Article beginning on page 200.
Psyche 4:200-202, 1883.

Full text (searchable PDF)
Durable link: http://psyche.entclub.org/4/4-200.html

The following unprocessed text is extracted from the PDF file, and is likely to be both incomplete and full of errors. Please consult the PDF file for the complete article.

200 ps 2'THE. [ August-September 3884.
a large number of specimens from dif-
ferent parts of the country, and without exception have demonstrated their com-
posite nature.
This compound character of the galls
implies a close interdependence between
the fungus and insect. That Rhytisma
solidagizis or R. asteris cannot occur
without the presence of Ceridomyia
ca?-bomyera. or vice versa, cannot be
said ; yet I have never seen one without the other. Only a study of the develop-
ment of the galls can show whether the
insect paves the way for the fungus or
lives only in leaves previously attacked by the latter ; but the great powers of
multiplication and dissemination pos-
sessed by most fungi incline me to the
belief that the former is the case, the
mycelium being unable to penetrate the
uninjured plant, as Hartig has shown to
be the case with parasitic species of
Nectria, etc. - From the carbonization
of all the species of Rhytisma, it is prob- able that the color of the galls in the
present instance is clue to the fungus.
The form of fruit of the Rhytisma,
and the early development of the galls,
could be easily made out by any collect- ing entomologist or botanist living in the eastern states, where they occur ; and as I no longer have access to good material -
these notes are published in their pres- ent incomplete form to draw attention to a very interesting subject for further
study.'
7 Sections of an undetermined cecidomyid gall on Impatiensftilv~, from Medford, Mass., prepared in my laboratory by Miss L. N. Martin, show a mycelium somewhat similar to that noticed in Aster and Solidqo ltwes, and there is also a certain amount of carboniza- tion. It will be interesting to observe whether the mycelium is always present in this gn\l which is not uncommon.
WANT OF SYMMETRY AMONG INSECTS.
BY OSKAR PAUL KRANCHER, 1-EIPZIG, GERMANY. The extraordinary symmetry which
occurs among insects is usually brought
prominently forward in most of the
books which treat of entomology. Noth-
ing is pictured more symmetrically than, for instance, the structures of bees am1 ants, or the color- of butterflies, which latter is prominently reputed to have a
perfectly symmetrical bilateral equality. Although there is much truth at the hot- torn of all this, although nature in many cases works with great symmetry. yet
it must not be overlooked that even this symmetry is often converted into it<
strict opposite. Surely no observing-
lepiclopterologist has tailed to notice
that the coloiation of the wings of his
f ;IT . oiites : is to be recognized as -itiictly symmetrical only in the smallest num-
ber of cases. that, indeed, that of one
side. which certiiinly resembles that of the other in its superficial aspect, still s11i)ws man\ differences in its details, and there is little foundation for assert- ing that they are symmetrical. I might
cite innumerable examples of this. but
the reader can better see them for him-
self. This is most plaid! shown in the




================================================================================

August-September 1884.1 psH2Z2?. 201
species of Vanessa, Argynnz's, Meli-
iaea, Ardia, etc. I have found this also very striking in Pai)ilio machao?~, a
specimen of which, now in my collec-
tion, has a distinct black spot in the first yellow area at the tip of the left front wing, while, as usual, there is no such
spot on the right wing.
In how diverse a manner nature works,
moreover, in the different animals of
one and the same species, in animals
which are sought for as so-called varie- ties, a striking proof is given by collec- tions which contain often ten or twelve
or even more specimens of one and the
same animal. How long one has to
hunt among duplicates in order to find
two butterflies which are perfectly alike ! This field of inquiry has interested me
to an unusual degree for a long time
and I have had the good fortune to ob-
tain many interesting results in it.
Here again Pa/iZio machaon^ A h a
caja., different noctuids and geometrids (for instance, Abraxas gro.~sz~Za~iaia) , have excited my special delight by their peculiarly diverse clothing.
But the so-called gyna11dromo1-phs,
especially those of the lepidoptera, are yet far more remarkable.
As is well
known, these are animals which show
the coloration and structure of one sex
on the right wings, and those of the
other sex on the left wings. Of course
these can only be observed in such ani-
mals as show some kind of difference
between the coloration and shape of the
wings, or the form and structure of the
antennae, in the two sexes. A few
vears ago a gynandi-o~nosph of Endro-
mis versico1m-a was found here in the
I [
neighboring village of Leina. This,
after various wanderings, is now dep.osi- ted in the Natural history museum at
Altenburg. Gynandromorphs of Ocne-
&a dispq Sme~i?z/Jzz~s $o$z~Zi, etc.,
are not very rare. I had an opportunity
this spring of adding a partial gynan-
dromorph to my ow11 collection. I ob-
tained from a pupa of Aglia tau, the
bNagelflecl<," a specimen which had
one antenna male, the other female, that is to say, one filiform, the other pecti- nate. In its other characters, especially in the coloration of the wings, the speci- men appears throughout to be a female.
Finally some attention may be be-
stowed upon crippling among insects.
My few observations again concern the
butterflies. Mutilations often occur in
these on one side only, and 011 account
of this unfortunate circumstance the
specimen which had been so carefully
nursed as larva and pupa is entirely
useless for the collection, and is ill-
h~~moredly thrown aside by the raiser
unless it is kept in spirits to furnish
occasion for subsequent observations.
The collector is still more displeased
with those specimens which have the
wings of both sides crippled. Even if
such specimens are not well suited for
breeding purposes, and so deny various
uses to the one who has raised them,
yet for other reasons I should not want
to condemn such a specimen without
further consideration. In spite of all
apparent irregularity, nature often works quite regularly, as is well shown by
the annexed figure.
This specimen was
going to be thrown away together with
several other crinnles. when Mr. Reich-




