98 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, '03 



The January meeting of the Feldman Collecting Social was 

 held at the residence of Mr. H. W. Wenzel, 1523 South i3th 

 Street, Philadelphia. Thirteen members were present. 



President C. W. Johnson read his annual address, entitled : 



SOME REMARKS ON OUR LOCAL FAUNA. 



In the stud} 7 of the local fauna of a given section there is a 

 certain fascination that leads one on, which is not to be found in 

 any other line of work. This is especially true of Entomology, 

 where in an area of fifty or sixty miles from a given point 

 new forms are constantly being found or the equally interest- 

 ing discovery of the life-history of the known species. The 

 more carefully we collect and investigate, the more pertinent 

 becomes the old maxim: "He is a good naturalist who knows 

 the fauna and flora of his own parish." 



I may truly say that there is no section of the United States 

 where the insect fauna is perhaps better known than the State 

 of New Jersey. With greatly diversified physical conditions 

 and favorably situated between the great cities of New York 

 and Philadelphia with their corps of active and enthusiastic 

 Entomologists, she has endeared herself to them as the place 

 where they can find all that is likely to be found in this region 

 (and very often a little more). I doubt if a month goes by 

 during the winter, or a week from March to November, or a 

 day during the summer that someone is not in the field. Com- 

 bined with this, New Jersey has a model State Entomologist 

 who leaves nothing unturned to further the cause of his de- 

 voted science. 



A feature that has greatly stimulated the study of our local 

 fauna is Prof. Smith's catalogue of the Insects of New Jersey. 

 It is much more than a catalogue, for it tells the two most im- 

 portant facts to the collector ; facts that have required years 

 of patient and careful field-work, viz. : where and when to 

 collect. It forms a basis to work upon, the younger collectors 

 strive to obtain the species recorded, while the older ones en- 

 deavor to add to the number of species. It also shows the 

 importance of keeping exact data, and the distribution of 

 species. 



