220 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



of the first segment ; its cuticula is thin, and forms numerous little 

 cups, under each of which is a thin epithelial cell. (5) The orange- 

 coloured fleshy warts on the sides of the thorax and abdomen of 

 MalacTiius are also glandular. The epidermis presents no special 

 features in the warts, except that it bears scattered unicellular glands 

 of the form typical for insects ; they are flask-shaped, with a coiled 

 cuticular duct in their interior, the duct being continuous with a pore- 

 canal through the general cuticula of the wart. In the lower and 

 larger end of each cell lies the round nucleus. 



Classification of Orthoptera and Nenroptera.* — Dr. A. S. Packard, 

 jun.,in a preliminary notice abstracted from the forthcoming 3rd report 

 of the U.S. Entomological Commission, considers " the position of the 

 Orthoptera in reference to allied ametabolous insects." The iowv orders, 

 Neuroptera, Pseudoneuroptera, Orthoptera, and Dermatoptera are 

 united into a " super-order " Phyloptera, the name implying that these 

 insects are closely allied to the primitive form whence all the higher 

 insects (Lepidoptera, &c.) have been derived. The main characters of 

 the Phyloptera are as follows : — mouth-parts free, adapted for biting ; 

 mandibles toothed : first maxillas separate, second maxillae united to 

 form a labium. This primitive condition of the mouth-parts is also 

 to be seen in larvse of Coleoptera. The prothorax is generally large, 

 the meso- and metathorax equal in size. The wings are usually net- 

 veined, the hind-wings being often larger than the front pair. The 

 abdomen has ten segments and the rudiments of an eleventh. Meta- 

 morphosis is incomplete except in the highest order Neuroptera. 

 The lowest of the four orders are the Dermatoptera and the typical 

 genus Forficula combines many characters of the higher group : thus 

 the elytra and hind-wings anticipate those of the Coleoptera, and the 

 larva resembles the Thysanuran Japyx ; its metamorphosis is even less 

 complete than in the Orthoptera. The next highest group is that of 

 the Orthoptera, and the metamorphosis, though more marked than in 

 the last mentioned, is less marked than in the Pseudoneuroptera, which 

 form the next group. The author divides the Pseudoneuroptera into 

 three sub-orders : (1) Platyptera (Termitidae, Perlidte, &c.) ; (2) Odo- 

 nata (Libellulidae) ; (3) Ei)hemerina (Ephemeridse). In the last 

 group the Neuroptera-metamorphosis is complete ; this order is divided 

 into two sub-orders, Planipennia (Hemerobiidse, &c.), and Tricho- 

 ptera (Phryganeidae) ; in the Trichoptera the mandibles are nearly 

 obsolete, thus suggesting or anticipating the Lepidoptera. 



The paper concludes with a tabular arrangement of the hexapodous 

 insects divided into super-orders, orders, and sub-orders. 



Sucking Organs of Flies, t — K. Krapelin commences with a 

 description of the " proboscis " of Musca, in which he points out that 

 the second pair of maxillae give rise to a conical piece, which has thin 

 walls and can be withdrawn into the firmer parts of the head capsule ; 

 the retractile portion may be spoken of as the " cephalic cone," and 



* Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., xii. (1883). 



t Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Zool., xxxix. (1883) pp. 684-719 (2 pis.). 



