REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT (>K BIOLOGY. 77 



Champaign, 111., upon the Thysanura, Mr. Ileidemann upon the Hemiptera, Mr. 

 Hanks upon the Arachnida and neuropteroid insects, Professor Coot upon the 

 Myriapoda, Mr. Pergande upon the Aphididae and Formicida?, and Mr. ( Jurrie upon 

 the Odonata. 



Du'ringthe year Mr. Coquilletl lias been at work monographing certain families of 

 the Diptera, while Mr. Ashmead lias worked upon the Echneumonoidea and Bombi- 

 dse and has completed his reporl upon the Hymenoptera Parasitica of the Hawaiian 

 Islands. His work upon exotic material Erom Africa, Siam, Japan, Australia, and 

 New Zealand has also been continued. 



The various specialists connected with the Division of Insects and the Division of 

 Entomology, in the Department of Agriculture, have identified material Erom the 

 Galapagos Islands collected by Mr. R. E. Snodgrass, and reports upon the same will 

 soon be published as follows: Mr. Banks upon the Arachnida, Mr. Ashmead upon 

 the Hymenoptera, Mr. Coquillett upon the Diptera, Dr. Dyar upon the Lepidoptera, 

 Mr. Currie upon the Odonata, and Mr. Heidemann upon the Hemiptera. 



Mr. Currie has continued his work upon the Myrmeleonidse, and is preparing a 

 synonymical card catalogue of the North American neuropteroid insects which, 

 together with catalogues of the North American insects in other orders, it is pro- 

 posed to publish for the Museum. Much work has also been done on catalogues of 

 Lepidoptera by Dr. Dyar, and Hymenoptera by .Mr. Ashmead. 



Mr. Caudell has published a synopsis of the hemipterous genus Sinea, and has 

 identified considerable material in the Orthoptera. 



The bibliography of the division shows 78 titles of papers <>n insects 

 by members of the staff published during the year. The honorary 

 curator, Dr. L. O. Howard, also published a popular hook on habits 

 and classification of mosquitoes. 



Mr. F. A. Lucas prosecuted studies on flightless birds and on the 

 osteology of the Tile-fish and its allies. 



In the Division of Plants Mr. F. V. Coville published rive botanical 

 papers during the year. Mr. Rose (with Prof. J. M. Coulter) published 

 a monograph of the North American Umbelliferse, and has continued 

 his studies of the flora of Mexico, with the view of ultimately pub- 

 lishing tin extensive work on that subject. Mr. Pollard continued his 

 studies of the violets, and published a description of a new lleliantkus, 

 and a scries of popular articles on the families id' flowering plants. 

 Mr. William R. Maxon continued studies of the ferns and their allies 

 and published a list of these plants growing in North America and 

 eight other papers relating to them. 



LOAN OF SPECIMENS. 



The practice of lending collections to investigators for study con- 

 tinued as in previous years. While it is impossible in this place to 

 notice all these transactions in detail, mention will be made of the more 

 important instances. 



Twenty-eight specimens of Hutia rats {Capromys) were lent to Mr. 

 F. M. Chapman, of the American Museum of Natural History, who is 

 engaged in a revision of the genus. Thirty live bats were len' to Mr. 

 .bunes A. C. Kelin. of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. 



