403 



derives from liis ciireftil considerations (»f these six structures are as 

 follows: 



(1) The fat body oftlio Iiisecta is ilerivtMl from the iiiesodt'tiii — l>ciii<,r a (litVcifiiti- 

 atiou of j)orti()us of tlio codoiuic walls and tlieroforc iiu^taincriir in oiij;in. 



{'.1) The (iMiocyti's are dtMMVfd liy delaniiuatioii or ininiii^ratioii from the ectoderm, 

 just raudad to the tracheal involutions. Thoy are alno metann-rie organs. 



(3) They are limited to the eight trachigerous ahiloininal segments. 



(4) They ap])ear to he restricted to the I'terygota, in all the members of which 

 group tht^y ])rol)ahly occur. 



(5) They givt^ rise neither to the fat body nor to the Itlood, Init represent organs 

 siti (jetieris. 



(6) After their differentiation from the jtrimitive ectoderm they never divid(^, but 

 gradually increase in size. 



(7) The blood corpuscles of these lusecta appear to arise early in embryonic life 

 and perhaps also in post-embryonic life from nndifierentiated mesoderm cells. The 

 evidence of the derivation of the blood corpuscles from tht; fat body as such is iiusat- 

 isfai^tory . 



(8) The subicsophageal body arises in the trito-cerebral segment apparently from 

 the mesoderm. Though it resembles the fat body, it must be regarded as a distinct 

 organ. It disappears during larval life. 



DAMAGE TO BOOTS AND SHOES BY SITODREPA PANICEA. 



Two inteiesting- cases of damage to boots and shoes have come to our 

 knowledge almost simultaneously from two widely separated quarters 

 of the world. Mr. Walter W. Froggatt, in Technological Education 

 Series Bulletin No. 8, of the Technological Museum, Sydney, N. S. W., 

 has given an account of the damage done in Sydney by the larvae and 

 adults of Sitodrepa panicea in trunks of imi)orted boots. It seems that 

 on the 7th of last October he examined five infested trunks and found 

 that men's leather boots, ladies' kids, and carpet slippers were all 

 attacked in the same manner. The method of work of the beetles 

 seemed to be to riddle the soles with small transverse and vertical bur- 

 rows ; they also attacked the tii)s of the uppers and occasionally damaged 

 the sides. So far as known all of the damaged goods were of English 

 manufacture, and none of those from continental houses showed any 

 signs of the ])est. A Chalcidid parasite was also found, which, from the 

 figure given, seems to belong to the subfamily Pteromaliuie. Treat- 

 ment with bisulphide of carbon was recommended by Mr. Froggatt, who 

 also urges that immediate measures be taken to stamp the insect out, 

 on the supposition that it is a new imi)ortation. 



Only a day or two after this little paper reached us we received speci- 

 mens of the same insect from Mr. John P. Campbell, of Athens, Ga., 

 with an account of almost precisely similar damage to boots in a boot 

 and shoe establishment in that city. We recommended substantially 

 the same measures which we had already proposed in a case of similar 

 damage by Bermestes vulpinus, described in our Annual Report for 1.S85, 

 and re(iuested particulars af> to the locality from which the boots were 

 received. We have not yet been informed as to this point, and so far 

 as we know this habit of the beetles is new to the. United States. 



