Dr. Fr. Meinert on the Ugimyia- Larva. 107 



of tlieir host where the stigmata open. (6) On reaching one 

 of these places the maggot forms a sort of cup for the recep- 

 tion of its body by heaping up the fats and muscular fibres 

 of its host, and sticking them together with its saliva. 

 (7) At the bottom of the cup an opening is left, and 

 through this opening the maggot resting in the cup maintains 

 its connexion with the air, while through the mouth of 

 the cup it is able to project its head into the abdominal 

 cavity of the silkworm, on whose fat it is feeding. (8) The 

 cup being formed, a dark brown spot appears on the 

 silkworm's epidermis around the stigma, continuing visible 

 on the pupa also after the transformation. (9) When fully 

 developed the maggot forces its way out thiough the skin of 

 the silkworm, or, if the worm has been transformed into a 

 pupa, through the pupa and its cocoon. (10) Whereupon 

 the maggot seeks the ground, and there, in a couple of days, 

 it is transformed into a pupa. (11) The pupa remains in the 

 ground during the winter, and in the middle of April or at 

 the commencement of May the fly appears. 



As will be seen, some of these points have already been 

 settled by authors of earlier date ; but to Mr. C. Sasaki 

 belongs the merit of having stated them in a way meeting some 

 objections which might otherwise have been advanced. Thus, 

 for instance, regarding the question how it is possible for the 

 eggs to arrive safely into the digestive canal of the silkworms 

 Mr. Sasaki (L c. p. 16) explains : — " That the eggs do not 

 get hurt in passing into the body of the worm is further con- 

 firmed by comparing the size of the pieces of the leaves con- 

 tained in the digestive canal with that of the egg. It will be 

 found that the size of the former is many times that of the 

 latter." Another question, why only one or two full-grown 

 maggots emerge from a silkworm or cocoon, although 

 the silkworm most frequently has been infested by a much 

 larger quantity of the parasites, Mr. Sasaki explains in the 

 following way (p. 17) : — " This is due to two reasons : 1st, 

 the silkworm, when infected by more than one maggot, dies 

 from not being able to endure the injuries caused by these 

 parasites, which then perish by a kind of suicidal death; 2nd, 

 one among several maggots infesting the same silkworm may 

 grow more actively and rapidly than the others, which will 

 then die from the want of requisite food." 



The development of the Ugimyia sericariw } as related by 

 Mr. Sasaki, is really deserving of attention, as involving so 

 much ot interest and so many surprising points. But still I 

 could not believe in the correctness of all his assertions 

 and one of them especially seemed to me to be very little 



