46 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Arthropods in Burmese Amber.* — T. D. A. Cockerell reports on 

 some Arthropods in amber found in Miocene clay, but perhaps much 

 older, conceivably Upper Cretaceous. The collection includes Electro- 

 hismm acutum g. et sp. n., a Pseudoscorpion ; a new Lepismatid ; two 

 new Hemiptera ; Electroffjcnus gracilipes g. et. sp. n., a Hymenopteron, 

 appearing to connect the Foeninae with the Aulacinae ; BethyliteUa 

 cyllndrella g. et sp. n., in the family Bethylidas, related to Mesitius ; 

 Burmitempls halteralis g. et sp. n., a Dipteron with enormous halteres, 

 apparently nearest to Microsania in the family Empididte ; and a small 

 Impid beetle, CryphaUtei rugosissimus g. et sp. n. 



a. Insecta. 



Recognition among Insects. f — N. E. Mclndoo finds evidence that 

 among bees there is a particular queen-odour, drone- odour, family- 

 odour, hive-odour, and even individual odour among the workers. The 

 hive-odour is supposed to be composite odour, due to the workers chiefly, 

 but supplemented by odours from queens, drones, combs, frames. It is 

 different if the queen be absent. It is carried among the hairs. It 

 serves for recognition. Thus worker-bees returning from the field pass 

 the guards unmolested, though their hive-odour is fainter than when 

 they left, and is also masked in some measure by what they carry. Bees 

 kept in the open air for three days lose the hive-odour, but retain their 

 individual odour. The queen's odour lasts in the hive for some time 

 after she has left. The social life is dependent on the hive-odour and 

 the queen-odour. 



As to the scent-producing structures, there are glandular cells in the 

 epidermis. (1) There may be no special device for disseminating the 

 odour or storing the secretion ; (2) the gland-cells may be associated 

 with hairs and scales which help to scatter the odour more effectively ; 

 (3) there may be " evaginable " sacs lined with hairs connected with 

 gland-cells, thus f-ecuring both storage and distribution ; (4) there may 

 be articular membranes serving as pouches for storing and preventing a 

 too rapid evaporation of the secretion ; and (5) there may be specialized 

 tubes and sacs acting as reservoirs for storing and discharging the 

 secretion. There are thus five types of arrangement. The scent- 

 producing organ of the honey-bee belongs to the fourth type, and is one 

 of the most highly developed organs of its kind. It is a pouch of 

 articular membrane between the fifth and sixth abdominal terga. Gland- 

 cells Ijelow the membrane secrete a volatile substance. 



Paralyzing Habits of some Hymenoptera. % — Etienne Rabaud 

 refers to the current opinion that the poison of those Hymenoptera that 

 stab their victims has only a local action, or, at least, that it diffuses 

 very slowly. Thus it is that the insect has to sting the ganglia, and 

 that with great precision. Marchal pointed out in 1887 that statements 

 as to the precision of the stinging should not be accepted without some 



* Amer. Journ. Sci., xliv. (1917) pp. 360-8 (8 figs.). 



+ Smithsonian Misc. Collections, Ixviii. (1917) pp. 1-78. 



t Comptes Rendus, clxv. (1917) pp. 680-3. 



