern America. There are many others common to two or more countries which superficially seem to be the same things and if so would come under the head of discontinuous distribution of species. Some of the most important examples in discontinuous distribu- tion of species are to be found in a leading article by Professor Kellogg in the American Naturalist for March, 1913, on "Distribu- tion and Species-Forming of Ecto-Parasites. " This has reference to the curious and most interesting bird lice on which Professor Kellogg is a special authority. This writer states : " There appears to be a plain tendency for a single parasite species to be common to two or more related host species even though these hosts be so widely separated geographically and so restricted to their separate geo- graphical range that all possible chance of contact between indi- viduals of the different host species seems positively precluded. " Numbers of examples are given. Professor Kellogg thinks that this remarkable discontinuous distribution is due to descent from a widely distributed common ancestor. Many interesting examples of discontinuous biological islands characterized by the same or very similar species, are to be found in high, isolated mountains or mountain ranges, and low bogy areas, and so-called ice caves, regular caves, etc. Some of the boreal islands are restricted to a few square rods. Whenever in these islands the climatic conditions and the general environments are similar the same or similar genera and species of plants and ani- mals occur, which in many cases are separated by hundreds or even thousands of miles from the nearest area of continuous distribution. Some of the causes of discontinuous distribution may have been due to the separation of once continuous land masses, fluctuating climatic conditions of circumpolar areas from similar conditions throughout to radical local differences due to glaciation and ocean currents. There are also a great many examples of artificial or accidental introductions, but I am more and more inclined to the opinion that parallel evolution from a common primitive ancestral base under long continued, similar environments has been a very important factor in establishing what are considered to be the same species, and closely allied species in widely separated areas of the world. Therefore it seems to me that we have in this principle of parallel modification and evolution a simple and plausible explana- tion for many of the puzzling features in the geographic distribu- tion of genera and species of plants and animals. 122 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Jn discussing this paper Mr. Caudell spoke of the Mantid genus Brunneria. This genus was described by Saussure in 1869 from a species from Argentina and within the next two years he added two more species, both from Brazil. A quarter of a century later Mr. Scudder described B. borealis from Texas in the United States. Representatives of this genus have never been found in the inter- vening countries of Mexico and Central America, though future collecting may yet show the genus to occur there. The northern species, five speciments of which are in the National Museum Col- lection, have been compared directly with the type species from South America and appear to be perfectly congeneric with it. Accidental introduction was cited as a potent factor in discon- tinuous geographical distribution. It was suggested that had the recently introduced Asiatic mantis, Tenodera sinensis, been brought over by some early explorer it might have become jWell distributed over our northeastern states and have been described by some early American entomologist as a new species, its relationship to the Old World form not being suspected. Indeed, in a case like this, were the known New World four thousand or more 3 r ears old instead of four hundred, the species would very likely have been changed by climate and environment into a distinct variety or species or even genus. In reply to Mr. Caudell, Mr. Banks said it made no difference whether these genera were used in the present sense or divided; the fact would still remain that one genus or several allied genera had a certain distribution. He also said that though there were many insects distributed by commerce, the distribution of the genera he had considered was effected long before the existence of man. MEETING OF MAY 1, 1913. The 268th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by Mr. W. D. Hunter in the Samgerbund Hall, 314 C street N.W., on the evening of May 1, 1913. In the absence of the Recording Secretary the President asked Mr. Rohwer to read and record the minutes. There were present Messrs. Baker, Banks, Barber, Boving, Burke, Busck, Caudell, Cory, Craighead, Cushman, Duckett, Fisher, OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 123 Gahan, Gill, Greene, Heidemann, Heindrich, Hood, Hopkins, Hunter, Kirk, Knab, Mclndoo, Malloch, Middleton, Myers, Pierce, Popenoe, Rohwer, Schwarz. Shannon, Snyder, Turner, Walton and Wood, members, and T. D. A. Cockerell and W. T. X. Forbes visi- tors. President Busck occupied the chair. The minutes of the preceding meeting were read, and with the insertion of the names of Dr. Adam Boving and Mr. H. B. Kirk as having been proposed for active membership at the last meeting were approved. The Corresponding Secretary read a letter from Dr. David Sharp thanking the Society for electing him as an honorary member. The Editor stated that the manuscript for the second number of volume XV was in the hands of the printer and that it was intended that it would be out on June 6. He also added that he had attended the meeting of the Editors and Secretaries of the Washington Academy of Science and affiliated societies, the purpose of which was to obtain suggestions as to the improvement of the Journal of the Academy. It had been suggested that a department of news and personal notices be included. No action was taken on this. Dr. Adam Boving and Mr. H. B. Kirk were elected active members. The first paper of the evening "Remarks on Fossil Insects" was presented by Professor T. D. A. Cockerell. REMARKS ON FOSSIL INSECTS. BY PROF. T. D. A. COCKERELL. [Author's Abstract.] The known insects, as well as the plants, can be divided into two great groups, the ancient and the modern. The ancient groups were represented in the Palaeozoic and earlier part of the Mesozoic. During the Mesozoic the dicotyledonous plants, even including genera still common, appeared, and the flora has not changed its general facies since. We know very little about the later Meso- zoic insects but the Tertiary insects are so thoroughly modern in type that there is no doubt that the modern series of insects arose during the Mesozoic. At the same time, it must be noted that of the groups prevalent today, some are very much older than others. The statement has been carelessly made, that bees existed during the Mesozoic. As a matter of fact, none of the few known Mesozoic 124 PKOCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Hymenoptera are bees, or at all nearly related to them. It is possible that there were Mesozoic bees, but if so, they have still to be found. In the upper Cretaceous of Colorado, the speaker had found fairly large pieces of amber, but careful search in it has not produced any plant or insect remains. Insect-bearing amber from the Cretaceous would of course be of extraordinary value, and might be expected to throw light on many entomological problems. In this country there are extensive insect bearing beds of Eocene age in Wyoming, and especially in the region about the boundary between Colorado and Utah. Mr. Earl Douglass, who has recently come from that region, stated to the speaker that the insect bearing deposits he had examined were extremely rich, but nearly all of the insects were small. It is hoped to visit these deposits at some future time, and as they are much older than either the Prussian amber or the Florissant shales, it is expected that very interesting materials may be found. The species from Eocene horizons described by Scudder, though quite numerous, must represent only a small part of the fauna which has been preserved. The Prussian amber insects are extremely numerous, and many of them so beautifully preserved that it is possible to count the pal- pal joints, and see many other details of structure. They have about 100,000 specimens in the collection at Konigsberg. The speaker, some years ago, described the bees of the Konigsberg col- lection, and found that all the genera were extinct, while some of the other Hymenoptera, as for instance, two species of Crabro, be- longed strictly to living genera. The amber insects, after being much neglected, are now being carefully worked up, and attention must especially be called to Ulmer's magnificent monograph of amber Trichoptera. Dr. W. M. Wheeler has just completed the study of the amber ants, and his paper will be of the greatest inter- est, showing a curious mixture of quite modern Palaearctic types, with many remarkable genera of Indo-Malay affinities. The Florissant beds, in which the speaker has principally worked, are of Miocene, probably Upper Miocene, age. The species known from there now considerably exceed a thousand, and it becomes possible to draw some conclusions from the absence as well as the presence of certain groups. It is very singular that no true Musci- dse and no Tachinidse have ever been found; while on the other hand Nemestrinidse were well represented, and there were two spe- cies of tse-tse fly, Glossina. The Bombyliidse and Aphididse seem, though numerous, all to belong to extinct genera but in some other families, equally common, all or nearly all the genera appear to be still living. It has appeared not necessary, for example, to pro- pose a new generic name or any one of the Asilidae. Tipulidae OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 125 are very abundant and the modern genus Tipula is very rich in species. No recognizable Culicidse have been seen, except a single egg which certainly appears to belong to this group. Among the bees, some of the genera are extinct, but most are still represented in Colorado in marked contrast with the bee fauna of amber which is considered to be much older. Some of the wasps greatly resem- ble living species, and the same is true of the sawflies. There are however some remarkable extinct types of sawflies. The sawfly fauna as a whole is found by Mr. Rohwer to resemble that of the eastern United States, herein agreeing with the flora, which has much in common with that of the uplands of the southeastern states. Thousands of specimens of ants have been collected, but they have not been described. They are in the hands of Dr. W. M. Wheeler. The beetles are being worked up by Prof. H. F. Wick- ham, who visited Florissant last year and made a large collection. Weevils are extraordinarily abundant, and include some very curi- ous extinct generic types. Certain families are unaccountably absent or at least have not been found ; perhaps the most notewor- thy being the Histeridae, which would be readily recognizable. It at first seemed that small beetles were scarce, but Professor Wick- ham has gone over a quantity of the best shale with a lens, and has discovered a number of minute things which would be overlooked in the field. Perhaps the most interesting discovery among the Coleoptera is a genus with two species, apparently referable to the Paussidse. On the whole it seems that the Florissant shales were laid down at a time when Bering Strait was dry land, and the old world fauna was invading North America; but the Isthmus of Panama was still under water, so that there is no clear indication of any strictly neotropical fauna or flora in the shales. The Miocene beds at (Eningen, or rather Wangen, in Baden, ap- pear to be approximately of the same age as those of Florissant, and carry a very similar fauna. These beds were visited by the speaker some years ago, and while some good plants, molluscs and fish were collected, it was found impossible to get at the good insect-bearing beds, which are covered with earth and rock on which vegetation is growing. The fossils were obtained when the rock was quarried, and the quarries have been neglected for about thirty years. It is evident that there are vast beds of fossils at AYan^-en still untouched, just as there are at Florissant and it is surprising that no one has taken enough interest to continue the work of Heer. It would not cost any very great sum to open up the beds and collect more fossils, especially since labor is cheaper than in Colorado, and more easily obtained. The locality is a charming one overlooking the north bank of the Rhine. Heer's (Eningen fossils are mostly in the Mu- seum of the University in Zurich where the speaker examined them. 126 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Many of them are very beautiful. Numerous fossils from the same locality were seen in the Museum at Constance. From the Miocene to the Pleistocene, we know little of the American insect fauna; but the interglacial clays have yielded a number of Coleoptera, which Scudder has described, rinding them distinct from, but closely allied to, living species. As the Pleisto- cene plants are known to be mostly living species, it appears from this that the species of insects change more rapidly than those of flowering plants; but generic changes among insects appear to be very slow. Most of the multitudinous species .of insects which perplex entomologists may be said to be due to a sort of shuffling of the characters which have been inherent in their several generic types for a very long while. -In discussion of Professor Cockerell's paper Dr. Gill objected to the liberal use of the word cockroach and added that he had argued this point with the late Dr. S. H. Scudder. His objection to Professor Cockerell's use of the term was that the ancient insects called cockroaches were not the cockroaches of today; they do not belong to the family Blattidse or even to the same order as the modern cockroaches which did not appear until the Upper Creta- ceous. Dr. Gill added that he had made the same objection to the common liberal use of the word " horse" as applied to the an- cestors of the horse, stating that the three-toed horse was not a horse or even closely related to the modern Equus -indeed it be- longed to an entirely different group. Dr. Gill added that among most animals there was a great dif ference between the ancient types represented in the Palaeozoic formation and those which come in the Cretaceous and newer rocks. So marked is the difference that for mammals the modern fauna has no family in common with the Eocene except possibly the Didelphidids. The difference is not so well marked in the molluscs as they have come through with but little change since the Creta- ceous, and even earlier, for there are several freshwater types, as viviparids, melaniids, unionids, in the Jurassic beds which on the characters available can hardly be distinguished from forms living today. The mammals are entirely different and have evolved very rapidly, the fish less rapidly, and the molluscs more slowly, so these great goups may serve as chronometers for the including rocks. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 127 In further comment on Professor Cockerell's paper Mr. Banks emphasized the importance of the amber insects and stated that some of them which he had seen were in even better condition than the modern museum specimens, referring mostly to the Psocids. As an example of the fragmentary and unsatisfactory nature of most Florissant fossils he commented on the recent description of a Phryganeid by Professor Cockerell and stated that this family could only be separated from the closely allied Limnophilidse by the male palpi, which were not preserved. He also commented on the value of the recent work on amber Trichoptera by Ulmer. Air. Banks added that in the fossil fauna of Florissant are groups of insects which occur today only in warm countries, and also groups which occur today only in cold countries. And he considered that it is possible that in Miocene times one or the other of these groups were accustomed to either a warmer or a cooler climate. For exam- ple, if we collected 5500 species of insects around Washington we would undoubtedly have some insects which belonged more properly to the tropical or subtropical regions, viz., the wheel bug. To him the most discouraging thing about fossils is that the story breaks off just at the most important place and that if some could be discovered which would bridge the gap between the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic some interesting points might be obtained, for it was during this long period that most of the orders had their beginning. Dr. Hopkins stated that he was much interested in Professor Cockerell's remarks about the insects in Florissant deposits and those of the interglacial clays. He added that he examined Scud- der's types of Florissant Scolytidae and found that they were not all Scolytids but that those which could be recognized as belonging to this family appeared to belong to modern genera. He stated that one species referred to by him in Psyche 1 under Hylesinus had double eyes, but later he found that it belonged to another genus not represented in America but with its nearest ally in the Philip- pine Islands. He mentioned that he had examined Dr. Scudder's famous fossil stick from the interglacial clays and that from the gallery he had recognized the work of a Phloeosinus and sug- gested that it was allied to a Pacific Coast species, and that Scudder 1 A. D. Hopkins. American Fossil Coleoptera Referred to the Scolyti- dae. Psyche, vol. 9, 1903, p. 64. 128 PKOCEEDIXGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY had arrived at the same conclusions in regard to many of the other Coleoptera from the same clays. 1 Dr. Hopkins remarked that, in his opinion, it is not safe to draw conclusions on any evidences of evolution from fossil forms, stating that he believed that as a rule only the highly specialized species were preserved and that the small and less specialized forms from which present species may have evolved, were not preserved. He added that he was glad to have the additional evidence on parallel evolution brought out by Professor Cockerell in his reference to the resemblance of Florissant forms to those of other countries and continents. The second paper, ''Efficiency of a Tachinid Parasite, on the Last Instar of Laphygma'' was read by Mr. Walton. EFFICIENCY OF A TACHINID PARASITE ON THE LAST INSTAR OF LAPHYGMA. BY W. R. WALTOX, Bureau of Entomology. During the latter part of August, 1912, an infestation of Laphyg- ma frugiperda occurred on the grounds of the Department of Agri- culture at Washington, D. C., in close proximity to the quarters occupied by the Bureau of Entomology. Observations indicated that the larva? were parasitized in a high degree by Tachinid flies. The occasion was therefore grasped as an opportunity for securing data on the relative efficiency of these parasites in the last instar of the caterpillar. It has been remarked by various observers that caterpillars frequently cast off the eggs of Tachihids with the pelli- cle during ecdysis, before they have hatched or at least before the young larvae have been able to gain entrance through body walls of their host. But as the last instar of some caterpillars is of longer duration than the earlier moults, and as in this stage the larva? are, on account of their larger size, method of feeding, etc., more open to the attack of Tachinida?, it seemed possible that oviposition might prove more effective in this instar than in the earlier moults. Accordingly efforts were made to secure information on the following points: (1) Effectiveness of parasitism; (2) maximum number of adult Tachinids to issue from one individual of host; (3) what effect if any had the deposition of supernumerary eggs on : A. D. Hopkins. Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology, vol. n, pt. ii. Canadian Fossil Insects. Appendix: Work of the prehistoric Scoly- tid, Phloeosinus squalidens Scudd. pp. 91-92., plate XIV.; XV. OF WASHIXGTOX, VOLUME XV, 1913 129 the development of the resulting adult flies; (4) what species of Tachinidse were involved. The only species reared wa< Winthemia quadripustidata Fabr. Fourteen caterpillars were selected, each bearing from one to twelve of the conspicuous eggs of this fly. Each larva was placed in a single small cage and kept under similar conditions. Two of them designated respectively as F and G died after entering the ground from causes undetermined, no flies issued from them, they may therefore be eliminated from consideration. In the re- maining twelve cases parasites emerged from each, resulting in the destruction of the host, thus apparently indicating a very high degree of effectiveness for this species of parasite on the last instar of Laphygma. The largest number of flies to issue from any one host was three and this occurred only in one instance. In five cases two flies emerged. In the remaining six but pne fly each resulted. It may be seen by consulting the appended table that the largest individ- uals each and all emerged from hosts which had borne but a single egg of the parasite. In these cases designated as A. G and L the flies averaged 10.5 mm., all males. In case M (the only example remaining in which but two eggs were borne by the host), the resulting fly, a female, measured 9 mm., indicating apparently that there is a distinct economi- loss to the fly when more than one egg is deposited. And this idea is well borne out by the results obtained from the other examples where a large number of parasitic eggs were found. In cases C and D where six eggs occurred the result- ing flies, two males and one female, averaged 8.5 mm. In cases I and X where 7 eggs occurred we have an average of 8.59 (two males and one female). In cases E and K where as many as 12 eggs were present on the host the average is but 7 mm. (three males and one female). In both the latter cases but two adults issued in each cage. It appears obvious from the foregoing that in this spe- cies at least the size of the adult fly may bear a direct relation to the number of eggs deposited on the host caterpillar by the parent. It would be interesting to know what effect if any this diminish- ment in size has upon the reproductive powers of the resulting indi- viduals. The three largest individuals are all males. But the fact that size bears no relation to sex in this species is apparent from the results here obtained, that is to say. the two smallest individuals reared (see case K) are also males. AYe might speculate at length upon what occurs in those cater- pillars where -everal eggs are deposited. But one thing is plainly evident, namely, that a struggle for survival ensues among the para- sites. One result of which is diminished size and therefore possibly a lessening of reproductive vigor in the issuing adults. 130 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Some time subsequent to the preparation of this manuscript it was my privilege to see Dr. J. C. Nielson's most interesting paper 1 relative to his experiments with Tachina larvarum Linn, (a species very closely related to, if not identical with, our Tachina mella Walk.) and its parasitism on Zygaena filipendulae in Denmark. My experiments while conducted on a much smaller scale seem to indicate results which are in the main parallel with his. That is to say, the deposition of supernumerary eggs resulted in a diminution of size in the resulting parasites. However, he says, "in cases where several flies emerged from the same host ; their size was not equally reduced, one or two of them not differing in size from that of flies which had developed solitary, the remainder being undersized." He does not, however, state whether the solitary specimens men- tioned were those resulting from the deposition of one, or more than one egg on the host caterpillar. The detailed results of my somewhat limited investigation are summarized below in the appended table : Cage Symbol. No. of eggs on cater- pillar. Entered earth. Date parasites issued. No. of flies issued. Length mm. Sex. Remarks. A 1 Aug. 28 Sept. 12 1 11 d" B 4 Aug. 30 Sept. 12-14 3 8-7-7 c? 9 9 C 6 Aug 30 Sept 12 2 8-9 dV D. . . 6 Aug. 30 Sept. 14 1 8 9 E 12 Aug. 30 Sept. 11-14 2 8-8 d" 9 F G 9 2 Aug. 30 Aug. 30 Died in earth. Died in earth. H 9 Aug. 30 Sept. 12-14 2 7-7 o" 9 I 7 Aug. 30 Sept. 11 1 9 c? J. 1 Aug. 30 Sept. 14 1 10 tf K. .. 12 Sept. 1 Sept. 12 2 6-6 cfcf L 1 Aug. 30 Sept. 12 1 10 cf M 2 Aug. 30 Sept. 15 1 9 9 N 7 Aug. 30 Sept. 12-14 2 8 d" 9 In discussing this paper Mr. Pierce stated that in the South he had found Chelonus texanus Cresson (det. Viereck) which laid its egg in the egg of Laphygma to be a much more efficient parasite 1 Undersogelser over entoparasitiske Muscide larver hos Arthropoder af Dr. J. C. Nielson, Saertryk af Vidensk. Medd. fra den naturh. Foren. Bd. 64 p. 215-248. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 131 than the Tachinid mentioned by Mr. Walton, stating that'GVze/- onus caused a total mortality and emerged from the third or fourth instar of Laphygma larvae. Mr. Busck asked Mr. Walton if he had been able to find any remains of the Tachinid larvae in the Laphygma larvae on which more than one egg was laid, and whether it had been ascertained if the Tachinid parasite was crowded out in the larval or egg stage. Mr. Walton said that he had no evidence. The third paper, "The Ovipositor of Parandra brunnea Fabr. " was read by Mr Snyder. THE OVIPOSITOR OF PARANDRA BRUNNEA FAB. BY T. E. SXYDER, Bureau of Entomology. The family Spondylidae is of considerable interest in that there is quite a little doubt as to its proper position in the classification of Coleoptera. Indeed, some authors consider the genera Parandra Lat., Spondylis Fab. and Scaphinus Lee., which LeConte and Horn 1 have placed in a separate family, either as belonging to the family Cerambyciclse or as aberrant Cerambycidae. LeConte and Horn have divided the family Spondylidae into the subfamilies Paran- drinse and Spondylinae the former embracing the genus Parandra Lat., the latter the genera Spondylis Fab. and Scaphinus Lee. As LeConte states, 2 this family "might be regarded as representa- tive of a family nearly extinguished in the lapse of time," for the species are "very few and highly discrepant." 3 Species of the genus Parandra Lat., like those of genera of the family Prionidae have the prothorax margined and as there are many characters to indicate relationship, it has been included in this family by some authors as an aberrant form. The larva of Parandra brunnea Fab. is typically Cerambycid-like in form and has characters which, according to Mr. F. C'. Craighead of the Bureau of Entomology, place it between the groups Prionini and Asemini. The larva of Spondylis buprestoides Linn., 4 a European species, according to Judeich and Nitsche, is similar to Cerambycid larvae in form. The 1 Classification of the Coleoptera of North America, Washington, 1883, p. 264. 2 Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., 2nd Ser., vol. n, 1851, p. 99. 3 Sharpc, D. "Insects." Pt. II, pp 287-8, "The Cambridge Natural His- tory," vol. vi, 1901. 1 Lehrbuch der Mitteleuropaeischen Forstinsektenkunde, 2, i, 1889, pp. 570-71. 132 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY ovipositor of species of the genus Parandra Lat. is unlike the fleshy ovipositor of most of the Cerambycidse as it is heavily chitinized and highly specialized, being adapted to actually insert the eggs in wood. The ovipositors of species of the genera Spondylis Fab. and Scaphinus Lee., however, more closely resemble those of the nor- mal Cerambycidse. The ovipositor of Parandra brunnea Fab- (fig. 1) is operated, by being extended by the contraction of the muscular attachment of a chitinous rod and an invagination, ster- nite VIII. The 8th abdominal tergite overlaps the 7th and the rod and sheath is attached by muscles to the 7th tergite and the 8th sternite. The function of the ovispositor, which terminates in Fig. 1. Ovipositor of Parandra brunnea Fabr. ; a, ventral view; b, lateral view of same, showing c, c' rod; d, d' invagination; e, e' prongs; f, foveae. three pair of up-pointing prongs or teeth, the inner pairs or molars of which are movable, is probably to drill or rasp out a pocket for the egg. The muscles at the base of the ovipositor enable it to be twisted about. The ovipositor of Prionus laticollis Drury (fig. 2) is also chitinized and is a modification of the normal fleshy oviposi- tor of Cerambycids. The nomenclature is omitted as Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Boving will later correlate the various parts of the ovipositor of Parandra brunnea Fab. The eggs of Parandra brunnea Fab. are inserted in decaying wood or even in moist wood where there is only incipient decay. A chestnut telegraph pole in which eggs were found was set in the OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 133 ground near Anacostia, D. C , and had been standing but little over a year. A number of the eggs are inserted proximately, often in the c Fig. 2. Ovipositor of Prionus laticollis Drury, ventral view c, c' cerci. pores which are rich in food substances. The larvae upon hatching excavate shallow longitudinal burrows, then enter he wood trans- versely. This habit of living in woo:l below the surface of the ground is shared with species of the Prionidae and doubtless the earth about the wood serves the purpose of retaining moisture as does the bark upon logs under which many beetles insert their eggs. The drawings are by C. T. Greene. The following papers were accepted for publication: A NEW SPECIES OF SIMULIUM FROM TEXAS. BY J. R. MALLOCH. Simulium distinctum, new species. Mule: Black. Antennae yellow, generally more or less brown toward apices; face with silvery pollinosity; palpi and proboscis black, or brown. Mesonotum deep velvety black, with two silvery pollinose, slightly curved lines, which are broadest at anterior extremities, and extend th3 whole length of disk, meeting at the posterior margin with a cross band of the same color; side margin yellowish, with silvery pollinosity, prescutum yel- low; pleurae opaque gray, yellowish below wing base on the membranous portion of mesopleura; scutellum black; post-notum black with a silky lustre. Abdomen with basal scale velvety black or brown-black, the seg- ment below it yellow, the succeeding three segments deep velvety black; next segment sometimes more or less yellowish, and almost entirely cov- ered with silvery pollinosity, which is also noticeable on sides of next segment; apical segments and hypopygium black. Legs yellow; fore coxa- slightly, mid and hind coxae distinctly grayish; hind femora with apical half blackened; fore tibia? darkened towards apices and, like the other tibia?, whitish on dorsal surfaces; hind tibia? with apical half black; fore tarsi black; mid and hind tarsi with apices of first and second, and whole of third to fifth joints black. Wings clear. Halteres yellow. Head normal in shape, the upper eye facets much larger than the lower; face with a few black hairs. Mesonotum with golden pilosity, which is 134 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY not very pronounced, and only visible, under a moderate magnification, on the pale stripes, though more conspicuous on posterior and lateral mar- gins; scutellum with decumbent golden pilosity and upright yellowish hairs; pleurse bare except for the usual tuft below wing base, which is not conspicuous, and confined to upper angle. Basal abdominal fringe yellow, other abdominal segments weakly haired. Legs strong; surfaces with golden pile, and scattered black hairs, which are most conspicuous on dor- sal surfaces; fore tarsi slender; basal joint more than twice as long as second; the paired apical hairs present on joints 1 and 3, but not conspicu- ous; hind metatarsus not as broad as hind tibia, and distinctly longer than the other four tarsal joints together; claws trifid, wing venation normal. Length, 1 .5 mm. Type: Cat. no. 15958, U. S. N. M. Locality: Devils River, Texas, May 5, 1907, at light, (Bishopp and Pratt) Female: In color very similar to the male, but the yellow is more pre- dominant. The frons and face are thickly covered with a pale lavender- gray pollinosity; the antennae are slightly darkened at base; and the palpi are black. Mesonotum with the appearance of having three deep black stripes on a brownish-yellow ground, the intervening spaces covered with thick pollinosity similar to that on frons, and the lateral margins also dis- tinctly pollinose; pleurae-black, anteriorly and posteriorly yellow-brown, with silvery pollinosity; scutellum brown, gray pollinose, post-notum black, with silky lustre. Abdomen with basal scale yellow; segment be- low scale silvery, on apex, laterally; the other segments yellow, more or less obscured with brown, and with three rows of black spots. Legs col- ored as male. Wings similar to male. Halteres yellow. Frons convergent anteriorly, at upper angles almost twice as wide as at lower; surface hairs sparse, pale; face distinctly longer than broad, its breadth slightly more than equal to breadth of frons at lower margin, haired as frons. Mesono- tum with the pilosity very short, close and hairlike, yellow in color; scutellum with distinct, decumbent yellow pilosity and longer upright yel- low hair. Basal fringe of abdomen short, yellow. Legs haired as in male ; claws simple. Length, 2 mm. Same data as males. One specimen. Another specimen with label, Victoria, Tarn., Mexico, Decem- ber 10, (F. C. Bishopp), though smaller agrees in other particulars with the allotype. , I do not know of any recorded occurrence of Simulium at light, and it seems strange that species which nor- mally prefer the sunshine should be attracted in this manner. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1013 135 TWO NEW SPECIES OF BORBORID/E FROM TEXAS. BY J. R. MALLOCH. Leptocera (=Limosina) mitchelli, new species. Male: Black, shining, but not glossy. Third joint of antennae, face, and cheeks more or less distinctly reddish brown. Legs brownish. Wings smoky; veins brown. Halteres brownish yellow. Frons about as long as broad, opaque except on orbits; 3 outwardly di- rected, orbital bristles present; the center rows consist of 4 bristles each which are of about equal length; antennae normal in size and shape; arista nearly bare, in length about If the width of frons; cheek about equal in height to the width of third antennal joint; vibrissa strong, situated slightly above mouth margin; posterior to the vibrissa there is a short bristle situated about midway from lower margin to eye margin, and the usual marginal bristles are distinct; face concave; eyes elongate oval. Mesonotum with only one pair of prescutellar, dorso-central bristles, and the disk thickly covered with short setulaB; pleurs glossy; sterno-plura with two bristles neither of which is exceptionally long; scutellum with four marginal brisles and the disk covered with short setula?. Abdomen with numerous surface hairs; hypopygium large, its surface covered with short hairs. Legs covered with short hairs; mid tibia with four to five bristles on the dorsal surfaces, the pair at about apical third strong- est, and one ventral bristle at below middle; basal joint of hind tarsus barely longer than broad; second distinctly longer than broad. Wings with first costal division two-thirds as long as second; second subequal with third, or slightly shorter; basal section of third vein not half as long as last section of second; outer cross vein upright, at slightly more than its own length from inner; last section of third vein straight,' end- ing before wing tip; costa extending well beyond end of third vein; fourth and fifth veins indistinct from outer cross vein. Length, 1 mm. Type and paratypes: Cat. no. 15972. U. S. N. M. Locality: Victoria, Texas. 10-9-1907. (September?) (J. D. Mitchell) "on Bumelia lanuginosa." Five specimens. Allied to ferruginata Stenh., which is cosmopolitan in its occur- rence, and is common in North America. Leptocera (=Limosina) approximata, new species. Male: Black-brown, subopaque. Second antennal joint, viewed from above and the side, velvety opaque black; cheeks and face yellowish- brown. Pleurae and legs yellow-brown. Halteres yellow, knob brown. Wings clear. Frons occupying almost the entire width of head, fig. 2, center stripe shining, the narrow stripe on either side opaque orbits shining, lateral margins of center stripe with a row of hairs, orbits covered with short 136 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY hairs, the bristles hair-like, and confined to the upper half; antennae of moderate size, directed outward, second joint with short apical bristles, third joint with pale pilosity; arista slightly longer than width of frons, hair-like, pubescence distinct, white; face slightly retreating in profile, eye small occupying less than one-half the length of head from vertex to anterior margin, distinctly higher than long and in height equal to height of cheek; 2-3 short bristles below anterior lower margin of eye; the marginal bristles on cheek regular, distinct, and increasing in length anteriorly. Fig. 1. Leptocera approximate,, n. sp.; a, wing; b, head, antennae, face and cheeks. Mesonotum with short discal pale hairs, the bristles confined to a row (5-6) in front of scutellum; marginal bristles weak; scutellum flattened on disk, broad, rounded in outline, disk bare, margin with four widely separated bristles of equal length. Abdomen not longer than thorax; hypopygium knob-like, the surface covered with short hairs. Legs normal ; dorsal surface of mid tibia with 4-5 bristles as in most species of Limosina. Wing as figure la. Length, 5 mm. Type: Cat. no. 15973. U. S. N. M. Locality: Dallas, Texas. August 30, 1907, reared from cow manure, (F. C. Pratt), Hunter no. 1611-19. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 137 The peculiar frons should readily separate this species from any of the few species that are allied to it in wing venation. NEW EXOTIC NEUROPTEROID INSECTS. BY NATHAN BANKS, Bureau of Entomology. Included below are a few miscellaneous descriptions of new ex- otic Neuropteroid insects which I have prepared from time to time while going over parts of my collection. EPHEMERID^E. Ephemera vedana n. sp. Yellowish; pronotum with a dark stripe each side reaching back to above base of wings. On dorsum of abdomen, each segment has a pair of dark lines each side, the upper one the wider, except on the penultimate segment where there is one stripe each side, and a submedian pair within, this submedian pair of lines is often indicated on the other segments; last segment has a round black spot each side at base, and on some of the basal segments is a median dark spot. Venter with dark line each side, and the connection of venter and dorsum dark; setce yellowish, their joinings dark; two dark dots each side on the upper plura. Tibia I dark at ends, femur reddish; basal joint of antennae dark. Fore wings hyaline, with a reddish tint along front, deepest in submar- ginal area and in the pterostigmatic area; cross-veins dark, longitudinal veins pale yellowish; hind wings with the cross-venation also dark; no spots on the wings. In several specimens the intercalary in front of the first anal is united to the anal near base. The subimago has cloudy wings with dark cross-veins, in some specimens a black dot in the base of the median fork. Expanse, 22 mm. From Chapra, Bengal, India, February. Abdominal marks are similar to those of E. remensa Eaton, but there is no trace of spots on the wings and the costal marks are different from that species. Cloeon pulchella n. sp. Female: Pale yellowish, abdomen rather darker. Wings hyaline, the costa faintly yellowish; about 25 cross-veins in the wings, and several of these are continuous across longitudinal veins, none near the margin, two or three in the pterostigma, widely separated, none before bulla; two inter- calaries behind median, cubitus, and first anal, the posterior one of those behind median and cubitus is the longer. Male: Thorax brown, basal segment of abdomen brown above, segments two 138 PEOCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY and three are pale, marked with brown, four and five white with brown hind margins, sixth white, with large brown spot each side behind, seventh broadly dark behind, eighth, ninth, and tenth wholly dark; venter hyaline, except last two segments dark. Fore femur dark at base, and a broad band at tip, and a dark line at tip of tibia. Wings hyaline, a red-brown dot on inner end of great cross-vein, other- wise venation is hyaline, and on the same plan as that of the female. Expanse, 8 mm. From Chapra, Bengal, India. (Mackenzie). HEMEROBIID^E. Climacia basalis n. sp. Body yellowish, head shining, antennae with two basal joints pale, rest black; thorax, legs, and abdomen pale. Wings pale, in base of fore-wing is an elongate curved, dark brown streak extending along radial sector from its origin out to first fork and then up on the upper branch for a short distance; stigma yellowish; gradates dark brown, almost bordered, the basal venation pale, beyond middle veins are dotted with brown, a faint brown cloud along basal anal margin; hind wings with brownish yellow venation, cross-veins darker. In fore wings about eleven costals before stigma, upper branch of radial sector connected three (or two) times to radius, first near base (some- times lacking) second plainly before the stigma, and again under stigma; upper cubitus ends in five or six branches; the stigma of hind wing plainly swollen out. Expanse, 8 mm. From Bartica, British Guiana, December (Parish). Climacia bimaculata n. sp. Yellowish; a large black interantennal mark reaching above and below, head shining, three basal joints of antennae pale, rest black; thorax, abdo- men and legs pale. Wings yellowish, venation yellow, outer gradates brown- ish, not very dark; each fore-wing with two large dark brown spots; basal transverse one over first fork of the radial sector and extending narrowly behind, second spot on costal and sub-costal area just before the stigma; stigma yellowish. Hind wings less yellowish, venation pale, a faint brown spot just before stigma. Fore-wings with about ten costal cross-veins before stigma, upper branch of radial sector connected three times to the radius, once near base, once at base of stigma, and under stigma, lower cubitus ends in four or five branches. Ovipositor long, slender, ends in a curved point. Expanse, 8 mm. From Bartica, British Guiana, December (Parish). