1904I Meetings of Entomological Branch. 55 



MEETINGS OF ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH. 



Meeting No. 11 was held at Dr Fletcher's on January 14th, 

 1904 ; seven present. Dr. Fletcher explained that the meetings 

 had been interrupted for several months, owing to absence of 

 members and to other causes, but that in resuming them it was 

 recognized that they were of much value to the members, upon 

 whom he called to set forth the results of their past season's col- 

 lecting and observations. Mr. Gibson read a paper on "An In- 

 teresting Enemy of the Iris," in which he described the larva of 

 Macronoctiia onusta, which had infested the stems of irises at the 

 Experimental Farm. Dr. Fletcher instanced, among such stem- 

 boring caterpillars, the larva of Gortyna ptirpiirifascia which had 

 in a previous season greatly infested their columbines. Mr. Gib- 

 son said that larvae of the rare Apantesis superha (var. nevadensis, 

 Dyar's List) had been received from Vernon, B.C., and had been 

 successfully reared. Of six caterpillars, two had been inflated 

 and four bred to the moth. Larvae of A. docta (var. arizonensis) 

 had also been received from Phoenix, Ariz. Dr. Fletcher spoke of 

 the value of the chitinous head-case of some larvae as of even 

 greater value than the skin in determining the number of the 

 moult of the caterpillar. In reply to an enquiry by Dr. Sinclair 

 as to the chief value of breeding these forms, he explained that 

 one of the principal aims of such studies was to ascertain that 

 stage in the lite of the insect in which injurious forms inight be 

 most easily and economically destroyed. The habits of various 

 cutworms were mentioned, and the remedies, such as bunches of 

 poisoned weeds, etc., which might be applied to check their 

 depredations. Mr. Metcalfe exhibited a collection of Homoptera, 

 chiefly the smaller leaf-hoppers, which he had made at Brcckville 

 during the summer. There were about forty species named by 

 Mr. Van Duzee, and many of these were represented by long series 

 of carefully mounted specimens. He also showed samples of the 

 curious little Chrysomelid beetle, Exei7ia dispar, which is obtained 

 from goldenrods by using a sweeping or beating-net, and which 

 probably escapes many enemies by its marked resemblance to 

 the excrement of caterpillars. Mr. Baldwin showed the results 



