32 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



a thread of silk as it goes, and that this, attached by the leader to the 

 objects crept over, forms the clue which the others follow. 



Alleged Termitophily.* — Herr C. Berg doubts the accuracy of the 

 conclusion drawn by Wasmann and Horn as to the termitophilous life 

 of certain Cicindelids (Cratohsera bruneti, Cicindela cyanitarsis, and 

 Chilonyclia auripennis). Berg thinks that the cases should be described 

 as " termitariojyhilous," not termitophilous. The Cicindelids select the 

 termitaries as sunny places well suited for play and for hunting (for 

 flies, spiders, &c.), and also affording some protection from lizards. As 

 the Cicindelids feed by clay they have little to do with the nocturnal 

 termites. 



Aphis of the Sugar-Beet.f — P. Doerstling finds, in Oregon, a disease 

 of the sugar-beet due to the ravages of an aphis. It attacks the root 

 first of all, proceeding thence to the leaves, and causes a large reduction 

 in the produce of sugar by converting it into glucose and free acid. 



Colour-Changes in Locusts.* — J. Kiinckel d'Herculais shows that 

 in the American Schistocerca paranensis Burmeister, as in the Old 

 World Sell, peregrina, red coloration characterises the hibernating 

 period and yellow that of pairing and egg-laying. He gives an account 

 of the various changes in the course of life, and regards the pigment as 

 zoonerythrin. 



Habits and Metamorphoses of Beetles.§ — Captain Xamben has 

 published the tenth of his memoirs on this subject. He deals especially 

 with the Clytridfe (Clytra, Labidostomis, Gynandrophthalma, Copto- 

 cephala, Lachnsea) and CryptocephalidaB (Cryptoccphalus stylosomus, and 

 Pachybrachys). There are interesting general notes on the behaviour 

 of the larvae and adults. 



German Species of Aspidiotus.|| — Dr. L. Eeh has an interesting note 

 upon this point. It has been generally supposed that there is one species 

 of Aspidiotus in Germany, the A. ostreseformis of Curtis. The author 

 found recently that specimens from North Germany differed in various 

 respects from the (by hypothesis) typical A. ostreseformis of South 

 Germany. Curtis' original description is not of great assistance ; but 

 from English entomologists the author learnt that the traditional A. 

 ostreseformis of England is the North German form, while he finds that 

 the South German form hitherto called by that name by the Agricultural 

 Bureau is apparently A. pyri Lichtenstein. The distribution is inter- 

 esting ; for while the one is typically a northern form and the other a 

 southern, they overlap in Mid-Germany, where one fruit-tree may be in- 

 fested by the two species. Again, in America there is also a northern (A. 

 ancylui) and a southern (A. perniciosus) form, and the two show respec- 

 tively marked affinities with A. ostreseformis and A. pyri respectively. 



Parasites of Oaks.^f — L. G. Seurat gives an account of the more 

 destructive parasites of Quercus suber and Q. mirbeclci in Tunis. The 



* Comun. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires, i. (1000) pp. 212-5. See Zool. Centralbl., 

 vii. (1900) pp. 701-2. 



t Zeitschr. f. Pflanzenkrankheiten, 1900, p. 21. See Bot. Centralbl., Ixxxiv. 

 (1900) p. 329. X Comptes Kendus, oxxxi. (1900) pp. 958-60. 



§ Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon, xlvi. (1900) pp. 1-72. 



i| Zool. Anzeig., xxiii. (1900) pp. 497-9. 



Tf Ann. Sci. Nat. (Zool.), xi. (1900) pp. 1-34 (10 figs.). 



