ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
281 
Adaptations of May-fly Nymphs to Swift Streams. — G. S. Dodds 
and F. L. Hisaw ( Proc . Amer. Soc. Zool. in Anat. Record , 1922, 23, 
109). The following methods of retaining position in rapidly flowing 
water have been observed in may-fly nymphs : — (1) Swimming species of 
fish-like (stream line) form swim well in still water, and the stronger 
swimmers invade the less swift portions of streams. (2) Species of 
fish-like form and small size have evolved strong legs with which they 
cling to rocks in the swiftest parts of torrential streams. (3) Flattened 
forms retain their position by ( a ) avoiding the direct shock of the 
water ; ( b ) flattening of head and legs in such an attitude that the 
force of water presses the animal against the substratum ; ( c ) the 
acquisition of sucking organs, developed from gills or the ventral 
surface of the abdomen ; ( d ) development of strong legs ; and 
( e ) taking to crevices and thus avoiding currents. J. A. T. 
Metamorphosis of Coccids. — Paul Marchal ( Gomytes Rendus 
Acad. Sci., 1922, 174 , 1091-6). Studies in the life-history of “ earth- 
pearls,” Neomcirgarodes trabuti , from Algiers. In both sexes there are, 
to begin with, three identical stages : — (1) A primary, migratory, 
hexapod larva which reaches the host-plant ; (2) an apodal, cystoidal, 
fixed larva, given over to growth ; and (3) a hexapod, mouthless stage, 
like a Melolontkoid larva. The female is neotsenic and stops at this 
third stage. But the male continues to develop, and after two or three 
moults reaches the winged state— an instance of hypermetamoiphosis. 
J. A. T. 
Swiss Onychiurinae. — E. Handschin (Verb. Naturforsch. Ges. 
Basel , 1921, 32, 1-37, 2 pis.). A systematic account of this sub- 
family of Poduridse in the order Collembola. The members are marked 
by three positive characters— the presence of closable epidermic apertures 
or pseudocells, the complex structure of the antennary organ, and the 
complex primordium of the post-antennary organ ; and by four negative 
characters — the absence of eyes, the absence of clubbed setae on the 
tibiotarsus, the complete or almost complete absence of the spring- 
apparatus, and the absence of pigment in the majority. The genera 
are Onychiurus, Kalaphorura, and Tullbergia. J. A. T. 
Natural Enemy of the Castor Semilooper. — T. V. Ramakrishna 
Aiyar ( Journ . Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1921, 28, 298-300, 1 pi.). The 
semilooper caterpillar of the Noctuid moth Achsea ( Ophiusa ) meilcerta 
Hmp. is a common and well-known pest of the castor-oil plant all over 
India. This caterpillar is kept in check by a Hymenopterous parasite, 
which is described and identified as Microplitis ophiasse sp. n. B. L. B. 
Butterflies of Mesopotamia. — H. D. Peile (Journ. Bombay Nat. 
Hist. Soc., 1921, 28, 50-70). Notes on forty-four species taken in 
Mesopotamia and forty-four others collected in the adjacent highlands 
of north-west Persia and Kurdistan, of which latter ten forms are new. 
In character the butterfly fauna of Mesopotamia, like the flora, which of 
course largely determines it, is much more English than that of the 
fauna of, say, the south of France. B. L. B. 
