911- 



ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 307 



the whole of the evidence points to Yerson's view that the wings of 

 Coleoptera are derived from the spiracular rudiments of the meso- and 

 meta-thorax. He then states the objections to the Midler-Packard 

 theory of lateral or dorsal prolongations of the tergum, and gives, as 

 two strong objections to the tracheal-gill theory of Gegenbaur, that 

 the ancestry of Pterygota points to a terrestrial, not to an aqtiatic form ; 

 and that tracheal gills are secondary adaptive structures, and so of no 

 phylogenetic significance. 



Destruction of Winter Ova of Phylloxera by Lysol.* — G. Cantin 

 gives an account of very successful experiments in which, by using 

 lysol, he destroyed the winter ova of the Phylloxera without in any 

 way hurting the vine. 



New Scale-Insect from India.j — E. P. Stebbing describes the life- 

 history of Mtjiwpldebus stebtingi Green, abundant on the valuable Sal 

 trees. There are many interesting facts concerning this pest : their 

 sugary exudations can be heard dropping from the tall trees like rain- 

 drops after a smart shower ; the female has the power of dropping from 

 great heights without harming itself ; the female lays between 400 and 

 500 eggs, and after the egg-laying, which seems to last from a fortnight 

 to three weeks, both the male and female insects disappear from the 

 forest. The author also discusses the life-history of a Coccinellid. 

 Vedalia guerinu, predaceous on M. stebbingi, and contributes some 

 general remarks on the Monophlebinse of the Indian region. 



Notes on Rhynchota.f — W. L. Distant gives, in a concluding paper, 

 summaries of the generic characters of the Capsidge contained in the 

 British Museum. 



Luminosity of Lampyridae.§ — J. Bougardt has investigated the 

 structure and relation to the tracheal and nervous systems of the 

 luminous organs in this family of beetles. Their physiology he has 

 studied experimentally by subjecting the insects to a variety of abnormal 

 chemical and physical conditions, such as immersion in carbon monoxide, 

 hydrogen, oxygen, etc., warming, drying, placing in vacuo. It appears 

 that luminosity persists some time after death, although it ceases tem- 

 porarily under the foregoing conditions. It is not certain whether 

 oxygen is used in the production of light. 



Structure of Pediculidse.y — N. Cholodkovsky gives some notes 

 on the development of Pedkulas. In particular he describes at the 

 blunt end of the egg, a spherical body of large cells with a cavity within 

 and surrounded by an amnion-like envelope. It appears to be con- 

 stricted off from the posterior end of the germ streak. Eventually it 

 is surrounded by yolk and gradually comes to lie on the ventral side of 

 the embryo under the posterior end of the central nervous system. 

 Later, by differential growth, it lies in a hollow on the lower side of 



* Comptes Rendns, exxxviii. (1904) pp. 178-9. 



t Jourii. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), xxix. (1904) pp. 142-61 (3 pis.). 



I Ann. Nat. Hist., xiii. (1904) pp. 194-206. 



§ Zeitschr. viss. Zool., Ixxv. (1903) pp. 1-45(3 pis.). 



|| Zool. Anzeig., xxvii. (1904) pp. 120-5. 



