Fig. 244.—Reproductive organs of Clothilla pulsatoria. A, Male; a, vesiculae seminales; b, testes; c, vasa deferentia; d, ejaculatory duct. B, Female; a, b, egg-tubes; c, oviduct; d, uterus, containing egg; e, accessory gland (the enveloping sac in section); f, its duct. (After Nitzsch.)
The internal anatomy is only very incompletely known. Nitzsch[[308]] has, however, described the alimentary canal and the reproductive organs of Clothilla pulsatoria. The former is remarkably simple: no proventriculus or crop was found; the stomach is very elongate, and consists of a sac-like anterior portion and an elongate, tubular posterior part. There are four Malpighian tubes. The posterior part of the canal is remarkably short, the small intestine being scarcely as long as the rectum. The ovaries (Fig. 244, B) consist of five egg-tubes on each side; connected with the oviduct there is a peculiar accessory gland consisting of a sac containing other small sacs each with an elongate efferent duct; the number of the secondary sacs varies from one to four according to the individual. The testis (Fig. 244, A, b) is a simple capsule; connected with the base of the ejaculatory duct there is a pair of elongate accessory glands or vesiculae seminales.
The life-history has never been satisfactorily sketched. The young greatly resemble the old, but have no ocelli or wings, and sometimes the tarsi are of two joints, while in the adult they have three. The antennae have also in these cases a less number of joints in the young stage. The food is animal or vegetable refuse substances; many live on fungoid matter of various kinds, mouldy chaff being, it is said, a favourite pabulum; the mould on palings is a source of food to many; others live on the rust-fungi of leaves, and many frequent the bark of trees. They are able to spin webs, probably by the aid of the lingual glands; the eggs are deposited, in some cases, on leaves and covered with a web. Hagen says that a peculiar organ, possibly a gland—he calls it a hose[[309]]—exists at the base of the tarsal claws. In our climate most of the species pass the winter in the egg-state. There may be two generations in a year, perhaps more.
The nomenclature of the wing-veins of Psocidae has given rise to much discussion.[[310]] The system shown in the accompanying figure is probably the most convenient; the subcostal vein (2) is always obscure, and sometimes can only be detected by very minute examination. Some interesting information as to the minute structure and mode of formation of the wings and their nervures has been given by Hagen.[[311]]
Fig. 245.—Anterior wing of Elipsocus brevistylus. (After Reuter.) 1, Costal vein; 2, subcostal; 3, radial; 4, cubitus; 4a, branches of cubitus; 5, sector of the radius; 5a, forks thereof.
In the young the wings first appear as buds, or outgrowths of the sides of the meso- and meta-thorax; afterwards the prothorax decreases, while the other two thoracic segments and the wing-rudiments attached to them increase. The wings from their very origin appear to be different from those of the Orthoptera, and the changes that take place in the thoracic segments in the course of the development, differ from those that occur in Orthoptera.
Fig. 246.—Micropterous form of Mesopsocus unipunctatus. a, a, Wings. (After Bertkau.)