ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 415 



larvfe of 0. iristis and 0. vittigera are described for the first time, and 

 compared with those of the other species. 



Sexual Forms of Texan Ecitons.* — W. M. Wheeler and W. H. 

 Long describe the males of Eciton opacithorax and E. schmitti, and the 

 female of the latter species, and have some interesting notes on habits, 

 &c. They find that the sexual forms of these species resemble one 

 another more closely than the workers. Though numerous specimens 

 of males were found, they noticed no traces of male dimorphism, and 

 were able to confirm Emery's view, that the so-called dimorphic males 

 are merely other ants hatched from larvae and pupae stored by the 

 Ecitons as a reserve of food. This storing of living pupae is a common 

 habit, the pupae being those of many different kinds of insect. Observa- 

 tions on captive nests lead the authors to the conclusion that the large 

 mandibles of the male Ecitons are secondary sexual characters, analo- 

 gous to those of the male stag-beetles, and not weapons or clasping 

 organs. An interesting point is the pleasant smell of the sexual forms 

 as compared with the rank odour of the workers ; the authors believe 

 that this, in part, explains the extraordinary attractive power exerted by 

 both females and males on the workers. 



Metathoracic Pterygoda. f — L. B. Walton calls attention to the 

 general presence of a sclerite on the metathorax which seems homo- 

 dynamous with the so-called tegula of the mesothorax. It appears 

 necessary, he says, to consider that the typical thoracic segment 

 possesses the components of both pterygodum and wing, the former 

 joined to the dorsal margin of the episternum, the latter articulated with 

 the dorsal margin of the epimeron. Furthermore, the morphological 

 position of the pterygodum in respect to the wing indicates that it may 

 have an important bearing in elucidating the metamerism of the anten- 

 nate arthropods. 



Antennae of Odonata.i — Dr. 0. E. Imhof thinks that these struc- 

 tures have been very inadequately studied. This may be due to their 

 minuteness and needle-like character. The author has studied them in 

 three genera — Gompluts, Calojjteryx, and Lestes — and shows that there is 

 considerable variety in structure. 



New Marine Hemiptera. § — H. Coutiere and J. Martin propose a 

 new sub-family — Herrnatobatinae — for Hermatobatodes marchei g. et 

 sp. n. from the Philippines, H. haddoni Carpenter, and H. djiboutensis 

 sp. n. Their. affinities with Veliidae are especially emphasised. 



Are Drone Eggs Fertilised ? || — Ferd. Dickel is of opinion that 

 normal drone eggs are certainly fertilised. Unfertilised eggs give rise 

 only to drones, but normal eggs from bee-cells are capable of giving rise 

 to drones, workers, or queens, according to their treatment. The author 

 believes that the determination of sex takes place in the following way. 

 In the queen there are two glands in the posterior region, virtually 



* Amer. Nat., xxxv. (1901) pp. 157-73 (3 figs.). 



t Tom. cit., pp. 357-62 (5 figs.). 



t Biol. Centralbl., xxi. (1901) pp. 255-6. 



§ Comptes Rendus, cxxxii. (1901) pp. 1066-8. 



'1 Anat. Anzeig., xix. (1901) pp. 101-S. 



