OF WASHINGTON. 35 



of Xantkoxylum pterota at San Diego, Texas. These are 

 Apion, n. sp., allied to A. gibbosum Sharp, from Mexico; 

 Anthonoimis leucostictus Dietz and Anthonomus n. sp. allied 

 to A. elcgans Lee. The seeds of the plant were also shown 

 and Mr. Schwarz commented upon their small size when com 

 pared with that of the weevils infesting them. The growth of 

 the seeds is apparently not at all interfered with by the working 

 of the larvae. A fourth Curculionid, Pachybaris n. sp., is also 

 peculiar to the same plant, but its mode of life has not been 

 ascertained. 



Mr. Benton spoke of finding two honey-bees impaled on 

 thorns of a locust tree at Charlton Heights, Md. One was 

 stuck through the thorax and the other through the abdomen. 

 He thought they must have been blown against the thorns dur 

 ing a high wind. 



Dr. Skinner read a paper embodying his views on specific 

 values, illustrating his remarks with many examples drawn from 

 the Rhopalocera, and taking for his text the statement that mor 

 phological species are tentative and must be tested by study of 

 the life-history.* 



Mr. Benton remarked that he had noticed a curious similarity 

 in general color of species of bees to the general color effect of 

 the soil or surroundings in different oriental countries. Dr. 

 Skinner said that if enough material of any species of butterfly 

 could be submitted to him, he could tell pretty accurately from 

 what part of the world the species came. 



Mr. Ashmead read a communication on the genera Stepha- 

 nus, Megischus and Megalyra and their position in the Hymen- 

 optera. He concluded that the family Stephanidae does not 

 deserve such rank, and that all three genera should be placed 

 among the Braconida3, in a subfamily which he called Stepha- 

 ninae. 



Mr. Uhler offered some remarks on the " Schlussfeld " or 

 basal fold of the wings of Cicadidas. He called attention to the 

 cross-veining in the fold of a new and peculiar Melampsalta 



*Dr. Skinner's paper is published in Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc., vol. 4, No. 

 3, pp. 107-118, under the title ''Impressions received from a study of our 

 North American Rhopalocera." 



