UPON MATERNAL SOLICITUDE IN RHYNCHOTA AND 

 OTHER NONSOCIAL INSECTS/' 



By G. W. KiRKALDY. 



Since my brief note on this subject (Entom. 1902, vol. xxxv, 

 pp. 319-320) I have seen a length}^ paper by the celebrated J. H. 

 Fabre [5]'' on ''Pentatomas," in which he ridicules De Geer's account, 

 and consigns the whole recital to the limbo of fairy tales. 



I have therefore looked up the literature of the subject, and have 

 now sunmiarized it, in the hope that some of the readers of The Ento- 

 mologist may be disposed to give the phenomena their attention during 

 the ensuing months. 



ORDERS OTHER THAN RHYNCHOTA. 



The earliest reference to parental care in nonsocial insects appears 

 to be that of Goedaert [9], who states that the mole crickets {GryUot- 

 alpa (jryUotalija Linn.) take particular care of their eggs, raising up 

 the nests in a hot and dry season so that the young- almost touch the 

 surface of the earth, and are thereb}^ cherished by the sun's heat; con- 

 trariwise they sink the nests down when the air is cold and moist. 

 They also act as uncfeasing sentinels round the nest. Rosel [22] cites 

 the above account, and gives a colored sectional drawing of the nest 

 and eggs. Audouin [1] states that all authors agree in saying that the 

 mole cricket takes the greatest care of its young, but Goedaert is the 

 only author I can trace who relates his personal observations. 



The discovery of the maternal solicitude of the earwig {^Forjicula 

 aurieularia Linne) by Frisch [6], confirmed and extended by De Geer 

 [8], Rennie [21], Kir])y and Spence [l-t], Camerano [4], etc., is so well 

 known and authentically established b}^ recent observations, that it is 

 not necessary to dwell upon it. Sharp [23] states that Labidura riparia 

 '' is said to move its eggs from place to place, so as to k(M»p thcMii in 

 situations favorable for their development,'' but I have not been able 

 to trace the original source of this statement. Burr [3] also notes 

 that "a certian entomologist [Colonel Bingham] once told me that in 



« Revised by the author from The Entomologist, vol. xxxvi, May, 1908, pp. 113-120. 

 ''Theae uumbers refer to the bibliography at the close of the paper. 



577 



