Stock intake parts

i posted this in the accord forum, but it probably belongs in here, and im hoping ill get more responses.

i have a 91 accord AT, i know im not the only one, so hopefully someone will know.
http://www.qubilent.com/~shane/images/intake1.JPG http://www.qubilent.com/~shane/images/intake2.JPG
that thing i circled has two openings. one is open to the front, which is what takes in the air. and the other goes up into the stock box(the lower-right opening)
http://www.qubilent.com/~shane/images/stock_airbox.JPG
when i installed my cai, that "thingy" in the first pic has nowhere to go, what do i do with it??? it has some valve on top that has a hose going to the blackbox bolted to the sidewall, and from there to a spot on the fuel injection(under where the intake is connected to).
im thinking that it controls how much, and when air is let in. since the only other opening goes to the resonator, and no air is let in from there. is it necessary now that i have an intake? will having that thing disconnected cause problems when i get a smogcheck?

i would think that it might be a silencer for your intake or some kind of sensor, anyway you look at it, it you keep driving it your computer will retrain itself... you should be all right but id get other opinions

it might be an airflow sensor, but i have no clue.