ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 461 



place, and the bag is strengthened to keep out spiders and ants. A true 

 cocoon is sometimes made inside the case. The numei'ous eggs are laid 

 in or on the bag, or quite away from it. No evidence of partheno- 

 genesis, such as occurs in some European bagworms, was found. The 

 systematic classification of bagworms is then discussed. 



Hardenberg then passes to consider in particular the "Wattle Bag- 

 worm, Acanthopsyclie juaodi, which was some fifteen years ago an " ento- 

 mological curiosity," and has now evolved into a pest of prime economic 

 importance, seriously menacing the Black Wattle {Acacia molUssima) 

 industry in Natal. 



A description is given of the eggs, which are laid in a mass inside the 

 pupa-case of the female, and take 60-G5 days to incubate ; and of the 

 six instars of the larvge. The distribution of the species falls on the 

 young caterpillar, not on the parent moth ; hence three special instincts, 

 in contrast to most caterpillars : — (1) a decided positive phototropism ; 

 (2) an extensive use of the spinning glands to make a descending line, a 

 web on the branches, and threads for the bag ; and (3) a meandering 

 habit. Dispersal is helped by the wind, the silken thread serving as a 

 parachute to the exposed caterpillars, though they are sometimes carried 

 up within the bag. The caterpillars also get entangled on birds and 

 rarely on a mammal. The making of the bag is discussed at length, 

 also the occurrence of parasites and of fungoid and other diseases which 

 check the multiplication of bagworms. The author then passes to the 

 making of the extra inner lining of the bag and to the subsequent 

 making of the cocoon. He describes the pupae, the winged males active 

 in the sunlight, the females which do not leave the chrysalis case, the 

 fertilization-process, and so on. The fertility ranges from 438 to 3098 

 eggs, with 1756 as a mean average. 



Structure of Agaoninae."' — G. Grandi describes from Erytrsea both 

 sexes of three Chalcidids (Agaoninai), viz. Blastophaga allotriozoonoides 

 Grnd., Geratosolen arabicus Mayr, and Syrophaga sycomori (L.), and from 

 Uganda the females of Ceratosolen ineyacephalus Grandi, and Sycophaga 

 silvestrii Grnd. tenehrosa Grandi. Careful figures are given of the head, 

 antennae, mouth-parts, and limbs. 



Parthenogenesis among Worker Bees.f — Rupert W. Jack reports 

 on some interesting experiments made by G. W. Onions on the Cape 

 honey bee. It exhibits a divergence from the European varieties, inas- 

 much as a far greater proportion of the workers are apt to develop the 

 habit of laying eggs, which may produce workers, queens, or drones, but 

 do mainly produce workers. 



In the Cape worker bee, probably belonging to the race unicolor var. 

 intermissa Latr., the spermatlieca is not vestigial as in the typical worker 

 bee, but is a nearly spherical body, 0*54 mm. by 0*45 mm. But the 



* Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital., xlviii. (1917) pp. 1-42 (12 figs.), 

 t Trans. Entomol. Soc. London, 1916, Nos. iii.-iv. ^(publ. 1917) pp. 39G-403 

 (2 pis.). 



