The President gave his annual address, which was a very able review of the progress 

 of entomology, as shown in publications which have appeared since the last meeting. 



Professor Lintner also alluded to the absence of some who were usually attendant at 

 the Club meetings, referring especially to Professor C. Y. Riley, who was then in Europe 

 for the benefit of his health. 



Dr. T>. S. Kellicott, on behalf of the Buffalo Society of Natural History, placed the 

 rooms at -the disposal of the members of the Club. 



The President paid a high compliment to the contributions to entomology that had 

 emanated from the rooms where they were meeting. 



Professor Comstock explained a new method of arranging collections by which loss of 

 time is avoided in transferring specimens so as to make room for additional species, or 

 making necessary changes in their arrangement. The main feature in this plan consists in 

 having moveable blocks on which the insects are pinned, but made in sections to fit 

 the cases. 



The following officers were elected for the ensuing year : — 



President. — -Professor J. H. Comstock, Ithaca, N.Y. 

 Vice-President. — Professor S. A. Forbes, Champaign, 111. 

 Secretary. — Mr. E. Baynes Eeed, London, Ont. 



The following is a summary of papers read before the meeting during the session : — 



Professor S. A. Forbes — Notes of the Past Year's Work : The Hessian Fly, 



Cecidomyia destructor has been found to hibernate in Southern Illinois as a naked white 



grub, not forming puparium until May following, and emerging before harvest j these are 



probably the offspring of a mid-summer brood, which develop in volunteer wheat. The 



Clover Seed Midge, C. leguminicola, was observed first in 1879 in Illinois. A new 



Chalcid parasite, Teirastichus, has been reported, but its worst enemy so far observed was 



Triphleps insidiosus. The young of this species are often so abundant on the clover heads 



as to be mistaken for the injurious midge, but a little observation will show their beneficial 



character. The Wheat-stem Maggot, Meromyza Americana, is shown to have three broods 



instead of two only. Eggs and half-grown larva? were found in abundance, August 4th. 



Two species of Melanotics, communis and cribulosus, were bred to maturity, and a third 



Elaterid not yet determined, of which figures and precise descriptions have been prepared. 



Larvae of these, and of Agriotes mancus, and of a Cardiophorus, were reported as 



injurious to Indian corn, the peculiar larvae of the last boring the roots in all directions in 



sandy soil. M. cribulosus pupates in July and forms imago in September. The Corn-root 



Worm, Diabrotica longicornis, is reported as seriously affecting crops in Southern Illinois. 



The common pale Flea Beetle, Sy sterna blanda, was bred from larvae feeding on kernels of 



sprouting corn in the earth. Epicmrus imbricator taken feeding on leaves of pear ; eggs 



laid in single layer- on leaves, concealed by the insect fastening together the opposed 



surfaces of the leaves. Larva? of Sphenophorus parvulus found to infest the roots of 



meadow grass (timothy). The midge sucks the sap from stems of wheat and corn. The 



Corn-plant Louse, Aphis maizis, was very injurious; observation shows that they are 



strictly dependent on the ant, Lasius alienus, which mines along the principal roots, 



collects the plant lice and conveys them into these burrows and there watches over and 



protects them. The ants have nothing to do with the hibernation of the lice, their winter 



nests never containing them in any form, either in corn-fields or other situations ; the facts 



indicate that the lice hibernate as wingless females on the earth of fields previously infested. 



The Currant Worm, Nematus ventricosus, was mentioned as a case of retarded development. 



Mr. Bethune had noticed a similar case in Attacus promethea. The Root Web- worm. 



Grambus zeellus, was very destructive to corn in Illinois. A detailed description was 



given of its earth nest and the method and character of injury done to corn by this species. 



It hibernates as a larva, pupates in a tubular nest in June, emerging June and July. 



A paper was read from H. Garman : Contribution to Life History of Aphis maizis. 



Paper read from W. L. Deveraux : A Dangerless Insecticide for Collecting Bottles. 



The best vegetable container of prussic acid is the bark of the wild cherry, Prunus serotina, 



to be used for the Serotina bottle for young collectors, like the Laurel bottle of European 



entomologists. 



