410 C. H. TURNER 



female, that ornamentation is just as much a "charm" as though 

 its beauty had caused it to be selected. 



Mclndoo " found the courtship of cave spiders to be similar 

 to that of outside forms. When in copulo the bodies were re- 

 versed and the ventral portion of the female was in contact 

 with the dorsal portion of the male. 



See Petrunkevitch under sensation and Bueno and McDermott 

 under miscellaneous behavior. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



A few years ago Pergande stated that the life cycle of Hor- 

 niaphis hamameledis, an aphid, consists of seven generations; 

 the first two and the sexual generation living on the witch hazel, 

 •and the other four on the black birch. Morgan and Shull " 

 now state that this species passes its entire life cycle upon the 

 witch hazel. About August the first, paraffined paper bags 

 w^ere placed about twigs of witch hazel that were bearing galls 

 containing these aphids. On September the first, sexual forms 

 were found on the leaves in the bags and on those outside. A 

 microscopic examination of sections of migrants within the galls 

 and of pupal and larval stages showed that these forms contained 

 embryos that were male or female. In the open, a branch 

 of witch hazel, bearing aphids, and a branch of birch, which 

 was growing near it, were enclosed in the same bag. The aphids 

 did not migrate to the birch. Unless Pergande is in error, a 

 ■ few degrees of latitude make a marked difference in the life cycle 

 of this plant louse. 



F. M. Webster *^ has thoroughly established the fact that 

 Pedicidoides ventricosus, which is usually supposed to be a 

 beneficial mite, often produces in man a very disagreeable 

 foi~m of dermititis. This mite usually feeds on the larvae of 

 several different insect pests, notably the grain moth, the wheat 

 stalk joint w^orm, and the boll weevil. A few years ago it was 

 proposed to get rid of the boll weevil by spreading this mite 

 among them. Some enthusiasts went so far as to import a 

 number into Texas; but some enemy, probably ants, destroyed 

 them. It has now been shown that in Philadelphia, Baltimore, 

 and elsewhere, several epidemics of demiititis have been caused 

 by this mite. This fact has been established in the following 

 manner. It was found that all who were afflicted with the dis- 



