172 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



The last paper of the program was a review of "Dr. 

 Lutz's studies of Brazillian Simuliidae," by Mr. Knab. The 

 habits of the local species of this genus and of some of the 

 more peculiar species of other states were discussed by Messrs. 

 Howard, Banks, McAtee, and Knab. 



DR. A. LUTZ'S STUDIES OF BRAZILIAN SIMULIHXffi. 1 



BY FREDERICK KNAB. 



The two papers by Dr. Adolpho Lutz on the Simuliidae of 

 Brazil constitute by far the most thorough study that this in- 

 teresting and economically important group of Diptera has 

 thus far received. It marks a decided advance in our knowl- 

 edge of the group, particularly from the systematic standpoint, 

 and the thoroughness and industry of the author make his 

 work convincing. It is, moreover, gratifying to find that 

 Dr. Lutz is not a systematist of the old school, but approaches 

 his subject from every side. He gives full value to the data 

 obtained from the early stages and biology, coordinating them 

 with the characters of the imagos, at the same time carefully 

 considering the possible sources of error. 



Dr. L'utz's first paper may be called a preliminary study, 

 based almost wholly on the imagos collected by himself in Sao 

 Paulo and in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro. It opens with a 

 general consideration of the group biologically and struct- 

 urally, and this is followed by a systematic study of his ma- 

 terial. The second paper is principally systematic and is 

 based upon painstaking studies of a very large material ac- 

 cumulated after the first paper had gone to press. 



Before discussing the systematic portion it seems worth 

 while to give some of Dr. Lutz's more interesting biological 

 observations. In a general way the habits of the Simuliidae 

 are pretty well known and the group is so homogeneous that 

 we can expect little that is novel even from a good observer 

 in another part of the globe. However, some of Dr. Lutz's 

 observations on the habits of the imagos are of interest and 

 should be suggestive to other observers. This is particularly 

 the case with the feeding habits. 



1 Contribuicao para o conhecimento das especies brazileiras dogenero 

 "Simulium". Hoitrag zur Kenntniss der brasilianischen Simuliumar- 

 ten. Memorias Inst. Oswaldo Cruz, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 124-146 (1909). 



Segunda contribuicjio para o conhecimento das especies brazileiras 

 do genero "Simulium". Zweiter Beitrag zur Kenntniss der bra- 

 silianischen Simuliumarten. Mem. Inst. Osw. Cruz, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 

 213-267, pis. 18-21 (1910). 



