338 



PSYCHE. 



[October — December iS 



abiiiuhtnt were these insects that, espcciallv 

 under one tree, the drops of their sugary 

 secretion made the sidewalk beneath con- 

 stantly appear as if there had just been a 

 light shower. On account of this shower of 

 sugary material the upper sides of the leaves 

 of the trees had the appearance of having 

 been varnished. 



Mr. S: H. Scudder reviewed C: Bron- 

 gniart's Fossil insects of the primary forma- 

 tions, and showed the proof-sheets of the 

 first half of his contribution to Zittel's 

 Handbook of paleontology. The portion, of 

 which proofs were shown, treated of the 

 myriopoda, the arachnida, and part of the 

 insecta, and was abundantly illustrated. 



13 Nov. 1SS5. — The 114th meeting was held 

 at 61 Sacramento St., Cambridge, 13 Nov. 1885. 



Dr. G: Dimmock exhibited a collection of 

 bred cocci/ielUdae, among which wcic many 

 varieties bred from a single pair of Coccinella 

 novemnotata. 



Mi-. R. Hayward showed a few specimens 

 of several coleoptera collected by him in 

 southwestern Colorado during the past sum- 

 mer. Among them were AmpJiizoa hisolcns 

 and a specimen of Ncbrta ti-ifaria. The 

 Ncbi-ia showed a curious monstrosity, the 

 tarsi of the right anterior leg being trifur- 

 cated. In all other respects it was a normal 

 specimen. 



Mr. F. S. Child spoke of a specimen of 

 Argynitis idalia which he had taken in Barn- 

 stable CO., Mass., exhibiting remarkable col- 

 orational variation. He also mentioned the 

 occurrence, in the autumn of 1SS3. of Euftoi- 

 eta Claudia at Magnolia, Mass. 



II Dec. 1SS5. — The 115th meeting was held 

 at 19 Brattle St.. Cambridge, 11 Dec. 1SS5. 



On motion of R. Hayward a vote of thanks 

 was tendered unanimously to Mr. S : H. 

 Scudder for the use of the office of Science 

 for club meetings during the past two years. 



Mr. S: H. Scudder reviewed a recently 

 published paper by Prof. Felix Plateau, en- 

 titled " Rechei'ches exp^rimentales sur la 

 vision chez les insectes" (Bull. Acad. roy. 

 Belgiquc, 1SS5, ser. 3, v. 10). The chief ob- 



ject of Prof. Plateau's researches was to dis- 

 cover if insects could distinguish the shape 

 of objects. 



Mr. S : H. Scudder made some remarks 

 upon the cockroaches {blattariae) of the 

 mesozoic period, and exhibited six chromo- 

 lithographic plates of New England butter, 

 flies. The plates gave rise to considerable 

 discussion on ditferent species of New Eng- 

 land buttei-flies. 



Mr. P. S. Abbot noted the capture of £«- 

 ptoieta Claudia and Junonia cociiia at Old 

 Orchard Beach, Maine, in 18S2. 



Mr. B : P. Mann communicated (through 

 the secretary) two notes accompanied by 

 specimens. The first was concerning a dig- 

 ger-wasp (Siizus) and a cicada (Cicada) : 

 " In regard to the cicada and wasp there is 

 nothing new to say. They were caught in the 

 house, the wasp bringing the cicada in its legs 

 as Siizus is known to do. The cicada seemed 

 to be dead when picked up from the floor where 

 the wasp had dropped it upon finding itself 

 hemmed in by the walls and window panes." 

 The other communication was concerning a 

 butterfly, Eudamus iityrus, and will be pub- 

 lished in Psyche. 



Dr. G: Dimmock showed a large larva of 

 some species of ocstiidae (.' Culeicbra cmas- 

 cula tor), -which had been sent to him by Mr. 

 Leroy H. Sykes, of Suffield, Conn. This 

 larva was taken by Mr. Sykes, about 20 Sept. 

 18S4, from beneath the skin of a chip-squirrel 

 {Tamias stria/us) just at the right of the 

 median ventral line, near the umbilicus. Mr. 

 Sykes thinks the squirrel was a castrate. 



Dr. G : Dimmock explained an apparatus 

 by which he was enabled to rear insects in 

 gases of different kinds or indeterminate pro- 

 portions of gases and air. 



Dr. G: Dimmock described the way in 

 which the red mites that were so abundant 

 about Cambridge this year produced the fine, 

 light colored lines upon leaves of clover, 

 grass and other plants. Leaves which had 

 been marked by these mites were shown. 



Dr. G ; Dimmock mentioned certain habits 

 of Corixa and Notonccla. 



