486 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



and the reduction of the rest of the wing. Dr. Gill thought that 

 this character is of subfamily rank, to which Mr. Ashmead agreed. 

 Dr. Dyar, however, considered it a case of peculiar distortion and 

 of recent acquirement, and of no more than generic weight. Dr. 

 Gill thought that we ought to express such great changes in our 

 taxonomy. Dr. Dyar mentioned that wing distortions are com 

 mon in the Lithosiidae. Messrs. Cook, Vaughn, and Kincaid 

 took part in the discussion which followed. 



The first paper of the evening was by Mr. Cook, entitled 

 "Notes on Arthropods from Porto Rico." He showed speci 

 mens and photographs of the damage done by ants to an okra 

 plant where the ants had eaten the fruit and bored holes in the 

 leaves. The plants affected had enlarged foliage, which Mr. 

 Cook attributed to the destruction of the fruit. He also showed 

 photographs and specimens of a mealy bug on pineapple which 

 had been attended by ants, and cultivated by them so carefully 

 that they had built sand shelters over them. He also showed 

 photographs of Termites' work, one species with nasuti forms 

 building large nests known as " nigger heads." These Termites 

 are indiscriminate as to the kind of trees they build on. The form 

 occurring in houses in furniture is a Calotermes. He showed 

 photographs of furniture damaged by them He showed also a 

 new form near Hubbardia which is very likely a new genus. He 

 also showed a Japyx, which is a new record for the West Indies. 

 He stated that Myriapods are rare in Porto Rico. There are no 

 Geophilids. The Spiroboli are common, however. Some bright 

 colored forms occur which are gray with white and vermillion 

 spots. The natives stand in terror of these creatures, calling them 

 " g n gli?" an d think they have a deadly sting in the tail. This 

 fear possibly arises from the abundant acid secretion of these My 

 riapods, which they are able to eject to a considerable distance. 

 They climb about in the trees, and very few are found on the 

 ground, which fact is accounted for by Mr. Cook on the ground 

 that the soil is a tenacious clay which would cling to their bodies 

 and possibly stop up the spiracles. In reply to a query by Dr. 

 Gill, Mr. Cook said that he had been told that there were but 

 three or four species of snakes on the island. Dr. Gill said that 

 five species had been recorded, but that he had recently been told 

 that there were none on the island at present, the mongoose hav- 



