in Mr. F. Miiir and Dr. D. Sharp on 



membrane, and a stronger external one called the chorion. 

 In the great family Chrysor.iclidfc — to which the CassididiB 

 belong or are allied — there is usually an additional envelope, 

 which is very various according to the divisions of the family. 

 This envelope has been discussed in an excellent manner 

 by Lecaillon,* who calls it an epichorion. The epichorion, 

 in the divisions of the family in which it is already known, 

 is applied to each egg separately, and thus differs from 

 what we have described in Cassididx, where a capsule or 

 common envelope is formed for a number of eggs varying 

 according to the species. Nevertheless it is probable that 

 the ootheca is essentially similar to the epichorion of the 

 other forms of the family, and we hope to show that it is 

 really a substance applied to each egg ; the capsule, how- 

 ever complex, resulting merely from the mode of application 

 and the abundance of the material used. 



We have nothing to add to the excellent resume of the 

 epichorion given by Lecaillon in his memoir ; and will 

 merely remark that of the forms of epichorion distinguished 

 by him, it will probably prove that the material used by 

 Chrysomela menthastri isthemost similar in general respects 

 to that of these CassididcV : and also that by C. menthastri 

 the epichorion is applied in such a manner as to connect 

 the eggs tofjether. We have made no observations on the 

 histology and chemistry of the membranes of Cassididx, 

 and it is therefore doubtful whether the similarities in 

 Chrysomela and Cassididx will prove to be of importance. 

 A few further remarks on this point occur at the end of 

 this paper. The structure and mode of formation of the 

 ootheca in Mantkhv has been quite recently discussed in a 

 valuable paper by Giardina.f The Mantidm are so totally 

 different from OassididcV, that one would expect to find 

 great differences in the corresponding oothecas. One very 

 striking pliysical distinction exists between the two, inas- 

 much as the ootheca in Mantidm is formed by layers of 

 foam,;]: while in Cassididx it is constructed of membranes 

 having no trace of a foam-like structure. On the other 

 hand, the general resemblance between the egg-case of 

 Mantis rcligiosa as described by Giardina and that we 

 have investigated in Asindomorpha jJuncticosta is surpris- 

 ingly great ; and we gather from Giardina's memoir that 



* Arcli. anat. micr. II, 1898, pp. 89-117, PI. V. 

 t Giorn. Soc. Palermo, XXII, 1899, pp. 286-326, Plates I 

 and II. X No ' S^^ Postscript on p. 21. 



