OF WASHINGTON. 157 



NOVEMBER 12, 1908. 



The 225th regular meeting was held at the Saengerbund 

 Hall, 314 C street, N. W. President Hopkins presided and 

 there were present Messrs. Barber, Burgess, Burke, Crawford, 

 Currie, Davis, Dyar ? Ely, Gahan, Heidemann, Hopkins, How- 

 ard, Knab, Mann, Morgan, Patten, Sanders, Sasscer, Schwarz, 

 Ulke, and Webb, members, and Messrs, demons, Fox, Ham- 

 mar, Hyslop, Russell, Smith, Smyth, Strauss, and Wellman, 

 visitors. 



Messrs. J. A. Hyslop and D. K. McMillan were elected active 

 members of the Society. 



Dr. F. C. Wellman, the well-known explorer of the fauna 

 and flora of Portuguese West Africa, spoke by invitation on the 

 general entomological features of that region. It being im- 

 possible to more than touch upon a few of the many forms in 

 his notes, he remarked upon a number of typical species, 

 among them being the following : 



Arachnida. The spiders of the district are most interesting. 

 Remarks were made on the habits of Nephila senegalensis, N. 

 pilipes, Araneus rufipalpis, Selenops radiatus, Paraplectana 

 thorntonij Lathrodcctus hasselti, etc. ; also on the Solpugidse 

 (Solpuga vineta, S. marshaUi, etc.) the latter being erroneously 

 considered venomous by the indigenous blacks. Among the 

 scorpions the most prominent are Uroplectes occidentals and 

 the formidable Parabuthns granulatus, the bite of the former 

 being not much more severe than a wasp sting, while that of 

 the latter gives rise to very serious symptoms. The most 

 striking mite is the big red " velvet bug," Trombidium grandis- 

 simum, which is evidently protected from the attacks of birds, 

 etc., by its warning color. Other interesting groups are the 

 Gamasidae infesting beetles, which mav almost cover the insect. 



c? 



and the Oribatidae found in mosses. Remarks were made on 

 the value of these latter as illustrating the zoogeographical 

 areas of the region under discussion. A number of ticks were 

 discussed. Amblyomma hcbrtcuni causes painful itching in 

 human beings. Margaropus decoloratus, Rhipiccphalits coria- 

 ceus, Margaropus annulatus, etc., abound in cattle, horses, and 



