EMBIA MAJOR FROM THE HIMALAYAS. 191 



were found is the second week in July, and that they have heen met with up to the 

 second week in August. Similarly, the earliest observed date of the emergence of the 

 larva is the first week in August, and so on. 



Expressed in a few words, it may be said that during the monsoon season the eggs are 

 laid and early larval development takes place. It is, furthermore, a period of rapid 

 growth. During the cold weather months growth is comparatively slow, and the larva 

 for a portion of the time remains partially dormant. In the hot weather season growth 

 takes place more rapidly than at any other time. During this period the larval stage 

 is completed, the nympbal condition passed through, and the imaginal state attained — 

 all taking place within a period of approximately two months. 



13. Summary of Conclusions. 



Embia major, sp. nov., is the largest species of Embiidse hitherto discovered, and the 

 first member of its genus to be found within tbe limits of the Oriental zoo-geographical 

 region. It is more closely related to E. sabulosa, End., from South Africa than to any 

 other species. 



It occurs plentifully under pieces of stone scattered over a hill-side and an open valley 

 in the Naini Tal district of the Kumaon Himalayas, such situations being neither very 

 dry nor very moist. It is very local and occurred between elevations of 4900 and 

 5100 feet. 



Eemales are more prevalent than males. Some 130 nests were examined and 67 

 per cent, contained females only, 23 per cent, contained individuals of both sexes, and 

 9 per cent, males only. 



The nests are very variable in form and composed of a network of silken tunnels. The 

 silk is produced by glands situated in the enlarged tarsal joint of the anterior pair of 

 legs. The faculty of weaving nests is possessed equally by both sexes, and also by the 

 larva? and nymphs. 



The size of the nests depends to a large extent upon the number of individuals 

 inhabiting them. The largest number of individuals found in a single nest was 21. 

 Where several individuals are associated together in a nest it is to be regarded as the 

 manifestation of an incipient tendency to colony formation, which has undergone little 

 or no evolutionary development. 



Maternal care on behalf of the ova and young larvae is strongly exhibited by the females, 

 in very much the same manner as occurs among Dermaptera. The female lives for at 

 least Q>\ months after fertilisation ; tbe male, however, is much shorter lived. 



The eggs measure 1 mm. long and - 5 mm. broad ; they are oval, cream-white, and 

 have a smooth, faintly glistening appearance. The number of eggs laid by a single female 

 varies between about 60 and a little more than 100. They are laid during July and 

 August in the monsoon season, and are placed in an irregular heap within one of the 

 silken tunnels of the nest. 



SECOND SERIES. — ZOOLOGY, VOL. XI. 30 



