OF WASHINGTON. 55 



In the discussion Mr. Schwarz stated that he was much 

 interested in the account of preparation of winter quarters, since 

 some time ago he was at Tampa, Florida, during a very cold 

 spell, and failed to observe anything resembling hibernation on 

 the part of Thelyphonus. He found them under logs as usual, 

 and they were as active as during the summer. Dr. Marx stated 

 that the specimen which he observed was also active when 

 disturbed, and in that respect could not be said to be hibernating. 

 In answer to a question by Mr. Howard, he stated that the young 

 possess none of the acid secretion which is so characteristic of 

 the adult. Prof. Riley asked whether a reasonable explanation 

 of the function of the whiptail had been offered. There was no 

 answer to this question, and Dr. Marx remarked that the tail is 

 thicker in proportion to its length in the young than in the adult. 



Mr. Ashmead read the following paper : 



NOTES ON THE FAMILY PACHYLOMMATOIDjE. 

 By WM. H. ASHMEAD. 



The subject of my remarks to-night relates to a small but ex 

 ceedingly rare and interesting group of the Hymenoptera, com 

 prising up to the present time but two genera and two species, 

 that have occasioned considerable conflict of opinion among 

 systematists, both as regards their relationship and their position 

 in our present system of classification. 



The two peculiar insects that have occasioned such a combat 

 of opinion among Hymenopterists present the following charac 

 teristics : 



Ophioniform ; head transverse, wider than the thorax, with 

 large eyes and large prominent ocelli ; clypeus subacutely pro 

 duced with a median carina ; mandibles short, narrow, curved, 

 and bifid at tips ; maxillary 4-jointed, filiform pilose ; labial 

 palpi 3 -jointed, filiform. Antennae i3~jointed, filiform, shorter 

 than the body. Thorax short, ovoid, convexly elevated anteriorly, 

 the collar not being visible from above ; no parapsidal furrows ; 

 metathorax short, oblique, delicately areolated. Legs long, 

 slender, the posterior pair the longest, their coxaB long and cyl 

 indrical, their tarsi thickened, especially the basal joint, which is 

 always as long or longer than all the following joints united ; 

 tibial spurs i, 2, 2. Abdomen much as in the Ophionid genus 

 Limner ia, attached to metathorax above insertion of hind coxas, 

 subcompressed, with the first and second joints very long, forming 

 a long petiole ; third and fourth segments shorter, subequal ; all 

 following segments very short. Wings with two sub marginal 



