690 REPORT — 1901. 



(Jays, and the empty egg-shell is left adhering to the leaf to which it was originally 



fastened. 



It is noteworthy that Phasmidaj, notwithstanding then' wonderful protective 

 resemblance to sticks and leaves, are the staple form of diet of Trogons. 



JS'eurontera.—A. remarkable Agrionid nymph, apparently allied to EiipJicea, 

 occurred with the aqnatic cockroaches. The last segment bears three pear-shaped 

 processes, and a pair of tracheal tufts protruded from and withdrew into the cloacal 

 opening in a rapid systole and diastole ; the tufts open to the exterior on each side of 

 tlie anus, and each a'rises from the seven or eight branches, into which the two dorsal 

 tracheal trunks break up on either side of the rectum : they are not connected in 

 anv way with the rectum. The pear-shaped processes are hollow, and their cavities 

 communicate by the narrow lumina of their stalks with the general body cavity : 

 they are lined with epithelium and contain blood, but are not supplied with 

 trachete. It is possible that these structures are highly modified caudal gills, 

 which now function as blood reservoirs, the flow of blood to and from which may 

 assist in the diastole and systole of the tracheal tufts. 



Hymenoptera. — The habits of the bees of the genus Koptosthosoma were in- 

 vestio-ated. In the females of these bees there is a chamber at the base of the 

 abdomen containing numerous Acari ; experiments with and dissections of the 

 nymphs showed that the Acari do not enter this special abdominal chamber until 

 the final stage in the development of the bee is reached. The nests of these bees 

 and also those of the genus Xylocopa, which are hollowed out in softwood posts 

 and dead saplings, simply swarm with Acari. 



Coleoptera. — The remarkable Munnohjce pt^iyllodes excavates in Polypori fungi 

 a large lenticular chamber, entered by a narrow slit between the fungus and the 

 bark of the tree to whicli the fungus is attached ; the chamber usually contains a 

 few larvffi in various stages of development. The larvfc present no features calling 

 for special remark, being typically t'arabid in appearance ; the nymph is provided 

 with the foliaceous expansions characteristic of the adult. A male and female 

 Mormolyce are invariably found in close propinquity to the nest, keeping a close 

 guard over it. 



The metamorphoses of two Lycid beetles — Li/cosionuis inelanurus and 

 Ccdochromiis melanin-us — were investigated. The larviB of both species are foiind 

 beneath the bark of trees, and they Iced on the larvaj of other insects whicli 

 frequent the same situations. They are conspicuously coloured with black and 

 orano-e, and experiments liave shown that they are as distasteful to insectivorous 

 vertebrates as the adult forms. The full-grown larva of L. melanuriis measures 

 25 millimetres. The head is minute and can be completely withdrawn into the 

 lirst thoracic segment : it is incomplete behind, and does not enclose the brain ; 

 the antennfc are two-jointed and retractile into a sheath ; a simple ocellus is 

 situated at the base. The suctorial mandibles are sickle-shaped and enclosed in a 

 thin chitinous sheath ; the maxilL-e consist each of a single four-jointed palp ; the 

 labium is a triangular plate with two three-jointed palps. The body is somewhat 

 flattened dorso-veutrally, each segment except the last bears a spiracle ; the last 

 segment bears a ventral sucker formed by the everted lips of the rectum. A simple 

 hook represents the tarsus. The larva of Calochronms vielaniirm agrees in many 

 points with the above description ; the segments of the body bear short lateral 

 processes with a spiracle at the base of each : these processes are not jointed as in 

 the Malacodermatous larva from New Britain, figured and described by Dr. Sharp 

 (' Zool. Kesults Willey Exped. : Insects')- 



Some other Malacoderm larvte of considerable size (50-80 mm.) were 

 frequently met with, bujt their life-histories were not traced ; in fact these larvae 

 have long be'en a complete puzzle to entomologists, since no adults of correspond- 

 ing sizes^are known. The external features of one form have recently been 

 described by Bourgeois ('' Bull. Soc. Ent. France,' 1890, pp. 58-C3) ; the head is 

 extremely like that of the Lycid larvae noted above, and in other points of its 

 anatomy it agrees with those forms ; the cuticle is remarkable, being composed of 

 columnar cells with small miclei : the inner and outer ends of these cells are 

 covered with a, thin sheathing of chitin. In another form, with a pair of phos- 



