October — December 1SS5.' 



PSYCHE. 



353 



Me y mis II i grcsce N!^Xiu]'S.\-A\\\ . of whicli a young 

 individual was taken from a larva of Hylwr- 

 uia defoliaria L. Gordins has not been known 

 hitherto as a parasite of a myriopod. 



In this connection attention is called to a 

 work on these parasites, which seems to be 

 little known in America. This is Linstow's 

 Compendium der helminthologie .... 1S7S 

 [Rec, 31 19], in which one is able readily to 

 trace the literature of most species of parasi- 

 tic worms if either the name of the host, 

 whether vertebrate or invertebrate, or that of 

 the parasite is known. 



Tomato-plants as repellants of in- 

 sects. — According to the Colonial mail, a 

 statement comes from the Cape Colony 

 which is deserving the attention of botanists. 

 It is alleged that insects shun the land on 

 which tomatoes are grown ; and the cultiva- 

 tion of the Lycopersicum e&culenium is 

 accordingly recommended in all cases where 

 it is possible to grow it— under fruit trees, 

 fur instance, since the tomato will thrive in 

 the shade of other trees, which few other 

 plants will do — for the sake of the virtues 

 attributed to it as prophylactic against the 

 inroads of insect pests. It would be interest- 

 ing to know whether the tomato has been 

 observed to exercise any such eftect upon 

 insects elsewhere — in Canada, for instance, 

 where the fruit is so popular — or whether it 

 is only in warmer climates, like that of the 

 Cape, that its peculiar powers are brought 

 intoplay. — Nature, I Jan. 1S85, v. 31, p. 202. 



It may be sutficient to state that the use of 

 tomato leaves as repellants of insects was 

 recommended in France and in the United 

 States at least as long ago as the year 1S46. 

 but that experiments properly made have 

 shown the inefficacy of the remedy. The 

 roots, stems, leaves and fruits of this plant 

 are eaten by numerous species of insects. 

 There is no reason to suppose that the Cape 

 Colonists are any less ready than their north- 

 ern relatives to jump to the conclusion, on 

 insufficient grounds, that because a plant has 



certain qualities no.\ious to man, it is there- 

 fore also noxious to insects. 



Fossil thysanura. — At the meeting of 

 the Societe entomologique de France, 27 May 

 iSS,i;, as reported in its Bulletin, Mr. C : Bron- 

 gniart made the following communication : 



"Claus places the thysanura among the 

 orthoptera; they are generally considered 

 to be the primordial type of insects. No one 

 has recorded them from the paleozoic strata. 



"Nevertheless they existed as early as the 

 coal period, for forty-five specimens have 

 been found in the schists of Commentry. It 

 is difficult to see the number of joints of the 

 tarsi, palpi and antennae, but these organs 

 are distinguishable on many specimens. The 

 body is cylindrical, slender at the posterior 

 part, and ends in a multiarticulate filament 

 as long as the body. The antennae and tarsi 

 are thickish. The head appears quite broad. 

 The prothorax is very short, and the meso- 

 thorax and metathorax are equal in length 

 and much longer than the prothorax. The 

 abdomen has ten segments, equal among 

 themselves; the terminal one, whicli bears 

 a multiarticulate filament, is a trifle the 

 longest. There seemed to me to be abdomi- 

 nal laminations upon one of the specimens, 

 as there are in ISIachilis. The whole animal 

 (antennae, feet, thorax, abdomen) is clothed 

 with very thick and very short hairs. The 

 body, including the abdominal filament, 

 varies in length between 15 and 22 mm. 



"This insect resembles morphologically 

 Lcpisma und Machilis ; it difiers from them 

 by many characters, but principally in the 

 presence of a single abdominal fihiment in 

 the fossil form. 



" I designate this ancestor of the living 

 thysanura under the name of Dasylefius 

 (dasys Icptos) liicasi, dedicating it to Mr. 

 Hippolyte Lucas, of the Natural history mu- 

 seum of Paris." 



On carrying hibernating larvae 

 through the winter. — I have sometimes 

 so carried larvae in ice boxes, or in ice 



