v //:\ ( E-GOSSIP 



1 27 



CON! RIB1 I BO BY I I ORA u I.NSTONI . 



Proceedings 01 v idem y 01 Natural Si ibni es 



1, August 8th. Tin's number contains 



1 bj Prof. T. 1 >. A. 1 'ockerell. 



ill new genera, and also gives 



detailed measurements of Dartylopiin calceolaria and 



. two sugar-cane mealy-hugs, that have 



not hitherto been fully described. Mr. Witmi 1 Slom 



on t collection of birds from Bogota and on the 



South American species of Spcotyto and Trogl 



Mr. Witmer Stone after giving a list, and in some 



descriptions, says that ii is with hesitation he 



ventures to proposi ihe name •' ■ lj olumbat 



for a new species ol South American wrens as there is 



already such a long list. This species however, 



found near Bogota, is so different to any described 



Form, thai there seems no alternative. The writer 



gives a careful description of the differences between 



ei known species ol Troglodytes. Mr. Henry 



A. Pilsbry contributes a few notes on "North Wesl 



\ii rican Land Snails" figuring Vertigo ^onlilii v. 



tensii a new variety found in Alberta, Vertigo 



iatta .1 new species from Douglas county, 



south-wesl 1 Iregon, and for the purposes ol a imparison 



with 'he two former, a specimen ol V. biimeyana 



in im u innip 



The Victorian Naturalist (Melbourne), July. 

 Mr. J. Shephard and Mr. W. Strickland describe 

 with illustration a new rotifer Melicerta fimbriata 

 obtained in a gathering from the Botanical Gardens, 



Melbourne. It was found on stems of Nit 

 compam with M. ringeus, several species of Limnia 

 and Stephanoceros eichornii, then observed for the 

 first time in Victoria. At first sight the genera] 



nice suggested Melicerta tubicolaria, Ian on 

 closer examination it differed in the following points ; 

 the ventral antennae were shorter, the position and form 

 ol the dorsal antennae differs as dncs the terminal 



le. The chief differentiation is in the structure 

 of the tube, which IS constructed of fibres formed in 

 the ciliated cap and arranged radially. The length of 

 the animal was I mm. 



Bui 1 1:1 in he laSociete Philomatiqub (Paris), 

 1899. This number is the first of a new series of the 

 Bulletin of the Society. It contains some notes by 

 M. Giacomo Candado on Rectilinear Trigonometry, 

 ■ .plaining a new system, which he claims is a simple 

 and expeditious method of working out these 

 problems. M. K. I. Bouvier occupies the rem 

 of the Bulletin with the second part of his article on 

 the crustaceous parasites of the mentis Do/ops of 

 Audouin. It i^ illustrated by twenty figures. The 

 of the article is to make known for thi firsl 

 time the specific characters of this genus and thus 

 facilitate the discovery of new forms. The writer 

 however ventures to suggest some generalizations 

 relative to the affinities of these animals and also 

 their probable origin from the Argulidae. 



Lis MOIS SciENTIFIQUB El [NDUSTRIE1 (Paris', 



mtainssome interesting articles on Lighting and 



Automobilism, also not.- on Engineering and Applied 



Science from American. German, French, Italian. 



Spanish, English and Dutch sci ntifii lumal?, 



Notes ^'-'^ 



Cause of i Syri-hidaj I have 



keeping in captivity all the species of 

 Syrphidae I could obtain, in order to observe their 

 habits. They are kept in ., very large box with a 



idl .-red with veiling 



dilation. Yesterday I heard a shrill 



noise, ' I 1 inc. i„,i did the. 



'" be their wings'. 1 then took u| 



moistened its wing . .ml placed it so that ii 

 stuck to my finger by its wings, and certain] 

 not m ive them in the least. The singing gave place- 

 to a jarring noise, as I was evidently interfering in 

 somi way with thi | 1 dui tion - thi ong. I then 

 looked closely, and suddenly saw two lutle white 

 projections which I r,u, best' compare to miniature 



drumsticks, » on each side -1 the thorax where it 



it is joined to the abdomen. They were vibrating 

 rapidly against the wings, and it was evident 

 that here was the Hue cause of the ring- 

 ing noise. I afterwards found on holding 

 Ihe insect, in such manner its wings were fn 

 move, that this dirl cause them to vibrate slightly, but 

 n was scarcely perceptible. The bases of these pro 

 lections arc brown, and they each have a white bulb at 

 1. in some species it is greenish or yellowish. 

 The one on which I firsl oUerved them was Syrphus 

 ribesii, but I have since found that six other species 

 possess tli. in, and see no reason to doubt that all 

 I Syrphidae have them. I have heard seven 

 or eight species singing, Ihev usually do when picked 

 up, but 1 have also frequently heard them when 

 resting on a leaf. The note emitted seems to be the 



same in all species, although that pri ! when 



flying varies consideiably. I might have mentioned 



that all the syrphidae make a particularly loud noise 



when seized. The vibrations can be distinctly felt in 



the fingers, and make the insect rather difficult to hold. 



I think, quite possibly, one reason that the.- make 



this noise is to cause birds to drop them. Mycaptives 



feed -Hi, 1 n, ;i ,f Umbelliierae, and mam- other 



flowers in which the petals of the corolla are united, 



so as to form a cap 01 hood, especially on the white 



11/tts major. From the way [have seen them 



eat I think I know the reason why these flowers are 



d to be especially attractive to this son of fly. 



I will take as an example a large syrphus 1 observed 



: g feeding on the convolvulus. It 



had man) grains or pollen sticking to 



the down on its thorax, .1 go d deal of which fell on 



to the stigma as it entered the flower. I have seen 



one syrphus actually stand and clean off the pollen 



to it. with its legs, right over the stigma. It 



then began to eat the pollen off the anthers, and in so 



doing brushed its back against the inside of the 



corolla, g.tting covered with the pollen which was 



there. As is very often the case in the convolvulus, 



the grains appear to fall off the anthers into the 



: the tiower. Presently it turned round to eat 



tin- pollen and then got a showei : mm the 



so in the end it flew away with about as 



much pollen as it had eaten. These flowers thus make 



ppears to be an enemy into a friend. A'. /. 



i\ ion Court, Southsea, 14.-// August, iSo^a. 



