ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
299 
Arthropoda. 
a. Insecta. 
Remarkable Mode of Reproduction in Encyrtus.* — M. Paul Marchal 
lias studied Encyrtus fuscicollis , one of the parasitic Hymenoptera, which 
lays its eggs in those of Hyponomeutes. The remarkable peculiarity is 
that the ovum of Encyrtus gives rise, not to one embryo, but to “ a legion 
of small morulae,” which form a chain of 50-100 embryos. The amniotic 
envelope loses its vesicular form, and becomes a long flexible tube, within 
which lie the embryos surrounded by granular material apparently de- 
rived from a disruption of part of the original egg. As the author says, 
this is a mode of reproduction unique among Arthropods, if not among 
animals. 
Structure and Life-History of Phalacrocera replicata.f — Prof. L. 
C. Miall and Mr. E. Slielford have studied the larva of these Dipterous 
insects, locally abundant upon submerged mosses and aquatic plants. 
The authors describe the structure of the larva and pupa. 
A very peculiar feature is described in connection with the heart. 
Two cellular epidermic cords pass into the heart and traverse it from end 
to end. In the pupa the cords become beaded, break up, and disappear. 
They perhaps represent reserve nutritive masses. 
Baron C. R. Osten Sacken adds an appendix on the literature of the 
earlier stages of the Cylindrotomina, a section of the Tipulidae, including 
Phalacrocera , Cylindrotoma, &c. 
New Colonies and Fungus-Gardens in Ants.i — Dr. H. von Ihering 
describes the foundation of new colonies and new fungus-gardens by 
the leaf-cutting ants of Brazil. The winged insects of Atta sexdens 
make repeated short flights between the end of October and the middle 
of December ; apparently, however, not for the purpose of pairing, 
for all the females examined by the observer were already fertilised. 
The females rid themselves of their wings, and seek out a bare spot of 
ground to begin boring operations. A tube so small that the ant is 
unable to turn round in it is bored to a depth of 20-40 cm., and enlarged 
at the end into a chamber. Then the tube is closed up at a short distance 
from the entrance. In many chambers examined the females were found 
to have died, apparently from exhaustion ; in others a packet of 20-30 
eggs was found, and beside it were the first beginnings of a fungus- 
patch. Dr. Ihering’s great difficulty was to find out in what way the 
necessary material for starting the garden was carried into the hole ; 
and his investigations have shown him that each mother-ant carries from 
the old nest, in the posterior part of the mouth-cavity, a tiny ball con- 
sisting of the hyphae of Bhozites gongylophora mixed with pieces of 
bleached leaf remains. 
Apparatus for keeping Ants.§ — M. Charles Janet gives those inter- 
ested in observing ants in captivity the benefit of his experience, which 
is great. He describes and figures horizontal and vertical cases in which 
a normal life may be secured for the tenants. 
* Comptes llendus, exxvi. (1898) pp. 662-4. 
t Trans. Eutomol. Soc. London, 1897, pp. 343-66 (4 pis.). 
t Zool. Anzeig., xxi. (1898) pp. 238-55. 
§ Mem. Soc. Zool. France, x. (1897) pp. 302-23 (1 pi. and 3 figs.). 
