140 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



publication of a new work on the Larvae of German Macro-lepidoptera, 

 with analytical tables for the determination of the species. — R. Rosler, 

 ' Die Raupeu der Grossschmetterlinge Deutschlands,' &c., with 2 plates 

 (Leipzig, 1900, xvi. and 170 pp.). 



DiPTERA. 



Brues has investigated the enormously swollen metatarsi of Bittnco- 

 mnrpha clnvipes, and finds that an enlarged tracheal tube occupies 

 almost the entire cavity. These enlargements probably enable it to 

 be wafted about easily by currents pf air. when the insect bears a 

 striking resemblance to drifting thistle seeds. (1900, ' American Natu- 

 ralist,' p. 677, ex Biol. Bull. 1900, i. pp. 155-60). 



Lmhof notes three ocelli (a new feature in the family) in a Tipulid 

 from Baden, Trichocera, sp. n. (Zool. Anzeiger, 1900, xxiii. p. 116). 



J. C. HuBER publishes a bibliography of the Diptera, PediculidsD, 

 &c., parasitic on man (Jena: 4 parts, 1899-1900). 



Hymenoptera. 



W. M. Wheeler contributes two interesting papers on Myrmeco- 

 philes to the ' American Naturahst ' for 1900, viz. (1) "A New Myr- 

 mecophile from the Mushroom Gardens of the Texan Leaf- cutting 

 Ant " (pp. 851-62, 6 figs.), and (2) '• The Female of Esiton swuichrasti, 

 Norton, with some Notes on the Habits of Texan Ecitons," (pp. 563- 

 74 ; 4 figs.). 



MicHAELis and Zander discuss the structure and development of 

 the male genitalia of certain Aculeata ( 1900, Zeitschr. f iir Wiss. 

 Zool. Ixvii. pp. 439-60; 1 plate (Michaelis), pp. 461-89 ; 1 plate and 

 9 figs. (Zander). 



C. Emery revises the nomenclature of the parts of the thorax in 

 FormicidsB (1900, Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital. xxxii. pp. 103-19, figs. 1-14). 



General. 



L. B. Walton discusses the structure and formation of the basal 

 segments of the leg in Insecta. He summarises his conclusions as 

 follows : — 



In Hexapoda the " coxa" is composed of two more or less fused 

 segments, "coxa genuiua " and "meron." The antecoxal piece 

 results from the chirinization of the membrane connecting the coxa 

 with the sternum. The trociiantin prol)ably originated from a lateral 

 portion of the same membrane. Audouin erroneously homologized 

 the lateral margin of the posterior coxa m Dyiisciis cifcumflexm with 

 the trochantin of the prothorax and mesothorax. The trochanter 

 represents a distinct segment of the legs. The meron and coxa 

 genuina, together with their corresponding basal segments, epimeron, 

 and episternum, give evidences of a fusion between two primary meta- 

 meres. The anterior metamere bears the functional, and the posterior 

 the rudimentary leg. Of the primitive Hexapoda, Neuroptera Plani- 

 pennia exhibit the most generalized condition in the development 

 of the coxa, while in Thysanura and Orthoptera a high degree of 

 specialization is shown. — "The Basal Segments of the Hexapod Leg," 

 in ' American Naturalist,' 1900, xxxiv. pp. 267-7-^ ; 6 figs. 



G. w. k. 



