188 



is not known where it lias come from, nor bow long it has been 

 established here. It may not become of any economic impor- 

 tance, as it is the habit of the members of this family to store 

 their nests with spiders, making burrows in the ground for this 

 purpose. They are not likely to cause much more inroads on the 

 abundance of spiders here than is already done by Sceliphron 

 and Pison. 



Hippoboscid. 



In October, also, two specimens of a Hippoboscid were. ob- 

 tained by a Honolulu pigeon fancier, from some of his flock, 

 and forwarded to me via Bishop Museum. There are three 

 species of these insects present in the" islands inhabiting such 

 birds as the owl and some of the native birds. Our present 

 species is difl^erent from any of these, and differs also from any 

 common to fowls in the United States. It yet remains to be 

 determined. It is not known at present how prevalent it is in 

 Honolulu, nor how injurious it may be. 



Me7nh7-acid. 



IsTovember 24 I captured two specimens of a Membracid of 

 the genus Tricentrus in the lower part of the Tantalus Eucalyp- 

 tus Forest. • It comes very near to Tricentrus alhomacidatiw 

 Dist., which occurs in India. Our specimens may be an Oriental 

 or Australian species, but it is yet to be determined with cer- 

 tainty. The family Membracidae is not represented in the 

 native fauna of the Hawaiian Islands, and no introduced forms 

 are known besides this, except that Dr. Perkins reported a year 

 or two ago finding a specimen, but of what genus I know not, 

 nor whether it might be the same species that I have now col- 

 lected. 



I present these captures at the present time that records may 

 be made of their first notice here. 



In the discussion that followed, Mr. Giffard wished to record 

 that in the beginning of November he saw one or two specimens 

 of the Pompilus in Nuuanu Valley on stone walls, and last Sun- 

 day on Tantalus at an elevation of 1500 feet he caught another 

 running on a bank. 



Prof. Severin read extracts from his paper on "An Experi- 

 mental Study on the Death-Feigning of Belostoma (Zaitha 

 ancct) flumineum Say and Nepa apiculata Uhler." 



