308 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



in the independent origin of the plaiting of the hind wings in more 

 than one division of the Orthoptera ; (c) mechanical factors, e.g. in the 



plications which arc doubtless developed largely in response to mechani- 

 cal need and in the cross veins; and {cl) recapitulation of ancestral 

 characters in ontogeny ', e.g. in the nervation of the wing. 



Oenogyna baeticum.* — F. Silvestri gives an account of this moths 

 belonging to the family Arctiidae, whose polyphagous larva* do damage 

 in Italy and elsewhere to leguminous and many other kinds of plants. 

 It has its headquarters in Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. There 

 is a striking sexual dimorphism, notably illustrated by the minute scale- 

 like wings of the female in contrast to the normal wings of the male. 

 The life-history, the natural checks, and preventive remedies are duly 

 discussed. 



Stalked Eggs of Rhyosa persuasoria.f — E. Bngnion gives an 

 account of the ovaries and oogenesis in this very large Ichneumonid 

 which lays its eggs in various wood-boring larvae, e.g. of Sirex gigas and 

 similar forms. One interesting feature is the long stalk of the egg — a 

 cylindrical filiform pedicel which occupies D-10 mm. of the total length 

 (12— 13" 5 mm.) of the egg. The development of the stalk is described. 



Ants' Nest Beetles.} — Arthur M. Lea reports on a collection of 

 fourteen beetles from ants' nests, made by J. C. Goudie in the Mallee 

 district of North-west Victoria. He notes that a large proportion of the 

 species have less than the usual number (11) of joints to the antennae. 

 The next most noticeable feature is the frequency with which the 

 prothorax is deeply and often very peculiarly sculptured ; and another 

 peculiarity is the method (usually by ridges or grooves) by which the 

 appendages are protected. In many of the species, moreover, the 

 buccal appendages are often very small, and in some of them quite 

 invisible. Some forms seem to be welcomed by the ants ; others are 

 distinctly hostile. 



Sound Production in Lamellicorn Beetles. § — Gr. J. Arrow reviews 

 and describes the various stridulating organs existing in this group, 

 giving also a systematic description of the species referred to in the 

 paper. The most noticeable feature with regard to these organs is the 

 great variety of situation they affect in the adult. On the other hand, 

 in the larva? they fall into three series, viz. the Lucanid group in which 

 the stridulating plate is on the hind trochanter, the Geotropid group, 

 in which it is on the middle coxa, and the Scarabaeid group, where the 

 jaw bears the vocal organs. These larval organs are considered of 

 some significance in determining relationships, and several points in the 

 classification of the group are considered from this standpoint. 



Structure of Female Flea.|| — M. Lass has made a minute study of 

 the structure of the female flea {Paler cants or serraticeps). Some of 



* Bull. Scuola Agric. Portici, ser. ii., No. 10 (1905) pp. 1-12 (7 figs.). 

 + Bull. Soc. Vandoise Sci. Nat., xl. (1904) pp. 245-9 1 1 pi.). 

 t Proc. R. Soc. Victoria, xvii. (1905), pp. 371-85(1 pi.). 

 § Trans. Entoni. Soc. London (1904) pp. 709-50 (1 pi.). 

 || Zeitschr. wiss. Zool., lxxix. (1905) pp. 73-131 (2 pis.). 



