244 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



probably fed on the grass, that he was familiar with a hirsute 

 species (L. rubiginosa Lee.) in Kansas which was very abundant 

 in the early evening about the ist of June on a low perennial 

 plant (Ceanothus americanus) , and he thought it very possible 

 that the species observed by Mr. Schwarz would be found to 

 feed on some low perennial and not on grass, especially as 

 grass had never been recorded as a food-plant of adult L/ach- 

 nosternas. 



Mr. Mann remarked that various day -flyers are frequently 

 attracted to the light and referred to the fact reported by 

 Scudder of the flight at night of butterflies. 



Mr. Schwarz said that by no means every insect attracted by 

 electric and other strong lights could be considered as a night- 

 flying species. The rays of light awakened many day-insects 

 in their resting places in the vicinity of the light and these 

 insects would then naturally fly towards the light, but they 

 would rest quietly during the whole night if there were no 

 lights near by; 



Mr. Howard remarked that perhaps some of the beetles con 

 sidered as night-flyers were so classed simply on the fact of 

 their being commonly attracted to light. 



Mr. Mann also referred to the migration of butterflies as a 

 further illustration of the night flying of insects commonly 

 considered to be diurnal in habit. 



Mr. Schwarz said that this should be considered not as the 

 normal, but as a seasonal habit and had an entirely different 

 explanation. 



Mr. Howard read the following paper : 



THE HABITS OF MELITTOBIA. 



BY L. O. HOWARD. 



In Mr. Ashmead's interesting paper upon this curious genus 

 of parasites, read before the last meeting of the Society, the 

 question of the priority of this genus over Anthophorabia New 

 port is once more brought up. There should be no question 

 as to the priority of Newport's name ; it does not date from 

 the publication of his description in the Proceedings of the 

 Linnean Society of London, but from the Gardener's Chronicle 

 for March 24th, 1849. With the morality of Mr. Newport's 

 course we have nothing to do. The question resolves itself to 



