20 



Society News. 



Entomological Society of Washington, January 5, 1888, at the residence 

 of Prof. Riley. The reports of officers were read and submitted. The loUowinir 

 officers were elected for 1888 : President, Mr. E. A. Schwarz ; 1st Vice-Pres., Prof. 

 C. V. Riley ; 2nd Vice-Pres., Dr. Geo. Marx ; Rec. Secretary, Mr. John B. Smith ; 

 Corr. Secretary, Mr. O. Lugger ; Treasurer, Mr. B. Maan ; Members of Executive 

 Committee, Mr. L. O. Howard, Mr. Theo. Pergande, and Dr. W. H. Fox. 



The retiring President, Mr. L O. Howard, read his annual address entitled "a 

 preliminary study of the parasites of Cosmopolitan Insects." This paper was dis- 

 cussed and commented on by Prof. Riley and Messrs. Smith and S:hwarz. . 



February 2, 1888, at the residence of Dr. Fox. Dr. Fox read some remarks on 

 the arachnid genus Dolomedes, giving the generic characters and notes on some of 

 the species. Thi5 paper was discussed by Messrs. Smith, Howard and Schwarz. In 

 response to questions Dr. Fox stated the geographical distribution of the species. 

 Mr. Howard asked whether a well defined European genus, represented in America 

 by species difiering in some one particular might be enlarged to include these species. 

 Mr. Schwarz said it might, and cited the various groups oi' PUrostichus as examples. 

 Mr. Smith answered by stating that 111 Europe Perigrapha had pectinated antennae 

 in the 5. In America there were simple in that sex— the definition of the genus was 

 enlarged to meet this case. Mr. Heidemann remarked on the Hemiptera collected 

 by Mr. Schwarz in Dade Co., Florida, in the Spring of 1887. There appeared to be 

 about 95 species and all belonged to the West Indian fauna. All except a few obscure 

 species were described from that faunal region. Mr. Smith referring to this paper 

 said he did not consider this fauna a part of the temparate American fauna and would 

 not inchide it in our lists. It belongs to the West Indian and Central American fauna 

 and not to that of North America as understood in our lists. Mr. Schwarz says this 

 fauna extends much further North than is usually believed, and st ites that all the 

 Coleoptera collected by him belong to the West Indian fauna. Mr. Smith says the 

 same holds true of the Lepidoptera so far as determined. 



Mr. Howard mentioned that he had received the variety of the chinch bug, col- 

 lected by Mr. Schwarz, with short pointed wing covers, from other sources and now 

 believes that this is sea coast form. 



Mr. Schwaiz exhibited specimens of an undescribed Xylehorits, allied io pyri, 

 and of its galleries which he found in South-eastern Florida within the branches of 

 the Cocoa Plum {Chrysobalamis icaco). These galleries represent a form hitherto un- 

 known in any of the described North American Scolytids and resemble somewhat 

 those oi the European X. saxesini. From the entrance hole the gallery runs for some 

 distance straight into the wood ; then follows a rather abrupt elbow whereupon the 

 gallery is gradually enlarged into a capacious but shallow chamber which reaches 

 to the core of the branch. At the inner lower corner of this chamber is another, 

 smaller and elongate chamber entirely w ithin the core. On the bottom of this last 

 chamber, a number of eggs and young larvae were found, all in a heap ; while in the 

 larger chamber there was a pair of the beetles. The two sexes of this new species 

 differ in a remarkable degree. Referring to Xylebortis pyri Mr. Schwarz pointed out 

 that Mr. Peck's account of the galleries, published in 1817 contains a number of the 

 most glaring errors ; but in spite of this, it has been copied and quoted up to the 

 present time by all subsequent writers on this Xyleborus. 



