THE MEIOTIC PHENOMENA IN BLAPS 93 
V. DISCUSSION 
1. The growth period 
There are two points in the growth period of Blaps which, I 
believe, deserve special attention, inasmuch as they are highly 
characteristic of this species. One is the presence of a resting 
or confused stage connecting the anaphase of the last spermato- 
gonial division with the prochromosome stage. The other is the 
occurrence of synizesis before the unraveling stage. Both con- 
‘ ditions, already described in my earlier papers, have been found 
in all the individuals studied so far, irrespective of the fluids 
used in the preservation of the material, and therefore seem to be 
entirely normal. 
The massive prochromosomes have been found in several forms 
in both animals and plants, and in many cases appear to be 
derived directly from the anaphase chromosomes, without an 
intervening confused stage. But in other instances the telo- 
phase of the last spermatogonial mitosis may go so far as to pro- 
duce a coarse network in which it is impossible to detect individ- 
ual chromosomes. Such a condition has been described by 
Professor Wilson in Lygaeus and Oncopeltus (712); in the former, 
cells with a nuclear network occur together with spermatogonial 
anaphases within the same cyst. However, it could not be proved 
whether or not the latter were those of the last spermatogonial 
division. On the other hand, it was impossible, too, to trace 
step by step the origin of the massive prochromosomes, ‘‘for there 
is no way of demonstrating the seriation at this time, and the 
change is probably effected rapidly” (12, p. 367). 
We have in Blaps a clear case in which the prochromosomes 
arise from a network, as proved by the seriation of the stages, 
very easily seen in this form, and by the fact that the origin of 
such bodies could be traced even within the same cyst. The evi- 
dence seems to be conclusive, if we keep in mind that both condi- 
tions are occasionally found within the same cyst and that the 
seriation of later stages, on the one hand, and the conspicuous 
difference in size between the cells in both stages, on the other, 
do not warrant another interpretation. 
