30 £NtoMoLoGlCAL NEWS. [Jan., *05 



Entomological Society and elsewhere concerning his paper on 

 "Evolution of the Secondaries of the Catocala," which ap- 

 peared in the Journal of December, 1903, in which opinions 

 it was alleged that he had stated that the coloration had origi- 

 nated by reason of the pursuit of these insects by birds, which, 

 it was asserted, could not possibly distinguish the colored 

 secondaries to such an extent during flight as to be directed by 

 them, and hence the theory that they had developed under such 

 conditions and for such purpose was untenable. Mr. Weeks 

 called attention to the fact that the article nowhere made such 

 an allegation, and that he had repeatedly stated therein that 

 these secondaries were only displayed as a diversion when the 

 insect ^2iS feedmg and therefore at rest ; also that due allow- 

 ance must be made for changed faunal conditions and environ- 

 ments to which these insects had been subjected through vast 

 periods of time, when the forests swarmed with creeping ene- 

 mies much more rapacious and numerous than any which now 

 survived and when birds had not as yet developed, and that it 

 was totally incorrect to base any deductions upon the premise 

 that present conditions had always prevailed or contempora- 

 neously existed. 



June 2, igo^. — Six persons present, the Secretary in the chair. 

 The members were entertained by the relation of the experi- 

 ences of a collector who had recently returned from a year's 

 sojourn at Obidos some 2000 miles up the Amazon River. The 

 natives were hospitable and trusty. Mosquitoes made col- 

 lecting almost impossible. Tarantulas swarmed in the huts of 

 the natives and were captured with pincers and forked sticks. 

 The narrator was blinded for several months by loose hairs 

 from these creatures. Ticks and various insects gave great 

 annoyance, and snakes were permitted to run at large within 

 the huts to destroy the vampires, which were dangerous at 

 night. Ants were a most formidable pest, sometimes locating 

 in such numbers beneath the dwellings as to cause their 

 abandonment. The height of the trees and parasitic vines 

 and the density of their combined foliage at the top cast the 

 surface beneath in deep shadow so that few insects could be 

 there taken. At the top the trees and vines bloomed luxuri- 



