440 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



the copulatory process lies in the mode of disposition of this siphon, 

 which consists of two closely apposed grooved setae. Coitus appears to 

 last for some time, and the female does not appear to mind the presence 

 of the male, as she goes on feeding. Corixa in oviposition emits a 

 minute drop of fluid, which fixes the egg to the plant. The egg is then 

 laid with the micropyle furthest away from the point of attachment, 

 and the female swims away. The general conclusion arrived at from 

 observations on the behaviour of these insects is that there does not 

 appear to be any sexual selection in the Hemiptera — Cryptocerata. 



Irish Collembola.* — G. H. Carpenter describes two new species of 

 springtails of the family Entomobryidaa, viz. Isotoma hibernica sp. n., 

 and Entomobrya anomala sp. n. The latter is somewhat aberrant in 

 structure, forming in many respects a connecting link between typical 

 members of its genus and Orchesella. 



[Z. Prototracheata. 



Australian Onychophora.f — Arthur Dendy points out that the 

 correct nomenclature of the Australian species of Onychophora is as 

 follows : — 



1. Peripatoides leuckarti Saenger (with 15 pairs of walking legs ; 

 oviparous ; characteristic of N. S. Wales, with a variety occidentalis 

 Fletcher, in Western Australia). 



2. Ooperipatus oviparus Dendy (with 15 pairs of walking legs ; 

 oviparous ; characteristic of Victoria, but extending northwards to 

 Queensland). 



3. Ooperipatus insignis Dendy (with 14 pairs of walking legs ; 

 viviparous ; characteristic of Tasmania and Victoria). 



y> Myriopoda. 



Structure of Platydesmidas.J — F. Gr. Sinclair discusses some points 

 in the anatomy of Platydesmus mexicanus, the extremely small head 

 almost concealed beneath the tergal plate of the neck, a peculiar (visual) 

 sense-organ on the head, the mouth-parts, the narrow intercalated dorsal 

 plate on the segments, and the nervous system. The author calls atten- 

 tion to the great diversity of form in the Myriopod brain. He regards 

 the Platydesmidee as an aberrant group allied to the Polydesmidse. 



Studies on Scutigeridae.§ — K. W. Verhoeff has made a study of 

 the Scutigerida? in the Berlin Zoological Museum, and discusses their 

 morphology, taxonomy, and " hemi -anamorphosis." Two new genera, 

 Podotherena and Tachytherena, related to Therenonema and Therenopoda, 

 are established. 



5. Arachnida. 



Bovine Ticks as Carriers of Disease.|| — W. H. Donitz discusses 

 in particular the species of Rhipicephalus which are responsible for 



* Scientific Proc. Roy. Dublin Soc, xi. (1906) pp. 39-42 (1 pi.). 



t Zool. Anzeig., xxx. (1906) pp. 175-7. 



X Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xlix. (1905) pp. 507-19 (1 pi.). 



§ SB. Ges. Nat. Freunde Berlin, 1905, pp. 9-60 (1 pi.). 



|| Torn, cit., pp. 105-34 (1 pi.). 



