30 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



theso suppositions. In the musculature of the pseudo-appendages some 

 traces of the musculature of lost true abdominal appendages may probably 

 be detected. It is not possible to make any direct comparison between 

 the musculature of Thysanura and that of Annelids or of Peripatus. 



a. Insecta. 



Love-lights of Luciola.* — Prof. C. Emery has given a most enter- 

 taining account of his observations on the love-lights of Luciola, which 

 he studies in the meadows round Bologna. By catching females and 

 imprisoning them in glass tubes in the meadows he satisfied himself that 

 sight, not smell, was all important. "When the females caught sight of 

 the flashes of an approaching male then they allowed their splendour to 

 shine. The dance of the male round the female, the gathering crowd of 

 rivals, the insatiable desires of the female attracting one lover after 

 another, the accomplishment of fertilization, are all most beautifully 

 and graphically described. In the two sexes the colour of the light is 

 identical ; the intensity appears much the same, but that of the female 

 is more restricted. The most noteworthy difference lies in the fact that 

 the rhythm of the male is more rapid and the flashes briefer, while that 

 of the female is longer, more distant, and more tremulous. Besides 

 undoubtedly serviug for purposes of attraction, the light appears to be 

 utilized for illuminating the path, especially if there be obstacles in 

 the way. 



Mimicry and Parasitism of Camponotus lateralis.f — Prof. C. 

 Emery has made some observations on the mode of life of one of the 

 more common ants of the Mediterranean fauna — Camponotus lateralis. 

 Two forms occur in Italy, one red, the other quite black (0. foveolatus 

 Mayr, ebeninus Em.) The black variety, with only the prothorax red 

 (G. dalmaticus Nyl.), is very rare, and seems to be represented only by 

 isolated forms. The red and black worker ants of C. lateralis are so 

 like Cremastogaster that an inexpert eye would not distinguish them. 

 The two forms seem to live on friendly terms. In the same way the 

 black variety is related to other black ants, such as Formica gagates. 

 Prof. Emery was inclined to suppose that G lateralis might utilize its 

 colour-likeness to other ants by associating itself with them so as to 

 have the benefit of their guidance to food-supplies. But he thinks that 

 the imperfect vision of ants makes such a supposition improbable. He 

 is of opinion that the red and black form of G. lateralis finds an advan- 

 tage in being like its companion Cremastogaster for the usual reason, 

 that it thereby escapes from some enemy which mistakes it for Cremas- 

 togaster, whose taste the myrmecophagous enemy is supposed to dislike. 

 More observations are obviously necessary. 



In regard to the habit of C. lateralis, Prof. Emery records an 

 interesting case where he found a society living parasitically on a bee- 

 hive. They appeared to him to feed on spoils of honey from the combs. 



Sand-wasps.J — Herr A. Handlirsch publishes a monograph on the 

 forms of SphegidaB related to Nysson and Bembex. The memoir is of 

 purely systematic interest. It includes a bibliography of 15 pages, and 

 is accompanied by 5 plates. Sixty-four species of Nysson, a few of them 

 new, are described. 



* Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital., xviii. (1887) pp. 406-11. t Ibid. (1886-7) pp. 412-3. 

 X SB. Akad. Wisa. Wien, xcv. (1887) pp. 246-420 (5 pis.). 



