NEW MALLuriiAUA. -11 



are attached mostly to the lateral ventral aspects of the 

 anterior end of the ventral phite, but a few are attached 

 on the dorsal side. The lower lateral aiul ventral nuis- 

 oles likewise cross each other in the middle line in front 

 of the tubes an<l arc attached to the lateral aspects of 

 the dorsal side of the anterior end of the ventral plate. 

 The mechanism of this complex structure is rather hard 

 to understand. It is evident that the contraction of the 

 longitudinal muscles must push the rod outwards, carry- 

 ing with it the innermost tube. The posterior fold in 

 the second tuiie appears also, as if present to accommo- 

 date such an action. Grosse states that during copula- 

 tion the whole inner tube is everted. It is difficult to 

 understand what it is for if it is not made use of in 

 this way, but it is much more difficult to see by what 

 means it is turned out, since in front of the attach- 

 ment of the rod at its posterior end it is entirely free 

 from everything except the ejaculatory duct. Those 

 specimens examined in which the inner tube was most 

 everted had this protruded only as far as ihe base of 

 the rod, the longest length apparently possible, judging 

 from the structure of the parts. There can be little 

 doubt that the band of muscles connecting the anterior 

 end of the rod with the floor of the metathorax serves 

 to draw the rod back. The transverse muscles may 

 serve to prevent the lateral bending of the rod while 

 the longitudinal muscles are contracting. 



-. THE FEMALE ORCiANS. 



The reproductive organs of the female consist, like 

 those of the nnile, of internal ami external parts. The 

 external part consists merely of the genital cavity, with 

 the abdominal sternum forming its iloor produced into 

 a variously modilied plate. The genital eavity differs 



