420 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
predominant species, males are largely in excess. It must not be 
supposed, however, that all these conclusions rest upon equally strong 
evidence. 
Termites.* * * § — Mr. G. D. Haviland describes and figures about ninety 
species of Termites, including many new ones. His collection was made 
mainly in South Africa, the Malay Peninsula, and Borneo, and in- 
cludes specimens from about 1000 different nests. Following Hagen 
in the matter of genera, he distinguishes Termes, Calotermes , Termojosis, 
and Hoclotermes. By far the greater number of his species belong to 
the large genus Termes , and most of his observations were made on 
species of that genus. The soldier-caste was used 'for the determination 
of species, since the imago is often absent from nests. The segments of 
the antennae are fewer in the soldier than in the male, but they are gene- 
rally longer and more cylindrical ; those of the female are shorter. The 
actual length of antennas is not correlated with the number of segments. 
Long antennae go with long legs, and indicate much walking and 
foraging; soldiers with short, stout legs belong to sluggish species. 
Blindness is more universal among soldier and worker termites than 
among ants. The winged insects have an unconquerable desire to leave 
the nest. They fly feebly, and not one in many thousands survives the 
dangers of flight. At the time of swarming, males and females pair, the 
males often clinging to the abdomen of the female, though the sexual 
organs are not at that stage mature. In most species a single pair can 
found a nest without assistance. The abdomen of the female becomes 
different from that of the male at the last moult, by a change in the 
ventral plates. Great distension takes place later, and in some groups 
there may be secondary chitinisation in the cuticle in front of the 
original chitin plates. The function of soldiers is defence only, the 
chief enemies of the colony being ants. The soldiers in some species 
secrete a sticky fluid in a sac in the head, which opens into a duct 
passing down the rostrum. A drop of this fluid is deposited on the 
antennae of an invading ant, which is immediately rendered hors de 
combat . 
Teeth of Diptera.t — Mr. W. H. Harris describes and figures the 
teeth present in the proboscis of the house-fly and the common yellow 
dung-fly. These chitinous processes seem to be used for puncturing, 
scraping, and probably crushing, and are situated at the base of the lobes 
of the labium. 
Sensory Nerve-Cells of Insects.* — 0. Duboscq has, by the use of 
Ehrlich’s method on Forjicula auricularia, confirmed vom Rath’s account 
of the sensory neurons in Tracheata. His preparations are the most 
convincing as yet furnished for insects. He found, however, none of 
the multipolar cells and rich plexuses described by Viallanes, Monti, 
and Holmgren ; these he regards as connective, not nervous tissue. 
Peculiar Gland in Ants.§ — M. Charles Janet describes in Myrmicz 
rubra , the common red ant, a peculiar integumentary gland lodged in the 
* Journ. Lion. Soc. (Zool.), xxvi. (1898) pp. 358-442 (4 pis.), 
t Cardiff Nat. Soc , xxix. (1896-7) pp. 59-61 (1 pi.). 
t Arch. Zool. Exper., 1. (1897) pp. 401-16 (1 pi.). 
§ Comptes Rendus, cxxvi. (1898) pp. 1168-71 (7 figs.). 
