273 



been noted, so far as I know, and of which the function is altogether 

 enigmatic. They proceed from two invaginations of the exoderm of 

 the ventral side of the first abdominal segment and extend like fingers 

 of a glove to the tip of the fourth segment and sometimes even a little 

 beyond. These organs seem to me homologous to the similar sound 

 organs of male grasshoppers. 



With the males of T. douglasi and T. Mppocastani infested either with 

 Ateleneura or Aphelopus, the ventral invaginations are much reduced, 

 they do not reach in general the second segment of the abdomen and 

 often exist only as two small gussets on the first segment. 



Aphelopus melaleucus appears to be rather common; T have found it 

 at Wimereux and in the woods of Meudon infesting T. Mppocastani and 

 T. ulmi L., which live frequently together on the Elms in company 

 with T. opaca J. Edw. 



In these localities the sac which incloses the larva instead of being 

 yellow, as with the individuals coming from the Luxembourg Garden, 

 is, ordinarily, black. This color is evidently protective to the numer- 

 ous individuals living on T. ulmi, of which the abdomen is black ; and 

 it is possible that it is due to heredity in the case of the others. Per- 

 haps, also, Aphelopus presents varieties with the various species of 

 Typhlocyba, which it infests. It is known, in fact, that Walker has 

 described fifteen different forms of that Hymenopter, and by certain 

 characters the specimens which he has figured differ a little from those 

 which we have studied. Thus it has been impossible for me to find the 

 least trace of the disk cells of the superior wing which, it is true, 

 Walker has represented as very rudimentary. I can affirm further that 

 the palpi possess five joints only, instead of six, which Walker has 

 attributed to them. 



It is possible, also, that under the name of Ateleneura spuria two allied 

 species of Ateleneura have been confused. The rearing of larvae col- 

 lected with various Homopters will make the solution of this question 

 €asy. 



A POISONOUS SPIDER IN MADAGASCAR. 



Rev. Paul Camboue, missionary of the Society of Jesus at Tanana- 

 rive, Madagascar, has recently sent us two papers by himself, the one 

 published in Les Missions Catholiques, April 2, 1886, and the other in 

 the Bulletin Mensuel de la Soc. Nat. d) Acclimatation on the subject of the 

 beneficial and noxious spiders of Madagascar. What interests us most 

 in these papers is the portion concerning the Menavody, a species of 

 Latrodectus, a genus which in Madagascar as well as everywhere else 

 is reputed to be very dangerous and to give even fatal bites. He quotes 



