50 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



species must now be revised. In his opinion Rheumatobates is 

 more closely allied to Stephania than to Halobates, as suggested 

 by Meinert. The distribution of 7?. rileyi is now Long Island, 

 Ithaca, N. Y., Knoxville, Tenn., Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, 

 above Washington, D. C., and Potomac River, also above 

 Washington, D. C. It is probably a wide-spread species. He 

 referred to the finding of a congeneric species in Grenada and its 

 description by Meinert, and also to the erection of another genus 

 from the same species by Uhler. Mr. Ashmead said that while 

 in the Halobatidae winged forms are rare, he is inclined to be 

 lieve that in long warm seasons winged forms may appear in 

 nearly all species. 



Mr. Pratt exhibited specimens of the curious spine-like cases 

 of Coleophora octagonella Walsingham, taken from orange by 

 Mr. Hubbard, and exactly resembling the thorns of orange. 

 Mr. Hubbard stated that this case is made of excremental pellets 

 voided by the larva and gave details of its construction. Mr. 

 Ashmead stated that the same species is found upon scrub oak 

 in Florida. When he first saw it he took it for a remarkable 

 gall. Its presence upon oak negatives the idea that the resem 

 blance to a thorn is protective. Mr. Hubbard stated that he had 

 found the cases upon many different trees. He thought that the 

 thorn resemblance was originally protective and that probably the 

 species acquired it on orange of some similar thorny plant, 

 and subsequently extended its food range. Mr. Ashmead 

 referred to the fact that the native food of Papilio cresphontes in 

 Florida is the prickly ash, yet larvae taken from orange will not feed 

 on ash. This indicates that the food-habit change is of long 

 acquirement. Mr. Schwarz had seen the same species upon 

 Xanthoxylum in Texas, but had never seen it upon orange in 

 that locality. Mr. Pratt stated that in the National Museum col 

 lection there are four or five cases like those exhibited, but darker 

 in color, and labelled as coming from apple. Mr. Howard 

 suggested that several distinct species might have formed similar 

 larval cases, as is readily noticed with the species making pistol- 

 shaped cases. Dr. Gill stated that the superior numbers of cases 

 upon orange, as pointed out by Mr. Hubbard, could unquestion 

 ably be accounted for on the ground of protective resemblance. 



