310 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 947 



Anna H. Morgan, Mt. Holyoke College: Eggs 

 and Egg-laying of May-flies. 

 This study of May-fly eggs was made to deter- 

 mine the relative fecundity of different species. 

 This led to the study of a series of elaborate 

 seulpturings found upon the chorion. In several 

 species the chorion bears long thread-like exten- 

 sions which terminate in viscid spheres or disks. 

 These seem to help buoy up the eggs. Threads 

 two and three inches long were found. In nature 

 these threads are probably entangled in sticks and 

 vegetation and this prevents the eggs from being 

 covered by silt. In the ovaries of half-grown 

 nymphs these structures are well defined and are 

 of aid in connecting up the life histories where 

 rearing is impossible. 



Herbeet Osborn, Ohio State University: Notes 

 on Cicadidw -with Especial Meference to the Ohio 

 Species. 



Cicadas constitute a conspicuous element in 

 insect fauna and their relation to varied forest 

 conditions is discussed especially for the species 

 occurring in Ohio. The origin and function of 

 the tympanal organs present problems for study 

 and the suggestion is made that this structure is 

 primarily a secondary sexual character functioning 

 in sexual excitation and only incidentally a sound- 

 producing organ. 



Frank E. Lutz, American Museum of Natural 

 History: On the Biology of Drosophila ampelo- 

 phila. 



This insect is remarkably useful in laboratory 

 work, since it can be kept going throughout the 

 year on bananas as food and its short life-cycle 

 (about ten days to two weeks) enables one to get 

 a large number of generations. Sexual difference 

 characterizes the insect. Not only do the sexes 

 differ in adult color and structure, but they differ 

 in the duration of the immature stages, in their 

 reactions to light and the age at death. 

 E. P. Felt, State Entomologist, New York: Ob- 

 servations on the Biology of a Blow-fly and a 

 Flesh-fly. 



A study of Phormia regina Meign. and Sarco- 

 phaga georgina Wied. was undertaken primarily 

 for the purpose of obtaining data which could be 

 used as a basis for estimating the period a human 

 body had laid exposed to the elements in mid- 

 summer. Our knowledge of these two species is 

 summarized and original data are given on the 

 habits and duration of the various stages under 

 known climatic conditions. The egg of Fhormia 

 and the three larval stages and puparium of both 



species are described and a bibliography of each 

 appended. 



Edith M. Patch and William C. Woods, Maine 

 Agricultural Experiment Station: A Study in 

 Antennal Variation. Eead by title. 

 Alex. D. MacGillivrat, University of Illinois: 

 Fropharynx and Sypopharynx. 

 The pharynx after entering the occipital fora- 

 men makes a distinct bend toward the mouth. In 

 the region of the clypeus it divides transversely, 

 one half passes to the clypeo-labral side, the other 

 half to the labial side of the mouth, while folds 

 extend along each lateral margin and unite with 

 the mandibles and maxillae. The name of pro- 

 pharynx is proposed for the portion lying adja- 

 cent to the clypeo-labral part of the mouth and 

 hypopharynx is used for the portion lining the 

 labial portion. The propharynx consists of three 

 parts: frontal lobe, epipharynx and fulcrum. The 

 frontal lobe is usually wanting in sucking insects, 

 the epipharynx is modified into a tongue or 

 piercing organ and the fulcrum into a cuticular 

 supporting plate. In the museids the epipharynx 

 and fulcrum are located outside of the mouth, the 

 proximal end of the fulcrum is attached to the 

 distal margin of the labrum. The hypopharynx 

 also consists of three parts: lingua, superlingua 

 and pharangial sclerites. 



T. L. Washburn, State Entomologist, Minnesota: 

 A Few Experiments in Photographing Living 

 Insects. 

 Thomas J. Headlee, New Jersey Agricultural 

 Experiment Station: Some Facts Regarding the 

 Influence of Temperature and Moisture Changes 

 on the Bate of Insect Metabolism. 

 While connected with the Kansas State Experi- 

 ment Station at Manhattan, the writer found by 

 subjection of different groups of the southern 

 grain louse (Toxoptera graminum Rodani) to vari- 

 ous constant temperatures under constant atmos- 

 pheric moisture conditions and other groups to 

 various constant percentages of relative humidity 

 under constant temperature conditions: (1) that 

 the rate of increase in metabolism for each 10° F. 

 increase in temperature, starting at 50° P., de- 

 creases as the optimum temperature is approached, 

 and that while the metabolism of degeneration 

 becomes more rapid after the optimum is passed 

 the rate of growth is retarded; (2) that a varia- 

 tion of from 60 to 62 per cent, in atmospheric 

 moisture does not affect the rate of metabolism 

 when the creatures have an abundant supply of 

 succulent food. 



