184 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, '08 



Doings of Societies. 



The Brooklyn Entomological Society met January 9th, sev- 

 enteen members being present. Of the old officers, President 

 J. L. Zabriskie, and Recording Secretary, G. P. Engelhardt, 

 declined re-election. The following new officers were elected 

 unanimously : 



President, R. F. Pearsall; Vice President, E. L. Graef; 

 Treasurer, C. H. Roberts ; Recording Secretary, R. P. Dow ; 

 Corresponding Secretary, A. C. Weeks ; Librarian, J. J. Levi- 

 son ; Curator, Geo. Franck ; Delegate to the New York Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, John B. Smith; Field Committee, appointed 

 by the Chair. 



Mr. Weeks read a paper upon "The Economic Value of 

 the Vespertilionidse (Insectivorous Bats)" with suggestions as 

 to their preservation and propagation, and gave a summary 

 of his observations upon a large colony of these creatures 

 which were domiciled in the roof of his summer residence on 

 Long Island last year, together with his opinion that as de- 

 stroyers of noxious insects they were superior to the whip- 

 poor will and nighthawk, and the several species of owls and 

 nocturnal animals and reptiles. Nothing could be said to their 

 prejudice, while moreover they were free from the faults of 

 many partially insectivorous birds, in that they did no injury 

 to poultry or other useful birds, fruit or vegetation. They 

 were practically on the alert throughout each night during 

 the insect season and by hibernation or emigration during the 

 cold period required no artificial care. Bats are able to cap- 

 ture many species of injurious moths which in both the larval 

 and mature stages are so well concealed during the day that 

 they cannot then be readily taken. Several methods of con- 

 structing artificial shelters for refuge to bats and their propa- 

 gation were suggested to take the place of natural hiding 

 places in hollow trees which were now rapidly disappearing, 

 with a recommendation that bats be protected by law and that 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture, through the co-opera- 

 tion of its Divisions of Biology and Entomology cause a for- 



