96 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



collection of South American Chalcids made by Mr. Herbert H. 

 Smith. This collection has recently been purchased by the Car 

 negie Museum, and Mr. Ashmead has in preparation a classifica 

 tion of Che Superfamily Chalcidoidea in which the new genera 

 and species contained in the collection are to be described. He 

 commented upon the striking resemblance that exists between 

 the Central and South American forms. Dr. Howard's conclu 

 sions, published in an article in the Wilder Century Book, that 

 there is a definite correlation between the habits and structure of 

 Chalcid flies, were supported by Mr. Ashmead's studies. In those 

 groups in which the habits are known, it has been found that the 

 various species in each tribe have hosts which are also closely 

 related to each other. About sixty drawings prepared for Mr. 

 Ashmead's paper were exhibited by him and he commented upon 

 a number of the many striking and interesting species figured. 

 One in particular, a magnificent Chalcid belonging to West- 

 wood's genus Pelecinclla, he had named howardi. It is nearly 

 an inch in length. This insect belongs to the Cleonymidae, and as 

 all members of this family whose habits are known are parasitic 

 upon Coleoptera, it seems probable that this species will eventu 

 ally prove to have some large South American beetle as its host. 

 The paper was discussed by Dr. Howard. He said that, as parts 

 of Brazil belong to the same faunal region as portions of Central 

 America, he did not think it strange that the Chalcid forms from 

 these countries are similar. He thought it doubtful that the 

 Eucharidae are parasites of ants. It was possible, he believed, 

 that they might prove to be parasites of some of the guest insects 

 which occur in ants' nests, and which are often larger than the 

 ants themselves. Some of the Eucharids seemed too large to be 

 parasites of the ants. 



Mr. Ashmead stated that the group of gall-parasites did not 

 confine its attention to the gall makers of any one order of insects 

 but infested all kinds of galls. He said that in his forthcoming 

 paper he had tabulated about five hundred and seventy genera of 

 Chalcid-flies and had succeeded in placing nearly all of the 

 described genera. 



The next paper was by Mr. Newcomb, and entitled: "An 

 Entomological Trip to Mt. Katahdin, Maine." He gave a very 

 interesting and entertaining account of a trip made by him in 



