288 



psrciiE. 



[ April — June 1SS5. 



Creek, New England. This is tlic second 

 discovery of fossil insects in Australia, and 

 the specimens show the impressions of larvae 

 and pupae ai Ephemera or ''May-flv," 



26 Nov. 18S4. — . . . On the larvae and larva 

 cases of some Australian aphrophoiidac. By 

 F. Ratte, M.E. This paper describes the lar- 

 val state of some small species of rhynchota 

 closely allied to the genus Aphrophora and 

 belonging probably to the genus Ptyclus. 

 They are as yet imperfectly known ; but the 

 description of their larva-cases and of some 

 of the larvae discloses a feature probably 

 quite new to the science of entomology'. 

 These cases, unlike those of insects generally, 

 are true shells, containing at least three- 

 fourths of carbonate of lime, and resembling 

 in shape some fossil and recent serpulue, 

 some being conical, others serpuliform, or 

 helicoidal. The conical shells are fixed on 

 the branches of some species of eucalvptus, 

 the mouth turned upwards, the larva being 

 placed in it with the head downwards. It in- 

 troduces its suctorial apparatus into the bark 

 of the stem, sucks the sap of the tree, and 

 emits from time to time, by its anus, drops 

 of clear water. This property of emitting 

 water is possessed by all the family. 



The president exhibited four specimens of 

 the shell-like covering of a species of Phi-y- 

 ganea. These are built up entirely of small 

 round nodules of brown iron ore, fastened to- 

 gether by a silky web. They were obtained 

 on the north end of New Caledonia, by Dr. 

 Storer, in a creek flowing over rocks com- 

 posed of iron ore. 



31 Dec. 1S84.— ...Mr. E. P. Ramsay, 

 F.R.S.E., exhibited for Mr. E. G. W. Palmer 

 a native bees' nest which had been obtained 

 in the neighborhood of Smithfield. For the 

 last seven years it had been suspended from 

 a branch of a pear tree in Mr. Palmer's gar- 

 den, and a quart of honey had often been 

 obtained from it, but during the last winter a 

 caterpillar formed its cocoon in the only 

 aperture and so efiectually closed it that all 

 the bees were killed. — Selected from Zool- 

 ogisclier anzeiger. 



OBSERVATIONS ON DECAPITATED 



SILKWORM MOTHS. 



N. Passerini finds that decapitated silk- 

 worm moths live a long time, but are tor- 

 pid, move with difficulty and only under di- 

 rect external excitation, and often disconnect 

 themselves if they are paired. They live long- 

 er than those which have not been decapi- 

 tated; often living for more than a month, 

 whereas normally the males die in six or seven 

 days after they have issued from the chrysalis. 

 The females live even longer than the males, 

 but do not lay eggs. In one aise three or 

 four eggs were obtained from a female which 

 had been decapitated while coupled witfi a 

 male whose head had been left on. but al- 

 though these eggs appeared to be fecundated 

 they did not hatch in the following year. 

 The moths did not couple after both had been 

 decapitated, but if the female alone was 

 decapitated copulation did sometimes take 

 place. If thej' were decapitated while coupled 

 they very often separated ; but sometimes 

 they remained connected, without moving, 

 until they died. If the male only was decap- 

 itated while coupled, they separated ; but this 

 was not the case if the female only was de- 

 capitated. This is readily understood, since 

 the male holds the female by a special genital 

 armature. Death does not follow decapita- 

 tion instantly because the principal nervous 

 centre does not reside in the head. Life is 

 prolonged because the vital force of the in- 

 sect is not consumed in the procreation of 

 new individuals. The author could not find 

 a satisfactory explanation for the failure of 

 the decapitated females to lay their eggs, 

 since the female normally lays all or nearly 

 all her eggs even if they are not fecundated, 

 but he thinks that possibly the ganglia of the 

 oesophageal ring operate, or at least regulate 

 the emissson of eggs in this insect. — Sum- 

 marized from '• Passerini, N. Esperienze 

 sulla decapitazione delle farfalle del baco da 

 seta" (Bull. soc. entoni. ilal., 31 Dec. 1SS4, 

 an. 16, p. 285-2S6). 



