318 
Acanthia lectidaria 
of Conorhinus “ seen from the dorsal aspect in a cleared specimen ” 
(the quotation is taken from letterpress describing figure)—that is, a 
bug mounted whole, and hence the figure is of the view when seen 
through the chitin of the head. 
The writer has dissected scores of bugs and never once has he come 
across the salivary pump as described by Messrs Patton and Gragg. 
He has mounted bugs whole in balsam after having cleared them, and 
he has got a preparation similar to that of Conorhinus as figured in the 
book, and would give the following explanation of the “ salivary pump ” 
as seen by the authors. “ The vase-shaped cup of chitin ” with its 
narrow end to the anterior is the pharynx pump or crop. The “ chitin 
rod ” (“ piston rod ” as they call it on p. 518) is the oesophagus. 
The writer’s preparations always show the “ chitin rod ” accom¬ 
panied by a trachea (not figured by Patton and Gragg) on either side. 
Microtome sections and dissections have never yet shown the presence 
of a “ chitin rod.” On boiling the head of Acanth ia in potash the only 
structures left after the operation, are the lancets and the pharynx 
pump, there being absolutely no trace of any “ vase-like cup of chitin ” 
nor of any “ piston rod ” of like material. 
As usually seen, the effect is as if the “ chitin rod ” had been pidled 
backwards, and in this condition the tracheae are straight. When the 
“ rod ” has been brought forwards, the tracheae are bent towards the 
middle line. 
Why the oesophagus should be thus drawn forwards the writer 
cannot say, but so seldom is it seen in mounted specimens in this position, 
that it would appear to be the exception rather than the rule, at least 
after death (see Figs. 39 and 40). 
Male. The testes in A. lectidaria are not pyramidal as is said to 
be the case in A. rotundata, but are arranged in seven masses more or 
less rectangular, placed side by side, forming a rather reniform-shaped 
structure. 
There is no sign of the accessory lobe of the testis, although Messrs 
Patton and Gragg say it is “ of constant occurrence in A. rotundatusi’’’ 
Possibly the fact that their figure (Plate lxv, fig. 1) shows the 
part ordinarily known as the “ ductus ejaculatorius ” labelled “ seminal 
vesicle ” is due to a printer’s error. In A. lectidaria the “ seminal 
vesicle ” is found in the lower portion of the “ vas deferens ” before it 
receives the “ accessory ” gland. 
Female. In A. lectidaria all the ova appear to ripen at about 
the same time, the writer never having seen ova at various stages of 
