126 EXPLANATION OF TERMS 



Sonif action: the production of sound: = stridulation ; q. v. 



Sonoran faunal areas: see upper and loiver Sonoran. 



Sonorific: sound producing: applied to stridulating organs. 



Sordid: dirty; dull. 



Spadiceous: bay brown [dragon's blood + brown ochre]. 



Spado: the worker or neuter in bees and ants. 



Sparse: scattered: single hairs, scales or sculptures set well apart. 



Spatha: a median piece in male genitalia of aculeate Hymenoptera, covering 

 the bases of the sagittse. 



Spatula: the breast bone (q. v.) of cecidomyid larvae. 



Spatulate: rounded and broad at top, attenuate at base. 



Specialization: the adaptation of an organ to a definite purpose, or of an 

 organism to fit a determinate environment. 



Species: an aggregation of individuals alike in appearance and structure, 

 mating freely and producing young that themselves mate freely and bear 

 fertile offspring resembling each other and their parents : a species in- 

 cludes all its varieties and races. 



Specific character: a feature common to all individuals of a species, by 

 means of which they may be distinguished from all other individuals of 

 other species : = essential character. 



Specular: mirror-like; transparent. 



Specular membrane: in male Cicada, the inner or posterior mirror-like mem- 

 brane of the sound-organ : = mirror. 



Speculum: a transparent area or spot on wings of some Lepidoptera; the 

 glassy areas at base of tegmina in male Orthoptera that serve as sounding 

 boards : a spot on the neck of some caterpillars. 



Sperm: the seminal fluid: in plural form is sometimes used as = sperma- 

 tozoa ; q. v. 



Spermatheca: = spermatotheca ; q. v. 



Spermatid: the final cells which are converted without further division into 

 spermatozoa; they arise by division of the second spermatocytes (Wilson). 



Spermatocytes: the cells arising from the spermatogonia. The primary 

 spermatocyte arises by growth of one of the last generation of spermato- 

 gonia. By its division are formed two secondary spermatocytes, each of 

 which give rise to two spermatids (Wilson). 



Spermatogenesis: the development of spermatozoa. 



Spermatogonia: the descendants of the primordial germ cells in the male. 

 Each ultimate spermatogonium typically gives rise to four spermatozoa. 



Spermatophora: a sac or case containing spermatozoa. 



Spermatotheca: the sac or reservoir in the female that receives the sperm 

 during coition: = Spermatheca and receptaculum seminis. 



Spermatozoon -zoa: the male cell or cells which, by uniting with the ova, 

 fertilize them. 



Spherical: in the form of a sphere: a body in which all diameters are equal. 



Spherule: a minute sphere or globule. 



Spicula: a slender needle-like process; e. g., the sting in bees: also employed 

 as = ovipositor ; q. v. 



