'M'i THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, 



suggests that this is so. It is, of course, a very important fact that A.^ 

 in the Papilionid imago reaches the inner margin of the wing, ^Yhilst 

 A3 in the other butterflies does not, and the difference in direction of 

 this nervure is sufficient to give considerable importance to the charac- 

 ter in any system of classification ; but if, as we suggest, the nervures 

 A4 and Ag are homologous, will the character bear the weight that 

 Professor Grote seeks to put on it '? In other words, does the mere 

 direction of this nervure imply so much as the author asserts ? The 

 value which the author asserts that this difference warrants is an 

 exceedingly great one, so great that in his " Stammbaum " he makes 

 the Papilionides have an entirely different origin from the Hespe- 

 KiADES, which he derives through the Tineides from the Microptery- 

 GiDES, whilst the Papilionides come from an undefined and unknown 

 source, quite distinct, however, so far as one can judge, from that 

 postulated for the other butterflies. We wish to suggest that the 

 character that our author brings forward does not justify these con- 

 clusions, and, until Professor Grote can show us that the evolution of 

 nervure A4 is different from that of A3, and that A4 differs from A., in 

 reality and not as a mere matter of terms, he must forgive us for not 

 accepting his conclusions. What is now wanted is a series of carefully 

 prepared diagrams, illustrating the point that Professor Grote urges, 

 viz., that A4 and Ao are not homologous, made from the pupaj during 

 development. We suspect that such a set will show, on the contrary, 

 that they are homologous, and that the great difference urged by the 

 author as existing between the Papilionides and all other butterflies, 

 has, in fact, no existence. Further details based on the imagines 

 will not push the matter any further. The opinion that there are 

 theoretically " four anal longitudinal nervures to the fore-wings of 

 butterflies, of which the Papilionides have lost the third, and kept the 

 fourth, whilst the Hesperiades have lost the fourth and kept the 

 third," has been repeated in a large number of journals — German, 

 American, and English. To repeat this statement again and again will 

 not convince us that the A, of the Hesperiades and A^ of the Papilio- 

 nides are not homologous. What we want are fresh facts based on the 

 pupa — and to be learned only during pupal and imaginal develop- 

 ment. 



The Guests of Ants and Termites {u-ith Plate). 



By E, WASMANN, S.J. (kanslatecl by H. DONISTHOEPE, F.Z.S., F.E.S.). 

 {Concluded from ]?. 150.) 



There exists, as I have already mentioned, many intermediates 

 between the tolerated and the genuine guests, as also between the 

 tolerated and the hostile guests. Smilax jnlosus is an example, 

 uniting the qualities of a protected species to the yelloAV hairs of a true 

 guest. It even appears, according to Dr. Brauns' observation on the 

 Micro-hymenoptera, that there is a connection between true Parasitism 

 and Symphilie. In many cases, therefore, it remains doubtful to 

 which of the four classes an insect is to be placed even when its life- 

 habits are known. Just one word about lictaerius ferrur/ineiis and its 

 allies. What seems easier at first sight than that a small Ilisterid, which 

 already possesses in its oval shape a kind of protection, should force the 

 ants to receive \t as a lodger, and which would be tolerated because of its 



