THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



No. 93.] 



AUGUST, MDCCCLXXI. 



[Price 6d. 



Answers to Correspondents. 



ARGULUS FOLIACEUS (MAGNIFIED). 



Argulusfoliaceus, — The animal J. R. has sent and described 

 is Argulus foliaceus : it is an apterous aquatic insect of the 

 division Entomostraca, which is composed of exosteate 

 animals, which have eyes imbedded in the carapace, and not 

 placed on a peduncle, as in crabs and lobsters. The Argulus 

 attaches itself to fishes by means of two sucking-disks, which 

 adhere so tightly to the fish that it is often difficult to remove 

 them alive. When firmly attached the Argulus sucks the 

 blood of the fish by means of a sharp-pointed rostrum or 

 proboscis : this has been called a siphon, and the animals 

 which possess it Siphonoptera, both rather fanciful appella- 

 tions. The female carries a large bag of eggs, apparently in 

 the thorax, and the carapace, or cephalothorax, is so 

 transparent, that this ovary and its contents can be seen 

 through it. I have never met with a male. The figure, 

 which I have traced from Baird's * Cyclopaedia of Natural 

 Sciences,' represents a female, with the ovary full of eggs : 

 these eggs are deposited on the leaves of water-plants, 



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