ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 667 



generalised insects. The fenestra of some male cockroaches (Corydia 

 and Heterogamia) is replaced by an ocellus, and a little below the 

 fenestra there is on each side a peculiar spot which may be another 

 rudimentary ocellus. Some histological evidence of this is promised. 



Ecdysis in Aspidiotus perniciosus* — Dr. L. Reh finds that in this 

 insect there are three different dorsal shields, the first or white larval 

 shield, the second or black larval shield, and the final shield. The first. 

 and second consist only of wax threads, without relation to the larval 

 skin, which participates only in the formation of the third shield. The 

 first is always thrown off, the second usually, neither forms any part 

 of the third. The first moult occurs at the beginning of the formation 

 of the third shield, and the last coat is utilised in its formation. 



Balloon-like Metatarsi, f — Mr. Brues finds that the enormously 

 swollen metatarsus of Bittacomorplia clavipes Fabr., a near relative of the 

 crane-flies, is almost entirely occupied by an enlarged tracheal tube. 

 The insect flies poorly, and the author suggests that the balloon-liko 

 metatarsi enable it to be wafted easily by currents of air. When sus- 

 pended in the air the insects are like thistle-down. 



Female Eciton. :[ — Prof. W. M. Wheeler has succeeded in findiug 

 the female of the driver ant, Eciton sumichrasti Norton. He gives some 

 account of the habits of the species, noting, for instance, that it possesses 

 in a very marked degree the power of swarming so characteristic of 

 certain tropical Ecitons. Two other species, E. omnivorum 01. ( = aecum 

 Latr.) and E. californicum Mayr., were seen in the vicinity of Austin, 

 but the diversity of the males (formerly described as species of Labidus) 

 taken about the electric lights shows that there must be other species in 

 the district. Prof. Wheeler has also some notes on the myrmecophiles 

 found in the Eciton-nests, e.g. a small Staphylinid beetle which has a 

 very striking resemblance to a worker Eciton. Since the Ecitons are 

 blind, the colour of the Ecitophiles cannot matter to them, but the form 

 and surface sculpture of the guest-insect are of great importance, and 

 the author follows Wasmann in hinting that we have here a new and 

 elsewhere unkuown form of mimicry — a deception of the sense of touch 

 which must be extraordinarily keen in these blind ants. 



Mating in Moths. § — Mr. A. G. Mayer took 449 cocoons of Callo- 

 samia promethea from Cambridge, Mass., to Loggerhead Key, off the 

 Florida coast, many hundred miles south of the southernmost range of 

 this species. In this locality, where intrusions were eliminated, the 

 observer found that the sexes pay no attention to the appearance or 

 coloration of their partners. 



#. Myriopoda. 



Swarming - of Diplopoda. [| — ■ Prof. Karl W. Yerhoefl' notes that in 

 1879 J. Paszlavsky described Braclryiulus unilineatus C. Koch as occur- 

 ring in such dense masses on the railway line in Hungary as to seriously 



* Zool. Anzeig,, xxiii. (1900) pp. 502-4. 



t Biol. Bull., i. (1900) pp. 155-60. See Amer. Nat., xxxiv. (1900) p. G77. 

 j Amer. Nat., xxxiv. (1900) pp. 563-74. (4 rigs.). 



§ Psyche, ix. (1900) pp. 15-20. See Amer. Nat., xxxiv. (1900) pp. 674-5. Cf. 

 this Journal, ante, p. 197. 



|| Zool. Anzeig.. xxiii. (1900) pp. 463-73. 



