ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 467 



occurrence of dimorphic males (winged and wingless), so marked in 

 TacTiardia^ is rare among Coccidfe. Besides lac tiie insects produce 

 honey-dew, which attracts ants and forms a medium for fungi. The 

 lac-insect is extensively parasitized. The authors found thirty-one 

 species of parasites, hyperparasites and predaceous insects affecting it. 



Structure and Life-history of Telephorus lituratus.* — Olga 

 G. M. Payne gives an account of the life and habits of the larvte. 

 They are primarily carnivorous, but may turn to vegetable food. 

 "When annoyed they usually eject blackish fluid from the mouth. They 

 normally pupate in burrows in clay soil. The external features of the 

 pupa; are described. The mouth-parts and other external features of 

 the adult are also dealt with, and a detailed account is given of the 

 structure of the larva. The mid-gut is very dark. This appears to be 

 due partly to the dark coloration of the epithelial layer itself and partly 

 to the blackish fluid secreted. The rest of the gut has a chitinous 

 lining. The abdominal fat body contains what are probably excretory 

 concretions. The heart seems to be a continuous muscular tube. The 

 brain is in the lower half of the first thoracic segment, not in the head. 

 There are minute dorsal glands, a pair to each segment of the thorax 

 and abdomen. Their function is unknown. 



Making and Oviposition in Crane-Fly.f — John Eennie describes 

 these processes in Tipida ■paJudosa, of which there is only one generation 

 in the year in the north of Scotland. The male alights above the 

 female and passes his abdomen below her. The widely gaping claspers 

 of the male seize the female on the thickened liasal part of the ovipositor. 

 The male releases his hold by the limbs and turns so as to face in the 

 opposite direction from the female. This position is maintained until 

 separation takes place. The antennse of the male continue in active- 

 backward and forward movement, and the halteres quiver at frequent 

 but irregular intervals. In oviposition the female stands vertically with 

 the ovipositor pushed well into the ground. Spasmodic jerks of the 

 hinder part of the abdomen indicate the expulsion of the eggs one by 

 one. About half-a-dozen may be deposited at the same spot, but 

 frequently fewer. The eggs of a young female mostly show black 

 through the skin. Advanced female pup^e have the abdomen filled 

 with salmon-pink ovaries A second set of ova matures after the 

 oviposition, which suggests a second laying. 



Study of Diptera.l — Percy H. Grimshaw discusses the importance 

 of tbe study of Diptera. Some are the intermediate hosts of human 

 parasites, others are the mechanical distributors of disease. Epidemic 

 outbreaks of typhoid fever, summer diarrhoea, diphtheria, smallpox, and 

 other ailments are largely due to the agency of the common House-fly. 

 Many, like the Hessian-fly, devastate crops ; others like the Bot-flies 

 attack domestic animals. The annual loss due to Dipterous agencies is 



* Joum. Zool. Research, i. (1916) pp. 4-32 (2 pis. aud 18 figs.), 

 t Ann. Applied Biol., ii. (1916; pp. 235-40 (1 pi.). 

 X Scottish Nat., 1916, pp. 85-8. 



