1887.1 149 



laid in masses in the ground ; the newly-hatched larvse in both are 

 structurally identical with the parent ; and the female larva goes 

 through a pseudo-pupal state prior to the final moult. 



Nothing is yet known of the male larva and pupa, and the author 

 only conjectures that certain darker, more slender larvse structurally 

 identical, belong to this sex. 



We have many forms of degradational females in Sexapoda, and 

 we have true larval reproduction ; but I consider that the females 

 of the Phengodini offer the most remarkable instances of imaginal or 

 adult characteristics associated with such truly larval characters. In 

 this larviform female of these Phengodini we get a glimpse, so to 

 speak, into the remote past, and from which has been handed down to 

 us, with but little alteration, an archetypal Sexapod form, which 

 prevailed before complete metamorphosis had originated ; while, on 

 the other hand, her male companion, during the same period, has 

 developed wing-power, and the most elaborate and complex sensorial 

 organs — the eyes and antennae in these beetles being among the most 

 complex of their Order. 



Whether we believe the female Phengodes has never reached 

 beyond her present form, i. e., represents a case of arrested develop- 

 ment, or that she has retrogressed from a higher type, where the sexes 

 were more nearly alike, one thing is, I think, self-evident, viz., that 

 there is direct relation between the phosphorescence and the remark- 

 able differentiation of the sexes ; and, further, that such relationship 

 jiis explicable and full of meaning on evolutionary ground. 



CONCERNING- ANOMALON TENUICORNE, GR., &c. 

 BY JOHN B. BBIDQMAN", F.L.S. 



On looking over my materials of what I considered this species, 

 I have come to the conclusion either that tenuicorne is a very variable 

 insect, or that there are several species mixed up under that name ; 

 this and A. dehile are the only species of this group that I know of 

 which have the transverse anal nervure divided ; dehile, Wesmael says, 

 differs from tenuicorne in having the scape of antennae fulvous, and 

 the temples black, whilst tenuicorne has the scape black above, and the 

 temples reddish ; I found three varieties or species among my tenui- 

 corne. 



1. Two males and a female given to me some years ago by Mr. Bignell : they 

 ■were bred from Thais Polyxena, brought, I think, by Mr. Mathew from Greece. 

 These are larger than any British specimens 1 have ; two are 18 mm., and the other 



