332 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



with great clearness. Mr. Howard stated that in the District of 

 Columbia they begin their burrows about the middle of April, and 

 said that in April, 1891, he had destroyed some six or seven 

 females, all of which had come, one after another, to the same 

 spot on the lintel of his front-door to construct their burrows. 

 Prof. Riley said that it would be interesting to record the fact that 

 this genus is parasitized by Anthrax, which is also parasitic on so 

 many other boring bees, and other insects of like habits. 



Mr. Hubbard gave some additional observations on the nature 

 of the work of the Carpenter bees, in which he stated that on his 

 place in Crescent City, Fla., they will construct their burrows in 

 a kind of " hard-pan" or soft sandstone, which he used in lieu of 

 brick in the construction of the foundations of green-houses, etc., 

 and in one instance he had known a supporting pier to be honey 

 combed and undermined by these creatures. Prof. Riley said 

 that the first specimen which he figured was obtained by Mr. 

 Walsh, in winter, from a burrow in a brick wall. 



The Corresponding Secretary presented on behalf of the author 

 the following paper : 



NO ES ON THE NEARCTIC ARADIDjE. 

 BY DR. E. BERGROTH. 



Since many years occupied with the study of the Aradidae, I 

 have also had to examine a great many North American forms of 

 this difficult but interesting family. Having recently received 

 fresh material from Mr. E. P. Van Duzee, of Buffalo, and Mons. 

 A. L. Montandon, of Bucharest, I here give some additions to my 

 notes on North American Aradida3, published in some European 

 journals. 



i. Aradus similis Say. 



In the Revue d' Entomologie^ Vol. VI (1887), P- 2 4^ I nave 

 described a new species under the name A. centriguttatus ; this 

 insect is only a variety of similis. 



2. Aradus ornatus Say. 



Recently I have seen a specimen fully agreeing with Say's de 

 scription. The three glabrous polished spots at the hind part of 

 the thorax, mentioned by Say, are very conspicuous also in my 

 specimen, and seem to be a good character of this very distinct 

 species, which is apparently extremely rare. 



