216 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 11, NO. 9 



Muscles, lying in the thorax and attached to these axillaries, contract and re- 

 lax very quickly, thereby causing the axillaries to vibrate; consequently 

 the above membranes are caused to vibrate rapidly, thus producing the piping, 

 teeting, or squealing noise, commonly heard when a bee is squeezed. 



Up to date, five so-called auditory organs have been found. Judging 

 from their anatomy, the pore plates, Forel flasks, pit pegs and Johnson's 

 organ, all located in the antennae, do not seem to be well fitted to act as sound 

 receptors; but the chordotonal organs, lying in the tibiae, seem to be better 

 adapted for this purpose. The Johnson's organ consists of the peculiarly 

 modified articular membrane between the second and third antennal seg- 

 ments, and of many sense cells whose fibers unite with peculiar knobs extend- 

 ing inwardly from the articular membrane. The chordotonal organs are 

 quite complicated, resembling those in certain Orthoptera. 



The sound-producing apparatus and Johnson's organ in the honeybee, 

 and also a minor detail in the histology of the pore plates, are here described 

 for the first time. 



Notes and exhibition of specimens 



Mr. August Busck showed specimens of the Oscophorid Carsina quercana 

 Fabricius which had recently been received by him for determination from 

 Mr. E. H. BlackmorE, of Victoria, British Columbia. This is the first 

 American record of this European genus and species and is an interesting 

 addition to our list of Microlepidoptera. The species is a striking form both 

 in structure and in color, with long thick light yellow antennae reaching be- 

 yond the tips of the yellow and purple wing. The species is common and 

 well known in Europe; the larva feeds under a slight web on the under side 

 of oak, beech, apple and pear. The species has hitherto been recorded only 

 from Central and South Europe and from Asia Minor and the occurrence in 

 British Columbia is difficult of explanation. Mr. Busck had assured himself 

 of the identity of this European and American specimen by careful slides of 

 the male genitalia. 



During the discussion Mr. Busck mentioned two other Oscophorid species, 

 Borkhausenia pseudospretella Stainton and Endrosis lacteella Schififemuller, 

 both common to Europe and to the West Coast of North America — in fact, 

 both nearly cosmopolitan, but not occurring in eastern United States. Both 

 these species are scavengers on stored seeds and refuse and are more or less 

 domestic in their habits. 



Dr. A. C. Baker stated that certain European plants are found in restricted 

 localities in British Columbia and not elsewhere in North America. 



Mr. Wm. MiddlETon presented a note on Adult feeding and its effect on the 

 longevity of Dibrachys (Pachyneuron) nigrocyaneum Norton. In the study 

 of the life and seasonal history of Diprion simile, a recently introduced enemy 

 of pine from Europe the advent of which species in America was noted by 

 Mr. S. A. Rohwer in the June 1, 1916 meeting of the Society, a considerable 

 number of a small chalcid parasite {Pachyneuron) Dibrachys nigrocyaneum 

 Norton emerged from a quantity of cocoons in one of the general rearing cages. 

 This parasite, which is an American species, was originally described from 

 Connecticut where the cocoons from which it was this time reared were col- 

 lected, and is recorded in The hymenoptera of Connecticut ^ as bred from 

 cocoons of Diprion abietis and D. simile. The parasites were reared in the 

 latter part of August, 1915, and D. simile was first discovered in this country 

 at New Haven, Connecticut, in August, 1914. 



' Connecticut Geol. Natural Hist. Survey, Bull. 22. 



