Insecta 17 



But about ^3 of the genera are viviparous, forming no ootheca at all or 

 only a very imperfect one. There are 3 alternative methods to the laying of 

 eggs in a chitinous ootheca, so that the family contains the following 4 cate- 

 gories: (I) oviparous forms, depositing their eggs in a chitinous ootheca: (II) 

 secondarily viviparous forms, in which a chitinous ootheca is formed but 

 retained in the brood-pouch, either tili the young have emerged, or tili imme- 

 diately before they emerge (a secondary adaptation from (I)): (III) viviparous 

 forms, carrying the Young enveloped in a thin membrane, which ruptures to 

 allow them to escape from the brood-pouch (Panddora^ etc.): (IV) ovo-vivi- 

 parous forms, having a thin leather (not chitinous) ootheca which is carried in 

 the brood-pouch with the end protruding from the abdomen, and is only depo- 

 sited just before the young are ready to emerge (Blaitella, etc.). 



The writer considers that neither the formation of the elaborate chitinous 

 ootheca, nor viviparity, are truly primitive in the family, and that viviparity in 

 Blattidae has a two-fold origin. Supposing ancestral forms to have laid eggs 

 singly or in masses, two diverging lines might be followed: (A) on the one hand 

 might arise oviparous genera forming a chitinous ootheca ((I), above), from which 

 again might arise those (secondarily) viviparous genera in which a chitinous 

 ootheca is formed but retained in the brood-pouch ((II), above): (B) on the other 

 hand, by lengthening of the period spent by the embryo inside the brood-pouch, 

 there might arise viviparous genera in which no ootheca at all is formed ((HI), 

 above), and ovo-viviparous genera ((IV), above). Both methods may have the 

 object of securing the embryos against attack from external parasites. 



A list of the subfamilies, with their methods of reproduction so far as 

 known, is added: in only two cases is more than one method found in the same 

 subfamily. Reference is made to the habit of certain Periplanetae^ etc., of covering 

 their oothecae with fragments of the substratum on which they are placed. 



H. Scott (Cambridge). 



48) Shelford, E., Studies of the Blattidae. In: Trans. Eni Soc. London, Heft 4, 

 S. 643—661, Taf. 79, 80, 1912. 



This paper is "a revision of the genus Theganopteryx Br., together with remarks 

 on 8ome species of Hemithyrsocera Sauss". The author remarks that he is convinced of 

 the necessity for much more accurate and detailed diagnoses of genera in the Ecto- 

 biinae and Pseudomopinae, but that to make these is not easy; because, although 

 the ,?J are distinct enough, the +$ of many spp. resemble one another very closely. 

 Further, he states that the characters used to separate Ectobiinae from Pseudomopinae 

 are so variable and interchangeable, that he has sometimes considered the advisability 

 of merging the two; but has not done so, owing to a conviction that further detailed 

 study will probably reveal satisfactory differentiating characters. A diagnosis of the 

 Ectobiinae is given (p. 645). The genus Theganopteryx is then revised; so far as 

 known the genus is confined to tropical Africa. Some spp. of Hemithyrsocera are descri- 

 bed (pp. 655—660); and a list of the spp. of that genus is added (p. 661): the ,-f,,f of 

 some spp. have the ventral apical parts of the abdomen very asymmetrical, as shown 

 in Plate 80. H. Scott (Cambridge). 



49) Bimsky>Korsakow, M., Ein Fall von Mundteileregeneration bei Haploem- 

 bia solieri Ramb. In: Zeitschr. f. wiss. Ins.-Biol., Bd. 8, Heft 1, S. 17—19. 1912. 



Die Mundteile der linken Seite sind anormal. Auch die linke Antenne war nur 

 als Stummel vorhanden. Autotomie und Regeneration der Antennen der beiden Embien- 

 arten von Villefranche, Haploemhia solieri Ramb. und Monotylota ramhuri R.-Cors., sind 

 häufiger. Der linken Mandibel fehlen die Zähne. Der Stipes der linken Maxille ist im 

 distalen Teil regeneriert. Der linke Maxillartaster ist kleiner als der rechte und unvoll- 

 ständig gegliedert. Der Lobua externus ist nicht zur Ausbildung gekommen. Der innere 

 ist plumper und kleiner bezahnt. Der linke Palpus labialis scheint ein Regenerat zu sein. 



Eckstein (Eberswalde). 



Zentralblatt f. Zoologie, aUgem. a. experim. Biologie. Bd. 3. 2 



