ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 39 



Subjects of a strictly Entomological character were placed on the programme of 

 section D (Zoology) of which Professor Miall, F.RS., was President. One of your 

 delegates, Rev. Dr. Bethune, had the honor of being elected on its Executive Committee, 

 where his name appears in such distinguished company as that of Dr. Anton Dorhn, Prof. 

 C. S. Minot, Dr. L. 0. Howard, Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan and Dr. Theodore Gill. 



The Entomological papers read were : 



I.— Mimicry as evidence of the truth of Natural Selection, (with lantern illus- 

 trations), Prof. E. B. Poulton. 



2. — Economic Entomology in America, Dr. L. 0. Howard. 



3. — The Statistics of Bees, (an inquiry into the time occupied by the successive 

 journeys of workers), Prof. F. G. Edgeworth. 



4. — Theories of Mimicry as illustrated by African Butterflies, (with lantern illus- 

 trations), Prof. E. B. Poulton. 



5. — The Army- Worm in Ontario in 1896, Prof. J. Hoyes Panton. 



6. — A supposed new Insect structure, (with lantern illustrations), Prof. L. 0. Miall, 



Seven Canadian Committees were formed to investigate or prosecute scientific 

 problems of special application to the northern part of this Continent. One of these was 

 to investigate the organic life of the Pleistocene Beds of Canada ; another to secure the 

 establishment of a Biological Station in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; a third to study the 

 Biology of the Great Lakes. 



The Treasurer's Report showed a membership of 1,362 persons, and grants for the 

 purposes of scientific study and research of $6,500.00. One of these is a grant of one 

 hundred pounds sterling for an " Index generum et specierum Animalium," 



Canadian subjects naturally received much attention, but it was a pleasant surprise 

 to hear that in the estimates of the General Committee a much larger sum of money had 

 been voted than usual, in order to further the pursuit of investigations in Canada and to 

 assist the above-mentioned Canadian Committees. 



Respectfully submitted. 



J. Dearness ) -r, , 

 C. J. S. Bethune ) Dele g a ^ 



A STUDY OF THE GRYLLID^ (CRICKETS). 



By William Lochhead, London. 



• The crickets are easily distinguished from the other families of the Orthoptera by 

 their long hind legs fitted for jumping, their long antennae, and their wing covers which 

 are flat above and bent abruptly down at the sides. The wing covers of the males are 

 modified for the production of musical sounds, and the females in most genera are pro- 

 vided with long, stout ovipositors. 



Although possessing these characters in common, yet as a whole, the crickets are a 

 heterogeneous group. For example, the mole-cricket (Gryllotalpa) is large, often one and 

 a quarter inches long, and provided with powerful fore tibife fitted for digging ; while 

 Nemobius and Anaxiphus are quite small, often less than one- quarter inch long ; the tree- 

 cricket (Oecanthus) is delicate in structure compared with the common black crickets. 



From an economic standpoint the Crickets are not nearly so injurious to vegetables 

 as the grasshoppers and locusts, and for this very reason have not been studied as care- 

 fully as they might be. The snowy tree- cricket appears to be the only member of the 

 family which has taken to evil habits. The eggs are deposited in the branches of certain 

 plants such as the raspberry, blackberry, plum and peach, which are often destroyed in 

 consequence of the boring and weakening of the fragile stem. These beautiful crickets 

 have also been known to feed on ripe f ruits^ 



