ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 569 



Influence of Cold and Moisture on Lepidoptera.* — Peter Kos- 

 minsky subjected pupae of Vanessa io, V. antiopa, and Limantria dispar, 

 to moist surroundings, and found that this had very little effect on 

 coloration, marking, or scales. He subjected the same and other 

 forms (Malacosoma neustria and Arctia villica). to moderate cold (and to 

 moisture), and found that the scales became narrower and smaller. In 

 cases where the temperature was not moderately low, but below zero, 

 enlarged and broadened scales sometimes resulted, and there were 

 interesting changes in the colouring and in the antennas of the female 

 of Lymantria dispar, which approached the male in appearance. 



Papillae on Proboscis of Lepidoptera.f — Emile Guyenot has studied 

 these in the sub-family ISFymphalinas. They occur on the supero- 

 external surface, either in a single row or in two rows. Some are small, 

 some are large ; some are toothed, others are not ; there may be 10 or 

 120 ; in short, there is great diversity. 



Abrupt Variation in Drosophila confusa.f — A. Delcourt reports 

 the sudden appearance of a slight abnormality in the second transverse 

 nervure (the appearance of a supplementary nervure) in the wing of 

 this fly. He found it reappearing in 30-35 p.c. of the offspring. 



Metamorphosis of Anterior Part of the Alimentary Canal in 

 Muscid Larvae. § — Charles Perez discusses the oesophagus and the 

 suctorial crop which is formed as a dorsal evagination of the oesophagus. 

 In both, the wall consists of an epithelial layer enveloped by a muscular 

 tunic. When the larva ceases to feed, the large crop contracts, its 

 chitinous lining is crumpled up and passed out at the mouth, the mus- 

 cular tunic is broken up by the immigration of phagocytes, the epithelial 

 cells show chromatolysis in their nuclei and granular degeneration in 

 their protoplasm, and they also become the prey of phagocytes. 



In the building up of the definitive anterior region of the gut, an 

 important part is played by the " imaginal ring " of Kowalevsky and 

 Van Kees. It is exclusively epithelial, and the myoblasts which become 

 associated with it migrate from a separate origin between the oesophagus 

 and the heart. 



The highly specialised organs of the larva disappear completely ; the 

 highly differentiated organs of the imago are formed altogether de novo 

 from special histoblasts ; only the somewhat indifferent regions are 

 carried on from the larva to the imago, and even they are considerably 

 changed. 



Gastrulation in G-astroidea viridula.|| — Jan Hirschler finds that 

 the mesenteron in this beetle has a multipolar development, arising 

 from two endodermic, streak-like primordia, which inclose several endo- 

 dermic islands. It is altogether endodermic ; there is no evidence of 

 ectodermic proliferation. The author takes a comparative survey of 

 gastrulation in other insects. 



* Zool. Jahrb., xxvii (190S) pp. 361-90 (5 pis.). 



t C.R Soc. Biol. Paris, lxvi. (1909; p. 697-9. 



% Tom. cit., pp. 709-11 (2 figs.). § Op. cit., lxiv. (1909) pp. 835-6. 



|| Bull. Intemat. Acad. Sci. Cracovie, 1909, pp. 284-308 (1 pi. and 2 figs.). 



