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1954
The Lepidopterists' News
5
MINUTES OF THE FOURTH ANNUAL MEETINGS OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY
The meetings were held Thursday through Saturday, July 2 - 4, 1953, in the Education Room of the Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California, U. S. A.
On July 2, the time from 9:00 A. M. to 10:30 A. M. was spent in registration of members, and in making reservations for the banquet. Since no officers were present, J. A. COMSTOCK presided in absence of President Wm. T. M. FORBES. Upon taking the chair, Dr. COMSTOCK welcomed the members informally. Mr. JEAN DELACOUR, Director of the Museum, gave the formal address of welcome. The presidential address was read by Dr. COMSTOCK for President FORBES: the President's address, the text of which appears elsewhere, provoked a lively discussion. Mr. Lloyd M. MARTIN spoke on the history of the Lepidoptera collection in the Los Angeles County Museum. The nucleus of the collection was formed by Dr. J. A. COMSTOCK in 1928. Subsequent purchases by Mr. ANDREWS added to this material. Later collecting has brought the Lepidoptera to about 250,000 specimens. It is especially strong in southwestern material. There are about 200 specimens of type material. Dr. Fred S. Truxal spoke on general entomology in the Los Angeles County Museum.
At 1 :30 P. M., following lunch, Dr. TRUXAL showed the members through the new Entomology Hall of the Museum, now under construction. At 3:15 P. M., the Cafeteria kindly served refreshments to the members. At 4:00 P. M., Mr. Fred ThoRNE read in his absence Professor RALPH W. Macy's paper entitled "Extending Horizons in the Study of Lepidoptera". At 4:30 P. M., Dr. John Belkin of the University of California at Los Angeles spoke on "The Teaching of Entomology in the University". After a most spirited discussion the meeting was adjourned for the day by Dr. COMSTOCK.
In the evening, an informal session was held. Mr. MARTIN showed the splendid slides of Papilionidas loaned for the occasion by A/3c KENT WILSON, with the running narrative that accompanied the slides read by Mr. THORNE; the slides were colored transparencies of insects from the leading museums of Europe. Later a number of slides, the property of the Los Angeles County Museum, were shown; These included life history slides of Eupackardia calleta West., habitat views of classic localities in Arizona, and other fine materials. At the end of the showing, the meeting was adjourned.
The meetings of Friday, July 3, were presided over by J. W. TlLDEN. The day was given to the presentation of a number of interesting papers. Notes on these papers were taken by Mr. THORNE. Dr. COMSTOCK opened the program with a thoroughly delightful talk on his recent trip to Mexico, which began in November 1952 and lasted for several months; representative species were exhibited, and members gained an excellent idea of the possibilities and difficulties likely to be encountered in Mexico. JOHN S. Garth presented a paper on butterflies in some of the western United States National Parks, with maps and slides to point up the topography and zonation of these areas; Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks were covered in particular, and representative species were exhibited from each park. Rudolph H. MATTONI presented at this time his concept of the genus Philotes and related genera; the Palaerctic and Nearctic species, their apparent phylo-geny, and their distribution were discussed in detail. His summary appears following these minutes. Dr. TlLDEN spoke on the history of Hesperia dodgei since its description. Lt. Col. Stanley S. NlCHOLAY gave an informal and delightful account of problems connected with finding and collecting various species of the genus Atrytone, in Florida, the Dismal Swamp of Virginia, and elsewhere; the range of a species may be considerable, but in many species the colonies are of very limited extent. FRANK P. SALA, unable to appear on Saturday, gave his talk on "The Life History Study of Moths" early, in place of Mr. PADDY McHENRY. Studies of several years' duration point to remarkable adaptations in diapause. Because of the
6
Fourth Annual Meetings
Vol.8: nos.1-2
full program and the intense interest in the papers, the members voted to dispense with the tour of the Science Section of the Museum. A group picture of members and guests were taken at noon (see figure).
After Mr. SALA'S paper the formal meetings for the day were adjourned. The members and guests met in the evening in La Golondrina Mexican Cafe on Olivera Street, where a delightful dinner and entertainment were enjoyed.
MEMBERS AND GUESTS ATTENDING THE MEETINGS, 3 JULY 1953
From left to right: F. T. THORNE; P. A. ADAMS; J. S. GARTH; W. M. JOHNSTON; J. W. Tilden; Mrs. Tilden; C A. HlLL; W. T. MEYER; J. ROBERDS; L. M. Martin; R. J. Ford; J. A. Comstock; P. McHenry; R. H. T. Mattoni; J. C. Downey.
