148 MERISTIC VARIATION. [part I. 



The two following cases must be given here, inasmuch as 

 they relate to Homoeosis of the appendages in Insects ; but in 

 the case of the first the evidence is unsatisfactory, and in the 

 case of the second there is considerable doubt whether the varia- 

 tion is really of the nature of Homoeosis. 



77. Prionus coriarius £ : having elytra represented by legs. 

 The following is a translation of an announcement in the 



Stettin er Ent. Ztg., 1840, vol. I. p. 48, which is copied from the 

 original communication to the Preussische Provinzial-BloMer, Bd. 

 XX. [The latter journal not seen, W. B.] : — " One of my pupils 

 brought me to-day a male Prionus coriarius, Fbr., the thorax of 

 which is remarkably constructed. The horny covering of the 

 meso thorax is absent, and in place of the elytra is a pair of 

 fully developed legs which are directed upwards and backwards. 

 These legs are inserted at the points of articulation of the elytra. 

 The metathorax supports the wings as usual and the abdomen 

 is not hardened more than it usually is. In trying to fly, the 

 creature moved these upwardly directed legs simultaneously 

 with its wings. The scutellum is absent and the prothorax has 

 only two spines ; other parts normally developed." Dr Saage, 

 Braunsberg, 1839 : — Hagen, in quoting this case, mentions that 

 the specimen was afterwards seen by von Siebold, but gives no 

 reference to any writing of von Siebold on the subject. 



[If this specimen still exists, it is to be hoped that a de- 

 scription of it may be published. In the absence of further in- 

 formation there seems to be no good reason for accepting the case 

 as genuine.] 



78. Zygaena filipendulae £ . Specimen possessing a supernumerary 

 wing arising in such a position as to suggest that it replaced a leg. 

 This specimen was originally described by Richardson, N. M., 



Fig. 17. Zygcena Jilipendulce, <? , having a supernumerary wing on the left side. 

 The upper figure shews the neuration of the supernumerary wing. From drawings 

 by Mr N. M. Richardson. 



Proc. Dorset Field Club, 1891, and was exhibited at a meeting of 

 the Entomological Society of London, 1891, Proc. p. x. The extra 

 wing was in general form and appearance like a somewhat folded 



