CONSTITUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OP TERMITES. 71 



with a very large flattened micropylar extremity, whieh is placed 

 obliquely; behind it the egg has a very slight twist, so that 

 its shape is almost exactly that of the body of a retort which 

 has been cut off obliquely at its junction with the neck. 



The structure of the testes cannot be made out in the adult, 

 and the larval forms available were not sufficiently well pre- 

 served. 



As Embia uric hi is as far removed from Professor 

 Grassi^s species as any form in this very small family, it may 

 be inferred that there is no material diff'erence between the 

 internal organs of the existing known species. — W. F. H. B.] 



The systematic position of the form I have studied now 

 claims consideration. At the present time seventeen species 

 of Embiidse are known (a few appear to be doubtful) ; of these, 

 fourteen are winged and three wingless. The latter may be 

 considered in relation to the form investigated. They are 

 Embia (Oligotoma) antiqua, Pictet, found as a fossil in 

 Prussian amber; Embia (Olyntha) Miilleri, Hagen, from 

 Brazil (known only by a single example, probably a female, in 

 bad condition); and Embia solieri, Rambur, found accord- 

 ing to various authors in the south of France and Spain, but 

 as yet only in the larval state. I have already stated that my 

 species is probably Embia solieri, which is in its turn not 

 clearly distinguishable from Embia antiqua. But further 

 com-parison is necessary before its identity can be indisputably 

 established. In the length of the antennae and the asymme- 

 trical hinder extremity of the male my species approaches the 

 genus Oligotoma, and differs from Embia (s. str.) by the 

 symmetry of the hinder extremity in the female. It is 

 remarkable for the sexual difference in the mandibles, which 

 does not appear to exist in any other species, and I therefore 

 think it should be referred to a new genus. 



[There is very great confusion about the sexual and generic 

 characters of Embiidse, which Professor Grassi has not 

 unravelled, owing to his necessarily relying on Hagen's state- 

 ments. An analysis of the descriptions, a comparison of all 