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 139 CHRYSOPID^. Chrysopa parish! n. sp. Yellowish; a red mark under each eye, not reaching to mouth, a red mark back of each eye on the vertex and continued back on the anterior part (only) of the pronotum. Wings with very broad costal area, apex hardly acute, gradates black and margined, six in inner series, eight in outer row, inner series irregular, but nearer to radial sector than to the outer series, the margi- nal forks three times as long as broad, all veins rather stout, many faintly obscured, costals black at ends or almost wholly black, about 20 before stigma, three or four beyond end of the subcosta, radial cross-veins dark at upper end, divisory veinlet ends much beyond the cross-veins, second cubital cell as long as third, base of third oblique; pronotum but little longer than broad, narrowed in front. Expanse, 29mm. From Bartica, British Guiana, December (Parish). Chrysopa albatala n. sp. Runs to C. atala Br. in Navas table, and very near to it, but differs at once in lacking a dark mark on cheeks and the palpi are marked with black. Antennae pale, basal joint with a dark line on outside; pronotum as broad as long, barely broader behind. Wings rather short, hardly acute at tips, with but few veins, about sixteen costals before stigma, four cross-veins behind stigma; gradates with four inner series and six in outer series, inner series nearer to the outer than to the radial sector; marginal forks about twice as long as broad; divisory vein ends at or a little beyond the cross-vein; third cubital equal to second, latter narrowed at tip and the third at base, more than usual. Expanse 21 to 23 mm. From Bartica, British Guiana, December (Parish). Leucochrysa nigrovaria Walker. Pale yellowish, a broad dark brown band under base of antennae from eye to eye, the lobe of vertex with a curved dark line in front; palpi un- marked; antennae pale, first joint with an oblique, rather broad dark brown stripe above, second joint dark brown, next four or five joints infuscated within; margin of pronotum narrowly dark, a black spot on each lateral lobe of the mesothorax, and another near base of the fore wing, metathorax with dark spot above base of hind wings, third and fifth abdominal segments marked with black. Prothorax narrowed in front, a little broader than long. Wings with green venation; origin of radial sector, base of the divisory vein- ,let, outer gradates, ends of radial cross-veins and a few others dark; in hind wings venation almost wholly green. Stigma in both pairs dark in base. Seven or eight gradates in each series, inner series not nearer outer than to radial sector; marginal forks three times as long as broad; 21 costals before stigma in -the fore wing. Expanse 35 mm. 140 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY From Minero, Muzo, Colombia, 500 m. (Fassl.). Chrysopa bolivari n. sp. Similar to C. caucana. Antennae black, basal joints dull reddish, two dark spots on vertex, a black line from eye to mouth, and palpi marked with black; pronotum with two dark lines each side, one marginal, marginal dark stripe above base of wings on meso- and metathorax, and abdominal segment marked with dark on sides. Wings short, rounded at tip ; few-veined, about fourteen costals, four cross-veins behind stigma, three or four gradates in each series, outer as near to inner series as to the margin, marginal forks not twice as long as broad, divisory ends beyond cross vein, second cubital as long as third, but not as wide. In basal part of wing several veins are thick- ened for a short distance, the radial sector between the first and second cross-veins to the median, the base of divisory cell, extending back on upper part of of second cubital cell, and also the cubital near base; these sections are about three times as broad as the rest of the vein, and furnished with minute spicules; these only in the fore-wing. Expanse, 20 mm. From San Antonio, Colombia, January, 2000 hi. (Fassl.). Chrysopa latithorax n. sp. Greenish; a large, broad-bodied species; no dark marks except red line between antennae; a whitish median stripe on thorax and abdomen, abdo- men not dark on sides. Antennae rather short and stout; prothorax fully twice as broad as long, much broader behind than in front. Wings rather slender, almost acute, rather densely veined, many costals, 9 to 11 gradates in each series, outer nearer to margin than to inner series; divisory veinlet ends at or barely before the cross-vein; third cubital shorter, but wider than second, its base very oblique; marginal forks about four times as long as broad; about eight cross-veins behind stigma, and three or four beyond end of the subcosta; radial sector dark at origin and out for some distance; most of the cross-veins dark, at least in part, and marginal forkings dark; in all wings there is one or more accessory gradate veinlets. Expanse, 32 mm. From Mendoza, Argentine, (Haarup). Chrysopa confraterna n. sp. Runs to C. nobregana in Navas table, differs by having a dark brown mark under each eye, but not reaching to mouth. Pale yellowish, probably green- ish alive; head rather long and narrow; palpi with dark tips; vertex slightly tumid; pronotum broader than long, scarcely broader behind, with a faint mark each side. Wings moderately slender, not acute at tips, with green venation, slightly darkened on costal and radial cross-veins, and on some other veins ; gradates dark, inner of seven, outer of eight veinlets, outer series nearer to margin OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 141 than to the inner series; stigma green; divisory ends beyond the cross-vein; third cubital rather longer than the second, and widened at tip; marginal forks hardly twice as long as broad. Expanse, 22 mm. From Chacra di Coris, Argentine, 26 February, 20 March. MYEMELEONID^!. Acanthaclisis subfasciatus n. sp. Face below antennae wholly pale yellowish, basal joint of antennae also pale, a black mark between antennae, above is a transverse pale band, the vertex dull blackish, with three black joints or a line, all with short white hair; palpi pale. Pronotum yellowish, a median stripe (broader and divided in front), a narrow stripe eachsidenotreachingbehind,andthesides (broadly behind), all black; thorax brownish, a black stripe each side above wings; abdomen dull black, with short white hair; thorax with long white hair, and shorter erect black bristles; femora mostly blackish, tibite yellowish, the front and middle ones black banded on outside, hind tibiae with black tip; tarsi black, pale on first and base of fifth joints. Wings hyaline; with about four faint brown bands before stigma, the first one extending over fork of cubitus, these bands are most distinct on radius and cubitus; between the bands the wing is hyaline whitish and most of the venation also; a dark mark at stigma and a spot at union of cubitus and median, and spots all around outer edge, a faint mark at end of anal vein ; the subcosta has short dark spots, and the radius long dark spaces, many cross-veins are black, and the line of bent veins also black. In hind-wings is a mark at stigma, and faint clouds along outer posterior margin and a faint mark over cubital fork. Wings moderately slender, about as in A. conspurcatus. In fore- wings about seventeen to twenty-four costals are simple, and about as many crossed; in hind-wings no costals crossed; in fore-wing seven cross-veins before radial sector, in hind-wings four such cross-veins, twelve branches to radial sector in each wing. Expanse, 80 mm. From Kuranda, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. (Dodd). All the other described Australian species of this genus have the costals crossed to near base of wing, only six or eight being simple. The A. fulva Petersen resembles a species in British Museum (and my collection) which bears a manuscript name of van der Weele's. This species however has narrow wings, all veins (or nearly all) are red-brown, the mesoscutellum has two yellow dots, and hind wings have a cloud along outer hind margin. It comes from West Australia. I would name it but the type should be in the British Museum. Acanthaclisis subtendens Walk, appears to be a small speci- men of .4. fundatus, at least the venation is about the same. 142 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Formicaleon brahmanicus n. sp. Head pale yellowish, a dark line under each antenna, and a spot above each, a bicurved line across in front of the vertex and a T-shaped mark on each side, and two little spots behind; antennae brownish, annulate with darker brown, palpi pale; pronotum pale, but not clear, a dark stripe along each outer margin from the transverse groove backward, and within is another lateral stripe each side slightly approximating behind; thorax pale, with many dark marks, one round each corner of the middle lobe, large geminate spot above each fore-wing, a streak reaching backward, leaving a very broad pale median area; pleura pale; abdomen pale, with a brown stripe each side, twice indented from above on each segment, segments three and four with a median and an apical spot (latter may be united to the side-stripes), fifth and following segments with the side-stripe broad and connected broadly at tip of segments; last few segments of venter dark; legs pale yellowish, with some black dots at base of the black bristles; mid and apical dark bands on tibiae I and II, tips of tarsal joints one to four black and a preapical band on last joint, this joint being nearly as long as all others together; spurs not much curved and as long as four segments, legs not very slender, femora thickened. Wings hyaline, longitudinal veins in- terrupted with dark spots, very faint on median vein, cross-veins often dark at ends ; stigma very faint, a dark dot on the radius below stigma and one out near tip of wing, a spot between median and cubitus near their ends and one on cubital fork near margin; hind wings with many forks and veins in outer posterior part of wing embrowned, so as to form a dark streak subparallel to the outer fourth of the hind margin. Hind-wings longer than forewings, and a little more slender and very acute at tip, fore-wings also slender, and with acute tips, seven cross-veins in fore-wings before radius, eleven or twelve branches of radial sector, in fore-wings seven cross-veins between a cubi- tal fork and anal, in hind-wing anal ends only a little beyond cubital fork, in fore-wings the vein up from end of anal soon runs back to the margin. Expanse, 86 mm. From Pusa, Bengal, 3 to 11 March, 17 June. TRICHOPTERA. Dinarthrodes niger n. sp. Black, with rather reddish brown hair, legs brownish; antennse with tips and base on outer side of joints white, leaving a triangular black portion on each joint; maxillary palpi erect, densely haired, the broad joint masking the face; basal joint of male antenna fully twice as long as vertex, very large, slightly concave beneath, above with two large erect processes; the basal one not as high as the other, concave within and from upper inner angle is a long slender process reaching over to the opposite antenna; second pro- cess rather beyond the middle, subconical. Legs slender, not densely haired, spurs, 2, 4-4. Fore-wings rather slender, apex roundedly truncate, forks PLATE IV. PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. XV. ksVl-'jfm,, m( ^;&>:--: -m m ~\V*$&"'.3*' Rhigopsidius tucumantis HELLER, DORSAL VIEW, GREATLY ENLARGED. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 143 1, 2, and 5, discal cell nearly as long as pedicel. Ventral male appendage long, upcurved, with a slender apical piece, pale and bare. Expanse, 19 mm. From Batavia, Java. PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE FINDING OF A NEW WEEVIL ENEMY OF THE POTATO TUBER. BY E. R. SASSCER AND W. DWIGHT PIERCE, Bureau of Entomology. On May 21 of the' current year, a number of potato tubers (Solatium tuber osum) from the neighborhood of Huarochiri, Peru, were received by Mr. F. V. Coville and were inspected by one of the authors (E. R. S.) and Mr. H. L. Sanford in accordance with the regulations governing importation of nursery stock by the United States Department of Agriculture. This examina- tion revealed the presence of weevil mines and also those of the potato-tuber moth (Phthorimcea operculella Zell.?). 1 Material infested with larvae, pupae and adults, and collected by Mr. W. F. Wight for horticultural purposes was received from the following localities on May 24: Cuzco, Temuco, and Are- quipa, Peru; Oruro, Bolivia; and Ancud or San Carlos and Castro islands, Chili. In many instances injury occasioned by these weevils was quite noticeable. But a few of the tubers which superficially appeared to be sound, on being opened, were found to be infested with one, and sometimes two, larvae or adults. Two adults were kept alive from May 24 to September 6. During this period they fed but little and then only on foliage of potato. This species has been determined by one of the authors (W. D. P.) as Rhigopsidius tucumanus Heller, 2 a species originally de- scribed from Tucuman, Argentine. It belongs to the subfamily of weevils known as Rhytirhinince, tribe Rhytirhinini. The near- est North American insects are the species of the genus Theces- ternus in the tribe Thecesternini of the same subfamily. Nothing whatever is known of the habits of this latter tribe, and the habits of only one species in the Rhytirhinini have been indicated. The specimens at hand may be described briefly as follows: Length 9 mm., yellowish or purplish brown, with thickly matted vesti- ture of a cinerous shade mottled with black dots. Head concealed from above by prothorax and eyes, almost covered by the lateral prothoracic lobes. Beak moderately short, usually reposing in a deep pocket of the 1 Dotermincd 1>\- .Mr. August Busrk. - Stett. Km. Zeit., 190G, vol. 07, pp. 7-9, pi. I figs. 3, 3a, 3b. 144 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY prothorax, which is posteriorly limited by the anterior coxae. Beak medi- anly and laterally carinate to a cross between the bases of the antennal scapes. Scrobes deep and narrow from apex near tip of beak almost to eyes, then sharply deflected and broader in front of eyes. Scape stout, clavate. Funicle 7-jointed, the last joint apparently a part of the club. Club 4-jointed. Head at base of beak sinuately impressed, with swellings above the eyes. Prothorax very irregularly sculptured but with a deep median furrow widened angularly at middle and also behind. Strial punc- tation deep but irregular. Intervals tumid behind. Legs stout. Tarsi with third joint not widely bilobed; tarsal claws simple. First and second abdominal segments long; third and fourth shorter than fifth. A NEW BRACONID FROM SOUTH AMERICA. BY S. A. ROHWEE, Bureau of Entomology. Monogonogastra wolcottii, new species. In Szepligetti's arrangement this species falls next to meridensis. The following description will show how different it is. In Cam- eron's list of species it falls next to Iphiaulax hector Cameron, but is at once separated from that species by the suture-formed articulations being striate. It resembles Cameron's species, how- ever, in general habitus and color. Female. Length 14 mm., length of the ovipositor 12 mm. Antennae extending back beyond the apex of the third tergite; head shining, front depressed between the ocelli and the antennae; a strong carina from the anterior ocellus to the bases of the antennae; ocelli surrounded by a deep furrow, posteriorly bottom of the furrow is granular; postocellar line dis- tinctly shorter than the ocellocular line; thorax shining, the scutellum raised slightly above the level of the scutum; first tergite with the embossed area broadening apically into a rounded spade-like area the apex of which is obtusely rounded; embossed area of the second tergite tiangular, not reaching apex, defined laterally by shallow, broad, foveolate furrows; suture-formed articulations foveolate; tergites shining, polished; apical sternite extending more than the width of the femora beyond the apex of the abdomen. Rufo-ferruginous; head except the palpi, antennae and sheath of the ovipositor black; posterior tarsi dusky; wings yellowish hyaline basad of the basal vein, beyond dark brown, a transverse yellow band beneath the stigma; venation dark brown; stigma bright yellow. Golden Fleece, Demerara, South America. Described from one female collected March 13, 1913, by G. E. Bodkin and G. N. Wolcott. Named for G. N. Wolcott. Type: Cat. No. 16020 U. S. N. M. Actual date of issue October 2, 1913. PROC. EXT. SOC. WASH., VOL. XV. PLATE V. ABOVE. SECTION- OF POTATO FROM PERU, SHOWING LARVAE OF Rlngop- sidius lucutiHi/tiix IN ITS BURROW. BELOW. SEorio\i.;n POTATO SHOWING BURROWINGS OF Rhigopsidius. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Page BUSCK, AUGUST. : Two Microlepidoptera Injurious to Chestnut. ...... 102 ELY, CHAS. R. : The Food Plant of Cleonus calandroides Rand 104 COCKERELL, T. D. A. : Pseudomasaris Bred in California. 107 LUTZ, DR. ADOLPH: The Insect Host of Forest Malaria 108 KNAB, FREDERICK: The Contentions Regarding "Forest Malaria." 110 HOPKINS, ANDREW D.: Discontinuous Geographical Distribution 118 COCKERELL, T. D. A. : Remarks on Fossil Insects 123 WALTON, W. R. : Efficiency of a Tachinid on the Last Instar of Laphygma 128 SNTDER, T. E. : The Ovipositor of Parandra brunnea Fab 131 MALLOCH, J. R, : A New Species of Simulium from Texas , 133 MALLOCH, J. R. : Two New Species of Borboridae from Texas 135 BANKS, NATHAN: New Exotic Neuropteroid Insects 137 SASSCER, E. R. and PIERCE, W. D.: Preliminary Report of the Finding of a New Weevil Enemy of the Potato Tuber. . , 143 ROHWER, S. A. : A New Braconid from South America 144 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOLUME XV, No. 4 DECEMBER, 1913 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE SOCIETY OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 2419-21 YORK ROAD BALTIMORE, MD. EDITORIAL OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. Entered aa second-claw matter at the poatoffice at Baltimore, Md., February 28, 1913, under the Act of August 24, 1912 / 0^ /ckux>. '***' >#^ THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON ORGANIZED MARCH 12, 1884. The regular meetings of the Society are held on the first Thursday of each month, from October to June inclusive, at 8 P. M, Annual dues of active members, $3.00: of corresponding members $2.00; initiation fee (for active members only), $1.00. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 19 A President AUGUST BUSCK First V ice-President W. D. HUNTER Second Vice-President. A. N. CAUDELL Recording Secretary. E. R. SASSCER Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer S. A. ROHWER U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. Editor .W. D. HUNTER Representing the Society as a Vice-President of the Washington Academy of Sciences A. L. QUAINTANCE Executive Committee. THE OFFICERS. NATHAN BANKS. E. A. SCHWARZ. L. O. HOWARD. PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. Published quarterly by the Society at Baltimore, Md., and Wash- ington, D. C. Terms of subscription: Domestic, $2.00 per annum; foreign, $2.25 per annum; single numbers, 50 cents, foreign postage extra. Remittances should be made payable to the Entomological Society of Washington. Authors of leading articles in the PROCEEDINGS will be entitled to 25 separates of each contribution, free of charge. Additional copies may be had at cost by notifying the Editor before the final page proof is returned to the printer. