CURRENT NOTES. 201 



Vosseler (19) discusses at length certain migratory locusts in 

 German East Africa, with detailed biological notices. 



Koorders and Zehntner (10) give an account of the diseases 

 and pests of caoutchouk in Java. Among the insects figured in 

 one or more stages are Oleandrus graniger and Gryllacris sp. 

 (Orthoptera), and Glyphodes vivitralis (Lepidoptera). C. S. 

 Banks (23) writes on the pests of the coconut-tree in the 

 Philippines. Orijctes rhinoceros, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, 

 Cyrtotrachelus sp., &c. (Coleoptera), are discussed and figured. 



Felt's report (8) deals principally with studies in Culicidpe by 

 Dr. Felt, and a comprehensive list of the " Jassidte " of the 

 State, by H. Osborn. Needham's report (13) is the third of the 

 valuable series of studies on the aquatic insects of New York 

 State, directed by Dr. Felt. It treats, in the same comprehen- 

 sive manner as the previous publications, of Ephemeridse, 

 Hydroptilidse, Nematocerous Diptera, &c. 



Pictet (14) discusses the influence of food on the development 

 of sex in Lepidoptera, while Schroeder (16) writes on the inter- 

 pretation of the bright colouring of the hind wings in Catocala. 



Del Guercio (4-7) contributes four valuable biological studies 

 on Diptera and Hemiptera. Bueno (2) reviews the methods of 

 progression, both on land and in water, of various genera of 

 American waterbugs. Bergroth (22) discusses stridulaling He- 

 miptera of the family Cimicidge, subfamily Halyinte, and describes 

 the organs in certain Cimicids. Williamson and Calvert (20) 

 query " the accepted statement that in pairing the male dragonfly 

 grasps the female by the prothorax," and show that in certain 

 forms the female is grasped by the head. 



Daecke's paper (3) is interesting, but as the colour fades when 

 the fly is dried, and the variation is apparently overlapping to a 

 large extent in different species, the value of the design for purposes 

 of specific determination is not yet strongly evident. MacGilli- 

 vray (11), after briefly noticing the origin of the hymenopterous 

 type of wing, proceeds with a detailed study of the wing areas, 

 of the dynamical control of wing-type, of the phylogeny of the 

 sawflies, and concludes with tables for separating the families 

 and subfamilies according to the structure of the organs of flight. 

 Steven's bulletin (18) contains articles on Hcematopinus suis, the 

 hog-louse, and Sarcoptes scahiei var. siiis, and Demodex follicii- 

 lorum var. su'is, two species of mange-mites. 



Marlatt (12) estimates conservatively the annual loss from 

 pests in the United States at over seven hundred million dollars 

 (say one hundred and forty million sterling). Slingerland (17) 

 finds that formaldehyde " has little or no insecticidal qualities, 

 when used in practicable quantities, and especially against 

 household insects." 



The ' Entomological News ' (21) contains a remarkable quota- 

 tion from a recent American paper (the ' Medical Brief,' p. 282, 



