Febkuabt 28, 190S] 



SCIENCE 



35& 



A REMARKABLE iiew scale-insect is described* 

 by Mr. Hugh Scott, from a desert plant found 

 in Algeria. The scale is covered by a thick 

 mass of -white threads. It belongs to the 

 Dactylopiinse and is near the genus Astero- 

 lecanium, but the mass of white threads hides 

 the true nature of the insect. 



Dk. E. Stern^feld has written an account of 

 the mouth parts and the use of the stomach 

 in Ephemeridfe or may-flies.° The mouth 

 parts of the adult may-fly are useless, and 

 rudimentary. He finds that this degeneration 

 began in the nymphal stage. As the adult in- 

 sect takes no food, another than the natural 

 use has been found for the stomach. It can be 

 inflated with air, and serves to lift the in- 

 sect during flight or in aerial dancing. The 

 author has made use of American may-flies in 

 much of the work. 



Mr. E. D. Ball has published a revision of 

 the leaf-hoppers of the genus Eutettix.' He 

 divides the genus into three subgenera. He 

 gives tables to the 33 species, one of which has 

 a number of varieties, formerly considered 

 species. There are chapters on the phylogeny 

 of the genus and subgenera, geographical dis- 

 tribution and adaptation, and life histories, 

 and economic relations of the genus. Eour 

 excellent plates illustrate the article. 



In the Proceedings of the Entom. Society 

 of London, 1907, pp. xliii-xlvii, Mr. E. E. 

 Austen treats of a parasitic African fly whose 

 larva sometimes is a subcutaneous parasite on 

 man. It is known to the natives as the 

 " Tumba " fly. This fly, which belongs to the 

 subfamily Calliphorinse, was formerly supposed 

 to be the Bengalia depressa, but Mr. Austen 

 shows that, though very similar, it is quite 

 distinct, and should be known as Cordylohia 

 anthropophaga Griinberg. 



' " On Cerocoocus eremoTinis, gen. et sp. n. ; an 

 aberrant form of Coccidie," Trans. Linn. Sac. 

 London Zool. (2), IX., pp. 455-464, 1 plate, 1907. 



" " Die Verkummerung der Mundteile und der 

 Funktionswechsel des Darms bei den Epheme- 

 riden," Zool. Jalirh. AM. Anat., XXIV., pp. 415- 

 430, 1 plate. 



' " The Genus Eutettix," Proc. Davenport Acad. 

 Sd., XII., pp. 27-94, 1907; also as Contrib. Dept. 

 Zool. Entom. Ohio State Univ., No. 27. 



The increased interest taken in the blood- 

 sucking flies of the family Stomoxyidse has in- 

 duced Dr. M. Bezzi to give a synopsis and 

 catalogue of the species.' A synoptic table is 

 given to the genera, and to most of the species. 

 Three new species are described, two from 

 Africa, one from China. There is a list of 

 species wrongly referred to Stomoxys. The 

 author adopts the generic name Siphona in 

 place of Ecematohia; our species of the latter 

 genus, however, belong in Lyperosia. 



The problems furnished by the life of cave 

 insects holds always a peculiar attraction for 

 entomologists. Mr. A. M. Banta has fol- 

 lowed this lure and investigated the fauna 

 (largely insect) of Mayfleld's cave in Indiana. 

 The results now issued' make a most interest- 

 ing addition to cave literature. He records 

 the capture of 63 species of insects and 21 

 species of Arachnida, and to many of them he 

 has furnished notes on habits or development. 

 More than one half of the insects (33 species)' 

 are flies, two of which are described (by 

 Adams) as new species. There are chapters, 

 on the origin of cave life, food of cave animals,, 

 light, temperature, moisture, etc. A long, 

 bibliography completes the paper. 



Mr. O. G. Hewitt has 'begun the publica- 

 tion of a considerable work on a long-neglected 

 insect, the common house-fly.' Part 1, which 

 is now issued, deals with the anatomy, both 

 external and internal, of the fly. Especial at- 

 tention is paid to the internal structure of the 

 head, and the tracheal system is described in 

 detail. The muscular and nervous system ia 

 similar to that of Yolucella and CallipJiora, 

 while the alimentary canal is much like that 

 of the blood-sucking flies, Stomoxys and Olos- 

 sina. Plate 1 gives colored figures of the 

 house-fly, the root-maggot fly, the small house- 



' " Mosche ematofaghe," Eendic. R. Inst. Lom- 

 bardi Sci. Lett. (3), XL., 1907, 30 pp. 



'"The Fauna of Mayfleld's Cave," Publication 

 No. 67, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 114 

 pages, 13 figures, 1907. 



' " Tlie Structure, Development and Bionomics 

 of the House-fly, Musca domestica Linn.," Quart. 

 Journ. Mior. Sci., Vol. 51, pp. 395-448, 1907, 5 

 plates. 



