300 Mr. David Sharp un 



considers apparently that the whole of one side of the 

 head is a fixed mandible ; this, however, is clearly 

 erroneous, and I am not quite sure that Coquerel really 

 had this idea, for his plate is unfortunately erroneously 

 lettered, so that the interpretation of the figures can 

 only be inferred. 



Perris, however, alludes to and represents on fig. 2, 

 I. c, two dark spaces near the front of the head ; these 

 dark objects are very conspicuous, and in the preparations 

 in balsam each is seen to be a narrow oval body, more 

 acuminate in front, situate in the interior of the head, 

 the pointed front end of the body just reaching the 

 anterior margin of the head. I think there can be little 

 doubt that this body is the mandible. No antenna can 

 be pointed out with certainty, but I think it probable 

 that the prominent tooth at the side of the head behind 

 the deepest and most posterior excision is the homologue 

 of the antenna, and it will be noticed, on referring to 

 Coquerel's figure of larva of Fornax madauascariensis, 

 that these projections exist more conspicuously in that 

 species, and have even more strongly the appearance of 

 antennae ; indeed, in his figure Qj, any one would at 

 once select these prominences as representing the organs 

 in question. 



In a head broken in two and mounted in balsam a 

 large triangular, or rather tubulo-conical, membrane 

 can be seen extending backwards from the labium, and 

 this is connected behind with a large horny apparatus, 

 and 1 have very little doubt that we have here an 

 apparatus for suction or imbibition. 



These details by no means exhaust the external 

 peculiarities of this larva, for there exist on the dorsal 

 and ventral aspects of the segments i^eculiar velvety 

 patches, and behind each of these a small stigma-like 

 cavity. The velvety patches, when viewed by a high 

 power, present the appearance of closely-packed papillae, 

 similar to what exist on the tongues of carnivorous 

 mammals ; and I have found by dissecting the integu- 

 ments that the small cavities I have mentioned entirely 

 pierce the thicker outer skin, but do not penetrate the 

 much more delicate internal envelope or membrane. 

 What the functions of these papillary spaces and 

 cuticular cavities may be, I have no idea ; Perris con- 

 sidered the former to be locomotive organs, but this, 



