﻿15 
  

  

  being 
  probably 
  due 
  to 
  excessive 
  dessication. 
  Mr. 
  Terry 
  said 
  he 
  

   tasted 
  " 
  Kungu 
  " 
  cake 
  made 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  Corcthra, 
  which 
  is 
  

   collected 
  in 
  myriads 
  in 
  the 
  lake 
  district 
  of 
  Central 
  Africa; 
  the 
  

   liavor 
  and 
  texture 
  suggested 
  oatmeal. 
  Dr. 
  Cobb 
  stated 
  that 
  at 
  

   one 
  time 
  a 
  committee 
  was 
  appointed 
  in 
  Nebraska 
  to 
  experiment 
  

   with 
  grass-hoppers 
  for 
  food. 
  The 
  food 
  was 
  found 
  palatable 
  

   but 
  its 
  general 
  introduction 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  failed. 
  

  

  APRIL 
  6th, 
  1905. 
  

  

  The 
  fourth 
  regular 
  meeting 
  was 
  held 
  in 
  the 
  usual 
  place, 
  Mr. 
  

   Perkins 
  in 
  the 
  chair. 
  

  

  Papers. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  G. 
  W. 
  KiRKALDY 
  spoke 
  on 
  "Striditlation 
  in 
  the 
  Corixidae" 
  

   and 
  subsequently 
  presented 
  the 
  following 
  brief 
  note 
  for 
  publica- 
  

   tion 
  : 
  

  

  "As 
  early 
  as 
  1727 
  Frisch 
  announced 
  that 
  the 
  common 
  European 
  

   Broad 
  Water-Bug 
  {Ilyocoris 
  cunicoides, 
  Linne) 
  produced 
  a 
  fid- 
  

   dling 
  sound 
  with 
  its 
  neck 
  ; 
  this 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  properly 
  elucidated, 
  

   however, 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present. 
  Last 
  year 
  Bueno 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  dis- 
  

   covered 
  the 
  stridulatory 
  areas 
  in 
  Ranatra. 
  The 
  first 
  observations 
  

   on 
  Corixidae 
  were 
  recorded 
  by 
  Robert 
  Ball 
  of 
  England 
  in 
  1846 
  

   and 
  the 
  latest 
  by 
  Kirkaldy 
  in 
  1901. 
  (Journ. 
  Quekett 
  Micr. 
  Club, 
  

   Apr. 
  1901). 
  The 
  anterior 
  tarsus 
  is 
  unjointed; 
  it 
  is 
  flattened 
  and 
  

   dilated, 
  in 
  shape 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  like 
  a 
  knife 
  blade. 
  On 
  the 
  inner 
  

   face 
  of 
  this 
  tarsus 
  there 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  males 
  numerous 
  chitinous 
  pegs, 
  

   which 
  vary 
  in 
  number, 
  form 
  and 
  position 
  in 
  the 
  various 
  species 
  

   (constituting 
  the 
  most 
  valuable 
  and 
  precise 
  test 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  in 
  

   this 
  family). 
  On 
  the 
  anterior 
  femora 
  there 
  are 
  rows, 
  on 
  the 
  inner 
  

   face, 
  of 
  small 
  spines 
  or 
  pegs 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  by 
  the 
  friction 
  of 
  the 
  tarsal 
  

   pegs 
  on 
  the 
  pegs 
  of 
  the 
  opposite 
  femur 
  that 
  the 
  sound 
  is 
  produced. 
  

   It 
  was 
  formerly 
  supposed 
  that 
  the 
  striated 
  mouthparts 
  were 
  thus 
  

   operated 
  upon, 
  but 
  in 
  1901 
  Kirkaldy 
  demonstrated 
  the 
  employ- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  the 
  femoral 
  areas. 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  males 
  that 
  these 
  pegs 
  

   occur. 
  A 
  further 
  (supposed) 
  stridulatory 
  organ 
  was 
  announced 
  

   in 
  1873 
  by 
  F. 
  B. 
  White. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  remarkable 
  structure 
  consist- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  several 
  (varying 
  in 
  form 
  and 
  number) 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  over- 
  

   lapping 
  chitinous 
  plates 
  on 
  a 
  pedicel 
  attached 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  abdomi- 
  

   nal 
  tergites. 
  Kirkaldy 
  thought 
  that 
  if 
  this 
  were 
  really 
  a 
  stridu- 
  

  

  