8 Ins. 
INSECTA. 
Peragallo, A. Insectes nuisibles & l’Agriculture, i. L’Olivier, son his- 
toire, sa culture, ses ennemis, et ses amis. ii. Le Frelon ( Vespa 
crabro) et son nid. Nice : 1882, 8vo, pp. 180, pi. col. 
[' Cf Fauvel, Rev. d’Ent. i. pp. 46-48.] 
Ferroncito, E. I Parassiti dell’ uomo e degli anirnali utili. Delle 
piu comuni malattie da essi prodotte profilassi e cura relativa. 
(Biblioteca Medica Contemporanea.) Bologna : 1882, 8vo, pp. xii. & 
506, 14 pis., and 233 woodcuts. 
Various species of Arachnida (pp. 425-461), Insecta ( Diptera , Aphani- 
ptera , Anoplura , Mallophaga , Hemiptera , and Lepidoptera , pp. 461-497), 
and Crustacea (pp. 497-499), are noticed and figured in this work as 
injurious to men and animals. 
Plateau, F. Recherches expdrimentales sur les mouvements respira* 
toires des Insectes. Communication preliminaire. Bull. Ac. Belg. 
(3) iii. pp. 727-738. [Cf. Nature, xxvi. pp. 454 & 455 ; Kosmos, xii. 
pp. 57-79.] 
The author’s principal conclusions are as follows : — (1) There is no 
direct connection between the structure of the respiratory organs of an 
insect and its actual affinities. (2) The abdomen invariably contracts 
during expiration. (3) Changes in the vertical diameter may be accom- 
panied by changes in the transverse diameter. (4) Changes in the length 
of the abdomen during respiration are rare. (5) The thoracic segments 
do not usually share in the respiratory movements of an insect at rest. 
(6) Undulatory movements are rarer than has been supposed. (7) Pauses 
in the respiratory phases are generally due to inspiration. (8) In large 
insects, inspiration is more gentle than expiration. (9) In most insects, 
expiration is active and inspiration passive. (10) Nearly all insects 
possess expiratory muscles only. (11) The upper and lower diaphragms 
of Ilymenoptera do not contribute to respiration in the way supposed by 
Wolff. (12) In most if not all insects, the general movements of the 
body are communicated to the abdomen, but these must not be con- 
founded with respiratory movements. (13) The respiratory movements 
of insects are purely reflex. (14) The metathoracic ganglia are not special 
respiratory centres. (15) The absence of respiratory movements in 
Dytiscidce, &c., in consequence of the destruction of the metathoracic 
ganglia, is due to the condensed condition of their nervous system, some 
of the abdominal ganglia being fused with those of the metathorax. 
(16) In insects with a condensed nervous system, the excitation or partial 
destruction of a complex nervous mass resulting from the junction of 
successive ganglionic centres, always affects all the centres entering into 
the constitution of the mass. 
Pryer, W. B. Further Tropical Notes. Ent. M. M. xix. pp. 59-61. 
Relates to the comparative scarcity of insects, &c., in tropical forests. 
Puton, A. De l’insuffisance du caractere unique pour la distinction des 
esp^ces. Rev. d’Ent. i. pp. 88-90. 
Points out the various characters in which insects may vary within the 
limits of the same species. 
