308 Miscellaneous. 
On the Sexual Differences of Corcebus bifasciatus, and on its 
supposed Ova. By M. A. Lapoursine. 
The Buprestid, Corwbus bifasciatus, which is exceedingly inju- 
rious to the evergreen oak in the south of France, has been reported 
upon by MM. Régimbeau * and De Trégomain 7. The author finds 
that the organ described by these writers as an ovipositor is in 
reality the male organ! The female Corabus has a simple oviduct. 
M. Régimbeau describes certain bodies as ova, most of which the 
author regards as fecal masses; while M. de Trégomain notices the 
occasional presence in the galleries in which the beetles undergo 
their metamorphoses of great quantities of eggs, “some nearly 
spherical, others somewhat oval, about 0-07 millim. in diameter, of 
a yellow colour, and slightly translucent.” In some cases these 
eges presented “ whitish lineaments.” M. de Trégomain thinks 
that if they are the ova of Corwbus they must be unfecundated, as 
the insect is always alone in its gallery. 
The author confirms the description and figures given by M. de 
Trégomain, and adds that he has found upon pup which died before 
completing their metamorphosis oviform bodies, varying in size from 
+ millim. to 0-82 millim. They were of an amber colour, and some 
of them presented whitish lines and even spots. These, he thought, 
could not be true ova, and rather believed that they were vesicular 
Ascomycetous Fungi developed upon the dead insects; and the 
microscope showed a few filaments of mycelium. 
He goes on to say :—‘‘ On observing these oviform bodies with 
the microscope, I constantly found with them some Acarina perfectly 
recognizable by their rostrum, legs, &c. Further, these oviform 
hedies. when crushed or subjected to the action of various reagents 
(prolonged maceration in glycerine, staining in carmine), showed 
in their interior true ova in various stages of development. The 
smallest of these ova were rounded; the largest had acquired an 
elliptical form; their average size was in the greatest diameter 
0-10 millim. and in the other 0-075. 
‘Carefully examining the position of the mite relatively to the 
oviform bodies, I ascertained many times (with M. Rémy, chief of 
the Laboratory of La Charité) that the posterior part of the body of 
the mite was prolonged into a globular abdomen, and was attached 
to it by chitinous rods. The oviform body was in reality only the 
abdomen more or less vesicularly dilated, strengthened by chitinous 
threads, three on each side, and filled with the ova of a mite, 
attached to the pupa of the Corebus. 
«The conclusion that forces itself upon one is as follows :— A mite 
(the species of which will be hereafter determined, and which is 
allicd to Tyroglyphus) occurs in the galleries upon dead pupe of 
Corebus bifasciatus. This mite is remarkable because its abdomen 
becomes dilated into a large vesicle and filled with ova. ‘The abdo- 
* “Le Corebus bifasciatus, ou Bupreste ravageur du Chéne vert’ (1876). 
+ ‘Les Insectes du Chéne vert’ (1876). 