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON VOL. XV 1918 JAN 28 MEETING OF JUNE 5, 1913. The 269th regular meeting of the Society was entertained by the Executive Committee in the Saengerbund Hall, 314 C street X.W., on the evening of June 5, 1913. There were present Messrs. Baker, Barber, Boeving, Busck, Cushman, Duckett, Ely, Fisher, Gill, Greene, Heinrich, Kirk, Knab, Pierce, Quaintance, Rohwer, Sanford, Sasser, Schwarz, Shannon, Turner, and Wood, members, and Messrs. W. S. Abbott, Jacob Kotinsky, and Dr. William H. Fox, visitors. President Busck occupied the chair. Mr. Rohwer stated that he had received a letter from Dr. Sharp who was recently elected Honorary Member stating that he was -ending for the use of the society a copy of Fauna Hawaiiensis. The publication is to be filed in the Division of Insects Library at the National Museum. The following papers were presented. NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF RHOPALOSOMA POEYI CRESSON. BY J. DOUGLAS HOOD, Hioluyictil Survey. While collecting on Plummer's Island, Maryland, the sixth day of last October, an adult female of the jumping tree cricket, Oro- rftiirix xalttitor Uhler, was seen scampering over the forest floor as rapidly as a large abdominal protuberance and a nearly function- less hind leg would permit. It was placed in a pill box and later transferred to a suitable rearing cage for observation. The protuberance proved to be an external parasite, the larva of Rhopalosoma poei/i ( Yesson. It was attached at the third al>- 1 i:, 146 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY dominal segment of the cricket to the membrane between notum and pleuron, and lay along the right side of the abdomen; the pos- terior end at time of capture was about opposite the metathorax, and the anterior end at the eighth abdominal segment. The sac was reniform, leathery in texture, brownish gray in color (slightly darker than the cricket itself), and nearly circular in cross-section. Its size and place of attachment thus forced the hind leg downward and far out of its normal position; but, aside from the loss of the use of this member of its body, the cricket appeared to be but little inconvenienced. During the next few days the parasite increased rapidly in bulk until, on the morning of the ninth, three days after capture, it was about equal in size to the abdomen of its host, measuring just 7 mm. in length and 3.5 mm. in diameter. At 1 p.m., the integu- ment was seen to have split in front along the median dorsal line, Fig. 1. Exuviae of Rhopalosomn p>eyi. Cr. .1, anterior; P, posterior. and through the split projected the head of the larva. By 2 p.m. three body segments were exposed above, the larva furthering this process by movements of the body. The cricket remained nearly motionless, only occasionally vibrating its palpi. At 4.30 p.m. there seemed to be no change, and further observations could not be made until the next morning. Then the cricket was dead; the sac was split along the dorsum from end to end; and the parasite itself was beneath the soil. Here it remained until some time in December when, at the suggestion of Mr. H. S. Barber, it was re- moved and placed in a plaster cell. According to Barber, the adult emerged indoors about March 1. The several exuviae (fig. 1) which remained attached to the crick- et after the penultimate ecdysis indicate at least five larval instars, inclusive of the one passed underground. Towards the point of attachment the surface is smooth and shining, becoming granulate OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 147 externally. Each larval skin shows about ten spiracular open- ings, and above the posterior six or seven are nearly circular mem- branous areas. Anteriorly the exuviae are thickened, darker in color and more shining, as indicated by the stippled areas in the figure. -Air. Rohwer commented on Mr. Hood's paper as follows: Air. Hood is to be congratulated for bringing before science these interesting notes on one of the most remarkable Hymenopterous insects known. Rhopalosoma Cresson is a genus which is very difficult to place and many of the most able Hymenopterists have expressed their views as to its systematic position. To give some idea of the difficult}' in placing this genus the following summary of locations it has occupied is given : Cresson described it as an anom- alous Braconid; Haliday considered it as a Sphecid related in some extent to Sceliphron; Westwood originally considered it re- lated to the Vespidae, but later considered it as a fossorial Hymen- opt eron; Smith at first placed it among the ants, but on closer examination placed it in the parasitic Hymenoptera; Ashmead, before this Society, in 1896, summed up the characters of this re- markable genus and ended by making a new family for it, which he placed in his heterogeneous superfamily Vespoidea; Alorley 1910, states that it can be "placed nowhere among the Parasitica or Terebrant Hymenoptera," and adds that no matter where it is placed it will form an aberrant group. The author of these re- marks believes that Ashmead was more nearly correct than any of the other authors, but is of the opinion that the Ashmedian superfamily Vespoidea could be well divided into a number of smaller and more natural superfamilies (and such has already been suggested by Air. Banks when he proposed the superfamily Scoli- <>i i>cr In signata Banks. The adult sawfly was sitting on the foliage of Heradeum lanatum. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 149 TENTHREDO ARCUATUS (Foerster). On August 8, 1909, at Sonnenberg, Lucerne, Switzerland, I had the opportunity to make the following observations on the feeding habits of an adult which belonged to this species. This adult had only one antenna, but as far as could be observed behaved in a per- fectly normal manner, and was so docile that it could be observed under a half inch lens. This female would fall, alighting heavily on the head of one of the common Umbellifers and. due to the mo- mentum of the flight, would fall beneath the head of the Umbelli- f'T. After recovering itself and righting itself on the flower, it would bite a stamen off near its base and fall beneath the crown of flowers holding itself downward by the four posterior legs. In this position it proceeded to devour an entire stamen, using the maxillary palpi, mandibles and labrum, but the labial palpi did not move. After the entire stamen had been devoured the saw- fly would repeat the operation until it had completely devoured four stamens. After devouring four stamens it walked over the head of the flower and by use of the palpi obtained the small drops of liquid adhering to the base of the receptacle. After visit- ing all the flowers on the head, the insect took flight. To make sure of the species it was captured before it had the opportunity to alight on another flower. The species of Umbellifer was not determined. In commenting on this species in the Entomologist for Febru- ary, 1913, Morley states that he has seen it chase flies and has known of one female found masticating a female Empria pcnnipes. TWO ABNORMALLY DEVELOPED SAWFLIES. BY S. A. ROHWER, Bureau of Entomology. Although the sawflies often have abnormal venation, it is very >eldom that a sawfly with abnormal body characters is ever col- lected. As far as I am able to learn only seven gynandromor- phic sawflies have been reported upon. In view of the fact of the usual stability in the bodies of sawflies the following notes may be interesting. XENAPATES TERMINALIS (Say). On May 13, 1911, along with other sawflies collected at East Falls Church, Virginia, an abnormal female of this species was collected. The abnormality occurs in the abdomen which dm- not have the gonapophyses developed except slightly, and the nates are abnormal. The cerci are normal as is the rest of the insect. The abnormal development of the eighth ventral and the entire 150 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY ninth abdominal segments while the rest of the insect developed nor- mally, is not without interest. This abnormality is readilj- noted as the sheath (which is composed of the gonapophyses, which are appendages of the eighth and ninth ventral segments) is so reduced that it cannot be seen without magnification of thirty-five diam- eters. TENTHREDELLA SPECIES (PROBABLY VERTICALIS Say) MALE. At Glencarlyn, Virginia, on June 9, 1911, a male of this species was collected, in which the lateral ocelli are entirely wanting. This causes the vertex to be depressed. Along with this abnormality of the head goes a slightly different type of coloration and a narrow- ing of the facial quadrangle, so it is impossible to accurately de- termine this male. The obliteration of the ocelli is the first record of the kind known to me. In this connection, for completeness' sake, it may be well to call attention to the abnormally developed propodium in Oryssits abietes Rohwer, which is described on page 154, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 43, September, 1912. NOTE ON A BARKMINING LEPIDOPTERON OF THE G?ENUS MARMARA CLEMENS. BY AUGUST BUSCK, Bureau of Entomology. In the course of the work on forest Lepidoptera at Falls Church, Virginia, we have lately bred several specimens of Marmara fnl- gidella Clemens, from oak; it is gratifying to find that the biology of the species definitely confirms the generic determination made by Mr. Chas. Ely and myself a year ago, when we transferred the species from the genus Gracilaria to Marmara, solely on pterogos- tic characters. The larva is of the identical flat, deeply segmented form as that of Marmara salictella Clms., the type of the genus. It forms long winding galleries just under the epidermis of young trunks and branches of oak, similar to those of M. salictella Clms. on willow, and leaves the mine in early spring, April, to spin a small cocoon in some convenient crack in the bark. The cocoon is ornamented by similar globular air-bubbles, voided by the larva through the anal opening as is characteristic of the other species of this genus. Imago issued in May. Similar Marmara mines were found less commonly on chestnut, but unfortunately the imago were not secured this year ; this may prove the same species or one of the allied forms, fasciella Chmb., or eloteUa Busck, as yet listed under the genus Gracilaria. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 151 Mr. Busck also presented a recent work by Dr. C. Wesenberg Lund of Denmark, 1 which he strongly commended to the members' attention as an excellent biological study. Mr. Busck referred in detail to some of the subjects in the article and passed around the interesting plates of the egg-laying habits of this group of insects. NOTES ON A WOOD-BORING SYRPHID. BY H. S. BARBER, Bureau of Entomology. A hickory log in early stages of decay, which was found in the vicinity of Washington, had lost its bark, and the weather beaten surface of the wood showed numerous holes, with caked damp sawdust that had been thrust out. This work was mis- taken for the borings of the larvae of the Lymexylonid, Meli- tomma sericeum Harris, but when chopped into, the log disclosed numerous short cylindrical grubs of a form that the speaker had never> seen before. These were shown to numerous entomological friends, but no one could place them with any certainty. Speci- mens were caged for breeding and the log was frequently examined for changes in the larvae. At last a pupa was found and this latter disclosed a Syrphid fly (Temnostotna bombylans) the larva of which appears to have been previously unknown. Before this was bred, however, larvae were shown to Mr. A. B. Champlain, who on his return to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, found similar larva? boring abundantly in very soft rotten willow wood. He also bred the flies, and has forwarded his material to Mr. W. R. Walton. Dr. Boeving and Mr. Shannon also found similar larvae on the Virginia shore opposite Washington. Comparison of the larvae, however, shows great differences in the armature of the spiracles. From this it becomes evident that more than one species is involved in the colonies. Adults bred from these different colonies corroborate this idea, and are more or less different, so that it appears to the speaker that about four species are involved in America under the name Temnostoma bombylans. This name was originally applied to a European form. There are, however, a number of names available for American forms that have been sunk as synonyms of bombylans, but it is not known to what forms these refer. In the first log found, the wood was very hard and brittle but showed signs of ferment, and contained much moisture. The gal- leries were cylindrical, clean-bored holes, and all boring dust wa- extruded at the surface of the log. Under these conditions the larva? need strong protection against predatory enemies. This is ^iologisheStudien iiber Dytisriden (Footnote: Published in Internation- ale Revue der Gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie, Leipzig, 1912.) 152 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY supplied in the extremely hard chitinization of the anal segment, and furthermore by the development of spiny processes around the elevated spiracles. To determine the utility of this apparatus, a specimen was placed in a glass tube the size of its original burrow, and from time to time disturbed by thrusting a bristle down the tube beside it. Immediately upon being touched this horny arma- ture was thrown violently against the side of the tube pinching the bristle firmly. The fate of any Clericl or other predatory larva that should attempt to reach the soft forward part of its intended victim, can only be surmised, but this defensive organ appears perfectly effective. In two beetle larvae a peculiar anal armature has been observed which appears -to be more or less effec- tive in the same manner, the first simply for defense, the second both defensive and offensive. The first is Melitomma (Lymexy- lon) sericeum in which the anal segment is very heavily chitiiiized, obliquely truncate, and strongly concave, the margin furnished with short stout teeth. This can be used to completely plug the gallery against an intruder, and by crawling backward to slowly force it out of the gallery. The other species is Hyloccetus lugubris a member of the same family, in which the first stage larva has an anal segment very similar to the last mentioned species, but which in later stages develops into a long horny process armed on the dorsal side with sharp teeth. These, it is believed, would be fatal to any soft bodied enemy that should try to crawl past. The syr- phid larvae from the softer, more decayed logs ho\vever, were of a different type of anal armature in which only the spiracle promi- nence is chitiiiized. These also do not seem to make definite gal- leries, and are equally available to their enemies from all sides. As before stated they are believed to be a distinct species. A single specimen of T. cequalis was bred by Mr. Champlain amongst many T. bombylans so-called. At first sight the larvae of Temnostoma appear to be furnished with powerful out-turned mandibles comparable to those in the larvae of the Eucnemidffi, and certain Hymenoptera, but these are probably only plates of the head that have become functional for boring, the real mandibles being internal within the mouth, which is well on the under side of the head. The speaker exhibited photographs and sketches of the specimens and their work. MEETING or OCTOBER 2, 1913. The 270th meeting of the Entomological Society of Washington was entertained by Mr. E. A. Schwarz in the Sangerbund Hall. There were present Messrs. Baker, Banks, Barber, Boeving, OF WASHINGTON', VOLUME XV, 1913 153 Busck, Cory, Craighead, Cushman, Duckett, Ely, Gahan, Greene, Heinrich, Hopkins, Howard, Kirk, Knab, McAtee, Middleton, Mc- Indoo, Quaintance, Sanford, Schwarz, Shannon, Snyder, Walton, and Wood, members, and Messrs. Frederick Karl, ("has. Menagh and Drs. W. A. Hooker and Martini, visitors. Mr. Schwarz re- ported that the next number of the Proceedings had been printed and would be mailed to the members in a few days. The name of Dr. Martini was proposed by President Busck for corresponding membership and that of Mr. W. S. Abbott by Mr. Cushman for active membership. Mr. Busck remarked on the difficulty experienced by the Sec- retary in securing notes given at the meetings. He also read ;i letter from Mr. Caudell, addressed from Copenhagen. The following papers were presented. BIOLOGICAL NOTES ON A FEW RARE OR LITTLE KNOWN PARASITIC HYMENOPTERA. BY R. A. CUSHMAX, Bureau of Entomology. The observations brought together here are presented with the consent and partly at the suggestion of Dr. L. 0. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology. PERILITUS AMERICANUS Riley. This Braconid parasite of lady-beetles was very abundant in the region of Vienna, Virginia, during the fall of 1912, invariably, so far as the observations of the writer go, parasitic on Megilln maculata. This coccinelid, following its habit of congregating in large numbers in the fall in some protected place, used as shelter the burlap bands put around apple trees for trapping codling moth larvae. Large numbers of these were parasitized by Per Hi tux. During the past spring the abundance of Perilitus was again noted, many lady-beetles astride of the parasite cocoons having been taken from low herbage, especially clover infested by Macroxiphinn />/*/. Although a number of other species of Coccinellidse, en- couraged by the unusual abundance of aphids, were fully as abun- dant as Megilla, none but the latter and a single specimen of H-ip- />i>t/(itn/a convergens were found to have been parasiti/ed. Adult specimens of the parasite reared in the fall of 1912 when placed with various species of coccinellids attacked the different species apparently indiscriminately but no progeny resulted. 154 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The first adult Perilitus secured in the spring of 1913 was reared May 5 from a Meg ilia maculata. This was fed on diluted honey and placed in a large vial. She was then given access to various species of coccinellids including Adalia bipunctata, Anatis 15- punctata, Hippodamia glacialis, Coccinella Q-notata, Hippodamia convergens, Megilla maculata, Cycloneda sanguinea ( = munda), and Hyperaspis sp., as well as a number of undetermined larvae. All of the species including the larvae were observed to be attacked except Hyperaspis sp. The larvae were apparently attacked at any point, while the adults seemed to be attacked only between the segments, usually those of the abdomen, although the sutures between the head and thorax and thorax and abdomen were not neglected. In oviposition the parasite assumes a position exactly similar to that taken by Aphidius, facing the prospective host and thrust- ing the ovipositor forward beneath the body and between the legs. The parasite perceived the presence of the beetles -from a distance of at least 1 inch, when she would show great excitement by rapid vibration of the antennae and quick movement toward the beetle. Having approached within feeling distance she extended the ovi- positor in readiness for the attack and began dancing about her prospective victim, advancing and retreating and finally, when a good opening offered, rushing in and giving a quick thrust. This was repeated with each beetle several times. Another female parasite reared May 14 was placed in the same vial and began its attack on the beetles immediately without taking food. At later dates other parasites were reared. All were females. During the progress of the observations many beetles and larvae were attacked. Of these only one, an adult Megilla, showed any further signs of parasitism. The parasite larva emerged from its host and spun its cocoon but did not mature. The latest parasite to emerge in the spring appeared on June 14, having developed within the body of a Hippodamia convergens. Some years ago there was published in Insect Life some discus- sion as to the point from which the Perilitus larva emerges from its host, the ventral sutures between the abdominal segments and that between the thorax and abdomen being suggested as possible points of egress. The actual emergence of the parasite from its host was apparently, however, never observed. On May 19,1913, it was my good fortune to find a Megilla, from which the parasite larva was just emerging. It was protruding from beneath the elytra of the host and had forced the tip of the abdomen down- ward. Very carefully I clipped the elytra and wings of the beetle to determine the exact point from which the parasite was coming. This point I found to be the suture between the fifth and sixth abdominal segments slightly to the right of the median dorsal line. