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SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
number, ordinarily three. The efferent canals arise either from the 
internal surface or from the external angles of each gonad ; they are 
cylindrical and short, and have on their course a more or less marked 
swelling, which forms the seminal vesicles. They vary a good deal in 
size and form in different families ; they always open into voluminous 
accessory glands, which are well marked in all species. The ejaculatory 
canals which arise from these glands are sometimes rudimentary, as in 
the bee, sometimes long and sinuous, and sometimes very short. The 
copulatory armature is generally composed of six pieces, which vary very 
much in form in different species. 
Mouth-Parts and Terminal Armour of Cicada septendecim.* * * § — 
Mr. J. D. Hyatt describes the four grooved setae which form the 
“ sucking-tube,” the muscular labium which surrounds these, and the 
ovipositor of the so-called “ seventeen-year locust.” As far as feeding 
is concerned, no injurious influence could be detected on the trees the 
insects frequented, and Hyatt thinks that they take very little, if any, 
food after reaching the winged state. When the insect is engaged in 
the act of sawing, the ovipositors slide backward and forward on T-shaped 
rails, being held in place and guided by a central piece or so-called 
sheath, which is trussed in such a manner that it might serve as a model 
of rigidity combined with lightness and strength. 
Ochthera.j — Dr. W. M. Wheeler calls attention to the parallelism 
which exists between the peculiarly developed fore-legs of the flies of 
this genus, and the fore-legs of the Mantidae, Mantispidas, and Nepidse, 
which belong to three different orders of Insects, and the second 
maxillipeds of the Crustacean Squilla. He thinks there is no doubt 
that these are true cases of parallelism, the legs having assumed the 
same form under the stress of similar conditions, but independently in 
the different orders. 
Structure of Strepsiptera.J — M. Fr. Meinert confirms some of 
Nassonov’s results and controverts others. Without having recourse to 
sections, he demonstrated the female imago within the larval skin. He 
rejects the terms psedogenesis and pseudopsedogenesis, maintaining that 
the state of affairs in Strepsiptera does not differ notably from other 
cases with larval females. The “brood-canal” is due, as Nassonov 
showed, to a simple depression of the median region of the ventral 
surface ; Meinert regards it not as exit for the young, but as an entrance 
for the spermatozoa; its associated “genital ducts” are receptacula 
seminis. While others have given the name of head or cephalothorax 
to the part of the body which protrudes from the “ stylopised ” insect, 
Meinert regards it as the posterior region. He finds no trace of brain 
or eyes ; indeed the female has no head nor need of one. 
Mallophaga of North American Birds.§— Mr. Y. L. Kellogg has 
described among water and shore birds one new genus and thirty-eight 
new species, and identified other twenty-three which have been noted on 
Old World birds. Of forty species taken from American land birds, 
* Amer. Micr. Journ., xvii. (1896) pp. 45-51 (5 figs). 
f J^ntomol. News, 1896, pp. 121-3. 
x Oversigt K. Danske Vidensk. Selkabs, 1896, pp. 67-76 (4 figs.). 
§ Zool. Anzeig., xix. (1896) pp. 121-3. 
