1900] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 259 



those battledore forms one might have suggested that 

 they were the "halters" or abortive wings of the Tipula, 

 but as there are three, that suggestion will not do. The 

 viscera attached show that they are connected with some 

 of the internal arrangements. — Rev. Adam, Clarke Smith- 



Parasite From Humble Bee. — These are mites and 

 near akin to spiders. They have eight legs and are there- 

 fore not insects. The crab-like toothed jaws are curious. 

 I do not know the name of this mite, but it cannot be mis- 

 taken for Stylops spencii, parasitic on bees and other Hy- 

 menoptera, which used to have an order all to itself 

 (Strepsiptera), but which is now included amongst Cole- 

 optera. 



This belongs, no doubt, to the family GamasinsB. I have 

 a number of species of this family in my possession, but 

 not this particular one. Several species are found para- 

 sitic on beetles and bees. I think, on referring to a writ- 

 ten description I have by me, that it is Gramasus coleop- 

 tratorum, Linn., and if so, to bear its name, it ought to 

 have been found on a beetle instead of a bee. Shuckard 

 does not mention it in his "British Bees." I have meas- 

 ured the body of one of these on this slide, and it is 1-25 

 of an inch long ; but in my description of Gr. coleoptra- 

 torum it should be only 1-50, so the correct name is doubt- 

 ful. — Charles D. Soar. 



In Knowledge, of November, 1894, there was a good ac- 

 count of the Crane Fly, or Daddy-long-legs, by Mr. But- 

 ler. He says: "The hinder part of the body of the female 

 tapers regularly to a hard and sharp point. This acute 

 tip is the hardest part of the body, and necessarily so, as 

 it has to do the hardest work. It constitutes an egg-lay- 

 ing instrument of superior quality, and is composed of 

 four pieces disposed in pairs. On the upper side are two 

 long and pointed pieces which form the sharp tip, and are 

 used as borers, and underneath these is the other pair, 

 considerably shorter and blunter, their function being to 



