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Dr. INIaurv of Goshen stated that the larva of Agrotis mcssoria and 

 a Wire-Worm liad done great injury to the Onion Crop in his vicinity, 

 and asked \\ hether any serviceable remedy had been discovered. 



Prof. Riley referred him to the recent Reports of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment (.)f Agriculture, where all the known remedies as applied to this 

 species were tieaieii in detail. 



On motion of Prof Cook the Club adjourned to 9 A. M., Friday, 

 August I 2ih, 



Friday, August I2lh. — The Club met pursuant to adjournment. 

 Prof. Comstock m the chair. Prof Riley gave a short history of the dis- 

 covery of the 9 o^ PhcTtgodes. To his idea they represent the most 

 thoroughly undeveloped 9 that we have any knowledge of He knows 

 of no instance in which it is so difficult to distinguish between the beetle 

 and the larva than in these cases. He showed figures of the various 

 forms of O 9 and larva2 known to him. Between the 4th and 5th seg- 

 ments, and on all the others to the last, there are spiracular openings, 

 which seem to be glands of some kinds, since they have no internal 

 opening. What they are, he cannot tell. Another point is, that the in- 

 sect probably requires only one year to go through its transformations, 

 and the reason it has been so seldom found, is that it is subterranean, 

 feeding on Iiiliis and Po/ydesiiius and only comes to the surface when it 

 has attained the atlult form. The natural history oi Phengodes and Zar- 

 hipes is yet very incomplete. Of the 9 '^he imago and the small larva as 

 well as the (i%% is known, but no young of the (^.* 



Prof Riley also spoke on Pronuba and its connection with the pol- 

 lination of Yucca. He has published nothing on the subject since the 

 paper in the Proc. A. A. A. S. , but he has experimented annually since 

 then and he emphasizes the fact that Pronuba is the only creature that 

 does and can fertilize the plant. One interesting fact : — while in the be- 

 ginning he was led to believe, and in fact suggested, that many of the 

 actions of the moth were selfish and unconscious, he is now convinced 

 it has no reason save the desire to propagate. ^It does not derive any 

 benefit from the liquor, Trealease showed there was no nectarine in the 

 stigmatic liquor. What there is of that nature is secreted and empties 

 outside of the flowers. His own observations confirm all Trealease has 

 published. Of the insects found on the flowers Chaidiognathus with its 

 snout-like mouth would seem well fitted for possible fertilization, but it 

 gets its food outside of the pistil. Pronuba gets the pollen in a lump 

 and tiusts it in. He finds that it is possible to fertilize the flowers artifici- 



* Prof. Riley read a communication on the same subject before the Biological 

 Section of the Association, in wliich details of the discovery of the ^ were given. A 

 complete paper on the subject is also in course of preparation by Prof. Riley. 



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