OF WASHINGTON. 369 



beetles still alive, thus indicating that they may live in the adult 

 condition for two years. 



Mr. Howard showed a remarkably clear and beautiful photo 

 graph of Phasgonophora sulcata Westwood, which had been 

 taken by Mr. M. V. Slingerland, and spoke briefly of the advan 

 tage of photography in entomological illustration, expressing the 

 opinion that a fair photograph reproduced by the half-tone pro 

 cess is in many instances better than a poor drawing, but that the 

 best photographs he had seen reproduced in this way were by no 

 means equal to drawings made by competent artists. Such a 

 photograph as the one exhibited, however, marks a great advance 

 on previous efforts of the kind, and would be invaluable at least 

 as an aid to the artist, and^if transferred by photography to a wood 

 block, and then handled by a competent wood engraver, would 

 obviate all necessity for drawing and would produce the most sat 

 isfactory results which could be obtained, since the slight failures 

 in details could be easily rectified by the engraver. 



Some discussion on the possible utility of the enormously en 

 larged and modified hind femora of Phasgonophora sulcata en 

 sued, Messrs. Gill, Schwarz, Ashmead, Howard, and Pratt taking 

 part Several possibilities were suggested, but no probabilities. 

 It was shown that far from being of service to the insect in leap 

 ing, as are the enlarged hind thighs of Halticid beetles, in Phas 

 gonophora and allied forms the big thighs are a detriment. The 

 Chalcidoicls which leap the best have thin legs. Mr. Ashmead 

 showed the occurrence of enlarged hind thighs in more or less 

 isolated groups throughout all of the parasitic Hymenoptera, and 

 even in one instance among the Cynipidas, as shown by speci 

 mens collected by Currie in Liberia. Dr. Howard remarked that 

 the peculiar structure was obviously not of service in copulation, 

 since it occurs in both sexes, upon which Dr. Gill said that sex 

 ual characters of the same nature are not necessarily confined to 

 a single sex, instancing the presence of mammaB in male Mammalia 

 and their occasional functioning. Mr. Schwarz said that similar 

 femoral structures had been observed by Zimmermann to be of 

 use in enabling beetles of the genus Tachygonus to grasp the edge 

 of leaves in alighting. Dr. Howard, however, who had studied 

 Chalcis flavipes when flying, alighting, and ovipositing, had ob 

 served no function of the thighs in any one of these three pro 

 cesses. 