The meetings of Saturday, July 4, were called to order by the chairman of the day, Mr. FRED THORNE. The theme of the day's session was a symposium, "Collecting in Western North America". Dr. Garth gave the introductory talk, "Western Life Zones", a keynote of the entire symposium. Mr. THORNE spoke on "Collecting in Southern California". The paper, "Collecting Moths in Central California, by Wm. R. Bauer, was read by Dr. CoMSTOCK in Mr. Bauer's absence; this paper caused a rather long discussion of collecting methods. Dr. TlLDEN read a paper on "Collecting in the Sierra Nevada of California". H. A. FREEMAN'S exceptionally fine paper on "Collecting in the Southwest" was read by Mr. THORNE in Mr. Freeman's absence. Robert Ford spoke on "Collecting in Southern Arizona"; there was a lively discussion of this paper. It is planned that parts of the Symposium will be published in the News. Following the Symposium, a second group picture of members and guests was taken, and then the meeting was adjourned for lunch.
1954
The Lepidopterists' News
1
By unanimous vote, Dr. J. A. COMSTOCK was elected chairman of the Business Meeting, which was convened at 1:00 P. M. Since no officers were present, it was agreed that the meeting would be limited to recommendation?,. Dr. COMSTOCK read letters from Drs. Frederick H. Rindge and Charles L. Remington, devoted to recommendations as to procedure. A vote of members in attendance (all from the western States) favored unanimously a yearly West Coast Regional Meeting in addition to the regular Annual Meetings of the Society. The area comprising the Western Region was conceived as including Western Canada, the western States, and Texas.
It was moved, seconded, and passed that the next Annual Meetings of the Society be held east of the Mississippi River, time and location at the discretion of the Society.
It was moved that, in case permission to hold Western Regional Meetings be granted, a program committee for the next year's Regional Meeting be appointed. This motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Mr. THORNE was appointed by Chairman COMSTOCK to this position, his assistants to be appointed by himself.
It was moved, seconded, and passed that Dr. REMINGTON be commended for his untiring work in behalf of the Society.
It was recommended further that the Los Angeles County Museum be thanked formally by the Society for its splendid hospitality. It is suggested also that the Society send a letter of thanks to Mr. JEAN DELACOUR, Director of the Museum.
It was recommended that Mr. THORNE, as Program Chairman, send a letter to Mr. Frank PETERSON, Manager of the Cafeteria, thanking him for his kindness in supplying afternoon refreshments to the members and guests at no charge.
Following these amenities, the business meeting was adjourned by Dr. COMSTOCK.
After the business meeting, Mr. Fred THORNE resumed duties as the Chairman. Mr. PADDY McHenry talked on "Original Descriptions of Nearctic Lepidoptera". In the absence of Mr. H. H. KEIFER, his whimsical and learned paper on "Collecting Microlepidoptera in the West" was read by Dr. COMSTOCK. This author, who has achieved prominence in both Entomology and Acarology, told of the problems in studying the difficult group of Micros here in the West, far from the great collections of these insects. The paper, "Attraction by Virgin Female Moths", was read for A/3c KENT WILSON by Mr. THORNE. The possibilities of both the radiation theory and the odor theory were discussed, and experiments concerning attraction were given. A paper by VERNON M. Stern, "Preoviposition Changes in Female Colias eurytheme", was read by Dr. TlLDEN. The paper, "Some Field Problems in the Genus Mitoura", by O. E. Sette, was read for him by Lt. Col. NlCOLAY in Mr. SETTE'S absence. The possible status of the three described races of Mitoura siva was treated from a field point of view, with extensive collections exhibited by Mr. THORNE to complement the paper. Following this paper, a discussion of the several papers took place, and exhibits of insects of more than usual interest were inspected. Reared specimens of the varieties of Papilio rudkini were shown, which indicated a possible Mendelian ratio in the occurrence of these forms.
It was agreed that meetings on the following day (Sunday, July 5) were not needed and after much discussion, and compliments to the Program Committee (FRED THORNE, Chairman, and LLOYD M. MARTIN and ROBERT T. FORD), the Meetings were adjourned.
A total of $13.00 was taken in registration fees, and this sum was turned over to Mr. THORNE to help defray the costs of postage and programs.
The following members and guests signed the registration book, in addition to those shown in the photograph: J. N. Belkin; R. M. Chew; W. L. LLOYD; S. S. Nicolay; W. D. Pierce; R. H. Reid, Jr.; P. C. Ritterbush; A, Rubbert; T. RuBBERT; Mr. and Mrs. F. P. SALA; F. S. TRUXAL; B. WEBER; L. A, WILSON; R. N. Wilson.
Respectfully submitted,
J. W. TlLDEN, Secretary pro tern.