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 155 The parasite was apparently about one-third free. I hoped to determine the manner in which the parasite gets into its position beneath its host without losing its hold, and to this end carried the specimen in a vial in my pocket for the rest of the day examining it frequently. But unfortunately it seemed in some way to have been injured, probably when the elytra of the host were cut, and succeeded in getting no further. When the next morning it was still in the same position, I preserved host and parasite, after first Fig. 1. Perilitus americanus Riley larva issuing from Mcgilla maculata. sketching the specimen. The accompanying figure shows the relation of parasite to host (fig. 1). All of the coccoons of Perilitus which were collected in the fall of 1912 produced adults during that season, and these adults read- ily attacked coccinellids. It seems probable, therefore, that tin- species hibernates as larvae within the host. PANISCUS GEMINATUS Say. On August 22, 1912, under a band on an apple tree I found a Lepidopterous larva bearing just back of its head a pecular ex- 156 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY ternal parasite larva. It was evidently in the first stage, the head being dark and distinctly marked off from the rest of the body. It was semitransparent and of a pale greenish color. The peculiar thing about it, however, was the fact that its caudal end was in- serted in a shining black, goblet-like receptacle, the base of which was firmly attached to the body of the caterpillar. The receptacle, or egg-shell as it turned out to be, is shown in figure 2a, the larva and egg-shell at figure 2b, and the larva in situ on its host at figure 2c. When- found the parasite was about one-eighth of an inch long and rather slender. As development progressed it became stouter and the head less distinct until, at full growth, when it C ct. Fig. 2. Stages of Pam'scws geminatus Say. a, egg shell; b, young larva attached to egg shell; c, young larva in situ on host; d, three larval skins attached to egg shell. left its host and spun its cocoon, it was about one-half an inch long and a third as thick. During all this time it remained attached to its host by the egg-shell. Not. until it left its host and spun its cocoon was it discovered that it had molted without releasing its hold on the egg-shell. Then it was found that there were attached to the shell three molted skins varying in size and texture with the age of the larva when they were discarded. The earliest molted skin was densest and the head shield quite heavily chitinized, the second somewhat less so, and the third very delicate and the head shield barely heavier than the body skin. This is shown in figure 2d. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 l-~>7 Full growth was reached on September 10, thirty-two days after the specimen was found and by the morning of the llth it had spun its cocoon. This was nearly black, about one-half inch long and almost cylindrical with rounded ends. In order to hasten the maturity of the parasite it was kept indoors during the winter, but the adult not appearing the cocoon was opened on March 10, and the parasite was found to have matured and died. That death had been quite recent was indicated by the fact that the parasite was not entirely dried. It is a female Paniscus geminatus. POLYSPHINCTA TEXANA O. On April 8, 1913,1 found an adult female spider (Steatoda bore- alis ) bearing an external parasite larva. The parasite was about three-sixteenths of an inch long and was curled transversely about the front end of the abdomen of the spider. The large size of the parasite together with the early date probably indicates that it had hibernated on or in its host. By the next day within a period of about seventeen hours the parasite had increased to nearly double its length when found and the contents of the abdomen of the spider had been entirety consumed. The larva was placed in a cell between two slips of transparent celluloid to make further obser- vations on the development possible. On April 12 the parasite had started its cocoon but never finished it and died without pupating. On April 10 another spicier of the same species was found bear- ing a similar parasite larva. In this case the larva was not more than one-eighth of an inch long. By April 14 this parasite had consumed the liquid contents of the host and by April 16 had con- structed its cocoon. This was slightly less than one-half inch long by about one-third as wide and somewhat more tapering toward the caudal end. It was loosely woven of pale yellowish, very curly silk. On April 25 the parasite pupated and on May 9 it transformed to the adult condition. This gives a period from the time of leaving the host to pupation of eleven days and a pupal period of fourteen days. When, on May 12, the adult parasite had not left its cocoon and was inactive the cocoon was cut open and the dead parasite, a deformed female Polysphincta, removed. SPH.EROPYX BICOLOR CreSSOll. Apparently nothing concerning the host relations of this species has been published. Under my codling moth bands on apple and pear trees I have frequently taken it in immature stages as a para- site of Apntela darescens Guen. The parasite is gregarious, as many as 30 having been reared from a single host. 158 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY On October 14, 1911, two caterpillars of Apatela were taken under bands and put in vials. One of these was healthy and pu- pated later. Concerning the other, which it later developed was parasitized by Sphceropyx, my notes are as follows: "The parasite larvae emerged from the host this morning. They issued from vari- ous points along the back and sides of the host, appearing at first as whitish papillae, and gradually forced themselves through open- ings of smaller diameter than their bodies. When first emerged they were about three-sixteenths of an inch long, but within a few hours they nearly doubled in size, simply engorging on the fluids of the host." Another caterpillar taken with others on July 23, 1912, turned out to have been parasitized, when three days later on July 26, about twenty-five of the large pinkish larvae of Sph&ropyx were found to have issued from it. These had reached full size when the fact of parasitism was discovered. Seven were placed in cells between slips of transparent celluloid for observation on the fur- ther development. The cocoons had been spun by the next morn- ing. On August 1 the following notes were made: "As the pupa develops within the larval skin the pink color becomes concen- trated in the abdominal region, becoming especially evident as a red streak along the median line where there are no fat bodies to obscure the color. This morning, the insect being in what may be termed the prepupal condition, this coloring matter has been discharged as a wine colored liquid and the insects are opaque white. As the prepupal condition is assumed there is a considerable, gradual shortening of the body." On August 8 five of the para- sites pupated. The other two died without pupating. By Au- gust 10 the pupae had begun to assume the adult colors, the head and thorax having become black, and on August 12 the abdomen had become red. On August 13 three had transformed to the imago and on August 14 the other two had done likewise. The first three to transform emerged on August 15 and the others on August 16. That the development was not influenced by the method of han- dling was shown by the fact that adults were reared from other larvae on the same host at the same time as from those in the transparent cells. The development from the time the larva emerged from the host to the date of the issuance of the imagoes was as follows : from emergence to spinning of cocoon 1 day, from cocoon to pupation Q l /2 days, pupal period 10J/2 to 11^ days, period from transforma- tion to emergence 2 days, period in cocoon 19 to 20 days, and total period from emergence of larva from host to issuance of adult 20 to 21 days. All of the specimens reared from the above lot were males. From a number of hosts only females were reared, but from a majority OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 159 of hosts the parasites of both sexes emerged, the males issuing from one to two days ahead of the females. The following table gives the proportion and distribution of the sexes so far as this was determined. Table showing proportion of males an dfemales of Sphceropyx bicolor Cr. in specimens reared from individual hosts. 9 cf 9 d* 9 rf 9 cf 15 3 17 2 2 1 17 2 8 3 29 10 4 25 11 10 26 16 12 9 24 13 3 22 18 17 13 1 2 14 1 14 1 17 Total, 296 86 When the cocoons, which are of white silk, are spun under natural conditions within the host cocoon they are packed paral- lel in a close mass with their axes nearly perpendicular to that of the host cocoon. The parasite hibernates as a larva within its cocoon. Very frequently Sphceropyx bicolor is attacked in its cocoon by Dibrachys boucheanus Ratz., an omnivorous secondary para- site, although it is but seldom that all the cocoons in a mass are parasitized. Two cases of double primary parasitism in which this species took part were observed. The other species in each case was a tachinid fly. In the first case the tachinid eggs were found on the skin of a caterpillar, from which a few days later the larvae of ^l>hceropyx emerged. In the other instance, an adult tachinid was reared followed three days later by nine females of Sphceropyx. The discovery that certain members of the subfamily ( helo- niii(i\ to which X/i/Kt'ropyx belongs, parasitize the eggs of their host, their larvae issuing later from the host larvae, led to the conduct- ing of experiments on a small scale to determine the oviposition habits of the species under discussion. Some eggs of two species < f . 1 /mtela, one of which feeds on wild cherry and the other on pear, were secured and exposed to the attack of S. bicolor. It wa.- noted that while the parasites took no notice of the eggs they showed great excitement when on leaves bearing eggs, running rapidly about dragging their ovipositors over the surface of tin- leaf and searching minutely with their antennae. No such excite- ment was shown when uninfested leaves were supplied. This sug- gests that the search for hosts may possibly lie guided somewhat 160 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY by the scent left by the parent moth on the leaves on which she oviposits. At about this time a larva of A. clarescens about one- third grown was found. This was placed in the cage with the para- sites. They seemed to be interested only in avoiding it. A few days later some of the Apatela eggs hatched. The newly hatched larvae were exposed to the attack of the parasites and were almost immediately attacked, the parasites fairly pouncing upon them. During the act of oviposition the host larva is beneath the parasite, whose ovipositor is extended forward and inserted in the side of the host. Subsequently caterpillars of various sizes up to a third of an inch in length were exposed to the attack of the para- site, but in no case was any except newly hatched or very young caterpillars attacked. All larvae that were attacked by the para- site were isolated and fed in order to obtain further data on the life history of the parasite. Most of them died while very young, while those that lived produced only moths, so that there is only negative proof that the attack observed in the cages is the natural one. At one time during the progress of the experiments with X. bicolor a large number of living females were confined together in one cage, which was placed against the screen of the insectary. Several males of the species were captured on the outside of the insectary, having evidently been attracted by the scent of the females. -In the discussion of Mr. Cushman's paper, Dr. Hopkins called attention to a reference in an early number of Insect Life (III, p. 20) to his observation on the parasite, .Perilitus, of the adult of Hippodamia maculata, and the evidence found by him that the parasite larva emerged from the ventral part of the body, through the suture between the abdomen and metasternum. Dr. Hopkins also mentioned, in this connection, the common occurrence of parasitized adults of Scolytid beetles, especially those of the genus Ips. The parasite (Tomicobia tibialis Ash. det. Ash.) oviposits through the elytral suture and the adult emerges through a round hole in the declivity. Dead or living adults arc often found in the insect boxes, having emerged after the beetles were mounted, on card points. -Dr. Howard said that work of the character just described by Mr. Cushman was of very great value. This and similar work carried on by Mr. Timberlake, and which also related to the in- timate life history of parasitic insects/ has much potential prac- OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 161 tical value. We must know the full biology of parasites before we can handle them practically with any certainty. So much of this character is being done in the Bureau, and so little elsewhere, that it is important that any parasite introduced by a state Ento- mologist should be referred to the Bureau before liberation. Dr. Howard, referring to the external feeding Ichneumonid (I'un- iscus geminatus) mentioned by Mr. Cushman, said that Hymenop- terous parasites of naked hosts that is, host insects not sheltered by a cocoon, or in a twig, or in a leaf live internally as a rule, and that it is very rare indeed to find an external Hymenopterous parasite on an unprotected host insect. Almost the only exception that ocurred to him was that of Euplectrus comstockii How., which had been described many years ago by Mr. Schwarz. In fact, it sometimes happens that the same species of parasite, in its larval stage, will feed exteriorly upon a protected host, and interiorly upon an unprotected host, In reply to Dr. Howard's remarks on external parasites of free living larva?, Mr. Cushman stated that Paniscus does not belong strictly to this class since, although its egg is deposited on a free living larva, its feeding is done after the host has spun its cocoon. Mr. Schwarz, in remarking on the paper, said that most para- sites of inside feeding larvae are external feeders. -President Busck stated that several parasites are internal feed- ers and mentioned the Solidago gall maker, Gnorimoschema galbi- solidaginis Riley, which is commonly infested with polyembryonic internal parasites. -Mr. Cushman said that Tetrastichus hunter i, a parasite of the boll weevil, is not only an internal feeder but also pupates within the host. Mr. Schwarz stated that Adal/n x />/>,. i flavipes Kol. Jour. X. V. Ent. Soc.. vol. xix, Xo. 4, December, 1911, pp. 256 259. 164 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY gnion) have not attained the shape or length of those of the mature soldier, there being at !east one later molt to maturity. After the first radical change the head is pigmentless (the only pig- mentation is at the inner margin at the tips and base of the mandibles and the tips of the maxillae) not elongate, rounded, tapering towards the base, (broad at apex) mandibles shorter and broadening at base; labrum elongate, sub-elliptical, (tapering at apex and slightly at base), wider than in mature form; "menton" con- vex, tapering, toward base, wider than in mature form. After the next molt, the nymph is as yet shorter than at matur- ity, 4.5 to 5.5 mm. in length (flavipes) and the head is more elon- gate but still broader at the apex; mandibles, labrum, and "men- ton" more elongate and slender. Antennas with 14 to io segments. At this stage the mouth parts and borders of the antennal sockets are slightly pigmented. After another (?) molt, the mature size is attained and pigmentation of the chitinized parts is taken on. Freshly molted, immature, pigmentless soldier nymphs of Tenn- opsis angusticollis Walk, have just been observed among spec-' imens collected by B. T. Harvey at Ashland, Oregon, August 28, 1913. It will be noted that there is a gradual elongation of the parts, as the mandibles, labrum, and "menton," and that these parts become more slender and lose in width. In this connection, it might be of interest to state that in the neoteinic reproductive forms (nymph- al forms with short wing pads developed from nymphs of the second form) the head, thoracic and abdominal tergites and ster- nites are both longer and broader than in the reproductive forms that develop from nymphs of the first form, i.e., the structure at this retarded early stage is more gross. In case of the nymphs of the sexed forms during the final molt, i.e., from n,ymph to reproductive forms, the females of both nymphs of the first and second forms normally 1 lose the genital appendices which are present in both sexes prior to this molt but afterwards only in winged males and neotinic male reproductive forms. How- ever, egg-laying complementary queens, (with no indication of wing-pads) of Termopsis angusticollis Walk, have been observed with genital appendices; though they are absent in true queens of this species. After this molt and quiescent stage nymphs of the first form of Leucotermesspp. and Termopsis angusticollis Walk, acquire wings and mature pigmentation and are colonizing sexed adults ready for flight. Nymphs of the second form acquire a characteristic pale pigmentation and develop to the neoteinic re- productive forms. The whole period intervening between the 1 Grass! and Sandias, Blandford's Trans, in Quart. Jour. Micros. Sri. vol. 39, ptt. 3, n. s. 1897. (Leucotermes lucij'ugus Rossi.) OF WASHINGTON. VOLUME XV, 1913 165 nymph ready for the final molt and fully pigment ed winged adult is only one day and one-half to two days for individuals, (Leucotermes spp.) the quiescent stage lasting several hours. In conclusion, therefore, it may be stated that in case of Leuco- termes spp. and Termopsis angusticollis Walk., the differentiation of the soldier caste occurs during a molt and quiescent stage rather late in the life cycle of the insect, the larvae being previously, to all external appearances, undifferentiated. 1 -In discussion Mr. Banks said that discoveries of Mr. Snyder regarding the metamorphosis of Termites upset the old methods of classification. The change from the metamorphic to the non- metamorphic forms is so gradual that a classification cannot be based on these characters. Professor Qualntance asked if a breaking down of the tissues takes place during metamorphosis. Mr. Banks said there must be some change in the local parts, but not nearly as much as in the Dipt era. FEEDING HABITS OF PHLEBOTOMUS VEXATOR COO. BY RAYMOND C. SHANNON, Bureau of Entomology. The following recent observations by Dr. Paul Bartsch and the writer tend to show that Phlebotornus vexator feeds normally upon reptiles rather than upon warm-blooded animals. Late in the evening of July 19, 1913, a large copperhead si\ake was shot and badly crippled at Plummer's Island, Maryland. It still showed life the following morning when it was found to have numbers of small bloodsucking flies, Phlebotomus vexator, feed- ing upon it. The flies had their beaks inserted between the scales of the snake. Several hours later, (about 10 a.m.), there were still a number of these flies feeding, and some were so heavily engorged that they were unable to fly. Males were present, two being seen in copula with females. The morning of the same day (July 20), Dr. Bartsch caught a black snake at Paris, Virginia, which had in addition to numerous ticks, a few of these same flies sucking blood in the same manner 1 Knowor, H. McE. Origin of the Xasutus of Eutermes, Johns Hopk. I'niv., Circ.XIII, 1894. 166 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY above described. These were greatly distended with blood, and were so intent on feeding that he was able to pick them off and place them in alcohol. One o" the first five specimens from which Coquillett described the species, (Ent. News, vol. 18, 1907, p. 102) was found in the early morning on the floor of the cabin at Plummer's Island, be- side a blanket on which a person had been sleeping during the night. It was so heavily engorged with blood, supposedly from the sleeper, that it could not fly. In view of the abundance of Phlebotomus vexator about the cabin on Plummer's Island during June and July, it seems remark- able that no observations of its attacking man, have been made. Its nocturnal habit, with possibly a painless bite and silent flight , may explain this. Another species found in Guatemala, Phleboto- mus cruciatus Coq., was observed by Mr. Barber to bite man and cause annoyance, (see note by Barber, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washing- ton, vol. 8, 1906, p. 102). In India a species of Phlebotomus has been observed sucking the blood of a toad. (Maxwell Lefroy, H., A Preliminary Ac- count of the Biting Flies of India, 1907 p. 16). Mr. Knab said that Mr. Shannon's observations were very interesting in that they showed a well marked difference in the feeding habits of the different species of Phlebotomus. This is strikingly confirmed by observations recently made in another part of the world. It is recognized that Phlebotomus papatasii of the Mediterranean region, which is the vector of the so-called pappataci fever, is associated with man in much the same way that are' certain species of mosquitoes, frequenting houses and the females sucking his blood. It has been assumed that the other species of Phlebotomus also readily attack man. F. M. Hewlett, in a paper which has just come to hand, now shows that another species common in the Orient has a marked preference for the blood of Geckos (Indian Journ. Med. Research, vol. I, pp. 34-38, 1>1. 