406 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



ally associated with dimorphism and frequently with alternation 

 of generations. Mr. Uhler said that this could hardly be the 

 case with the Capsids, for here we have a distinct gradation of 

 of wing length. Mr. Ash mead said that he had a species of 

 Scollops from Oregon showing an apparent dimorphism, butMr. 

 Uhler thought that the form might have belonged to one or more 

 of several allied genera erected by Stal. Mr. Ashmead said 

 that a point like this could only be settled by careful outdoor ob 

 servations ; the systematist working over a collection of insects 

 is apt to lose true relationships, which can be established to the 

 best advantage by field observations. Apropos to this remark, 

 Mr. Howard mentioned the figure published in a recent number 

 of the British Medical Journal as illustrating the difference 

 between Anopheles and Culex in the resting position. 



Mr. Heidemanu exhibited a Capsid, Eccritotarsus elegans 

 Uhler, which had been found by Mr. Banks at Falls Church, Va., 

 on Euphorbia adenoptera. Mr. Heidemann had also found it 

 upon the same plant at Columbia Heights, D. C., and thinks 

 that the Euphorbia is its food plant. The insect was originally 

 described by Prof. Uhler from Illinois, and Mr. Heidemann had 

 also taken it at Round Hill, Va. Mr. Ashmead said that he had 

 seen the same insect from Texas. Mr. Schwarz called attention 

 to the fact that the food plant is a native of South America, and 

 Mr. Uhler remarked that Eccritotarsus is really a South Ameri 

 can genus, some 30 species being known from that continent ; in 

 his own collection he has E. elegans from Boston and Texas, 

 and a large series from Galesburg, Til. The genus is remarkable 

 in having only one loop in the membrane of the wing cover, and 

 it has a greater width of curve than is usually found in the Cap- 

 sida?. Mr. Howard asked the faunistic value of the Capsidas as a 

 group, and Mr. Uhler said that they had not been carefully enough 

 collected to enable him to judge of this point, and made some in 

 teresting remarks about collecting CapsidaB, crediting Mr. Heide 

 mann and Mr. Elmer D. Ball with great success in this difficult 

 task. 



The first paper of the evening was by Dr. Dyar, and was 

 entitled : 



