44 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



mation ; in the latter they early settle down into deep hypodermic 

 pockets, in which their extension is of necessity retarded, although cell- 

 multiplication seems not to be." 



The authors proceed to describe the origin of the tracheation of the 

 wing, and the behaviour of the hypodermis, the cells of which are re- 

 markable not only for their secretory and excretory activity, but also for 

 their capacity for rapid shifting and readjustment. 



Showers of Insects.* — A. L. Montandon discusses the so-called 

 showers of insects, and has gathered a number of interesting cases. The 

 real problem is not of course in the " shower," but in the unusually 

 prolific multiplication and extended migration. As to showers of 

 " blood," they are probably due to excretions from certain species of 

 Vanessa immediately after emergence from the chrysalid stage. 



Nesting Habits of Osmia rufa.f — Mr. J. W. Can- has a short 

 account of a nest of this little bee, built in the door-lock of an out- 

 building. The metamorphosis was completed before the winter had 

 begun ; emergence occurred in March in a glass-topped box in a warm 

 room. The sexual disparity was of interest ; 43 males and 5 females 

 came out, and in the dead remainder there were 9 males, 5 females, and 

 a larva. The nest thus contained 52 males and only 10 females, 

 and it will be noticed that the mortality among the females was very 

 much higher than among the males. 



Female Organs of Cicadaria.J — Herr Nils Holmgren points out 

 how scanty our knowledge of this subject is. He has investigated a 

 large series of forms, and publishes a brief preliminary note as to his 

 results. In the families Cercopina and Jassina the ovaries consist of a 

 varying number of tubes. The oviducts vary in length, but are usually 

 short, and there is a distinct oviducto-vestibular gland. Into the pos- 

 terior end of the vestibulum opens a stalked vesicular bursa copulatrix, 

 with a short straight tubular sheath. The special conditions existing 

 in a series of species belonging to the two families are described in 

 detail. In the only member of the family Fulgorina which was inves- 

 tigated, strikingly different conditions prevail. There is no oviducto- 

 vestibular gland, but instead there is a tubular gland with a strongly 

 chitinised duct which is dilated proximally. 



Alimentary System of Gryllotalpa australis.§ — Mr. 0. A. Sayce 

 finds that the Victorian mole-cricket differs little in regard to its alimen- 

 tary system from the European form. The diet appears to consist 

 chiefly of earthworms and insects. On histological grounds the author 

 believes that the true mid-gut comprises the two hepatic caeca only : but 

 he believes that absorption may take place both in the crop and in the 

 hind-gut, in spite of their chitinous lining. The structure of the differ- 

 ent parts of the alimentary system is described in some detail. 



Derivation of British Coleoptera.|| — Mr. W. E. Sharp points out 

 that the whole British Coleopterous Fauna is simply part and parcel of 



I * Bull. Soc. Sci. Bucarest, viii. (1899) pp. 179-90. 



& f Annual Rep. Nottingham Nat. Soc, xlvi. (1897-8) published 1899, p. 33. 



\ Zool. Jahrb. (Abt. Syst.), xii. (1899) pp. 403-10 (1 pi.). 



§ Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, xi. (1899) pp. 113-28 (2 pis.). 



|| Proc. and Trails. Liverpool Biol. Soc, xiii. (1899) pp. 163-84. 



