ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 463 



Oviposition and Larva of Rhynchites conicus.* — L. Bordas has 

 studied this little beetle, the eggs of which are laid in small holes bored 

 in the buds of fruit-trees. The female after laying the eggs makes a 

 cut with her mandibles below the bud, so that the flow of sap is checked. 

 The drying bud is eventually shaken off l)y the wind. The egg hatches 

 in 8-15 days according to the weather. The larva is a white footless 

 grub with very strong mandibles and minute two-jointed tubercle-like 

 antennte. There are two filiform mandibular glands opening at the 

 base of the mandibles, and aiding in the excavation of a larval gallery. 

 The gut is like that of other Curculionidae, e.g. Anthonomus ; it is two 

 and a half times the length of the larva ; it shows a short straight 

 cesophagus with a posterior valve, a mid-gut with two distinct regions, 

 and a sinuous hind-gut. 



North American Coccinellid LarvaB.f — 'A. B^ving gives a synopsis 

 of genera and a special account of the larva of Hyperaspis hinotata Say, 

 a primitive ladybird type. In this form the mouth cavity is enlarged 

 and is capable of holding an entire Lecanmm larva, on which the creature 

 chiefly feeds. The mandibles can only meet at their apices, and their 

 bases work against a peculiar hypopharyngeal bridge. Thus they grind 

 the juices out of their prey and the fleshy lips of the ventral mouth- 

 parts keep them from losing any of it. While Hyperaspis represents 

 the primitive type, the most highly developed larvse are found in the 

 Chilocorini. Nine groups are recognized and distinguished. 



Air-sacs of Larva of Corethra plumicornis.J — K. S. Bardenpleth 

 and R. Ege demonstrate a correlation between the structure of the air- 

 sac wall, the power of air-sacs to withstand pressure, and the depths at 

 which the larva is normally living. The air-sacs of larvae living at 

 considerable depths (30-40 m.) are a much more perfect hydrostatic 

 apparatus than those of larvae from ponds. 



British Lice and their Hosts.§ — Percy H. Grimshaw has compiled 

 a useful list of British Anoplura, with their hosts. A diagnostic key of 

 the genera, adapted from that of Ferris, is supplied. Twenty-five species 

 are recorded, 



5. Arachnida. 



New South African Spiders. [| — John Hewitt gives careful descrip- 

 tions of a number of new species — Hemihlossia idioceras, Lepthereus 

 rattrayi, two of Stasimopus, and Amaurobioides africanus. The last was 

 found on the seaward face of rocks near East London. " Iheir retreats, 

 made of tough silk, lodged in pits and crevices of the rock surface, were 



* Comptes Rendus, clxv. (1917) pp. 70-3. 

 t Proc. U.S. Nat. Museum, li. (1917) pp. 621-50 (4 pis.). 



i Vidsk. Medd. Dansk. Nat. Foreniug, Ixvii. (1916) pp. 25-42. See Physio 

 Abstracts, i. (1916) No. 8, p. 358. 



§ Scottish Nat., No. 61 (1917) pp. 13-17 ; No. 63 (1917) pp. 65-8. 

 y Ann. Natal Museum, iii. (1917), pp. 687-711 (1 pl.-and 4 figs.). 



