OF WASHINGTON. 157 



to produce no better results. The frequent outcome of its appli 

 cation was to determine as the type the most obscure and least 

 known species of the genus. Thus, in Hiibner's genera in the 

 " Verzeichniss " not only are the well-known European forms 

 included but they are followed by those known to Hiibner only 

 by Cramer's figures and which fall in these genera owing to 

 Hiibner's definitions being based on pattern of markings and 

 coloration. It is perfectly natural that subsequent authors re 

 move first those well-known European species, leaving the type 

 of Hiibner's term to fall upon some South American form usually 

 belonging to another family and which was autoptically unknown 

 to Hiibner. In this case the method of taking the first species as 

 type produces better results and is more just to the author. 



Dr. Ash mead pointed out that the action of previous authors 

 should be taken into account and their determinations of types, 

 when justified by the rules, should be binding and ought not 

 to be changed. This not only in justice to the authors but in 

 obedience to the rule of priority. 



Dr. Ashmead stated that he had received another consign- 



& 



ment of Philippine Hymenoptera from Father W. A. Stanton of 

 the Philippine Weather Bureau, Manila, P. I. The collection 

 contained about thirty-one new species additions to his recently 

 published list of Philippine Hymenoptera and, to a large extent, 

 representing families not before known from the Philippines. 



Dr. Hopkins informed the Society that he had just received 

 a letter from Mr. Burke, now in Washington State investigating 

 forest insects, in which the latter stated that he had succeeded, 

 by fastening little cages to the trees, in capturing emerging adults 

 of the Syrphid fly whose larva, as ascertained by him last sum 

 mer, is destructive to the Western hemlock. The larva lives in, 

 or under, the bark, entering by a wound made by a woodpecker 

 or Scolytid beetle and, enlarging it, causes an accumulation of 

 pitch and makes a bad defect in the wood. Dr. Ashmead re 

 called that in Florida he had found certain Syrphid larvas living 

 in the bark of pine. 



Dr. Hopkins mentioned that on his recent trip into the 

 southern States, he had observed that certain Scolytid beetles 

 whose range extends from the West Indies north into the United 

 States' are smaller as one goes southward, showing, in his 

 opinion, that they were originally northern species. 



- Dr. Dyar presented the following paper : 



