The Genus Hylastes, Er. ip 
in number, lying on either side of the median line. ach consists of two egg- 
tubes, each with a terminal chamber and opening into the paired oviducts. 
The paired oviducts are short, and unite to form the wterus which is 
strenecthened by longitudinal chitinous ribs or strands. The bursa copulatrix 
opens from the uterus as a diverticulum almost as large as that organ itself. 
At the base of the bursa, the receptaculum seminis opens into the uterus 
by a long, narrow tube. The receptaculum is a hook-shaped vesicle closed 
with chitin, and appended to it is a globe-shaped diverticulum. Just below 
the bursa is the vagina into which the uterus opens, and also the slime 
glands which lie on either side of the uterus. These are somewhat flask- 
shaped, the neck of the flask opening into the vagina. The vagina is 
surrounded by a thin membranous band of chitin which binds the spiculum 
ventrale to it. This last is a thin, short, forked, chitinous plate. 
Four stages of development of the female reproductive organs are worthy 
of description—the immature, the developing, the ripe or developed stage, 
and the condition after egg-laying. 
In the immature reproductive organs of the female Hylastes (F ig. 16), the 
egg-tubes wholly lack the familiar pearl necklace appearance, and appear to 
consist entirely of terminal chambers. The uterus, bursa, and receptaculum 
are not dilated, and the slime glands are small. 
In the developing organs (Fig. 17) the egg-tubes appear as if unfolding from 
the terminal chambers which are now more distinct. If pairing has taken 
place the bursa and receptaculum may be distended; the slime glands may 
also be large. 
The ripe or mature organs (Fig. 18) show the terminal chambers distinctly 
marked off from the egg-tubes, which resemble a string of pearls graduated in 
size. The bursa and receptaculum are usually distended, and the corpus luteus 
is present at the junction of the egg-tubes with the paired oviducts. ‘The 
slime glands are full and distended. Where oviposition is in progress, the 
oviducts and uterus may contain eggs. 
After oviposition the reproductive organs present a shrivelled appearance. 
The bursa, uterus, and egg-tubes all appear wrinkled, as also in some cases 
the spermatheca and accessory sac. Some time after egg-laying the organs 
appear to recover, and, except that the egg-tubes are stretched and more or 
less distinct from the terminal chamber, and the uterus and bursa are 
wrinkled, they somewhat resemble the immature condition. 
It should be noted that the shapes of the receptacula in Hylastes, like 
the chitinous parts of the male reproductive organs, afford characters for 
distinction of the species. They are much less trustworthy than the latter, 
however, and can be relied on only in the case of immature females, 
