TRL'E GUESTS, ECTO- AND ENTOPARASITES. 



401 



brionids); on the antennal club (many Panssus); and even on the 

 coxae and tips of the femora (Lomcchnsa)" 



3. Mouthparts. The sympliiles are not only licked, but also fed by 

 the ants. This has led to a peculiar shortening and broadening of the 

 tongue, its fusion with the paraglossae and a reduction in the number 

 and size of the joints of the labial palpi, in many symphiles. These 

 modifications make the tongue a more spoon-like organ, adapted to 

 receiving the liquid regurgitated by the ants. 



4. Antenna:. In the symphiles these organs have, in many cases, 

 undergone peculiar modifications, depending upon whether they are 

 used primarily as organs of communication, of transportation, or of 

 protection. In communication they may have a two-fold function, 

 since they may be employed either in making supplicatory movements 

 in order to induce the ants to regurgitate, or'the movements may be of 



FIG. 238. Loinechusa strunwsa. ( Original.) a, imaginal beetle: b, full-grown larva. 



such a character as to deceive the ants into mistaking the beetles for 

 other members of the colony. Space forbids an adequate account of 

 the wonderful variety of structures in the antennae of the symphiles. 

 Suffice it to say that the antennae adapted for stroking the ants approach 

 those of the Formicidae in structure and movement ; others have the 

 joints fused and dilated (Paussus) and are used as handles, by means 

 of which the ants can carry or drag their guests about the nest. Such 

 antennas are obviously protective, but there are also protective antennae 

 of another type which are short, compact and spindle-shaped, so that 

 they slip through the jaws of the ants. Such antennae are best devel- 

 oped in certain svnoeketes and svnechthrans and mav be said to have a 



j j *> 



function the very opposite of communication. 



27 



