A. J. Grove 
7 
and which receives the setae after they leave the head. The mouth 
opens into an extremely narrow oesophagus which extends first in a 
vertical direction towards the dorsal surface of the head, passing on its 
way through the loop made by the circum-oesophageal connectives. On 
Fig. 9. Dorsal view of alimentary canal. Semi-diagrammatic. (x 20.) 
ant. =antenna. cld. int. = coiled intestine, crp.— crop, e. — eye. rect. = rectum. 
Fig. 10. A lateral view of the alimentary canal. Semi-diagrammatic. ( x 20.) 
bk.= beak or proboscis, cld. int. = coiled intestine, crp. = crop. 
in. — mouth, oes. = oesophagus, rect. = rectum. 
reaching a position about two-thirds of the distance from the ventral to 
the dorsal surface, the oesophagus turns abruptly backwards and 
continues in the median line to a position in the anterior portion of the 
mesothorax. At this point—in an external view—the narrow oesophagus 
dilates abruptly to form the crop or stomach, but, seen in section, the 
oesophagus is continued for a short distance into the interior of the 
crop, thus causing a slight invagination of the anterior end of the 
latter. In this way an effective valve is formed to prevent the fluid 
poured into the crop passing back again into the oesophagus. This point 
was observed and figured by Witlaczil (1882), and is shown in Fig. 13 
(Plate I). The crop is the widest portion of the alimentary canal, and 
generally lies in an oblique position, its posterior end pointing towards 
the right and dorsal sides of the body. The crop then gives place to 
the coiled intestine which is considerably narrower than the crop, but 
has a lumen very much larger than that of the oesophagus. The curves 
