A new species of <I>Bertholdia</I>

OF WASHINGTON. 391

the bark but not the year^later.

He

referred to a peculiar form found inthe winter time under thebark of dead orange ^{trees in}

all stages of^existence.

Mr. Heidemann

^thinks thatthe Aradidae feed on _fungi. Mr.

Schwarz

stated that, ⁱⁿ his experience, the family

may

^{bedivided into}

^two

^classes, according ^{to food} habits, the one appearing^{to feed}

upon

^{a blackish}

mould

under _{the bark,} while others live outside ofthebarkofdead_trees,

upon

^{a whitish} fungus.

Mr.

Caudell stated that in

Oklahoma

he

had

foundthe

same

_species

two

_years in succession on a burned red-oak tree.

The

second paper ^{of the} evening,

by

^Dr.

Dyar, was

^entitled ''A

New

_Speciesof Bertholdia," the description being

accom

panied

by

the exhibition ofspecimens ^{of the}

new

_form,

B.

_soror, and also of threeallied species.

A NEW SPECIES OF BERTHOLDIA.

By HARRISON

^G.

DYAR.

Bertholdiasorot- n.sp.

Headbrown,orbitscrimson, palpiwhite,crimson above; thoraxrusset

brownwith afew red scales,edges^oftegulse grayish; abdomen crimson above, white below, with lateral black dots; legswhite, knees_gray, fore femora red above. Fore wings ^lilacine gray, the basal half irregularly suffused with_lightocherous brown; ^anovalwhite spoton the middleof vein i_; subapical hyaline areashaped^{as in} phtlotera,faintly edged^with reddish, butwithoutablackborderandthe dotsonthe veins ₅and 6 are faint and _gray. Hind_wings white, semihyaline, inner margin pink.

Expanse32-34

mm

; one_male, two_females; Venezuela(Hrdlicka). U.S.

Nat.

Museum,

typeno. 4252.

Synopsis

of

Species.

Hind _wings smoky

gray, darkest on the outer edge.

Fore wing brown

^; hyaline space ^{dentate, its}

upper

portion retracted _; dot

on

vein i yellow philotera Druce.

Hind _wings

nearly hyaline, a

narrow

_grayterminal line.

Fore wing

gray ^; hyaline space dentate, ^its upperportion not retracted; dot

on

vein i yellow.^{. .}.specularis

H.

S.

Hind wings

white without gray^border,but_rarely a touchofgray

on

the veins in the female.

Teglulaa not white bordered.

Hyaline patch dentate."

Spot

^{onvein i} yellow^{or absent,}.schausiana Dyai.

Spot on ^{vein i} white soror Dyar.

Hyaline patch not dentate, prolonged

below toward

the enlarged yellow^dots trigona^Grote.

Tegulse whitebordered, forming^a white _spot in the middle of thecollar.

Fore wing

^with purple ^{discal area}

and

white sub- marginal ^line albipuncta Schaus.

392 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

f

As

it

seemed from

the description^thatthe species of^thisgenus

were

distinguished largely

by

^{color,discussionfollowed in}regard to the

taxonomic

value of color. Dr. Gill spoke ^{of the} great variation inthe value of colorin differentgroups of animals. In birds, forexample, ^thecolor

seems

to be very constant, while in certain

mammals

it is very variable ⁱⁿ the

same

_{species, although} the

modern

school of

mammalogists

^are

coming

^touse color varia tions as specific.

With

shellsthere isgreat color^variation. Dr.

Dyar

^{said that in}

some

_groupsof

moths

the color

was

variable within specific limits.

Mr. Schwarz

said that in beetles thevalue of colordiffered in different groups. ^In the Cicindelidae there is

.considerable_variation,butitfollows adefinite,

law

aspointed out

by

^Dr.

Horn.

In the CoccinellidaB

and

Chrysomelida3,

many

species are veryvariable,butthere the

law

of variation isobscure, while occasionally species

may

^occur

^which

are perfectly constant in color.

Mr. Ashmead

said thatthe

wing

pattern^isof consider able importance^intheclassificationof the_parasitic

Hymenoptera.

In such genera ^as Perissopterus,

Decatoma,

Cerapterocerus,

Eusemion,

Chiropachys, Habrolepis,

and many

others, the color pattern of the

wing

^isof generic value. Dr. Gill said that

most

naturalists refusedto use color in a generic sense, but some, ^like

Seebohm

ⁱⁿ the Turdidae, have used it

extensively.

Mr. Ash- mead

_spoke ^{of the}_eggs of birds aspossessing specific characters.

Dr. Gill said that the characters used

by

oologists

were

of little

value.

Mr. Ashmead

said that the eggs ^{of insects} frequently possess valuable characters, even of family rank, such as those of the Pentatomidae

and

certaingroups^of Lepidoptera.

Mr. Schwarz

referred to Rupertsberger's ^rare

work on

the classification of insects

from

_{the eggs,}

and

Dr.

Dyar

^referredto

Chapman's work on

theeggs ^ofLepidoptera.

The

thirdpaper^{of the}evening

was by Mr. Schwarz,

^entitled:

ON THE INSECT FAUNA OF THE MISTLETOE.

By

^E.

^{A. SCHWARZ.}

Kaltenbach mentions four species of insects living

upon

Viscum album

in

Europe,

^viz., Psylla ^{visci Curt,} (exophila Frfd.), Aspidiotus visci Frfd.,

and two Cerambycid

^{beetles of} the genus Pogonocherus.

The

latter, however, have been bred