ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY. ETC. 43 



Exchange of Gases in Pupae.* — F. J. J. Buytendijk refers to the 

 conclusion reached by the Griifin M. von Linden that Lepidopterous 

 pupje assimilate CO2 in a damp atmosphere rich in CO.^ (7-15 p.c). In 

 the author's experiments the production of CO., went on, even when the 

 atmosphere contained 6-1 G p.c. COo. He experimented first with pupje 

 of Fhahra hucephala, Spliinx Ugustri, and Deilephila eiq^horhiae. He 

 then tried pupse in a cocoon {Samia acropis and Fliylosamia cynthia), 

 which showed much less gaseous interchange than those without cocoons. 

 But he did not find any absorption of CO2 nor any marked decrease in 

 the elimination of CO2. 



Beetles in Nests.f— H. Bickhardt has collected the available infor- 

 mation in regard to those beetles that live in the nests of birds and 

 mammals. He distinguishes three sets : (1) those which are peculiar to 

 nests ; (2) those which are usually found in nests, but in other situations 

 as well ; and (8) those which are only casual guests. In the first group 

 there are 28 species. 



Pigmentation of Colorado Potato Beetle.^— R. A. Gortner has 

 found evidence that the pigmentation of the elytron of the Colorado 

 potato beetle {Leptinotarsa decemUneata Say), is produced by the inter- 

 action of an oxidizing enzyme of the tyrosinase type and an oxidizable 

 chromogen. The colour pattern is produced by the localized secretion 

 of the chromogen. Although the pigmentation is not much more 

 general when an uupigmented elytron is placed in a solution of tyro- 

 sinase, when such an elytron is floated upon a solution of tyrosin, the 

 entire elytron becomes pigmented. Apparently, therefore, the chromo- 

 gen is localized, and the enzyme is secreted over the entire surface. It 

 is maintained that Tower's statements as to the nature of the cuticle 

 pigments and the methods of pigment-formation are based upon wrong- 

 interpretations of his results and upon errors in the application of 

 chemical data. The cuticle pigment is not an azo compound, but 

 belongs to the melanins. 



New Cave Beetles.§— R. Jeannel continues his investigation of the 

 beetles that live in caves, and describes a number of new species of 

 Bathysciinffi, in the genera Speonomus, Speophilus, and Troglocharinus, 

 from the Pyrenees. 



New Phorid associated with Termites.||— Arthur M. Lea describes 

 Entermiphora ahdominaJis g. et sp. n., a minute apterous fly, obtained in 

 a nest of Termites (Eutermes fwnipminis) in New South Wales. It 

 belongs to the family Phoridfe, and is, perhaps, closest to Termitoxenia. 

 But its thin, geniculated and bifurcated proboscis, and its curious abdo- 

 men (with the first of its four segments produced over the thorax and 

 head like a hood), readily distinguish it from Termitoxenia, and from all 

 other described grenera. 



o"- 



* Biol. Centralbl., xxxi. (1911) pp. 643-5. 



t Arch. Naturges., Ixxvii. (1911) pp. 11-18. 



X Amer. Nat.,xlv. (1911) pp. 743-56. 



§ Arch. Zool. Exp6r., viii. (1911) Notes et Revue, pp. Ixxxi-xcvii (17 fig?.). 



II Proc. R. See. Victoria, xxiv. (1911) pp. 76-7 (1 pi.). 



