388 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Alimentary Canal of Cetoninae.*— L. Bordas has studied the 

 structure of these beetles, which are included in the group without a 

 gizzard or with no more than a much reduced gizzard. A positive 

 character in Cetonia is the great development of the mid-gut which 

 forms two-tliirds of the total length. It is marked by numerous super- 

 ficial papilliform glandular diverticula which compensate for the 

 absence of salivary glands. The four moniliform and varicose Mal- 

 pighian tubes are filled with crystals of calcium urate. Some other 

 types {Oxijthyrea, Trkhius, Tropinota) are similarly dealt with. 



Reflex " Bleeding." t—McIndoo finds that the ejection of fluid 

 from the femoro -tibial articulations in the Coccinellid beetle, Epilachm 

 boreaUs, is a true reflex, but that the fluid is not blood. It is due to 

 hypoderm glands, the secretion of which issues by numerous pores near 

 and in the articular membrane. There are also pores of unother kind 

 on the membrane. The secretion is bitter and disagreeable, probably 

 protective, perhaps associated with sex recognition and with distinguishing 

 between different individuals. 



Life-history of Agriotes obscurus.J— George H. Ford gives an 

 account of the larval and pupal stages of the Elater, Agriotes obscurns, 

 whose larvffi, along with certain related forms, are called " wirewoi-ms." 

 The life of the larva is probably four, rather five years. The larva of 

 A. ohscurus can l)e distinguished from that of A. limatus by the blunt 

 tooth below the apex of the mandible being more prominent, by the 

 orderly arrangement of the body hairs, and the more anterior position 

 of the stigmata. Moreover the anal papilla on the ninth abdominal 

 segment of A. ohscurus has two apical divisions, while that of A. llneatus 

 has three. Lapwings and moles eat large numbers of the larvae. The 

 larva pupates m an earthen cell in the ground, down to one foot deep. 

 The pupal period is about thi'ee weeks. The imago remains motionless 

 in the pupal cell for roughly two m.onths, after which it comes to the 

 surface and hibernates under stones, clods, etc., until the next season. 



Study of Tipula paludosa.§— John Rennie has studied the life 

 and habits of this common crane-fly. A newly hatched female contains 

 considerably over 400 shelled ova. The %):g measures I'l mm. by 

 0-4 mm., and is black in colour with a dark purplish metallic lustre. 

 The larvffi emerge in about fourteen days after the eggs have been laid. 

 They are then of a pale reddish sandy colour, about 2* 7 mm. in length. 

 Their features are described. The full-grown larva is about 40 mm. in 

 length. The mouth-parts and the stigmatic area are carefully described 

 and figured. The newly hatched larvae die off quickly in dry soil and 

 in sunlight. Their feeding habits are discussed in detail. 



* Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xlii. (1917) pp. 7-12 (3 figs.). 



t Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer., ix. (1916) pp. 201-22. See also Trans. Amer. 

 Micr. Soc, XXXV. (1916) p. 267. 



J Ann. Applied BioL.iii. (1917) pp. 97-115 (2 pis.). 



«^ Ann. Applied Biol., iii. (1917) pp. 116-37 (3 pis. and 3 figs.). 



