DtCEMBEE 30, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



929 



useful to hold the creature to a surface by 

 suction, and the author after examining the 

 subject very thoroughly conies to the conclu- 

 sion that the ventral tube is an organ of ad- 

 hesion. 



The one considerable group of American 

 hemiptera, hitherto iiever catalogued, has at 

 last received attention. Mr. Otto H. Sv?ezey, 

 who had worked on the life-histories of the 

 Fulgoridag, now presents a catalogue of that 

 family,* listing nearly 180 species, arranged 

 in 56 genera. The place of its publication 

 proves that the public money is sometimes well 

 spent. Three genera lack reference to place 

 of publication; two of these by Westwood are 

 as follows: Cenchrea, Trans. Linn. Soc. Land., 

 Vol. XIX., p. 15, 1841; Patara, ibid., p. 13. 

 Interest in this family, one of the most at- 

 tractive of the hemiptera, will doubtless now 

 rapidly increase, and the many new species 

 in collections (mentioned by the author) will 

 receive the attention of the systematist. 



The revival of interest in the Termitidse has 

 induced Mr. G. Jacobson to study the Russian 

 forms.f There is an historical account of the 

 knowledge of Russian termites; a systematic 

 treatment of the 'species, describing two new 

 species and one new variety of Hodotermes; 

 notes on the life-history of the species; an 

 account of the damage done by white ants in 

 Russia; and a brief account of methods of 

 destroying them. In an appendix Mr. J. W. 

 Wassiljew gives some notes on the habits and 

 nests of a species of the Transcaspian region. 



There are but few connected accounts of 

 the embryology of insects as a whole, there- 

 fore the book by Felix Henneguy will be of 

 great assistance to all interested in this sub- 

 ject.:}: There is a general account of the ex- 

 ternal structure of insects, followed by chap- 



* ' A preliminary catalogue of the described spe- 

 cies of the family Fulgorids of North America, 

 north of Mexico.' Bull. no. 3, Ohio Dept. Agric, 

 Div. of Nrn-sery and Orchard Inspection, Oct., 

 1904. 48 pp. 



t • Xur Kenntniss der Termiten Russlands.' 

 Ann. Mus. Zool. Acad. Imp. Sci., St. Petersbg., IX., 

 pp. 57-107, 1904. 



+ ■ I.es Inseotes : . Morphologic, ISeproduction et 

 Embryogenie,' by L. Felix Henneguy, Paris, Mas- 

 son et Cie, 1904, pp. 804, figs. 622. 



ters on the internal anatomy. The greater 

 part (500 pp.) of the work deals with the 

 embryology of insects, and subjects related 

 thereto. A long bibliography is appended. 



Mr. Distant has issued five parts of his 

 promised ' Insecta Transvaaliensia.' * It is a 

 separate publication, in large quarto; each 

 part with two or three plates, several of them 

 colored. He has been assisted in the work by 

 many specialists. The parts so far issued are 

 excellently prepared, and deal with parts of 

 the orthoptera, lepidoptera and coleoptera 

 (Cerambycidse). 



Claude Morley has published one volume of 

 his promised monograph of British Ichneu- 

 monidas.f This part treats of the subfamily 

 Ichneumoninffi, deals with aboiit 310 species 

 belonging to 49 genera. In the main he fol- 

 lows the classification of Thomson. There 

 are synoptic tables to the tribes, genera and 

 species; a glossary is appended, and there are 

 many unnumbered figures. 



Fascicle 19 of Wytsman's ' Genera Insec- 

 torum' treats of the Vespidse, or true wasps. 

 It is by Dr. K. W. von Dalla Torre, and occu- 

 pies 108 pp., with 6 colored plates. As usual 

 there is a synopsis of the genera, and a cata- 

 logue of the known species. It is at once 

 evident that this fascicle is one of the best of 

 the series so far issued, and the result of a 

 careful investigation of the species. 



The First Report of the Wellcome Research 

 Laboratories at the Gordon Memorial College 

 has been issued by the Department of Educa- 

 tion of the Sudan government at Khartoum, 

 and contains 84 pages and many illustrations. 

 There is an account of the habits and habitats 

 of many Sudanese mosquitoes, and the results 

 of the committee's work in locating the breed- 

 ing places. Mr. Theobald has furnished a sys- 

 tematic article on the mosquitoes of the Su- 

 dan and of Abyssinia, illustrated with colored 

 plates, and describing many new species. The 

 same author enumerates other biting insects, 

 and treats of several other injurious species, 



* ' Insecta Transvaaliensia. Contributions to a 

 knowledge of the entomology of South Africa,' 

 by W. L. Distant, London, 1901-1904. 4to. 



t ' lehneumonologia Brittanica; the Ichneumons 



of Great Britain.'— Plymouth [England], 1903, 

 315 pp. 



