Dec, 1903. J Proceedings of the Society. 249 



group in the shorter, wider fore wings, and the absence of any trans- 

 verse lines. The type of Mr. Butler's description is in the British 

 Museum. 



Meetint, ok May 19. 



Held at the American Museum of Natural History, Tuesday evening, May 19 

 at 8 o'clock. 



In absence of the President and Vice-President, Rev. J. L. Zabriskie was elected 

 to preside at the meeting. 



The following members were present: Messrs. Barber, Brues, Davis, Joutel, 

 Love, O'Connor, Southwick, Bueno, Zabriskie and visitors Mr. Martin and daughter. 



Mr. Davis of the Field Committee reported that the next field trip would be to 

 Fort Montgomery, N. Y., May 29 to 31. Also on June 14 the committee had ar- 

 ranged a field trip to Huguenot, Staten Island. 



Mr. Engelhardt was elected an active member of the society on motion of Dr. 

 Love. 



On motion of Mr. Joutel the society voted to discontinue its meetings during June. 



The first paper of the evening was by Mr. Zabriskie on the subject of " The Mi- 

 croscopical .Study of the Food of Trox unis/riatus." 



Mr. Zabriskie stated that he had subjected some specimens of this beetle to the 

 action of a weakened solution of caustic soda in order to prepare them for dissec- 

 tion. They had been collected some nine years ago from the carcass of a horse. 

 On opening the stomach of these beetles he had discovered a great number of little 

 black rod-like objects. He mounted some on a slide and e.xamined under a mi- 

 croscope and after some investigation he had decided that they were the snipped-oft" 

 butt ends of horse hairs. He called attention to the fact that all of the hairs which he 

 exhibited under the microscope were snipped off in the same oblique manner. 



Mr. Zabriskie also exhibited under the microscope the stalked eggs of Xiphydria 

 tnaciilata, one of the wood-boring wasps. Mr. Joutel exhibited some of the stages 

 as well as drawings of some of the Bombycine larv?e from Japan. He called atten- 

 tion particularly to the difference in the larvre at different moults. 



Mr. Brues mentioned that he had collected recently an interesting wingless 

 hymenopteron, Isobrachium rufiventre Ashm., at Ft. Lee, N. J., which was new to 

 the New Jersey List of Insects. 



Mr Brues then read a paper on the subject of " The Sleeping Habits of Some 

 Aculeate Hymenoptera." 



Mr. lUieno stated that he had noticed that the Cicindda sexgiittala which 

 he had taken at Fort Lee, N. J., had a peculiar odor similar to that of an enraged 

 bee. He also exhibited a number of live Plea striata taken at Van Cortlandt Park. 



Mr. Davis then made some remarks about the early collection of certain butter- 

 flies as evidence of the early spring of 1903. He had taken Lycitna pseudargiolus 

 on Staten Island, March 28. On two previous years the butterfly has been observed 



