66 Journal New York Entomological Society. [Voi. iv. 



against insectivorous nocturnal animals. If we dissect or crush a Liiciola 

 it gives out a disagreeable cabbage-like smell, and perhaps this is suffi- 

 cient to render it inedible to bats or other nocturnal animals. An acrid 

 taste they certainly do not possess. 



It has long been known that the eggs of fire-flies, both Lampyridae 

 and Pyrophoriis, are luminous. Both Newport and more recently Wie- 

 lowiejsky attributes the luminosity not to the contents of the egg, but to 

 the portions of the fat-body cells or fluid covering on the outside of the 

 eggs, due to ruptures of the parts within the body of the female during 

 oviposition. The larvae at different ages are also luminous. 



The position of the luminous organs changes with age. In the 

 larvae of Pyrophoriis before moulting, according to Dubois, the luminous 

 organs are situated only on the ventral side of the head and prothoracic 

 segment. In larvae of the second stage there are added three shining 

 spots on each of the first eight abdominal segments, and a single lumin- 

 ous spot on the last segment. These spots are arranged in a linear 

 series and thus form three luminous cords. In the adult beetles there 

 is a luminous spot in the middle of the first abdominal sternite, but the 

 greatest amount of light is produced by the two vesicles on the hinder part 

 of the prothorax, the position of which varies according to the species. 



Literature. 



Peters, W. — Ueber das Leuchten tier Lampyris italica. (Miiller's Archiv 

 f. Anatomie, 1841, p. 229-233.) 



Kolliker, A. — Die Leuchtorgane von Lampyris, eine vorlaufige mittheilung. 

 (Verhandl. d. phys. medizin. Gesellsch. Wiirzburg, 1857, viii, p. 217-224.) 



Schultze, Max. — Ueber den Bau der Leuchtorgane der Mannchen von 

 Lampyris spleitdidtila. (Sitzber. d. niederrhein. Gesellsch. f. Natur. u. Heilkunde zu 

 Bonn, 1864, Sep. p. 7.) 



Zur Kenntniss der Leuchtorgane von Lampyris splendidnla. (Archiv 



f. mikroskop. Anat. 1865, i, p. 124-137, 2 pi.) 



Wielowiejsky, H. Ritter von. — Studien iiber die Lampyriden. (Zeits. f. 

 wissens. Zool. 1882, xxxvii, pp. 354-428, 2 pi.) 



Emery, Carlo. — Untersuchungen iiber Liiciola italica L. (Zeits. f. wis- 

 sens. Zool. 1884, xl, pp. 338-355, I pi.) 



La luce della Liiciola italica osservata col microscopic. (Bull. Soc. 



Ent. Ital. Anno 17, 1885, pp. 351-355, i pi.) 



Heinemann, C. — Zur Anatomic und Physiologic der Leuchtorgane Mexikan- 

 ischer Cucujos, Pyrophorus. (Archiv f. mikroskop. Anat. 1886, xxvii, pp. 296-383.) 



Dubois, R. — Contribution a I'etude de la production de la lumiere par les 

 etres vivants. Les Elaterides lumineux. (Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1886, Annee 

 ii, pp. 1-275, 9 pl-) 



Wielowiejsky, H. Ritter von. — Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Leuchtorgane 

 der Insekten. (Zool. Anzeiger, 1889, Jahrg. xii, pp. 594-600.) 



