ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 181 



Pulvinaria camelkola ; he now directs attention to the male. He dis- 

 tinguishes (1) in the first nymph stage a secretion in the stigmal 

 grooves and a sparse secretion in the ano-genital region ; (2) an 

 abundant secretion over the whole dorsal surface, forming a shield or 

 waxy follicle beneath which the male completes the nymph stage ; and 

 (J^) a secretion from two slender hairs at the end of the abdomen of the 

 adult male, lateral to the penis. The details of the secretion in these 

 three areas are discussed. 



Injurious Insects in Ireland.* — George H. Carpenter makes his an- 

 nual report on injurious insects and other animals observed in Ireland. 

 He deals with corn aphis. Pliorhia brasskae, and some other Crucifer- 

 eating Diptera, oblong leaf-weevil, codling moth, tigure-of-eight moth, 

 pine Chermes, Athous haemorrhoidalis, and many other forms. 



Luminescence of Glow-worms.f — F. Weitlaner advances the theory 

 that the primary cause of the luminescence of the glow-worm is to be 

 found in the fact that it lives among and feeds on humus-substances. 

 An aqueous infusion of humus in a test-tube becomes luminescent on 

 the addition of hydrogen peroxide and sodium bicarbonate. The glow- 

 worm is a mechanism for the concentrated production of this lumin- 

 escence, the potentiality of which is in its food, and it is interesting to 

 notice that the female Lampyris spleiuiidula, which confines itself to a 

 diet of humus and lives in moist humus, is much more luminescent than 

 the female of L. }ioctilucii, which eats green parts of plants as well as 

 humus, and moves about a good deal. 



to"- 



Experiments on Pupse.J — Thomas H. Montgomery, jun., took the 

 pupte of a large Saturniid, Attacas cecropia, removed them from the 

 cocoon, exposed them to direct sunlight with and without a heat filter, 

 to diffuse light, to various temperatures from 0° to 39° C, with the 

 stigmata in some cases covered with balsam, in horizontal and in vertical 

 positions. But nearly as many hatched as in the controls, no difference 

 in colour or in dimensions was observed, and the only marked effect was 

 a hastening of the development at a heightened temperature. It is 

 probable that the pupas were too advanced to be modifiable. Similar 

 experiments with Thyridopteryx ep/iemerseformis, the common bag- worm, 

 led to similar results. A certain amount of moisture is essential to 

 development ; raising the temperature quickens development ; sunlight 

 is not injurious ; the cocoon is probably of most value against enemies, 

 perhaps also in absorbing and retaining moisture. 



Rat-fleas. § — A. E. Shipley gives a general account of the characters 

 of fleas, and deals with rat-fleas in particular. He describes the life- 

 history— the porcelain-like white egg which falls to the ground ; the 

 process on the head of the larva for breaking the egg-shell ; the active 

 but delicate larvae ; the little white silken cocoon of the pupa ; the 



* Econ. Proc. R. Dublin Soc, ii. (1911) pp. 31-51 (5 pis. and 6 figs.). 



X Verb. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien, Ixi. (1911) pp. 192-202. 



: Amer. Nat., xlv. (1911) pp. 364-71. 



§ Journ. Econ. Biol., vi. (1911) pp. 12-20 (7 figs.). 



April 17th, 1912 



