668 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



viticola), the army worm (Heliophila unvpunctata), the grass web-worms 

 (Grambus), the San Jose scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus). 



He also * gives a full and beautifully illustrated account of the gipsy 

 moth (Porthetria dispar), a notorious pest, and of the more recently 

 introduced brown tail moth {Evprociis chrysorrhoza), which threatens to 

 develop into a serious enemy of fruit, shade, and certain forest trees. 



Flower-visiting Insects in Styria.f — Karl Fritsch has collected, 

 and communicates particulars regarding the visits of insects to 150 

 species of plants. The observations were made in the neighbourhood of 

 Graz, during six months from April to October. 



S. Arachnlda. 



Collections of Spiders.J — H. Desmaisons finds that spiders collected 

 for museum purposes are best killed in ether, and fixed on glass slides 

 with strong gum-arabic. When the gum is dry, the specimen should be 

 placed in 90 p.c. alcohol. The webs should be represented by photo- 

 graphs, and a gentle spraying of the web with a vaporiser is useful 

 before the photograph is taken. A good example of the results of this 

 method is given in the accompanying plate. 



Gland System in Ixodes.§ — E. Nordenskiold describes in Ixodes in 

 females after egg-laying, or a week after sucking blood, a peculiar gland, 

 which does not occur in immature forms. It is, histologically, quite 

 unlike other glandular structures of Ixodes, but resembles the skin- 

 glands of butterfly caterpillars. It is paired, and consists of a single 

 very large cell situated on the anterior part of the body cavity, right and 

 left of the mouth-parts. It is much branched, and possesses a giant- 

 branched nucleus. There is an intra-cellular canal system, whose walls 

 are lined by small rods. The secretion is granular, and is poured into 

 the canals in the form of balloon-shaped little drops. 



Resisting Powers of Tyroglyphinae.|| — A. Maurizio concludes an 

 account of the mode of life of these mites, with a description of 

 numerous exceedingly careful experiments as to their astonishing power 

 of resisting poisons and destructive reagents. 



e. Crustacea. 



Coral-infesting Crab.lF — J. R. Henderson describes Gryptochirus 

 dimorphus sp. n., an interesting form discovered by Major A. R. 

 Anderson at the Andaman Islands. Like others of the same family 

 (Hapalocarcinidse), this crab takes up its abode as a commensal in living 

 corals, and causes abnormal growth, which results in forming a partially 

 closed chamber or prison. The new species exhibits very striking sexual 

 dimorphism. The dwarfed male, which is less than one-fourth the size 

 of the female, has a total length of 1*25 mm., probably a record for 

 diminutive size among adult Decapods. Another unique peculiarity of 



* New York State Museum, Bulletin 103, Entomology 25, pp. 1-20 (10 pis.), 

 t Verh. k.k. Zoo'l. Bot. Ges. Wien, lvi. (1906) pp. 135-60. 



% Bull. Soc. Linn, du Nord de la France, xvii. (1904) received 1906, pp. 107-10 

 (1 pk). § Zool. Anzeig., xxx. (1906) pp. 484-5. 



|| Centralbl. Bakt. Parasitenk., 2te Abt., xv. (1906) pp. 723-36. 

 i Ann. Nat. Hist., xviii. (1906) pp. 211-19 (1 pi.). 



