OF WASHINGTON. 279 



acters, and in fact all of the characters except those of the head, 

 were such that the form appears more closely related to the Ich- 

 neumonidag than to the Braconidae. Mr. Marlatt, apropos of the 

 presence or absence of the outer recurrent nervure, stated that 

 both were present in the Tenthredinidaa ; that he considered the 

 Ichneumonidae to be lower in type and nearer to the Tenthre- 

 dinidae than are the BraconiclaB. The presence of the second re 

 current nervure in Lysiognatha, he thought, might simply be a 

 reversionary character. Mr. Ashmead agreed with the view 

 that the Tenthredinidae are the lowest of the Hymenoptera. 

 Many wing veins, in his opinion, indicate a low type. Thus 

 the Chalcididaa, which have almost no veins, are recent develop 

 ments. Lysiognatha, in his opinion, may be an old type of 

 Alysiinae. Dr. Gill expressed himself as of the opinion that we 

 should discard the use of the terms " low " and " high " in this 

 connection on account of the possible ambiguity, substituting the 

 terms " generalized " and "specialized." This point was further 

 discussed by Messrs. Fernow and Howard, and the latter speaker 

 referred to the theories of wing development of Redtenbacher 

 and Spuler as commented upon in recent papers by Comstock 

 and Packard. 



A note by Mr. H. G. Barber, a corresponding member of 

 the Society, entitled " Food-habits of Hypatus bachmani" was 

 read by the Corresponding Secretary.* 



Mr. Swingle gave a short talk on the effects of the freezes 

 of the past winter upon orange trees and upon orange insects in 

 Florida, showing that the second freeze had resulted in the de 

 struction of all insects upon the leaves. Mr. Marlatt suggested 

 that in the course of a year or two there would probably be a 

 marked increase rather than decrease in the number of injurious 

 insects in the orange groves as a consequence of the weakened 

 condition of the trees. Mr. Swingle said that with plant dis 

 eases this state of affairs will be brought about in many cases, but 

 that the contrary effect will be produced in many other cases. 

 Certainly with the Mytilaspis scales an enfeebled condition of the 

 trees does not favor the multiplication of the insects. Vigorous 

 dark green trees are most apt to be affected. He mentioned the 



See Entomological News, VI, No. 6, pp. igo-'gi (June, 1895). 