================================================================================

ert, of Leipzig, who had raised it,
- -
recognized its wonderfully regular crip- pling, and of course spread the specimen and so made clearly manifest that per-
fectly symmetrical incision in the fore
and hind wings. The undulate nerves
Fig. 13. Deformed A&& cvnia&
of the wings of this specimen appear
remarkable at the same time, as the
figure represents. Ajoria crataeg-i,
which is the butterfly mentioned, is a
well known species, so that I need not
say much about it. The caterpillar,
which is found moderately common in
this vicinity, lives especially on Cratae- gus oxyacantka, Pruft~ts sfinosa and
P, domestics, species of Pyrus, etc.
At the end of five or six weeks from
the time of hatching of the eggs, the
caterpillar pupates by fastening its anal extremity and then maintaining itself in a horizontal position by means of a thin thread around the thorax. After four-
teen days more the butterfly emerges.
It seemed that it would be inter&ting
-
to ascertain the cause of these regular' notchings, and so we found in the pupa-
case from which this butterfly came, that the thoracic girdle had been drawn
exceedingly tense, and so firmly, besides. that a sort of depression was to be found 1 We are indebted to Mr. Otto Iieidcmann, xylogra- pher in the U- S. Department of agriculture, for his generosity In transferring this illustration to wood, and engraving it. [Sds,]
in the pupa. From this observation it
is easy to conclude that tins was the
cause of the mutilation that has been
mentioned, and since the continuous
pressure was here a perfectly uniform
one, the irregular development could
not but be perfect and uniform. Whether
such a mutilation can also be produced
artificially with this regularity might be learned from our investigations which
are to be instituted for the purpose.
A single glance at a bee-hive will
convince one that there are many irreg-
ularities also in the colonies of bees.
The most regular structures made by
bees are the cells, which, as is well
known, are so arranged with mathemat-
ical exactitude as to accompiish the ,
most with the least material. Worker-
cells and drone-cells, both of which
serve at the same time as honey-cells,
are made in this way, but besides these
we find three other different kinds of
cells in the commonwealth of bees, of
which we may give the name of hold-
ing-cells to those which serve to fasten the comb all around to the wall of the
hives or to the frames. They are usually only two-thirds formed, the sixth or
both the fifth and sixth sides of the hex-. qon of the cell being wanting. The
so-called transition-cells, which consti- tute the intermediary between the large
drone-cells and the smaller worker-cells in one and the same comb show still
greater irregularities. They are in
shape from four- to nine-angled, for the most part entirely out of place and
warped. Undoubtedly the last two
named kinds of cells, in spite of their
irregularity, demand our fullest a&nira-



================================================================================

August-Septem her 1884.1 ~~~~~~. 203
tion, since they give proof that the bees know how to help themselves under all
circumstances, that they understand how
to overcome any obstacle. The most
irregular cell in the bee-hive is the queen- bee cell, in which, as is well known,
the queen has to pass her ~~uthfih
stages. This queen-bee cell is shaped
like an acorn, and does not stand hori-
zontally like all the other bee cells. but hangs vertically, with the opening down- ward.
These few quite imperfect remarks
may serve to call attention to some of
the so numerous irregularities among
insects. I hope they may incite others
to further new and more interesting
observations.
FOOD-PLANTS OF BEETLES BRED IN MARYLAND. BY OTTO BUGGER, BALTIMORE7 MD.
[The numeros (inserted by the editor) are, for the coleoptera, those of G: R. Crotch's "Check list nt the coleo- ptera of America, north of Mexico" (PSYCHE, Rec., no. 43), and, for the food plants, those of Horace Mann's "Catalogue of the phaenogamous plants of the United States" . . . . Where the species of the food-plant is not stated, the niimero expresses a cnnjecture.1 ~~UPRESTII>AE.
3691. Dicerca $iligionata 2574. Quercus alba. 3726. Bufrestis apricazs 2658. Pinus mitis. 3767. Chrysobothris azurea 2 579. Quercus coccinea var. tinctoria. 3799. PtosimagibbicolZis 705. Cercis canadensis. 3801. Mastogenius subcyaneus 2603. Ostry a virginica. 38 14. AgriZvs lecontei 1053 ? Cornus [floricla ?] . 3825. ' ĺ´politu -575. Robinia psenclacacia (spines). 4925. Sfhenosteths taslei
2574. Quercus alba.
4941 . Smodicum cucztjiforme 262 I ?
Salix [alba ?]
4943. Duia~&.s brevilineus
2538 ? Ulmns [americana ?I.




================================================================================