56 REPORT OF NATIONAL, MUSEUM, 1925 



tional collection of the immature stages of Diptera is by far the best 

 in the United States, and probably equals if not surpasses any in 

 the world. In the section of Hymenoptera work on arrangement 

 of the collections progressed as rapidly as possible with identifica- 

 tion work. Dr. William M. Mann practically completed a skeleton 

 arrangement of the ants, and this collection is now in better shape 

 than ever before. Rearrangement in the Chalcidoidea has consisted 

 largely of expansion and incorporation of determined specimens 

 from the regional collection. However, the families Mymaridae and 

 Trichogrammidae, and the genera Ghalcis and Eurytoma, have been 

 rearranged completely. During the fiscal year C. F. W. Muesebeck 

 completed the arrangement of the Braconid genus Microhracon. In 

 the bees the genus Bombus was rearranged and partially restudied 

 by Dr. T. H. Frison. Various groups of Sphecoidea have been 

 transferred to trays, and the subfamilies Crabroninae and Larrinae 

 have been completely rearranged during the year. With exception 

 of the rearrangement of the subfamily Brachystinae and a partial 

 rearrangement of the species of the genus Pepsis, done in collabora- 

 tion with J. R. Malloch, very little change has been made in the 

 collection of the superfamily Mutilloidea. 



In the division of marine invertebrates, by dint of effort on the 

 part of all members of the staff, progress in caring for the collections 

 has been on a par with that of the preceding year. The fact that 

 the laborer assigned to the division has to be shared with another 

 division makes it imperative that the aid perform laborer's work in 

 the storage stack. With increasing accessions, the physical care of 

 the collections becomes more and more heavy. Added help to care 

 for the vast and important material under this division is needed. 



In the division of mollusks, work with the collection has gone on 

 steadily, but little progress has been made in catching up with past 

 arrears, as the additional burdens thrown upon the division have 

 not been alleviated by additional help, which is badly needed. The 

 task of preparing permanent labels for the material added to the 

 reserve study series has fallen upon William B. Marshall, the assist- 

 ant curator, work which properly belongs to a clerk, but which now 

 takes a highly trained specialist away from his proper sphere of 

 identifying, classifjdng, and revising. Since Dr. T. Wayland 

 Vaughan left for the Marine Biological Laboratory at La JoUa, 

 Calif., the care of the collection of corals has fallen entirely to the 

 staff of the division of mollusks, and consequently the curatorial 

 work on it has practically come to a standstill. The entire coral 

 collection was moved during the year to a room and the corridor 

 in the west wing. 



The collections in the division of echinoderms have received the 

 usual inspection, and some progress has been made in transferring 



