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Psyche 8:30, 1897.

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30 PSYCHE. [Febrnary 1897.
existed in some previous phyletic
stage, paired rows of external, seg-
mental organs running down the back
of the insect frcmi one end to the
other, just as the leg's at one pliyletic period extended the entire length of the ventral surface, and still do in the very lowest insects, and further, that on the thorax these organs developed finally, in the evolution of insects, into wings.
Tnicheal gills might icpresent such or-
gans. And the fact that the dorsal
prothoracic discs in Musca and the
nematocera develop into the pupal
spiracles lends great weight to this
notion as these, like the t~acheal gills, are respiratory organs. The well
known theory of Gegenbaur and Lub-
bock, tr~cing the origin of wings in
insects to tracheal gills, seems thus to obtain :I new support.
Anothel nmlter which seems worth
mentioning is that in different holomet- abolic insects, the extremities or the
thoracic and abdominal imagiual discs
(when such are present) may appear at
very diffcient times in the ontogeny.
hi some insects these appear early, and
in some late, in the embryonic develop-
merit, in some eaily, and in some
late, in the larval development. For
instance, in the lower orders of
l~olometabolic insects, as 311 those having incomplete metamorphosis, the anlagen
of the extremities appear vci y early in the embryo. Fn Melophagus the tho-
racic discs, homologous orgiins, appear
rather late in the embryo, svhile the
abdominal discs appear probably early
in the larval period. In Corethra the
iniaginal discs, also homologous to
extremities, delay their appearance un-
til just before pupation. Thus the
epigenetic period in insects, when new
organs are forming, does not end with
the birth of the larva from the egg', but extends over the larval and even over
the pupal period. The embryonic
development of the insect really does not end until the imago bursts from the
pupatiurn, the embryonic, larval, and
pupal pel iods being essentially identical. The principal bignificancc of the pupal
period and the tnetamorphos-.is is that
it is the time when the larval cliaractel s which were adopted for use during a
period of free life in the midst of the
development, and which would be
valueless to Hie imago, are corrected
or abandoned.
DIAPHEROMERA FEMORATA.
I FIHD among iny notes the following ob- servations on this insect in captivity.
The general color of the female is brown, marked by "streaks and dots of a lighter brown or shaded darker at the sides of the body and at each joint. The face is orange, the antennae and palpi brown. The legs
have a greyish green tinge and tire lighter than the body, but darker at the ends of the joints. The fore legs are always different in color from the others being brown above and dull yellow below and when stretched for- ward hebide the appressed antennae (which just surphss them), as is always the case at rest, they make the insect appear a third longer than it is.
They eat the edge of
leaf. usually straddling it with their legs and in an hour will devour a piece an inch long Pncht 8 030.11 (pre-lOOl). http //psyche elitclub orgW3.00-10 html



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'February 1897.1 PSYCHE. 3 1
by a third of an inch wide; the heavier
veins of the oak are avoided. They are ex- ceedingly slow in movement. One re-
mained almost motionless for four or five hours and then climbed the side of the box slowly and cautiously.
The earliest pairing of the sexes was noted Sept. 22, and a male was in one instance a!. most continnously coupled with a female for eight days, and died immediately afterward, while the female lived until December 10, laying eggs at inlervals. Mr. L. Tronvelot who also reared this insect found that the male usually died within two days after the close of copulation. One female laid 38
eggs between Sept. 10 and Oct. .5 and died Oct. 11 with 15 developed and .? or 6 unde- veloped eggs in her ovaries. The eggs are dropped loosely upon the ground and it has repeatedly happened to Mr. Trouvelot and myself that eggs which did not hatch after the winter had passed went over a second winter and then gave out the young. Out
of 110 eggslaid one October only 7 hatched the next year, in July; in another year the earliest eggs hatched June 22.
Mr. J. Elliot Cabot informed me that at
Beverly, Mass., the country people call these insects " witches horses."
Samuel H. Scud&-.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB.
9 October, 1896.-The 193d meeting was
held sit Mr. S. Hcnshaw's, Mercer Circle, Cambridge. Mr. A. P. Morse in the chair. Mr. S. Heushaw showed speciitiens of
Trollies +Tiorurn from Cooktown, Queens- land. Australia,
Some discussion followed.. in which all
participated, upon the abundance of the
following insects around Boston during the past summer, i. e., the army worm (Lwcaitia ~mpuiirta), the larvae ofLftchnosterna,C~y- pfu~kyncAus leipethe and Pu$iZio$kilenor. Mr. J. W. Folsom spoke of a new species
of tnyrinecophilons Sn~ynthurns in which the eyes are wanting and remarked upon its characters and upon the habits of myrme- cophilous Thysanura. He showed drawings
of the new species.
Mr. R. Hajwsu-d spoke briefly upon
Pkmgodes $U~I~WZ. Glow-worms were
very abundant in Milton during the past
summer, but although he had seiwched care- fully for them, he had found hut one male magc and that at a considerable distance from where the glow-worms were seen.
They had fed in captivity upon earthworms and a species of Jntns.
13 November, 1896.-The 194th meeting
was held at Mr. S. I-Tenshaw'&, Mercer Circle, Cambridge, Mr. A. G. Mayer in the chair. Mr. E. A. C. Olive and Miss Mabel Olive
of Cooktown, Queensland, Australia, were elected to active membership,
Mr. A. G. Mayer gave an interesting nc-
count of his recent trip lo Australia and briefly mentioned his observations on the in- sect fauna, as well as his general impres- sions of that region.
The Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada. With special reference to New Englznd.
By SAMUEL H. SCUDDER.
Illustrated with 96 plates of Butterflies, Caterpillars, Chrysalids, etc. (of which 41 are colored) which include about 2,000 Figures besides Maps and Portraits, 1958 Pages of Text.
Vol. 1. Introduction; Nyinphalidae.
Vol. 2.
Remaining Families of Butterflies.
Vol. 3. Appendix, Plates and Index.
The set, 3 vols., royal Svo, half lev;int, $75.00 net. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., 4 Park St., Boston, Mass.



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