ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
55 
adult is known for only twelve. It looks as if the queen and king must 
often be located in a well-hidden subterranean chamber. The question 
of classification is briefly discussed. J. A. T. 
Insects Checking the Spread of Lantana in India. — Rao Sahib 
Ramachandra Rao {Mem. Dept. Agric. India , 1920, 5 , 239-314, 14pls<). 
Probably about 1824 Lantana amleata was introduced into India ; it is 
one of the Verbenacem from the Tropical American Region ; it has 
become a pest in regions that suit it, displacing the native vegetation. 
In Hawaii it has been to some extent checked by the introduction of an 
Agromyzid, but it is not certain that this insect would be equally 
beneficial in India. In Hawaii there is an almost complete absence of 
any plant closely allied to Lantana , but this is not the case in India. 
The introduction of insects to feed on weeds is a very dangerous experi- 
ment. The author’s investigations have brought to light a long list of 
insects that attack Lantana in India and Burma. The most efficient 
of these is Platyptilia pusillidactyla , a small Plume-moth whose larva 
feeds on die flower-heads and reduces the output of seeds to a consider- 
able extent. Attacked flower-heads produce only a few sickly berries 
instead of a number of healthy ones. The insect is widely distributed 
already in India, Burma, and Ceylon, and would be even more efficient 
than it is were not its numbers considerably reduced by Hymenopterous 
parasites. But no insect is likely to be more than a check. Cutting and 
burning are also needed. J. A. T. 
Effect of Light on C0 2 -output in Certain Orthoptera. — Joseph 
Hall Bodine ( Journ . Exper. Zool., 1922, 35 , 47-55, 3 figs.). It has 
been shown by Loeb and others that the primary effect of light consists 
in changes in the tension or tonus of muscles. Bodine’s experiments 
with various kinds of grasshoppers show that the action of light on the 
eyes, affecting the tonus of muscles, is associated with a decrease in the 
rate of the C0 2 -output of the organism. A similar decrease in the rate 
of C0 2 -output is also found in decapitated individuals. J. A. T. 
Chemical Sensitivity of Red Admiral’s Tarsi. — Dwight E. 
Minnich {Journ. Exper. Zool., 1922, 35 , 57-81, 3 figs.). In Pyrameis 
atalanta each of the four ambulatory tarsi possesses numerous chemo- 
receptors. The appropriate stimulation of these receptors produces a 
response in the form of an extension of the proboscis. The manifesta- 
tion of this response varies somewhat, depending upon the chemical 
nature of the stimulus and the nutritional condition of the individual. 
A study of these differences of response shows that this butterfly can 
distinguish through its tarsal organs distilled water, 1M saccharose, 
and 2M common salt. It is also able to distinguish M/10 quinine 
hydrochloride from distilled water, from 2M common salt, and probably 
from 1M saccharose. The efficiency of distilled water in evoking the 
proboscis response is directly dependent upon the nutritional condition 
of the animal, but this is not the case with the other substances. Since 
the organs of the tarsi are contact chemoreceptors, and since they are 
concerned with the discrimination of substances to be taken as food, 
they may be approximately termed organs of taste. J. A. T. 
