OF WASHINGTON. 251 
Pieris rapce, viz., Has this Cakile, Which is so abundant and widely dis- 
tributed along our coast, been instrumental in assisting the spread of the 
butterfly ? Unfortunately this question can never be satisfactorily an- 
swered, since we cannot ascertain whether this food-habit is a recently 
acquired one, or whether the Pieris took to the plant soon after its intro- 
duction from Europe. I scrutinized Mr. Scudder's map accompanying his 
work on the introduction and spread of Pieris rapes to see whether the 
latter had spread faster along our sea-coast than inland. Mr. Scudder 
states that in the year 1869 the species was found in a narrow circle around 
New York city (not to mention here the localities in Canada and Maine). 
In the year 1870 we find it already from the north end of Long Island, 
through New Jersey and Delaware, into Maryland, but near the coast and 
not going far inland. In other words, it had spread within one year over 
a long stretch of the coast and a comparatively short distance inland. 
This would speak in favor of the theory that this maritime food-plant 
could have been instrumental in the rapid spread of the Pieris, but the data 
given by Scudder refer all to inland stations, where the insects spread by 
means of the cultivated cabbage, either from field to field or by transpor- 
tation of infested cabbages. 
Mr. Ashmead stated that, in the year 1880, he had found the 
larvae of Pieris rapcc feeding on Cakile maritima below 
Tampa, Fla. 
An exceptionally fine and large specimen of Lymexylon seri- 
ce2im was exhibited by Mr. Schwarz, who called attention to the 
remarkable secondary male characters, viz., the flabellate maxil- 
lary palpi. Several specimens of this beetle were cut from decay- 
ing wood of Red Oak, near Washington, D. C., about the end of 
June ; others were found crawling on such trees after dusk. 
OCTOBER 3, 1889. 
Seven persons present. President Schwarz in the chair. 
Mr. James Fletcher, of Ottawa, Can., was elected as a cor- 
responding member of the Society. 
Dr. Fox showed two spiders in which the eyes were abnor- 
mal. A male of Epeira sclopetaria had but seven eyes, the 
posterior median of the left side being absent ; otherwise the posi- 
tion of the eyes was normal. The second specimen was a young 
female of Dictyna sp. In this the only eyes that could be made 
