Invertebrate Collections Ji 



been published by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Dr. Wheeler has 

 practically completed his report on the ants collected by the 

 Congo Expedition. Dr. Lutz has continued his studies on the 

 higher bees of North America. Mr. Mutchler, in cooperation 

 with Mr. Leng, has nearly finished a study of West Indian 

 fireflies and their relatives. Mr. Leng will soon publish a most 

 valuable check-list of North American beetles. Mr. Watson's 

 principal research has been concerned with the life histories of 

 butterflies. Mr. Bequaert has devoted most of his time to gen- 

 eral work in connection with the preparation of reports on the 

 Congo Expedition. 



A few of the noteworthy accessions of the year may be men- 

 tioned. A collection of Mollusks, Brachiopods and Corals, 

 comprising 464 specimens of about 100 species, 

 was purchased from Mrs. Ida S. Oldroyd of 

 Leland Stanford Junior University. These were collected by 

 Mrs. Oldroyd on the Pacific Coast, mainly in the neighborhood 

 of Puget Sound. A collection of 250 specimens of shells, em- 

 bracing about 100 species, was received in exchange from Mr. 

 W. H. Weeks. A small collection of excellent examples of 

 land snails from France was presented by Sergeant E. D. 

 Crabb of the United States Army. About 2,000 specimens of 

 Crustacea, Mollusca, Chordata, Annulata, Echinodermata and 

 Myriapoda, collected by Mr. Barnum Brown in Cuba, have 

 been given to the department. A collection of the types of 

 Congo Mollusks, embracing 103 new species and subspecies, 

 was presented by Mr. Joseph Bequaert, by whom they were 

 collected. These have been described by Professor H. A. 

 Pilsbry and form the basis of a portion of his paper on the 

 Congo Mollusks about to be published. In entomology the 

 most important accession has been the gift by Rev. H. R. Cald- 

 well of a large collection of Chinese insects. These are valu- 

 able not only by reason of the fact that they represent many 

 species not hitherto possessed by this Museum, but also because 

 they come from a less explored region which is of especial 

 interest in connection with the larger problems of geographic 

 distribution that are constantly kept in mind by this department. 