9; July, 1913). Hewlett states that Phlebotomus minutus, in its biology, is closely associated with these lizards. He shows that the geographic distribution of Phlebotomus minutus and of tin- Geckonidae correspond very closely. Furthermore, Phlebotomus minutus, whether in houses or out-of-doors, is always associated with the Geckos, and it is useless to seek it elsewhere. The larvae OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 167 of Phlebotomus minutus are found in crevices between bricks and stones, where the Geckos hide and where the excrement of the lizards furnishes them suitable nourishment. But the association with the Geckos is closest in the adult females, as these normally suck the blood of the lizards. "In a bungalow in which P. minu- fus is fairly abundant, careful examination of the lizards on the wall, at almost any time of day or evening, may reveal that per- haps every other lizard has a sand-fly perched on its back and sucking its blood. ... I believe that there is no doubt that the flies have a distinct preference for biting lizards as compared with men; that they are, in fact, primarily parasites of the lizard. To us they are troublesome only in the hot months, generally in the late evening or very earl}' morning, and it is extremely diffi- cult to get them to bite the hand or arm in the laboratory during the day. Geckos confined with sand-flies are, on the other hand, freely bitten at any hour of the day, as well as in the evening, and one lizard may have several flies biting at once, this may happen, moreover, just after the flies have completely refused to bite a human wrist." Professor Quaintance exhibited specimens of cranberries hav- ing numerous galls on the leaves and asked for information as to what was the cause of the peculiar growth. Mr. Banks suggested that it might be caused by the mite, Eriophyes vaccinii, or some < Vcidomyiid. Mr. Banks exhibited specimens of a Psyllid, Livia innn/inata Patch, taken near Falls Church, Virginia, on the leaves of a sedge. This species was figured by Miss Patch in Psyche from two speci- mens from Connecticut. The insect deforms the lower leaves of the sedge to form a tuft of white leaves that are very prominent. Mr. Knab discussed the life history of Dermatobia. Infestation of man with the larva is common in the American tropics and the laf V2e are also common in cattle, horses, and other mammals. Noth- ing has been known of the manner of infestation, and it has been assumed that the eggs are deposited directly on the host. The probability that the infestation is not direct was indicated by the large number of eggs (750 to 800), found by Neiva in dis- sections. Now Surcouf of Paris has received South American 168 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY mosquitoes (Janthinosoma) with clusters of eggs of Dermatobia attached beneath the wings. It would appear, then, that the eggs hatch and the larvae are transferred to the host, while the mosquito sucks blood. As to the manner in which the eggs are attached to the mosquito, Surcouf accepts the explanation of Gonzales- Rincones of Venezuela, who had transmitted the specimens. The latter is credited with a statement that the eggs, along with a vis- cous substance, are deposited upon the foliage and that they become attached to the mosquito accidentally as it walks over the leaf. This explanation, the speaker said, he could not accept. The eggs were found attached to a part of the mosquito's body which does not come near the leaf surface when the mosquito rests upon it ; also the eggs are attached in a definite way by their bases and with the hatching end outward, and this could hardly be accom- plished accidentally. Furthermore, under the circumstances assumed, the eggs for the most part would be picked up by other insects, which would not bring about their transfer to a suitable host. There is no reason to doubt that the eggs discussed by Sur- couf are really those of Dermatobia, and his statement shows that these eggs have been repeatedly found attached to mosquitoes. Remarkable it is that in every case the mosquito appears to have been a Janthinosoma. Prof. Urich, of Trinidad, has called Mr. Knab's attention to the fact that he has also found Janthinosoma with the eggs attached, and that in 1905 he sent such a specimen to the Bureau of Entomology, but that he received no satisfactory explanation. -Dr. Martini gave a short address, thanking Dr. Howard and other members of the society for the help they had given him. He stated that before leaving Hamburg, he had been informed that he would be able to obtain much assistance while here, but he found upon his arrival even more help than he had anticipated. Dr. Howard gave a brief account of his western trip in com- pany with Dr. Marchal, mentioning a few incidents that occurred during the journey. Mr. Schwarz spoke of the occurrence of Psylla buxi Linn. He said he had observed this insect in great numbers at Atlantic City many years ago. Mr. Banks said that he had taken this Insect two or three years before in New York City on box hedge. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 169 Dr. Hopkins called attention to the probable introduction of a destructive European Scolytid into this country, specimens of Myelophilus piniperda L. having been recently sent to him for identification by Dr. T. J. Headlee, of the New Jersey Experiment Station, with the statement that it had been found boring in living shoots of pine in one locality of his state. Dr. Hopkins also mentioned a record by Dr. Leconte in 1868 of this insect from New York, but it had never been known whether it was collected in the field, or had come from some collection of foreign insects through a mistake in labeling. FOREST MALARIA. BY DR. A. LUTZ, Rio de Janeiro. I have received from Doctors Knab and Dyar answer to my statements concerning the transmission of malaria by wood mos- quitoes, in which they not only refuse to be convinced but repeat their accusations of overlooking and misunderstanding elementary facts. I only want to make plain, why I have protested and leave it to the members to decide, if their way of arguing ought to be approved. In order to suit their theory Galli-Yalerio must have mistaken another anophelid for Myzomyia lutzi, though this is an extremely characteristic species which can be distinguished from all others by a glance at the scutum. Lutz and Chagas must have over- looked the presence of other anophelids at the places of their ob- servations. Now Lutz and Chagas might be expected to know anophelids, as they worked with them for years and together in- dicated most of the Brazilian species. Both made formal dec- larations and I have a written statement from Dr. Chagas to the point that he looked carefully for other anophelids while he treated the epidemic on the spot. At that time he did not know me, nor my paper and made his observation quite independently. Those facts are considered of no account, because Dr. Knab found in Central America other anophelids, in localities which he takes to be similar. He even mentions Amtplnies eiseni, a species which has never been found in the states of Rio and Sao Paulo where the observations were made. I am also accused of overlooking that men are men, and it is stated that the men must have got away at night and infected themselves elsewhere. I have already declared that thev lived manv miles awav in the woods and there was no 170 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY other way to travel than on foot. Even if they had escaped con- trol, the nights would not have been long; enough to let them reach a place where they might have found what is suggested, nor would that help in any way, as there was and is no malaria in those places. Arguing like that you might also say that the Italian sailors w r ho got yellow^ fever on board of a man-of-war anchored in Rio harbor far away from the land, were attacked because they swam on shore at night time, following a classical example. Messrs. Dyar and Knab think that mosquitoes, which have never been in contact with men before, cannot transmit disease. In order to test their thesis, you must put men in absolutely un- inhabited places. This is, generally speaking, rather difficult, but it so happens that in Brazil roads and railways have been made in such conditions and nearly always there have been epidemics of malaria. I know also of epidemics of Leishmania sores, with good reasons attributed to the transmission by Phlebotomus, observed in absolutely deserted zones. I have also seen a small yellow fever epidemic amongst people living in a place where only wood mos- quitoes could be expected. All this shows that the theoretical considerations have not been respected by the facts and all that is wanted is that the transmitter, whatever may be its past, be- long to a category in which the parasite can thrive; then it must have repeated access to human beings, some of them being in- fected and some not immune. As the process of development takes time, its life must not be too short. For that reason repeated oviposition is a favorable condition. Thus the discussion from my side is closed but I fully maintain the correctness of mv observations. ON A COLLECTION OF NEUROPTEROID INSECTS FROM THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. BY NATHAN BANKS, Bureau of Entomology. During the past year Prof. C. F. Baker has been sending me Xeuropteroid insects from the Philippines for determination. Hardly any forms were recorded previously, and since most of them are new, it is desirable to publish the descriptions. Hardly sufficient material is yet available to show the relationships of the fauna, and very little is known from Borneo, but from Java a con- siderable number are described and some of these occur in the Philippines, but more often related species. The 39 species here recorded are all from one island of the group and from a restricted part of that island. It is therefore probable OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 171 that the total fauna in these groups of insects will amount to several hundred species. The Psocidss and the Trichoptera will be particularly rich in new species, while the several families like Panorpidse and Coniopterygidae as yet unrepresented will be found to occur in several species. PSOCIDJ1. Myopsocus enderleini Bks. From Los Banos. Caecilius sj>. Two specimens from Los Banos; a plain unmarked species. Psocus bakeri n. sp. Markings in general similar to P. cosmopierus, especially the apical band of wings, the basal band runs obliquely across up to the radius, and is very broad behind. The stigma is prominently, uniformly reddish (not yellowish), and behind it is angulate. The first long joint of the antenna is (except tip) pale yellow, not at all brownish; legs pale, tips of tibiae and tarsi blackish. The radial sector and the median vein are united only at a point, and in some cases even connected by a short cross-vein. From Los Banos, Philippines (Baker), on bark of tree in forest. Because of the shape of the median cell, and of the angulate stig- ma, and slightly different markings I think it is a separate species rather than a variety of P. taprobanes, these characters hold in all the numerous specimens. It is a size smaller than the Javan P. taprobanes in my collection. Taeniostigma bimaculata n. sp. Very pale yellowish throughout, with two large shining black spot.s on t IK- mesonotum, one on each side lobe; antennae deep black and black haired, basal fifth of the fourth (and others beyond) joint is white; no spot on head ; last tarsal joint black, rest of legs pale. Wings with the lower border of the stigma brown (like T. ingens), the cubital vein also black and black bordered; the median cell much broader at tip than in T. ingens, and 1 1n- median and radial sector united for a longer distance than in that species the "areola postica" has a very narrow base above on the median vein, scarcely one-half as long as that of the apical cells; radial sector forks :i little before last branch of the median. Length, 7 mm. From Los Banos, Philippines (Baker). PERLID.E. Neoperla Clarissa Bks. From Los Banos. 172 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Neoperla recta n. sp. Brownish, a dark spot on the clypeus; antennae beyond first joint is black for some distance; setse black at tips, tibiae dark, wings with brown tinge, and brown venation. Ocelli large, about diameter apart, fully as close to bosses, which are situate about as far from eyes, clypeal margin truncate; pronotum strongly convex in front, much narrowed behind, surface rugu- lose. In fore-wings radial sector with three branches in female, two in male, in all cases with a few cross- veins between them; about 7 median, and 6 cubital cross-veins, and four cubitals in hind-wings, the veinlet con- necting radius and sector straight; the first axillary in hind-wings ends in four branches, not connected to next axillary. The ventral plate of female is simply slightly, evenly convex. Expanse, female 35 mm.; male 27 mm. Los Banos and Mt. Makiling. Neoperla obliqua n. sp. Wholly pale yellow; eyes and ocelli black and base of antennae (except basal joint) rather dusky. Ocelli small, much more than diameter apart, as close to each other as to the bosses, these latter much nearer to the eyes; clypeal margin rounded; pronotum broader in front than head, a little narrowed behind, front margin only slightly convex, surface rugulose. Wings with venation pale yellow; no cross-veins in apical part of wing; radial sector with two branches beyond anastomosis, about 8 median, and 6 cubital cross-veins, in hind wings only 3 to 5 cubital cross-veins, the first axillary in hind-wing ends in three branches, one connected to next axil- lary; in the fore-wings the veinlet connecting radius and sector is strongly oblique. In female the ventral plate is not developed. Expanse, 35 mm. From Mt. Makiling. MYRMELEONID.E. Formicaleon cleonice n. sp. Head yellowish; a dark band below antennae, and a fainter band above them; vertex with two rows of connected spots; pronotum with a broad median dark stripe, divided by a pale median line, and sides dark, between these dull gray yellowish, not clear, two long black bristles each side and lower sides with long white hairs; rest of thorax with median pale line, and interrupted pale stripe each side; pleura pale, with few dark spots. Abdomen dull blackish, first segment pale above, second with pale basal streak, forked behind, at middle of second and third segments is a distinct black spot, other segments pale on base, but not clearly marked, last seg- ments with pale at each apical lower corner. Legs pale, femora infuscated above, tibiae with premedian dark band, and other spots and dots, hind tib- iae with dark line on inner side, tips of tarsal joints dark. Wings hyaline, veins with dark spots, radius with longer dark spaces, outer gradates dark, OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 17^ forming an oblique streak, and the forkings of veins beyond are dark, stig- ma barely distinct, cross-veins dark at ends; in hind-wings there is a dark dot at end of median and cubital veins. Antennae rather long and slender, annulate throughout with dark; pronotum planly broader than long, not. narrowed in front; abdomen shorter than the wings; wings shaped as in F. dims and F. morpheus, eight cross-veins before the radial sector in fore- wing; thirteen branches to radial sector, about 48 costals before stigma; legs rather short, spurs as long as three joints or a little more, last tarsal joint as long as others together. Expanse, 76 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker.) Closely related to F. dints (of Ceylon)and F. morpheus (which occurs in several Malay Islands, Java, etc.), but abdominal marks will distinguish it at once; the Ceylonese F. gravis and the Australian F. vafer arc also different, and not closely related to F. dims. Formicaleon disjunctus n. sp. Dark brown, with paler brown marks. Face below antennae yellow, tips of antennae pale, vertex with a transverse row of six rufous spots, the lateral next to eye, the inner pair contiguous; pronotum with a gray median line, not distinct, outer margin blackish, mesothorax with large gray spot behind and a median line in front, and a short gray line on each lateral lobe ; metathorax mostly gray above, but with a black mark at inner anterior part of lateral lobes; abdomen with pale transverse spots at base and before middle of several segments; legs pale, tips of last tarsal joint, tip of tibia? and middle of fore and mid-tibia; black, black and a few white bristles on legs, many are much longer than width of the joint, femora rather densely clothed with fine white hair. Wings hyaline, veins interrupted black and white, ends of many cross-veins dark, but others wholly pale, base of stig- ma dark, a dark spot on the cross-vein behind it and on cross-vein beyond : gradates and outer forkings clouded with dark, and a spot at end of anal vein of the fore-wings. Antennae long and slender; pronotum little longer than broad, and slightly narrowed in front; spurs equal two; tarsal joints. Wings rather slender, acute at tips, six cross-veins in fore-wing before radial sector, 9 branches to radial sector, 5 cross-veins between anal and cubital fork in fore-wings, one such veinlet in the hind-wings; gradates much dis- jointed, in three series, the anterior a row of 5, behind are two rows one before of four veinlets, and one beyond the anterior row of three veinlet.-; behind the stigma the cross-veins are almost in even rows. Expanse, 57 mm. From Los Banos and Mt. Makiling, Philippine Islands (Baker). ASCALAI'IIID.E. Suhpalasca princeps deist. One from Los Banos; described from Java. 174 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY CHRYSOPID^E. Ancylopteryx 8-punctata Fabr. Several from Los Banos; common in Malasia. Ancylopteryx doleschali Brauer. From Los Banos; known from Amboina. Nothochrysa inaequalis Walk. From Los Banos; a common species from India and Insulinde, and redescribed by various writers. Nothochrysa evanescens McLach. From Los Banos; one specimen is of the variety everetti van der Weele. Recorded from nearby islands. Chrysopa isolata n. sp. Wholly pale yellowish green, (probably green when alive) stigma deeper green, a black dot each side at base of clypeus, otherwise unmarked. Pro- notum much broader than long, slightly narrowed and rounded in front, transverse groove about in middle. Wings slender, apex acute, venation unmarked, 14 costals before stigma, 3 or 4 inner gradates, 6 to 7 outer ones, the inner series is nearer to outer than to radial sector, and each of inner series is farther from next than its own length, outer marginal forks not twice as long as broad; divisory veinlet ends beyond the cross-vein, second cubital cell about as long as the third, narrowed at tip, but near base about as wide as the third. Hind-wings with two or three very widely separated gradates in inner series, and five or six in outer row; 8 radial cross-veins; in fore-wings 9 or 10 radial cross-veins. Expanse, 22 mm. Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). Near to Ch. noumeana Navas (which I have seen in Paris) but the arrangement of gra- dates is very different. Chrysopa tagalica n. sp. Pale greenish, face- yellowish, a yellow median stripe through thorax, antennae yellow, no marks on head, palpi nor antennas; wings hyaline, with green venation, stigma rather more distinct. Wings slender, acute at tips, divisory veinlet ends beyond the .cross-vein, second cubital cell about as long as the third, both narrowed toward each other, 10 radial cross- veins; in both wings 5 inner gradates and G outer, the two series wide apart, the inner much nearer, especially above, to the radial sector than to the outer, and outer much nearer margin than to inner, outer marginal forks about twice as long as broad. Expanse, 22 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, I'.u:; 175 Probably related to Ch. ochracea, (which I have not seen) I nit latter is darker, with marks on thorax. Apochrysa bellula n. sp. Yellowish, head mostly bright red, all over face to clypous and over an- terior part of vertex, not leaving pale around antennae; basal joint of an- tennae faintly brownish in front; pronotum wholly pale; rest of thorax, above, except lateral margin, blackish or dark greenish. Fore-wings with black spot on inner gradates, in fore-wings part of radial sector near stig- mal region is black, the inner gradates, three of outer, and the cross-veins beyond the union of medius and cubitus arc black; in hind-wings only these latter cross-veins black. The fore-wings are about once and one-half as broad as hind-wings. Expanse, 54 mm. From Los Banos. Related to A . albardce but middle area of wing broader, and IK > spot on outer gradates. From A. coccinea it differs in more red on head, no stripe on pronotum, and broader hind wings. .4. finrifera, is very distinct, and also from A. albardcv in that the first black spot is nearer to base of wing. HEMEROBIID.E. Sisyra bakeri Bks. From Los Banos; the first record of the genus is Insulinde. Micromus pusillus Gerst. From Los Banos; recorded from Java. Notiobiella affinis Bks. From Manila. OSMYLID.E. Spilosmylus modestus Gerst. Mt. Makiling. Known from Java. MANTISI'in.E. Climaciella luzonensis van dcr Wei !