244 [August, 



The egg, larva, and pupa are fully described and figured, particularly the 

 head and mouth-parts of larva and pupa. Specially interesting are the observa- 

 tions in the concluding portion of the paper, on the mouth-parts of pupa and 

 imago. The latter, as well as the pupa, has mandibles, not large and functional 

 like those of the pupa, but unchitinised and rudimentary — nevertheless un- 

 mistakeable, and in the pupal stage plainly visible within the base of the pupal 

 mandibles. Thus the advilt Eriocraniid, as well as the adult Micropterygid, 

 possesses mandibles, only they are small and functionless in the former instead 

 of large and f vinctional as in the latter. Therefore the presence of mandibles 

 in the advilt Microj^terygid has not the fundamental importance assigned to it 

 by some writers. Yet Messrs. Bvisck and B<J)ving consider that differences in 

 venation, movith-parts, and larval characters quite justify separate family rank 

 for Eriocraniidae and Micropterygidae,the latter being by far the more ancestral. 

 The adult Micropterygid has not only large, firmly chitinised, functional 

 mandibles, but all the other trophi found in insects with typical biting mouth- 

 parts : maxillae with cardo, stipes, 6-jointed palp, galea, and lacinia ; maxillular 

 lobes on the hypopharynx ; and a more primitive labium. On the other hand 

 the adult Eriocraniid has the mandibles small and functionless, as described 

 above ; maxillae devoid of lacinia, and with the galea developed into the hollow 

 sheath of a true proboscis (of which development there is no trace in the 

 Micropterygid mouth) ; no maxillular lobes ; and a less primitive labiiim. 



Hudson, H. F., "Lucilia sbricata Meigen, Attacking a Live Calf." 

 Canadian Ent., Vol. 46, p. 416, December, 1914. 



This brief note records the finding of masses of Lucilia-mnggots round the 

 anus and base of the tail of a calf in Ontario. Some of the larvae had eaten 

 about a quarter of an inch deep into the flesh, and the calf was in a very sickly 

 condition. It was killed, and the maggots were determined by breeding the 

 fly. The flies had probably been attracted to oviposit in excrement, etc., 

 clinging to the hind-qiiarters of the calf. The same species of L\icilia is stated 

 to be the principal cause of the presence of maggots on the backs and hind- 

 quarters of sheep in Great Britain. 



Harrison, L. : (i) The Mallophaoa as a Possible Clue to Bird 

 Phtlogbnt." Australian Zoologist, Vol. 1. part 1, pp. 1-5, June, 1914. 



(ii) "On a New^ Family and Five New Genera op Mallophaga." 

 Parasitology, Vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 383-407, pi. 26-7, March, 1915. 



At an early stage of his study of the Biting Lice, the writer of these papers 

 was struck by the remarkable manner in which definite species-groups of the 

 parasites are confined to definite host-groups. What is meant can be best 

 explained by citing certain instances which he gives, almost in his own words. 

 Thus a species of Philopterus from a common Australian cuckoo {Gacomantis 

 flahelliformis) is hardly to be distinguished specifically from the parasite of the 

 common European cuckoo {Cuculus canorus). Yet, though the parasites are 

 practically identical, the hosts have diverged very widely in their progress 



