﻿338 
  JOURNAI^ 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOI.. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  14 
  

  

  groups 
  were 
  sent 
  for 
  inclusion 
  in 
  the 
  then 
  unpubHshed 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Biologia 
  

   Centrah-Americana, 
  probably 
  20% 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  still 
  remain 
  undescribed 
  

   to 
  this 
  date. 
  He 
  believes 
  that 
  we 
  know 
  less 
  than 
  a 
  tenth 
  of 
  the 
  existing 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  of 
  beetles. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Fisher 
  added 
  that 
  the 
  small 
  species 
  of 
  Buprestidae 
  from 
  Malaysia 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  about 
  90% 
  new 
  species. 
  This 
  will 
  also 
  apply 
  to 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  sub- 
  

   family 
  Lamiinae 
  of 
  the 
  Cerambycidae. 
  In 
  the 
  material 
  collected 
  in 
  Canal 
  

   Zone 
  about 
  75% 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  Agrilini, 
  family 
  Buprestidae 
  were 
  

   new. 
  

  

  Orthoptera. 
  — 
  Mr. 
  RohwER 
  read 
  a 
  note 
  prepared 
  by 
  Mr. 
  CaudelIv 
  in 
  which 
  

   he 
  stated 
  that 
  Guenther 
  in 
  1896 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  1830 
  there 
  were 
  800 
  described 
  

   species 
  in 
  Orthoptera, 
  and 
  in 
  1881 
  there 
  were 
  6,500 
  species, 
  an 
  annual 
  average 
  

   increase 
  of 
  about 
  15%. 
  In 
  1904 
  Caudell 
  published 
  an 
  exact 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

   Blattidae 
  as 
  1,684. 
  In 
  Kirby's 
  Synonymic 
  Catalogue, 
  1904-1910, 
  there 
  

   were 
  17,896 
  species 
  of 
  Orthoptera. 
  With 
  increases 
  since 
  then 
  at 
  1 
  % 
  a 
  

   year, 
  a 
  minimum 
  number 
  would 
  total 
  about 
  20,500 
  species. 
  

  

  Drs. 
  Ball 
  and 
  Quaintance 
  discussed 
  the 
  Hemiptera 
  but 
  did 
  not 
  give 
  any 
  

   estimate 
  in 
  figures. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  BridwELL 
  made 
  the 
  following 
  statement: 
  

  

  "I 
  have 
  been 
  very 
  much 
  impressed 
  with 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  

   spoken 
  after 
  tropical 
  collecting 
  experience 
  have 
  been 
  much 
  more 
  liberal 
  in 
  

   their 
  estimates 
  than 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  collected 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

   My 
  own 
  experience 
  in 
  Tropical 
  West 
  Africa 
  leads 
  me 
  to 
  think 
  of 
  the 
  tropics 
  

   as 
  exceedingly 
  rich 
  in 
  species. 
  In 
  Nigeria 
  I 
  paid 
  particular 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  

   large 
  conspicuous 
  Braconids 
  easily 
  seen 
  in 
  flight 
  and 
  perhaps 
  thirty 
  species 
  

   were 
  taken 
  of 
  which 
  only 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  species 
  were 
  represented 
  by 
  more 
  than 
  

   one 
  or 
  two 
  individuals. 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  rarely 
  the 
  case 
  that 
  a 
  species 
  is 
  abundant 
  

   in 
  any 
  one 
  place. 
  As 
  yet 
  only 
  the 
  larger 
  insects 
  of 
  the 
  tropics 
  have 
  been 
  taken, 
  

   those 
  smaller 
  than 
  a 
  medium 
  sized 
  Coccinellid 
  being 
  largely 
  unknown. 
  

  

  "Two 
  remarks 
  about 
  beetles 
  made 
  to 
  me 
  by 
  careful 
  men 
  have 
  stuck 
  in 
  my 
  

   mind. 
  Dr. 
  Peringuey, 
  Director 
  of 
  the 
  vSouth 
  African 
  Museum, 
  told 
  me 
  that 
  

   he 
  knew 
  six 
  hundred 
  named 
  South 
  African 
  Tenebrionidae 
  and 
  eight 
  hundred 
  

   still 
  undescribed. 
  An 
  Australian 
  Coleopterist 
  said 
  that 
  while 
  they 
  had 
  

   40,000 
  Australian 
  beetles 
  in 
  their 
  lists 
  they 
  knew 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  40,000 
  more 
  

   undescribed. 
  

  

  "But 
  80,000 
  must 
  be 
  far 
  too 
  small 
  a 
  number 
  for 
  Australian 
  beetles 
  since 
  

   two-thirds 
  of 
  the 
  continent 
  is 
  still 
  unexplored. 
  A 
  hundred 
  thousand 
  would 
  

   seem 
  nearer 
  the 
  facts. 
  Malaysia 
  and 
  India 
  together 
  must 
  have 
  as 
  many 
  

   and 
  the 
  same 
  is 
  probably 
  true 
  of 
  Eurasia 
  and 
  the 
  Mediterranean, 
  Ethiopian 
  

   Africa, 
  North 
  America 
  and 
  South 
  America. 
  

  

  "It 
  has 
  been 
  borne 
  in 
  on 
  me 
  increasingly 
  that 
  the 
  apparent 
  great 
  discrep- 
  

   ancy 
  in 
  numbers 
  between 
  the 
  Coleoptera 
  and 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  major 
  orders 
  of 
  

   insects 
  is 
  not 
  real 
  and 
  that 
  in 
  time 
  they 
  will 
  each 
  reach 
  much 
  more 
  nearly 
  the 
  

   numbers 
  of 
  the 
  Coleoptera. 
  

  

  "Mr. 
  RohwEr's 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  Hymenoptera 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  

   far 
  too 
  conservative." 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Snyder 
  stated 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  Termites 
  there 
  were 
  about 
  1,000 
  known 
  spe- 
  

   cies, 
  and 
  this 
  number 
  may 
  double 
  or 
  possibly 
  run 
  to 
  about 
  5,000 
  species. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Cushman 
  stated 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  Oriental 
  Ichneumonidae 
  re- 
  

   ceived 
  from 
  C. 
  F. 
  Baker 
  of 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  the 
  Philippines, 
  together 
  with 
  

   a 
  few 
  from 
  other 
  sources, 
  he 
  had 
  found 
  about 
  75 
  apparently 
  undescribed 
  

  

  