<. Several specimens of this handsome species from Los Haiios; described from the Islands. Mantispa luzonica Xa\a>. Apparently common at Los Banos. 176 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Euclimacia tagalensis n. sp. Body rufous throughout, no marks on face, a black band across posterior vertex, the extreme base and apex of antennae pale yellow, scutelli pale yellow, with the mark extending down on the pleura; a narrow band at base of prothorax black, and dark spots over base of wings; no marks on the ab- domen, the anterior femora with faint dark cloud each side near tip. Face irregularly rugose, with short ridges ; antennae short and stout ; pro- notum short, anterior part very broad, behind the constriction are two roughened tubercles (as in E. strenua), and behind these are sulci. Wings long and slender, costal portion embrowned, but not very darkly, fading off behind, broader at base, very faint, but broad at tip. Venation very similar to that of E. partita (as figured by Enderlein) ; costal area very nar- row, 11 costals in fore-wing, 9 in hind-wing, 5 cross-veins beyond the stig- ma; 14 discal cells. Expanse, 36 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). Mantispa enderleini n. sp. Similar to M. amabilis, but distinguished by the radius being clear yel- low out to the stigma. Yellow; a brown stripe from between antenna? down to the mouth; antennae brown, except the yellow base; a brown spot each side the base of antenna;; pronotum with brown anterior marginal line, some dark spots on the thorax and pleura, abdomen mostly yellow, a black spot at apex of each segment above, broadened out behind, ventral seg- ments margined with dark; legs pale yellow, femur is mostly blackish with- in, a median brown cloud on the outer side. Wings hyaline; stigma reddish long and slender; venation black, but the "radius in both wings is yellow. Base of the median, and the anal vein, also yellow. First radial cell with one branch, second and third each with two branches; cells beyond end of stigma broader than long; six costal cross-veins. Length 10 mm. From Los Banos, Philippines (Baker). TRICHOPTERA. Anisocentropus magnificus rimer. One from Los Banos; described from the Islands. Notanatolica magna Walk. From Los Banos; widely distributed in Malasia even from Australia to Japan. Notanatolica opposita Walk. Several from Los Banos; not as widespread as N. magna. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 177 (Ecetinella confluens Ulmer. From Los Banos: described from Celebes. Leptocella bakeri n. sp. Pale whitish yellow; antennae beyond the basal third marked with brown; wings with a few dark brown patches; two near the base, one at base of dis- cal, and one at base of median cell, one above middle of discal cell, a smaller one at base of stigma, and one at base of each of the apical forks, the first rather the smaller; the anastomosis dark, especially behind; legs and body pale yellowish. Wings slender as usual; the median cell arises about its width before the discal, forks one and three equal, with pedicel one-half as long as the fork, fork five truncate'at base, discal cell not drawn up by a cross-vein towards the radius. In hind-wings the costal venation faintly indicated. Expanse, 18 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). Setodes apicipennis n. sp. Pale yellowish; basal joints of the antenna? very large, palpi gray haired, rather darker toward tips. Wings pale yellowish, long, slender, acute at tips, costal hairs nearly clear yellow, others dull yellowish; anal area blackish, some black scale-like hairs along the veins; a black spot at stigma, and one below it on the base of fork one; outer margin beyond the stigma around to the opposite side on the hind margin with seven black spots, each at the end of a vein; outer fringe gray, at anal angle very long; hind-wings very slender, hyaline, with long gray fringe, one and one-half times as long as the width of the wing. Legs very slender, pale yellow, tips of tibiae and the tarsi dark, but in middle legs the last two tarsal joints are white. Expanse, 10 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). Tagalopsyche n. gen. Venation very similar to Setodes, fore wings with forks 1, 3, and .">, also in hind wings. Spurs (or 1), 2, 2. No spur is visible on the front tibia, but it may have been broken. There are no hairs on the surface of the wing, but the veins have a row of hairs, all pointing the same way. It differs from all Leptocerids in the broadly rounded apical part of fore-wing, and from Setodes also in the much broader hind-wings. Maxillary palpi with second, third, and fourth joints very long, the third contracted in middle, all with only a few erect hairs. Tagalopsyche sisyroides n. sp. Rich, uniform, dark, chocolate brown. Antennae pah" yellow, beyond a few basal joints the t ip of each joint is faint ly dark; legs rather pale, but mostly dull brownish, the apical half of the hind tarsi pale, front tibia 178 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL -SOCIETY pale; abdomen black, short, no distinct appendages, but short processes below and in middle. Fore-wings with a hyaline white dot on the thy- ridium; hind-wings dark like the fore pair, the posterior fringe quite long and black. Expanse, 11 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). Dipseudopsis nervosa Brauer. From Los Banos; described from the Islands. Dipseudopsis nebulosa Albarda. Two from Los Banos; known from Sumatra. Dipseudopsis luctuosa n. sp. Head reddish yellow, a median vertical black mark on face; vertex with a median black stripe; palpi black; antennas blackish, except a few basal joints are yellow; pronotum yellow, black on the lower sides and in front; rest of thorax dull blackish; abdomen dark, with apical margins of segments, above and below, pale; legs yellowish, rufous on tips of tibise and on the tarsi, front coxa? black. Wings dark brown, with white hyaline spots and streaks as in the figure; a long streak below radial sector, one over bases of third, fourth and fifth apical cells, three elongate spots near anal angle, and streaks in basal part in cubital and median areas. Hind wings dark, but paler near base and in middle of some of the cells. In fore-wing fork I is rather longer than its pedicel, second fork a little back on discal cell, third with a very short pedicel, fourth extends back on me- dian cell about width of that cell, fifth not reaching the cross-vein at base of median cell. Spurs as figured. Expanse, 38 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). Hydromanicus cinctipennis n. sp. Body dark, antennae dark, toward base almost black, serrate within; palpi dark, last joint extremely long; vertex deep black in middle. Wings similar to H. fasciatus, with a white band, but general surface is darker than H. fasciatus. Venation closely similar to H. fasciatus. Distinct from H. fasciatus by dark (instead of yellowish) head, thorax, and legs, and rather larger than that species. Expanse, 16 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). Hydropsychodes costalis n. sp. Body dark brown, or blackish; antennaB pale, in the female marked with brown in a spiral manner; head and thorax with some golden yellow hair; legs pale, dark at tips of the tibiae, hind tibia all dark, tarsi mostly dark, leg 1 of male pale. Wings dark brown, darkest along costal area, and here, with three large yellowish spots with irregular margins, one at the stignui OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 179 and two before it, another large irregular spot at the anal angle, broken above by dark spots; some connected yellowish spots near base of wing, and a number of small spots in discal part of wing. Hind-wing infuscated, with two paler costal spots, one each side of the stigma. Venation prac- tically the same as H. krcepelini, fork I in fore-wings as long as its pedicel, the cross-veins behind base of the median cell not interstitial; in hind-wings fork III is a little longer than in H. krcepelini. The lower appendages of male are greatly thickened at tip. Expanse, 10 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). Ecnopsyche n. gen. A Hydropsychid, with distinct ocelli, venation of four wings very simi- lar to Hydropsychodes and Ecnomus, especially in anal veins and short fifth fork, spurs, 2, 4, 4. Fore wings with forks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; hind wings with forks 2, 3, 5; discal cell in both pairs closed, and in both a cross-vein from discal cell to the radius. Antennae with long, slender joints; maxillary palpi with joints two and three subequal and fusiform, fourth cylindrical and equal to third, fifth twice as long as the fourth. This genus, by presence of ocelli, would go in Ulmer's family Philopotamidce, but the venation is very different from any genus therein, and more allied to true Hydropsyche. Stenopsyche has venation also very different from Philopotamus, and so 'I cannot consider the presence of ocelli as a family character. Likewise Ulmer puts Ecnomus in the Polycentropidce because of the 3, 4, 4 spurs, but I agree with McLachlan in considering this genus closely related to Tinodes, so that a family, Polycentropidce, based on the spur formula, is to me, an unnatural association, and I prefer to keep the family Hydropsy chidce in the old sense, with many small groups based on various characters under it. It may be well here to record the fact that the Hydropsy chidce differ from other caddice flies in lacking bristles on the dorsum of the thorax, fine hair only being present. Ecnopsyche reticulata n. sp. Yellowish; antennas very faintly darker at tips; vertex with rather sparse golden hair; wings pale yellowish, reticulate with pale brown, which forms many bands connecting the veins, rather dark at anastomosis, on the outer margin. The wing is pale brown, with many small hyaline spots, indistinct dark spots at the ends of the veins; venation yellowish; hind-wings hyaline, vi-nation yellowish, especially near the costa. Legs pale yellow, very slen- der, spurs more rufous; abdomen dull black, genitalia yellowish. Lower appendages of male no larger at tip than at the base, tlic apical joint very slender. Expanse, 15 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands (Baker). 180 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Polycentropus sp. One from Los Banos; may not belong to genus in restricted sense. Chimarrha luzonica n. sp. Head yellowish, antennae pale yellowish, palpi dark brown, erect hair each side on vertex; thorax and abdomen dark, legs pale yellowish, but the spurs dark brown; wings gray blackish, nearly uniform, with sparse black hairs, veins darker; hind wings colored like fore wings, fringe black at tip, gray behind, fork 3 of hind-wings with a very long pedicel, fully twice as long as the fork; discal cell of fore wings rectangular, anal veins separate at ends. Expanse, 10 mm. From Los Banos, Philippine Islands. EXPLANATION OF PLATES. Fig. 1. Chrysopa isolata, cubital cells. Fig. 2. Tagalopsyche sisyroides, wings. Fig. 3. Dipseudopsis luduosa, wing, and spur. Fig. 4. Dinarthrodes niger, male appendage. Fig. 5. Dinarthrodes niger, head and antenna. Fig. 6. Echnopsyche reticulata, wings. Fig. 7. Tagalopsyche sisyroides, palpus and genitalia. Fig. 8. Chimarrha luzonica, fore wing. Fig. 9. Hydromanicus cinctipennis, genitalia. Fig. 10. Neoperla recta, head and part of wing. Fig. 11. Echnopsyche reticulata, genitalia. Fig. 12. Neoperla obliqua, head. Fig. 13. Dinarthrodes niger, fore wing. Fig. 14. Hydropsy chodes coslalis, genitalia. Fig. 15. Leptocella bakeri, genitalia. Fig. 16. Chrysopa tagalica, cubital cells. Fig. 17. Neoperla obliqua, part of wing. DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW PARASITIC HYMENOPTERA BY S. A. ROHTVER, Bureau of Entomology. The following miscellaneous descriptions of new parasitic Hy- menoptera are presented at the present time so that the names of certain species which have proven to be of economic importance in controlling forest insects and other injurious insects will be made available for discussion in economic papers. Ichneumon bruiineri, n. sp. Seems to belong to the group of Bar ichneumon and runs there in Ashmead's table of the genera, but Morley says that this group PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. XV. PI.ATK VIII. ( ' 1 1. \HACTK us (IK XEUROPTEKOIO INSECTS FROM PHILIPPINES. PLATE IX. FROG. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. XV. CHARACTERS OF NEUROPTEROID INSECTS FROM PHILIPPINES. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 181 has the post-petiole punctured centrally, which is not the case with our species. In Cresson's synopsis of American Ichneumons this runs near c&ruleus but the black scutellum and other color characters will readily separate it from that species. Female. Length, 11 mm. Anterior margin of the clypeus produced into a low, obtusely triangular, median tooth; supraclypeal fovese punctiform, deep; the median basal portion of the supraclypeal area convex, separated from the bases of the antennae by a distinct carina; anterior ocellus in a broad, shallow depression; postocellar line one-third longer than the ocell- ocular line; flagellum filiform, first joint slightly longer than the second; face and front with distinct well defined separate punctures; vertex and posterior orbits nearly impunctate; mesoscutum granular with dense seti- gerous punctures; scutellum more sparsely punctured than the scutum; mesepisternum punctured similarly to the scutellum; sides of the propodeum sculptured like the mesepisternum; posterior aspect of the propodeum with large, confluent, close, punctures; basal lateral area with rather large distinct punctures; areola, basal lateral area and basal area almost impunc- Fig. 1. Areolation of the propodeum of Ichneuman brunneri. tate; areolation as in figure 1; the central portion of the post -petiole finely, longitudinally aciculate; gastrocoeli well defined; basal portion of the sec- ond tergite longitudinally striate, the remaining portion longitudinally striato-punctate; the base of the third and fourth segments striato-punc- tate, the remining portion sparsely punctured, following segments prac- tically impunctate; apical sternite truncate apically; empodia large, well defined, median portion membranous; legs normal; areolet pentagonal. Dark blue black; inner margin of the eyes almost to the vertex, spot at the summit of the eye, posterior margin of the eye, lateral margin of the dor- sal posterior margin of the pronotum, top of mesepisternum, an incomplete annulus on the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth joints of the flagellum and anterior tibiae beneath, white', wings hyaline, venation black. Male. Agrees well with above description of female except in the fol- lowing points: The antennae are somewhat antenniform; the clypeus is nearly truncate; and the color differs as follows: Mandibles except apices, clypeus, face marks produced inwardly so they meet, just below the an- tennae, scape beneath, base of the anterior tarsus, base of the four posterior tibiae, and the base of the four posterior basitarsi, white. 182 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Missoula, Montana. Described from one male and one female recorded under Bureau of Entomology Number Hopk. U. S. 11526. Material collected January, 1913, and reared by Joseph Brunner, for whom the species is named. The female is the type. Type: Cat. No. 16032, U.S.N.M. Itoplectis plesia, n. sp. Judging from the description this resembles Pimpla behrensi Cresson, but may be separated from that by the shorter ovipositor and in not having the apical margin of the tergites yellow. Female. Length, 9 mm.; length of ovipositor 5 mm. Apical margin of the clypeus straight; front with the distinct, well defined, separate punc- tures, which become more widely separated towards the inner margins of the eyes; seen from the side, the entire front is gently convex; the antennal fovese sharply defined below; area immediately below and between the an- tennae depressed into a V-shaped fovea, the apex of the V being ventral; the distance between the eyes at the vertex slightly less than the distance between them at the clypeus ; the emargination is broad ; head above the an- tennae and the posterior orbits shining, practically impunctate, straight above the inner bases of the antennae; ocellocular line subequal with the width of the lateral ocellus; third antennal joint but little shorter than the fourth and fifth combined; mesoscutum shining with widely separated setigerous punctures; mesepisternum similarly sculptured; scutellum and propodeum similarly sculptured; dorsal aspect of the propodeum with two well defined diverging carinse which extend to where the sloping posterior face begins; first tergite with sparse well defined punctures except the me- dian apical area which is practically impunctate; the second tergite with large, sometimes confluent punctures except the apical margin which is practically impunctate; basal margin with two elongate fovese, just before the apical margin depressed, the depression broader laterally; the third tergite similar to the second except there is no fovea basally; the fourth tergite similar to the third but not quite so densely punctured ; the fifth and following tergites with sparse punctures. Black; tegulae white; legs below the coxae rufo-ferruginous; the intermediate tibiae annulated at the base with black, and below the black annulation is awhiteannulation; posterior tibiae and tarsi black, the tibiae with a white annulation at the basal third, the base of the first and second tarsal joints white; calcaria white; the intermediate tarsi have the two basal joints white at the base; wings hyaline iridescent, venation black. Camas, Montana. Described from one female recorded under Bureau of Entolomogy Number Hopk. U. S. 11528. Material collected, January, 1913, and reared by Joseph Brunner. Type: Cat. No. 17063, U.S.N.M. