OF WASHINGTON. 5 



pointed Dr. Howard and Mr. Currie to serve with him on this 

 committee. 



Under the heading of Short Notes, Mr. Ashmead spoke of 

 the surprising entomological results of the Harriman Alaska 

 Expedition. In the order Hymenoptera, he said, less than 

 thirty species were previously recorded from this territory. 

 In his paper upon Alaskan Hymenoptera about to be pub 

 lished, embodying the results of this expedition, 311 species are 

 listed, representing 139 genera and 28 families. Thirty of these 

 genera are new to the United States, and five of the species are 

 European. This collection was made by Mr. Kincaid in two 

 months' time, and upon the coast only. The proportion of truly 

 circumpolar forms contained in it was very small ; a great many 

 of the species had a range extending down to Washington and 

 Oregon. Dr. Howard remarked that Hymenoptera and Diptera 

 have a rapid development, and, therefore, occur in large numbers 

 of individuals and species in a country where the summer is very 

 short, whereas other insects, such as Lepidoptera, which develop 

 more slowly, are, in consequence, not so abundant in these 

 places. 



Speaking of the White Ant ( Termcs flavipes Kollar), Dr. 

 Howard thought it remarkable if this species has no true queen, 

 such a queen being present in the European T. lucifugus. He 

 inclined to the opinion that a true queen does exist, and would 

 eventually be found. In referring to the damage done by these 

 insects, he related a story told by a German traveller in Rhodesia, 

 who had had his coat and boots eaten up in one night by them. 



Mr. Caudell exhibited the case or burrow of the Purslane 

 larva, Eudryas gloveri Grote and Robinson, with a specimen of 

 the larva and the moth into which it transforms. In Oklahoma, on 

 April 1 6, 1895, he had observed the larva engaged in making the 

 burrow, and he read from his notes a description of the act. 



Mr. Kotinsky reported having taken the scale Diaspis pen- 

 tagona on Solanum canadense. Dr. Howard remarked, in 

 reference to this, that DiaspinaB frequently come down off of 

 perennial plants and live through the season upon some species 

 of annual. 



Mr. Chapin said he had observed the butterfly Terias nicippe 

 Cram, flying on the I2th of December. 



