OF WASHINGTON. 13 



collection had been started by the'Michigan Agricultural College, 

 and urged the importance of the founding of such collections by 

 other similar institutions, few of which have any determined 

 insect collections of importance. He said that a portion of the 

 Coleoptera collected by himself and Mr. Hubbard in Michigan 

 during the years 1875 to 1877 were represented in this collec 

 tion, and that the Neuroptera collected at the same time had 

 been sent to Hagen and were now in the Cambridge Museum. 

 Mr. Davis, referring to the local nature of the collections, in 

 that they included a very good representation of the Michigan 

 fauna, spoke more particularly of the richness in insect life of 

 the State of Michigan, which he ascribed to the diversified 

 topography of that State. Mr. Schwarz said, however, that 

 the real reason for this prodigality of insect life is the fact that 

 Michigan possesses two fauna] regions, viz., the boreal zone 

 and the northern limits of the transitional zone. 



Mr. Howard presented the following paper, illustrating the 

 text by the aid of blackboard drawings : 



A PECULIAR STRUCTURAL FEATURE OF THE ELASMIN^E. 



BY L. O. HOWARD. 



The subfamily Elasminas, ordinarily placed at the head of the 

 tetramerous series of the Chalcididae, has in Europe, according to 

 Kirchner's catalogue, five species, all belonging to the genus 

 Elasmus. It seems probable from comparison of descriptions 

 that these five will be reduced to three and perhaps two. From 

 the United States I have described five species and have since 

 found two more which still remain undescribed. These also be 

 long to the typical genus Elasmus. The subfamily, in fact, con 

 tained but this single genus until, in 1888, Prof. Riley figured, with 

 out description, a species of a new genus to which he gave the 

 name Euryischia, and which is parasitic in Australia upon Les- 

 tophonus. The subfamily, therefore, is not extensive. The species 

 of Elasmus, however, are difficult of separation. Antenna!, 

 sculptural, venational, and other characters hitherto used, are of 

 little avail in this group. A close study of considerable material 

 belonging to this subfamily received from Cambridge, England, 

 and which was collected on the island of St. Vincent by Mr. Her 

 bert Smith, has shown a new character which is .in itself very 

 remarkable, and which enables the ready separation of groups of 

 species and of species themselves. The material was found to 

 comprise nine new species. 