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 183 STILBOPOIDES n. genus. The inner margin of the eyes not emarginate, slightly converging towards the vertex; clypeus well separated from the front, the anterior margin rounded; mandibles bidentate; malar space a little shorter than the length of the scape; antenna? of the female thickened apically with the apical joint elongate and slightly longer than the two preceding it; antennae of the male simple, almost as long as the body; front slightly convex; propodeum exareolate, posterior face separated from the dorsal aspect by strong car- ina; spiracles circular in outline; anterior wings with an areola; nervulus well beyond the basal vein; nervellus broken slightly below the middle: claws apparently simple but seen magnified 35 dianeters, finely pectinate; apical joint of the hind tarsi not quite twice the length of the preceding one; first, second and third tergites transversely depressed apically; ab- domen coarsely punctured. In Schmiedeknecht's classification this genus runs to Cnemo- pimpla Cameron, but differs in a number of points from the original description of Cameron's genus. The eyes are not sinulate on the inner margin and the areola is triangular, as well as other characters. In Ashmead's classification this runs to Stilbops Forster, but the exareolate propodeum will readily separate this from Stilbops. Type: Stilbopoides maculiventris, n. sp. Stilbopoides maculiventris, n. sp. Female. Length, 10 mm. Head polished, rather densely punctured, posterior orbits shining, practically impunctate; postocellar line about twice as long as the ocellocular line; first joint of the flagellum distinctly longer than the second; the scutum, scutellum, and episternum shining, with small well separated punctures; propodeum closely, sometimes con- fluently punctured with the carina separating the two faces, slightly curved in the dorsal middle; first abdominal segment shining with close well defined punctures laterally, and along the apical transverse furrow striato-punc- tate; second and third tergites similarly punctured except' the punctuation tends to a transverse striato-puncturation; fourth and following ter- gites finely reticulate, shining. Black; spot on the clypeus orange yellow; spot on the mandibles, tegulse, posterior margin of the pronotum, apices of the coxa? beneath, anterior trochanters beneath, sternites, except spots laterally, white; sides of the scutum, scutellum, most of the mesepister- num, mesosternum, dark rufous; legs rufo-testaceous, except where men- tioned, and the dark brown posterior tibise and tarsi; wings hyaline, iridescent, venation black. Male. Length, 10 mm. Disregarding the sexual characters, the male agrees well with the female except that there is no rufous on the thorax and the apices of the posterior femora are black; first joint of the flagellum slightly longer than the second; posterior ocelli. prominent ; cochlearium, 184 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY seen laterally broad basally, dorsal margin straight for half its distance then tapering rapidly to the obtuse apex; the ventral margin straight, deeply sinulate at the apical third. MissOula, Montana. Described from two females (one type) and two males recorded under Bureau of Entomology number Hopk. U. S. 11504b. Material collected, January, 1913, and reared by Joseph Brunner. Type: Cat. No. 15385 U.S.N.M. Stilbopoides sesiavora, n. sp. Differs from Stilbopoides maculiventris Rohwer in the longer- first tergite, in the lack of a median depression on the basal por- tion of the first tergite, in the narrower, smooth apical margins of the first, second and third tergites, and in the slightly different color. Female. Length, 12 mm. Clypeus with the apical portion smooth, apical margin truncate the basal portion sculptured as the front; the lateral supraclypeal areas shining, very finely punctured; the median supraclypeal area mound shaped, with distinct, fine, separated punctures; head above the antennae shining, very sparsely punctured; laterad of each lateral ocellus is an elongate fovea; postocellar line one-third longer than the ocellocular line; scape strongly dilated; third antennal joint slightly longer than the fourth; mesoscutum with distinct well defined separate punctures; scu- tellum with punctures more widely separated; mesepisternum shining, very sparsely punctured, especially posteriorly; propodeum truncate posteriorly; the posterior aspect separated from the dorsal aspect by a well defined carina; posterior and lateral aspects shining, with sparse, well defined, rather large punctures; the median area shining and more or less U-shaped; the posterior face very sparsely sculptured with distinct well defined punctures, in outline semicircular; first tergite about one-third long- er than the apical width, the posterior median portion with a distinct de- pression, punctured similarly to the dorsal aspect of the propodeum except posteriorly they become closer; the median apical margin of the first ter- gite shining, impunctate; second tergite sculptured about as the densest portion of the first tergite; its puncturation becomes denser posteriorly, its apical margin with a narrow, shining, impunctate band; third tergite uniformly sculptured like the posterior portion of the second tergite; it also has a narrow, shining, impunctate band; fourth tergite sculptured as the third tergite except that the apical margin before the shining, impunc- tate band is depressed into a furrow which is interrupted medianly ; fifth tergite with poorly defined punctures; the following tergites practically impunctate with the surface finely granular; venation and legs as in maculi- ventris. Black; mandibles except apices, apical portion of the clypeus, an- terior superior orbits, lateral anterior stripes on the mesoscutum, tegula>, OF WASHINGTON*, VOLUME XV, 1913 185 a spot before and beneath and a spot in front of intermediate coxir, white; legs rufo-ferruginous; the anterior coxae and trochanters beneath, the bases of all the tibiae white; the posterior tibiae and tarsi to the extreme apices of the posterior femora black; membrane of the sternites white with black maculations laterally; wings hyaline, faintly dusky; venation black. Male. Length, 10 mm. Agrees well with the above description of the female but for the usual sexual characters, and in having the clypeus en- tirely, the inner orbits to vertex, and two spots extending from the clypeus to the bases of the antennae and an elongate spot on the mesepisternum below, white. Winchester, Virginia, described from three females (one type) and one male recorded under Bureau of Entomology Number Quaintance 10401. Specimens reared by E. B. Blakesley, April 20, 1913, from Sesia pyri. Type Cat. No. 16854, U.S.N.M. Genus HELCOSTIZUS Foerster. Syn. Aslermiulax Viereck, Proc. T. S. Xat. Mus. vol. 42, 1912. p. 632. A comparison between Aster naulax fiskei Viereck and Helcostizus hrachycentrus (Gravenhorst) revealed no generic differences. The writer is of the opinion that Ashmead was correct in placing Helco- stizus in the Xoridini. To him the habitus is Xoridini not Phyga- donini, where Schmiedeknecht places it, and the complete absence of sternauli would also remove it from Cryptince. As far as the American species of Echthurus Gravenhorst are concerned he is of the opinion that they should be placed in the subfamily Cryptince as they all have sternauli. In other words the Pimplinse includes genera in which the sternauli are wanting. HELCOSTIZIDEA, n. genus. Cubocephalus Ashmead (nee Ratzeburg) Proc. U. f S. Nat. Mus. vol.23, 1910, p. 61. This genus has somewhat the habitus of some of the Cryptini, but differs from all Cryptini in the absence of the sternauli. It resembles them however, in that the spiracles on the first tergite are placed slightly beyond the middle. Head, seen from above, quadrate or nearly so; temples broad; malar space as long or nearly as long as diameter of the eye, mandibles short, bi- dentate apically; apical margin of the clypeus depressed; scape strongly convex dorsally, straight ventrally, longer on the dorsal line than on the ventral line; prepectus represented by faint carinac; sternauli obsolete; scutum without furrows; propodoum areolato, the areola sometimes con- 186 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY fluent with the basal area, though usually separated from it by a transverse carina; areolet triangular; nervulus and basal vein interstitial or nearly so; discal-cubital vein not broken by stump; nervellus broken well below the middle; first abdominal segment petiolate, the spiracles placed slightly beyond the middle; abdomen of the female slightly compressed apically; legs robust; calcaria short; tarsal claws with an erect median tooth, and with small teeth basally. Type: Cubocephalus atrocoxalis Ashmead. Related to Helcostizus Foerster but separated from it by the well defined areola. Cubocephalus Ratzeburg has sternauli and belongs to the Cryptinse. Helcostizidea xanthognatha, n. sp. This species resembles atrocoxalis (Ashmead), but may be sepa- rated from it by the posterior legs of the areola being much shorter than the anterior legs. Female. Length to the apex of the abdomen, 14 mm. Antennae filiform ; head finely granular; the area immediately above the antennae depressed, the depression extending ventrally from the anterior ocellus; the intra- ocellar area divided by short, longitudinal furrow; posterior ocelli bound posteriorly and laterally by a deep furrow; postocellar line distinctly longer than the ocellocular line which is about twice the diameter of the lateral ocellus; scutum shining, very sparsely punctured, although anteriorly the punctures are closer and become subopaque; scutellum convex, sculptured similarly to the scutum; the suture separating the scutellum and scutum foveolate; lateral posterior margin of the pronotum reticulate; the upper margin of the mesepisternum obliquely striate, the remaining portion punc- tate on a finely granular surface; suture between the meso- and meta-thorax strongly foveolate; sides of the propodeum sculptured like the mesepister- num; dorsal aspect of the propodeum finely granular; basal area almost parallel-sided, although anteriorly the carina? diverge, separated from the areola by a poorly defined transverse carina; areola slightly longer than wide posterior parallel legs'about two-thirds the length of the anterior diverging legs; surface of the areola and the posterior face of the propodeum trans- versely striate; abdomen finely granular except the apex and the first ter- gite which is impunctate; tibia? with minute spines and short hair. Black; palpi, mandibles except apices and tegula?, yellowish white; four anterior legs below coxae, posterior trochanters and the posterior femora rufous, or ruf o-f erruginous ; the intermediate tarsi dusky; wings hyaline, venation brown; costa and stigma dark brown. Columbia Falls, Montana. Described from one female record- ed under Bureau of Entomology Number Hopk. U. S. 8530a, ma- terial collected bv Joseph Brunner. Type: Cat. No. 16047 U.S.N.M. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 187 Apanteles (Pseudapanteles) nigripes, n. sp. This species is related to Apanteles (Pseudapanteles) doreuh Viereck, from which it may be readily separated by its black legs. Male. Length, 1.25 mm. Eyes slightly converging towards the clypeus; head below the antennae shining, sparsely punctured, with a low median hump just above the clypeus; above the antennae the head is shining, and without well denned punctures; mesonotum opaque with separate well de- fined punctures; suture between the scutum and scutellum foveolate; scutellum shining, practically impunctate; propodeum opaque with well defined punctures; mesepisternum shining, practically impunctate; sides of the propodeum shining, practically ''mpunctate; first tergite with its length a-nd width subequal, rather coarsely reticulate; second tergite rec- tangular in outline, about four times as wide as long, and sculptured like the first tergite, but in addition has a faint median carina; the third and following tergites shining, almost impunctate. Entirely black; wings hya- line, slightly iridescent, venation very pale brown. Falls Church, Virginia. Described from one male recorded under Bureau of Entomology Number Hopk. U. S. 11171d, ma- terial collected and reared, July 22, 1913, by Carl Heinrich. Type: Cat. No. 16472, U.S.N.M. Campyloneurus busckii, n. sp. The remarks under Monogonogastra wolcottii Rohwer apply to this species as far as its published allies are concerned. Female. Length, 12 mm.; length of the ovipositor, 12 mm. Antennas reaching to about the apex of the third tergite; head shining, depressed be- between the antennae and the ocelli; the ocelli surrounded by deep, well defined furrow which extends ventrally from the anterior ocellus to between the bases of the antennae; postocellar line about one-fifth shorter than the ocellocular line; thorax shining, polished; scutellum very little higher than the scutum; embossed median area of the first tergite elongate, much broader posteriorly, defined laterally by a broad depression which is trans- versely foveolate; embossed area of the second tergite triangular in general outline, but about the apical third narrows into a line and from there on is defined laterally by a broad, shallow, irregularly foveolate depression; su- ture-formed articulations foveolate; third tergite with a poorly defined embossed median area; laterally this area is defined by a shallow, punt'ti- form depression; tergites shining, impunctate; last sternite extending about the width of the posterior tibiae beyond the apex of the abdomen. Dark rufo-ferruginous; head except the trophi, antennae and sheath, black; head and thorax clothed with long, sparse, pale yellowish hair; wings basad of the basal vein yellowish hyaline, the rest dark brown except a transverse yel- lowish band beneath the stigma; venation dark brown; stigma light yellow. 188 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Male. Length, 12 mm. Barring sexual characters this agrees with the above description of the female. Trinidad, West Indies. Described from one male (allotype) and one female (type) collected in June by August Busck, for whom the species is named. One paratype collected at Trinidad, March 20, 1913, by T. W. Urich and G. N. Wolcott. Type: Cat. No. 16021 U.S.N.M. NOTES ON RHIPIDANDRI (GOLEOPTERA). BY H. S. BARBER, Bureau of Entomology. In arranging the National Museum specimens of Rhipidandrus a number of obstacles were encountered, and it is thought that the following notes may be of use to someone. Much confusion has resulted from the assignment of the group to different families. In fact, as Mr. Arrow has pointed out (see below, 1904) three species have been described as Scolytids, one (possibly two) as Scarabseids, and one as a Ptinid, while the discus- sion is still open as to their assignment in the Teiiebrionidse, or in the Cioidse. The figure and description of the Melolontha paradoxa of Palisot de Beauvois are very unsatisfactory, and it is hard to accept Salle's statement (see LeConte, 1873) that it is the Xyletinus flabelli- cornis of Sturm. Nevertheless Salle may have seen the type of the former, and it would be unsafe to repudiate the well-known combination (although omitted in Junk's Catalogus) without fur- ther data. Mr. Schwarz and the writer have attempted to asso- ciate Beauvois' name with some other South Carolinian beetle, but have failed. The description differs from our Rhipidandrus in color, shape of thorax, and sculpture, and from the figure in size, form of posterior part of body, tarsi and antennae. It is difficult to know where to stop in allowing for error. In almost a century that the group has been known in tech- nical literature, there has been but one comprehensive article. This one appeared only nine years ago (1904) and does not men- tion either of our United States species, although it draws together the species that had been misplaced in other families. The con- tributions to our knowledge of the group, arranged chronologically, but not including various local lists, are as follows: 1805-1821 PALISOT DE BEAUVOIS (Ins.rec. Afr. etAmer. p. 173. pi. IV. b. fig. 1) describes Melolontha? paradoxa from South Carolina (collected by Bosc) as a species placed in this genus with great uncertainty. OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 189 1826 STURM (Catalogue p. 59. t. 1. fig. 7) figures the North American flabellicornis (work not seen by the writer citation taken from lit- erature) . 1843 STURM (Cat. Kafer Sammlung. p. 84) includes flabellicorni* among the species of Xylethmx ;tnd cites his previous figure (1826.) 1853 MELSHEIMER (Cat. Coleop. U. S. p. 86) cites flabellicor.nis Sturm under Xyletinus. 1854 LECONTE (Proc. Acad. Sci. Phil. 1854. p. 218) removes Xyletinus .//"- bellicornis Sturm from the Ptinidse but can give no indication where it should be placed. 1S5S AIoTscHULSKi (Etud. Ent. VII. p. 64) describes Xyleborux.' crenipen- nis from Burma and mentions its resemblance to Ilyliiryus and ////- lastes. 1862 LECONTE (Classif. Coleop. N. A. pt. 1. p. 236) included Rhipidandrus (Xyletinus) flabellicornis Sturm in the Tenebrionidse as forming Group II. Rhipidandri in the tribe Boletophagini. This is the first charac- terization of the genus. 1863 LECONTE (List. Coleop. N.A. p. 62) lists Rhipidnmlriix (Xt/li'tinns) flabellicornis in the Boletophagini. 1866 LACORDAIRE (Genera des Coleop. vol. VII. p. 369) describes Eutonmx. a new genus in the Scolytidse and includes two new species, E. ////- crographus the type from Cayenne and Columbia, and E. m, and crenipennis Mots. (1 c. p. 2685) still appears as a species <>f Xyleborus. 1873 LECONTE (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. p. 329 and 335) says "Melo- Id/ilha paradoxa Beauv., according to Salle, is Rhipidandrus flu/x II i- cornis (Sturm). 1873 CROTCH (Check List Coleop. Am. N. of of Alex. p. 108) lists Rhipi.lm,- i/rus paradoxus (Beauv.) with flabellicornis (St.) as a synonym in the Tenebrionidae. 1878 SCHWARZ (Proc. Am. Philos. Sue. XVII. p. 462) lists Rtiii>iilta Ktenostigma, 39. Asternanlax fiskei, 185. BANKS, NATHAN: Eastern species of Rachi- cerus, 51; Asilids catching Hymenoptera, 51; Notes on Diptera, 52; New exotic Neuropteroid insects, 137; On a collection of Neuropteroid insects from the Philip- pine Islands, 170; Remarks by, 122, 127, 165, 167. BARBER, HERBERT S.: Observations on tne life history of Micromalthus debilis Lee., 31; Luminous Collembola, 46; Notes on a Woodboring Syrphid, 151; Notes on Rhipi- dandri ' Coleoptera ) , 188. Barkrniiiing Lepidopteron of the genus Mar- mara, 150. Baryscaptix sp., 91, 96. Behofia bifasciala, variations in macrochcetse, 23, 27. BODKIN, G. E.: communication by, 94. Borborido?, two new species of, from Tex;i-., 135. Braconid , a new form from South America, 144. Brazil, forest malaria in, 169. British Guiana, economic entomology in, 44. Brunneria, distribution of the genus, 122. BUSCK, AUGUST: Two Microlepidoptera in- jurious to chestnut, 102; Notes on a bark-mining Lepitlopteron of Jhe genus Marmara Clemens, 150; shorter commu- nications, 42, 161. Calliphora viridescens, variation in macrochsc- tse, 22. Campyloneurus busckii, n. sp., 187. Castnia licus, sugar-cane borer of British Guiana, 44. Catorama tabaci, 89. CAUDELL, A. N.: Notes on the yellow crane fly, Tipula flavicans Fabr., 45; shorter communications 50, 122. Ce.llia albimana, 109; argyrotarsis, 109. Chaetotactic characters in mujcoid flies, 21, 26; in Diptera, 28; in Coleoptera, 29. Cherostus, 190, 191; cornutus, 190, 191; walkeri, 190, 191. Chestnut, two Microlepidoptera injurious to, 102. Clu'marrha luzonica, n. sp. 180. Chrysopa albatula, n. sp., 139; bolivari, n. sp., 140; confraterna, n. sp., 140; isolata, n. sp., 174; latithorai, n. sp., 140; parishi, n. sp., 139; tagalica, n. sp. 174. Cigarette beetle, an enemy of, 89. Cleonus calandroides, the food-plant of, 104. Climacia basalis, n.sp., 138; bimaculata, n. sp., 138. Cloeon pulchella, n. sp., 137. C'occidse, exotic injurious species, 62. Coccinellidse parasitized by Perilitus, 154. COCKERELL, T. D. A.: Pseudomasaris bred in California, 107; Remarks on fossil insects, 123. Coleoptera, viviparity and oviparity in, 35; exotic injurious species, 75. Collembola, luminous, 46; literature on, 48. Cotititrachelus geminatus, breeding habits of, 50. Cosen's paper on insect galls, 87. Cranberry leaves, gall on, 167. Cubocephalus, 185. Cupt'x concolor, record of the rearing of, 30; i Inscription of larva and pupa, 30. CISHMVN, R. A.: Biological notes on a few rare or little known parasitic Hymenop- Irra, 153. Dalana integerrima, observations on the egg parasites of, 91. Dendroctonus, parallel series of species, 120. hi I'inatobia, life history of, 1(17. Deromyia ternata, 51. Diatraea sp. injurious to sugar-cane in British < iuiana, 44. liinnrlhrodes niger, n. sp., 142. l>i opus paiirhe, 20. lii i>.-iruJarella, n. n., 52. Laphygma frugipcrda injurious to young rice in British Guiana, 45; efficiency of tachi- nid parasitic on the last instar of, 12S. Lasioderma serricorne, an enemy of, 89. Leimacis peregrin a, 11. Lepidoptera, injurious exotic species, 63; i bark mining of the genus Marmara, 150. Leptoctra approxiinota, n. sp., 135; initrln-lli , n. sp., 135. Li iitiicMa bckeri, n. sp., 177. Leplodicta. cretata, 3; plana, n. sp., 1 : simulants, n. sp., 3; tabida, 2. Leucorhrysa nigrovaria, 139. Leucotenncs flavipes, 163: rirginicux, 163. Limosina (Lrptoccra) approximate, n. sp., 135; mitrhdli, n. sp., 135. Lima marginata, 167. Luminous Collembola, 46, bibliography on, 4S. LrrTZ, ADOI.PH: The insect host of forest ma- laria, 108; forest malaria, 169. Malaria, in the forests of Brazil, 108; in Pana- ma, 116; transmitted by wood mosquitoes in Brazil, 169. INDEX 197 MAI.LOCH, J. R.: A new species of Si/niiliu>n from Texas, 133; two new species of Bor- borickv from Texas, 185; remarks by, 28. Mallophora claucella, 51. Manxnnia titillanx, 41. Mantispa enderleini, n. sp., 176. MARLATT, C. L.: Remarks by, S3. Marmara fulgidella, 150. MARTINI, E.: Remarks by, 168. McATEE, W. L.: Communication by, 90. Manila maculata, 101; parasite of , 153, 160. Milnnolast.es abdominalis, 106. Microlepidoptera injurious to chestnut, 102. Micromalthus debilis, observations on the life history of, 31. Microiidia americana, eggs of, 100. Monogonaslra volrotlii, n. sp., 144, 18". "Monsters of our backyard," 106. MORGAN, A. ('.: An enemy of the cigarette beetle, 89. Mosquitoes of Panama, changes in fauna of, 40; transferring eggs of Dermatobia 168. Muscifl flies, variations of structural characters in classification of, 21. Myelophilus pitn'perda, 169. Mymaridae, critical notes on some species from the Sandwich Islands, with notes on Aus- tralian, North American and European forms, 9. \i'rla rlnrixxa, 171; obliqua, n. sp., 172; , n. sp., 172. a, 103. Neuroctenus * i >n plejr , habits and eggs of, 105. N'europteroid insects, new exotic, 137; from the Philippine Islands, 170. Ooenciirtii*, ill, '.)<>. Orochartx xaltntor parasitized by Rhopalosoina, 145. ( )rlho|)tera, exotic injurious species, .">('.. I'.m.-iina canal zone, changes brought about in a<|uatic life, 40. /''i"/ i-ii ijt Hiniiitus, 155, 101. Paranagrux ojitabilh, 12, perforator, 12. Parandrabrunnea, the \ ipositor of, 131. I'ara-'itic, Hymenople-a, biological notes on, 153; descriptions of new, 180. l'i rilitus ini/i ricanus, 153. I'litiliiitiinitix veiatar ('OH., leeiiins, habit of, 105; rrid'ialun, 100; rui/i ittux, 166. Philippine Islands, Neuropteroid insects from, 170. I'n IK K. \\'. I)\VK;HT, and SAS^I KK, K. H.: Preliminary report ol the (indiiig of a new weevil eneni\ of 1 1 K ] it a t o t n I ier, It::. -niif/.-ii, i:i; hawaiiense, \'.\; poeta, n. sp., 17; rcduvioli, 12; rubrin nlr, , 15; terrestre, 16; tanlulia, Is; tantalea var. l,iii,ii IH n n, , n. var. l!l. Poliixi>liini't