ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 349 



Trinidad, and in other cases. The author sought to infect the rhino- 

 ceros beetle {Ori/des rhinoceros), introduced from India into Samoa, with 

 the fungoid parasite Metarhizium anisoplise, and had some success. The 

 beetles were attracted by rotting vegetable matter, in which they laid 

 their eggs ; the place was thickly infested with fungus ; the grubs of 

 the beetles all died. The fungus was present in the surroundings and 

 thriving, and this seems to be a favourable condition. J. A. T. 



Bee Diseases. — 0. Morgenthalee {MT. N'at. Ges. Bern., 1918, 

 xvi). The author distinguishes (a) the disease due to the fungoid 

 parasite Pericystis apis, (h) the Nosema disease, (c) the " Foul Brood" and 

 *' Sour Brood " bacterial diseases {Bacillus larvae, B. apis), (d) the " Sack 

 Brood " disease due to an ultra-microscopical virus. Foul Brood disease 

 is better understood than the others. It has been of late much reduced 

 in Switzerland, thanks to the relevant Foul Brood Law and Foul Brood 

 insurance. J. A. T. 



Nearctic Pentatomoidea. — Charles Arthur Hart {Bull. Nat. 

 Hist. Survey Illinois, 1919, 13, Art. 7, 157-223, 6 pis.). A survey is 

 taken of these Heteroptera of Illinois, and a key to the Nearctic genera 

 is given. They are slender-beaked plant-feeders, though some such as 

 Euschistus, may suck the juices of small insects. Some feed on the larvae 

 of the tussock moth. These are probably the most primitive Hete- 

 roptera. The author discusses the cfecal pockets of the intestine, the 

 venation of the wings, and the nymph stages ; but the paper is in the 

 main systematic. J. A. T. 



Yeasts and Insects. — J. Percy Baumbeeger {Journ. Ezper. Zool., 

 1919, 28, 1-81, 18 figs.). Experiments show that Drosophila living in 

 fermenting fruit are dependent for their food supply on the synthetic 

 and absorptive powers of yeast-cells. Similarly, in studying the relation 

 of Musca clomestica to manure, of Desmometopa to decaying meat, of 

 Sciara and Tyroglyphus to wood, the investigator finds that all these 

 Arthropods feed on micro-organisms. The general suggestion is made 

 that insects inhabiting fermenting and decaying substrata of low protein 

 content usually feed upon the micro-organisms present, and thus benefit 

 by the power of the fungi to extract, adsorb, and synthesize many non- 

 protein nitrogenous compounds. J A. T. 



Individuality of Chromosomes, with Special Reference' to 

 Synaptic Phase. — D. H. Wenrich {Bulletin Museum Comparative 

 Zoology, Harvard, 1916, 60, No. 3). Whilst studying the spermato- 

 genesis in Phrymtettix magniis the author has endeavoured to follow 

 the history of individual chromosomes, using Fleming's strong solu- 

 tion for fixation, and Heidenhain's iron-hasmatoxylin and Fleming's 

 tricolour methods for staining. The nomenclature is mainly that 

 employed by Winiwarter and Gr^goire, and in the introduction the 

 terms are fully explained. 



Three chromosome pairs, designated A, B, C, were found possessing 

 individual peculiarities by which they could be recognized through all 

 stages from the growth period to their division in the first spermatocyte 

 division. The investigations go to prove that : 1. Each chromosome 



