OF THE MALTESE ISLANDS. 67 



by two slender hair-like rods which are highly chitinised and form the '' intrn- 

 mittent organ " which has already been described (p. 61) as extending into and 

 in some cases considerably beyond the penis-sheath or jnxta. 



OviPOSiTioN OF Phlebotomus in Captivity. 



The act of oviposition was observed on several occasions and was not without 

 interest, as the insect assumed a position which seemed altogether unique and 

 extraordinary. In the first instance, a female with ripe ova was placed in a 

 small glass-topped box, the bottom of which was within focal distance of a lens 

 magnifying 8 diameters. She was supplied with blotting paper which had been 

 soaked in clean water. On placing this in the box the insect immediately 

 alighted upon it, brought her proboscis into contact with the paper, and after a 

 few seconds appeared to be perfectly intoxicated and helpless. Unfortunately 

 she struggled away and was finally hidden beneath the paper so that further 

 observations at the time were impossible. After an interval of a few minutes 

 she reappeared, crawled up the side of the box, and one and a half hours later 

 seemed as active as when first captured. On the following day at 9.30 a.m. a 

 fresh supply of wet blotting paper was placed in her cage when in less than 

 sixty seconds she alighted upon it and assumed the same extraordinary attitude 

 as on the previous evening at 6 p.m., collapsing immediately and placing her 

 legs so that the middle and hind pairs were crossed behind the abdomen, the 

 front pair remaining almost in a normal position. The abdomen was then elevated 

 and extended to the full and three eggs were laid at short intervals. Each egg- 

 appeared under the lens as a tiny translucent drop of fluid and was ejected with 

 considerable force to a distance equal to about three times that of the length of 

 the abdomen. This process lasted for about two minutes, and afterwards the 

 female crawled slowly away and up the side of the box, appearing weak and 

 fatigued. Here she remained almost motionless for nearly three hours, gradually 

 raising the whole of the body vmtil it assumed a normal resting attitude. 



On removing the blotting paper which had been placed in the cage the previous 

 evening, seven additional eggs were found and these were evidently laid the 

 previous evening when the insect was observed to go through the evolutions 

 which have just been described. At 12.30 a.m. the same day she repeated the 

 process when freshly moistened' blotting paper was supplied. On this occasion 

 two eggs were laid and these were found attached together side by side. At 

 5 p.m. two additional eggs were laid, the same curious attitude being assumed as 

 before, but although frequently supplied with fresh wet blotting paper she did 

 not produce any more eggs, and at 10 p.m. she died. On making an examination 

 of the abdomen it was found to contain eight fully developed ova so that it is 

 quite evident that this female had laid eggs elsewhere and previously to her 

 capture. 



The act of oviposition was seen on subsequent occasions, but in two instances 

 the females died after remaining in a collapsed condition for periods of two and 

 a half hours, and three hours and three-quarters, respectively. Both examples 

 had their abdomens well filled with ripe ova and had apparently not laid any 

 eggs before they were captured. 



19127 B 2 



