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1960
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
81
THE FIRST SOUTH AMERICAN CONGRESS OF ZOOLOGY AND THE LEPIDOPTERA
The First South American Congress of Zoology took place between the 12th and the 24th of October 1959 in the La Plata Museum, the Argentine Republic, with the attendance of more than 327 delegates, mainly from 10 South American countries.
A total of 268 scientific papers were approved, including 57 of Entomology, eieht of which were on Lepidoptera. These papers will be published along with the discussions they raised, in the Proceedings and Papers of the First South American Congress of Zoology, the publication of which will be under the direction of the Scientific Committee of the Province of Buenos Aires. This volume will also include the 19 reports approved by the Congress.
Two field trips were organized: one to Chascomus, the other to the delta of the Parana River. The Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires held a reception for the delegates at his home, and the County of Chascomus proclaimed them guests of honor.
At a plenary session, it was resolved that the next congress should be a Latin American one, and a Provisional Committee was set up, which included the Organizing Committee of the First Congress and the following members: Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr. (from Brazil), Luis Capurro S. (from Chile), Francisco Saez (from Uruguay), Alonso Gamero Reyes (from Venezuela) and Salvador L. de la Torre y Callejas (from Cuba). The decision as to where the congress should take place was put off until March.
Among the main resolutions approved at the plenary session, we wish to set off the one which recommends "the setting up of a South American Group for Zoology Nomenclature with the purpose of considering all problems related to the naming of neotropical fauna." Dr. Ricardo N. Orfila and Jose Pastrana (both from the I. N. T. A. Institute of Buenos Aires) and the writer were the authors of two of the reports approved at the plenary session: in one, "a universal nomenclature is recommended for writing the dates on specimens for collections, and the use of Roman numbers is suggested for the month and Arabic numbers for the day on which the specimens were picked up." In the other report, "uniformity is recommended in the illustrations representing the genital organs of Lepidoptera in scientific papers."
The eight papers on Lepidoptera presented at the congress were:
"Aislamiento y estudio de principles activos urticantes de las espiculas de imageries de Hylesia sp. (Family Hemileucidae)," by M. E. Jorg.
"Sobre la identidad de Pieris mencice Ramsden (Family Pieridse)," by S. L. de la Torre y Callejas.
"Nuevas especies de Lepidopteros para la fauna del Uruguay," by C. M.
BlEZANKO, A. RUFFINELLI, & C. S. CaRBONELL.
"Observaciones sobre Naniuncuraia mansosotoi Orfila (Family Hemileucidae)", by Raul J. Llano.
"Quimioreceptor osmosensible en larvas de Morpho catenarius" by M. E. Jorg.
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"Dos nuevas especies del genero Midila (Pyralididae) neotropicales," by J. A. Pastrana.
"Geometrida? del Parque Nacional Lanin II", by R. N. Orftla & S. Schajovsky.
"Nuevos Orneodidae neotropicales", by J. A. Pastrana.
The following members of the Lepidopterists' Society attended the Congress: A. Breyer (Argentine), Biezanko (Brazil), and the writer (Cuba).
Salvador Luis of. la Torre y Oallejas, Delegate of the University of Oriente, CUBA
THE BIRD AND EHRLICH COLLECTIONS DONATED TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
The Department of Entomology of the American Museum of Natural History proudly announces the accession of two outstanding collections of North American Lepidoptera.
The Papaipema (Noctuidae) collection of Henry Bird was built up over a period of 60 years. Most of our knowledge of the species and the life histories in this group was the result of the research of Mr. Bird. This fact has been acknowledged in the writings of Hampson, Draudt (in Seitz' Macrolepidoptera of the World), and Forbes. The collection consists of 1,118 specimens of moths; of this total, 32 are holotypes, 10 are allotypes, and 63 are labelled as paratypes. The collection contains the primary types of all the species and forms described by Bird in this and related genera, plus the holotype of Papaipema harrisi ab. mulieris Strand. In addition, it contains early stage material and examples of the larval workings of nearly every species, over 400 reared parasites, and 64 genitalic slides. Three volumes of manuscript notes, descriptions, illustrations and correspondence on this group of moths have been depositd in the library of the American Museum.
The Paul R. Ehrlich collection consists of 2,193 specimens, including 122 paratypes and 132 genitalic slides, of North American Krebia (Satyridse). This collection is probably the finest one in this genus from North America ever assembled by a private collector. As a matter fact, several of the populations included in it are not even represented in most museum collections. Doctor Ehrlich, now of the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University, has collected the group extensively in the subarctic and arctic regions of Alaska and Canada. In this way he has been able to build up a firsthand knowledge of the ecology, flight habits, and occurrence of this genus. Several papers have resulted from his studies and field work, and more will be published as Dr. Ehrlich continues collecting and studying Erebia.
The specimens from both collections have had identifying labels placed on their pins, and have been incorporated into the collection of the Museum.
Frederick H. Rindge, Associate Curator, Dept. of Entomology, The American Museum of Natural History, New York 24, N. Y., U. S. A.