172 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



New Australian Chiton.* — R. A. Bastow and J. H. Gatliff describe 

 Enoplockiton torri sp. n. from the coast of Queensland. If the reference 

 to Enoplockiton is correct the species is very interesting geographically, 

 for the other species of the rare genus, E. niger Barnes, occurs oe the 

 coast of Peru. " The head-valve is studded with numerous bright, clear, 

 amber eyes, not ocelli, but real and very human-looking eyes ; these also 

 occur on the lateral areas and on the posterior valve. . . . The girdle, 

 with its radially striated scales, is ■ unmistakably well secured to the very 

 numerous and deeply-cleft teeth in the insertion plates. . . . The whole 

 of the dorsal sculpture is granulate." 



Arthropoda. 

 a. Insecta. 



Senses of Ants.f — 0. C. Silverlock has made a number of interesting 

 -experiments on the reactions of ants to heat and light. He shows that 

 some ants at least feel a rise in temperature of not more than - 3° C. 

 He confirms Lord Avebury's conclusion that the ultra-violet rays affect 

 the ants as true light rays. The ants change their position by reason 

 of their dislike to the colour of the ultra-violet rays, and also by reason 

 of the smaller amount of heat transmitted through the violet end of 

 the spectrum. 



Nests of Wanderer Ants.| — E. Wasmann has been able to obtain 

 some information from E. Luja in the Congo regarding the hitherto 

 unknown nest of Dorylus (Anommd) wilverthi. It was found at the foot 

 of a tree in the forest ; it included in its upper portions numerous myr- 

 mecophilous beetles quite different from those which accompany the 

 armies on the march ; the latter were found in the deeper parts of the 

 nest. A number of interesting details are given, and the author refers 

 to some other records of the nests of wanderer ants. 



Clasping Organs on Wings of Hymenoptera.§ — L. Walter gives a 

 thorough description of the interlocking of the fore and hind wings in 

 ants, bees, wasps, and other Hymenoptera. The hind wing bears clasping 

 hooks (distal and sub-basal) and marginal bristles. The hooks are in- 

 serted into a groove formed by a recurving and folding in of the posterior 

 margin of the fore-wing. But the details of the arrangement are in- 

 tricate. The development has been worked out, and the precise function 

 in flight is analysed. 



Salivary Glands of Hemiptera.|| — E. Bugnion describes the principal 

 and the accessory salivary glands of Pentatoma grisea, Graphosoma linea- 

 tum, Syrbmastes marginatus and Pyrrhocoris apterus, besides giving an 

 account of the salivary pump and the excretory ducts. 



Insects Injurious to Books. — P. S. de Magalhaeslf makes some notes 

 on a species of Lepisma, a small beetle somewhat like Anobium biblio- 



* Proc. R. Soc. Victoria, xx. (1907) pp. 27-30 (2 pis.). 



t Nature Notes, xviii. (1907) pp. 165-9. 



% Atti Pontif. Acad. Rom., lx. (1907) pp. 224-9. 



§ Smithsonian Misc. Coll., iv. (1907) pp. 65-87 (4 pis.). 



I| Arch. Sci. Phys. Nat., xxiv. (1907) pp. 639-42. 



<|f Bull. Zool. Soc. France, xxxii. (1907) pp. 95-100. 



