'3-2 



PSYCHE. 



[February 1S91. 



thoracic and metathoracic wings, a pair of 

 prothoracic wings, bearing much the same 

 relation to the others as the mesothoracic 

 te' j mina of tropical Phasmidae bear to their 

 metathoracic wings. They are short subtri- 

 angular lobes having a well defined basis 

 which is narrower, sometimes much nar- 

 rower, than the parts beyond, and from which 

 course three or four radiating nervules. Al- 

 though on these individuals these parts 

 spread laterally like the wings behind them, 

 and are sometimes so broad at base as to ap- 

 pear at first sight rather as lateral iobes of 

 the prothorax (especially in an English car- 

 boniferous insect described by Woodward, 

 which Brongniart also places here) M. 

 Brongniart believes that they were movable 

 and could be extended backward along the 

 body, so as to cover the base of the mesotho- 

 racic wings. As to the question which nat- 

 urallv arises, whether these members are to 

 be regarded as atrophied organs and therefore 

 presuppose a progenitor equipped with three 

 pairs of fully developed and similar thoracic 

 wings, M. Brongniart prefers to wait for fur- 

 ther paleontological facts. One recalls in 

 this connection the discussion between Haase 

 and Cholodkovsky in the Zoologischer an- 

 zeiger, Nos. 235, 239 and 244. 



A Hint from Embryology. — Mr. Wm. 

 M. Wheeler has enriched entomology by a 

 very interesting and suggestive paper on 

 the appendages of the first abdominal seg- 

 ment in insect embryos (Trans. Wise. acad. 

 sci.,v. 3, pp. S7-140, pi. 1-3). Besides his 

 own observations on Phyllodromia, Peri- 

 planeta, Mantis, Xiphidium, Cicada, Zaitha 

 and Sialis, he gives a resume of the observa- 

 tions of others and discusses the probable 

 original function of these appendages among 

 the ancestral insects when they must have 

 extended to postembryonal life. Showing 

 that in view of their origin from the ectoderm 

 they must have been either respiratory or- 

 gans, sense organs, or glands, he reviews the 

 arguments for each hypothesis pro and con 



and concludes in favor of the last; he is fur- 

 ther inclined to regard them as having 

 probably been odoriferous glands and his 

 ingenious arguments in favor of this view 

 will be found of interest to all entomologists. 

 He proposes for these organs, which he notes 

 to have been found only in the Heterometab- 

 ola, the name of Adenopodia, a name which 

 demands the acceptance of the glandular hy- 

 pothesis. Considering the variety that he 

 shows has already been found in the nature 

 of the adenopodia, a fruitful field of investi- 

 gation is opened, in which there is plenty of 

 room for many workers. 



Kolbe's introduction to the stud}' of 

 insects is slow in publication. Begun early 

 in 1SS9. it was to be completed in six or seven 

 small monthly parts. The fifth part has just 

 appeared and the second of the twelve divi- 

 sions of the book is not half finished, so much 

 more extensive is our author's performance 

 than his promise. The present part (pp. 225- 

 272) deals with the mouth-parts of the suck- 

 ing insects and the structure 'of the wings. 

 In the former, under the bibliography of the 

 Lepidoptera, we miss reference of any kind 

 to either of Edward Burgess's papers, the 

 most important ever published. In the latter 

 there is no reference to Saussure's paper 

 on the folding of the wings of cockroaches, 

 but there will be found a good account of 

 Adolfs views. There are 23 wood-cuts in the 

 text of this part, mostly original. 



Dr. Anton Fritsch of Prag, has recently 

 described in Vesi/u'r, a popular Bohemian 

 journal of natural history, the case of a caddis 

 fly from the permian formation, and it may 

 be regarded as the oldest indication of the 

 Phryganidae yet brought to light. 



Eggs of Lycaenidae — Doherty of Cincin- 

 nati has carried the study of the eggs of 

 eastern Lycaeninae so far as to propose, in 

 the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 

 for 1S89, four divisions to the Theclini, based 

 principally upon characteristics drawn from 



