174 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



common Fire-Fly in Calcutta. In nearly all Mala- 

 coderm larvae there is at the termination of the body 

 on the under side a sucker, formed by and continuous 

 with the lining of the lowest portion of the intestinal 

 canal. In the terrestrial forms this sucker is used 

 when the animal crawls, being applied to the surface 

 over which it is moving and withdrawn when the 

 front part of the body is stretched out straight, to be 

 reapplied when the posterior end has been brought up 

 to the anterior, and so on. 



Mr. E. ]. Bles informs me that a Malacoderm larva 

 which he observed in Paraguay, before proceeding to feed 

 on a snail, smeared its head all over with its terminal 

 sucker, and it is possible that glands opening on the lips 

 of the sucker pour out a secretion, perhaps for the pur- 

 pose of dissolving the snail's slime, which might hinder 

 the larva in its attack [Note 15, p. 315] . Dr. Annandale 

 finds in the Calcutta larva that the sucker is modified 

 into a star-shaped funnel which can be withdrawn into 

 the body or completely extruded ; the funnel is con- 

 nected with a pair of large air-tubes which run along 

 the sides of the body and send out fine branches 

 amongst the internal organs. The under side of the 

 floating leaves of Pistia stratiotes holds films of air and 

 the funnel is thrust into these air-reservoirs, and thence 

 air is drawn into the respiratory system. We thus 

 see that a structure with only slight modifications can 

 serve as an organ of locomotion, an organ accessory 

 to feeding, and an organ of respiration. 



Another common Calcutta Fire-Fly is Luciola gorhami, 

 which is winged in both sexes, but Dr. Annandale 

 believes that the female of Luciola vespertina is prac- 

 tically indistinguishable externally from the larva, for 



