357 



and of hangiug by one fore-leg while devouring it were described. He also dis- 

 cussed the recent publication by Ed. Fleutiaux and A. Salld, on the Coleoptera from 

 the Island of Gaudeloupe, West Indies, Ann. Soc. Ent. de France, 1889 (1890). The 

 relation of the species enumerated to the fauna of the United States was particularly 

 dwelt upon. 



JanM«r^ 8, 1891.— The annual meeting of the society was held at the residence of 

 Prof. C. V. Riley, and the olficers for the past year were re-elected, as follows : 



President, George Marx; vice-presidents, C. V. Riley and L. (J. Howard; corre- 

 sponding secretary, C. H. Tyler Townsend; recording secretary, C. L. Marlatt ; 

 treasurer, B. P. Mann ; executive committee, E. A. Schwarz, Otto Heidemann, W. H. 

 Fox. The president, Dr. Marx, delivered an address on ''The spiders of the District 

 of Columbia," in which he discussed at length the value of local lists as a means of 

 forming a comprehensive knowledge of the fauna of a country. He referred to the 

 somewhat scanty literature in this country of this nature as compared with that of 

 Europe, giving also a bibliography of the more important writings on Arane^e of both 

 this country and Europe, and concluded with a list of the spiders found to occur in 

 the District. 



The address was discussed by Messrs. Riley, Fernow, Marx, Schwarz, Smith, Dodge, 

 Banks, and others. 



February 5, 1891.— Mr. Schwarz called attention to certain Micro-Lepidoptera which 

 breed in the fruit of Solanuni carolinense, stating that he had bred Gelechia beneficentella 

 and referred to the fact that no similar insects were known to breed in the fruit of 

 the cultivated potato. 



Dr. Marx spoke of the spiders of the genus Pholcus of which nine species occur in 

 this country as against one or two found in Europe. He exhibited specimens of the 

 American species. 



Mr. Schwarz exhibited specimens of Casnonia ludoviciana, found this winter in great 

 abundance near Washington, D. C, and remarked on the distribution and habits of 

 this insect. 



Professor Riley laid before the society an interesting card which he had recently 

 received from Mr. McLachlau referring to the Blepharocerid larvie mentioned at the 

 previous meeting of the society. Mr. McLachlan fully confirmed Professor Riley's 

 reference of the larvae in question. 



Mr. Townsend read a paper on a remarkable new Hippoboscid received from Dr. 

 Alfredo Duges, Guanajuato, Mexico, which had been taken on a bat. It was de- 

 scribed as Trichohius n. gen. dugesii n. sp. 



Mr. Townsend also presented a paper on a Muscid, bred from swine dung, which 

 he described in its larval and imago states as Cleigasira suisterci n. sp. This case of 

 breeding had shown a larval hibernation, and Mr, Townsend expressed the belief 

 that in more northern latitudes most Coprophagus Diptera (EcBmatohia Lucilia, etc.), 

 winter equally as larvae or pupje, and only exceptionally as perfect flies. 



These papers were discussed by Messrs. Riley, Fox, Banks, Schwarz, Marlatt, and 

 Townsend. Mr. Schwarz presented for publication descriptions of two North Amer- 

 ican species of the Cuculionid genus Phyiolias and one of them he considered to be 

 identical with the European Fhytohius velatus. The other is described under the 

 name of Ph. griseomicans. Mr. Schwarz also spoke of the difficulty in recognizing 

 from the descriptions the North American species of Pityophthorus and pointed out 

 that only secondary sexual characters seemed to offer a satisfactory criterion for the 

 separation of many closely allied species. The Pityophthorus so common under bark 

 of Liquidambar is not P.annectens, as formerly assumed by him, but is identical with 

 the species occurring under bark of Sumach and which is named in collections P. 

 consimiUs. 



C. L. Marlatt, 



Btcording Secretary. 



