THAXTER. 



MONOGRAPH OK TIIK I.AMOUI.HKXIACK.i;. 



285 



The Blattidie, which arc (lie only hosts of I lerpomyees, ;irc coinnioii in buildings, especially on waterfronts 

 and abound especially in tropical regions. Many species occur under logs and under bark and are often 

 numerous ill rubbish or under stones. The Croton Hug and the Cockroaches are familiar household 

 pests throughout the world, and all serve as hosts for members of this interesting genus. 



Herpomyces ch.etophilus Thaxter. Plate XLI, figs. 14—18. 

 Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sci., Vol. XXXVIII, p. 12. June, 1902. 



Male individual consisting of four superposed cells, hyaline, the distal cell terminated by a blackish 

 projection similar to the small foot. The three distal cells, sometimes only the terminal one, usually 

 producing slight outgrowths which bear the single, nearly erect, long, slender antheridia directly; or may 

 separate a cell which bears one or very rarely two such antheridia; the latter nearly as long as the four- 

 celled individual. Total length to tips of antheridia 50-55 p. 



Female individual. Primary individual similar to the male, but stouter; terminated by a similar 

 blackish projection. The fertile branch arising laterally from the subbasal cell, growing down in the 

 form of a slender filament variable in length, usually of two or three cells, enlarging abruptly to form the 

 single secondary receptacle. Secondary receptacle pale dirty brownish yellow, consisting of a vertical 

 series of cells partly double above, simple below; the cells thick-walled, the long (transverse) axes directed 

 obliquely upward and outward, about five to fifteen in number, their points of contact with the host 

 surrounded by a slightly blackened irregular foot-like haustorial margin, and giving rise to single simple, 

 or very rarely branched, haustoria which penetrate the wall of the spine at right angles to its surface; 

 the cells all sterile with the exception of the proximal one from which arises the solitary, nearly erect 

 perithecium. Perithelium relatively large, rather stout; the aseigerous portion large, slightly inflated, 

 longer than the outwardly curved distal portion, which tapers to the bluntly pointed unmodified apex; 

 the tip bent abruptly outward. Spores 30-35 X 3 /(. Perithecia 125-185 X 35-48 p. Total length of 

 primary individual 35-40 /(. Secondary receptacle 35-75 X 22 p. 



On spines of legs, antennae and anal appendages of Periplaneta sp., Zanzibar, Africa; Mus. Comp. 

 Zool. On Pcriplaneta sp., Mauritius; Mus. Comp. Zooh, No. 1357. 



This species, which is taken as the type of the genus, appears to be perhaps its simplest form, 

 and is distinguished by its solitary perithecium, the tip of which is unarmed and bent outward, as well 

 as by its vertically developed secondary receptacle. It has not been observed on any other of the many 

 individuals examined of its supposedly cosmopolitan host. Its general habit is closely approached by 

 chsetophilous forms of II. Periplanetw (fig. 8), but the perithecia are quite different in the two species. 



Herpomyces Periplanetee Thaxter. Plate XLI, figs. 6-13. 

 Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sci., Vol. XXXVIII, p. 13. June, 1902. 



Very variable according to the host and the position of growth. 



Male individual consisting of four superposed cells, the two upper, in simpler individuals, producing 

 one or two antheridia which are either sessile or borne on a single stalk-cell: in more highly developed 

 individuals the two distal cells producing short branches which may bear several antheridia directly, or 

 on secondary branchlets, some of which appear to be occasionally sterile; the total number of antheridia 

 sometimes six or more. Greatest length of well-developed forms, to tips of antheridia, 90 p, of small 

 specimens GO p. 



Female individual, hyaline or nearly so. Primary receptacle surmounted by two or more sterile 

 cells, the uppermost often asymmetrical, ending in a terminal spinous process and bearing the minute 

 characteristic black projection laterally: the subbasal cell sometimes several times divided, each resultant 

 cell apparently giving rise to a single branch from which is developed the very variable secondary receptacle. 

 Secondary receptacle: in simple individuals growing on spines of host; consisting of a vertical series of 

 from four'to twenty or more obliquely superposed cells, alternating to form a double row, otherwise similar 

 to that of //. chaiophilus and like it producing a single erect perithecium from one of its uppermost cells: 



