168 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Mr. A. R. Grote, of Buffalo, N. Y., delivered an able and interesting 

 lecture on certain generic characteristics of the Noctuidce, which, it is to be 

 hoped, he will prepare for publication. At the close of his remarks he 

 expressed his anxiety that describers of Noctuids should refer particularly 

 to those parts on which generic characters are based. 



Prof. A. J. Cook, of the State Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., 

 gave an account of recent investigations in Apiculture. Among many 

 other interesting facts he stated that if the wings of the virgin queen be 

 clipped, or the entrance to the hive be so contracted that she cannot fly 

 forth ; or, again, if she be reared where there are no drones, she will not be 

 sterile, but from her eggs only drones will be produced ; that the fate of 

 the drones in a hive depends on the prosperity of the colony — with a 

 rapid increase of bees and honey they are safe, but if there is a period of 

 adversity in these respects, unless caused by the loss or sterility of the 

 queen, they are speedily destroyed by the workers ; that worker bees are 

 imperfectly developed females ; that bees possess and employ the sense 

 of smell, and that they have a good knowledge of locality. In answer to 

 a question from Dr. Morris respecting the alleged robbery of fruit by bees, 

 whether they will not perforate ripe fruits if starved for a time, Prof. Cook 

 replied that he had not tried starvation, but he had placed punctured 

 grapes before bees and found that they would sip the juice with zest, but 

 when he replaced the fruit with sound specimens they did not attempt to 

 touch them. 



Mr. Scudder then exhibited some illustrations of rare fossil insects, 

 prepared for publication in Dr. Hayden's report, and a large volume of 

 lithographed plates, colored drawings, &c, of Diurnal Lepidoptera in all 

 their stages, which he had had made to illustrate his proposed great work 

 on the Butterflies of North America. 



Mr. J. D. Putnam, of the Davenport Academy, presented some notes 

 on the North American Galeodes (Solpugidae), and exhibited specimens 

 in illustration. 



The Rev. H. C. McCook, of Philadelphia, gave a most interesting 

 lecture on the life history of the Honey Ants of the Garden of the Gods, 

 Colorado, and illustrated it with specimens of the insects and a great 

 number of very large water-color drawings. He described fully the 

 chambers excavated by the ants, the insects themselves in all their forms, 

 their nocturnal habits, and their feeding upon the saccharine juice exuded 

 from the galls of the scrub-oak. He stated that the workers are unde- 





