Fig. 155.—Portion of early stages of Xenos rossii. (After von Siebold.) A, Small male larva; B, small female larva; C, full-grown male larva; D, full-grown female larva; E, the so-called "cephalothorax" and adjacent segment of adult female. (The newly-hatched larva is very much like that of Stylops shown in Fig. 154.)
We have still only very imperfect knowledge as to the structure and development of Strepsiptera. Indeed but little information has been obtained since 1843.[[160]] Before that time the mature female was supposed to be a larva, and the triungulins found in it to be parasites. Although the erroneous character of these views has been made clear, the problems that have been suggested present great difficulties. Apparently the change from the triungulin condition (Fig. 154) to the parasitic larvae (Fig. 155, A, B) is extremely great and abrupt, and it appears also that during the larval growth considerable sexual differentiation occurs (Fig. 155, C, D); details are, however, wanting, and there exists but little information as to the later stages. Hence it is scarcely a matter for surprise that authorities differ as to which is the head and which the anal extremity of the adult female. Von Siebold apparently entertained no doubt as to the part of the female that is extruded being the anterior extremity; indeed he called it a cephalothorax. Supposing this view to be correct, we are met by the extraordinary facts that the female extrudes the head for copulatory purposes, that the genital orifice is placed thereon, and that the young escape by it. Meinert[[161]] contends that the so-called cephalothorax of the adult is the anal extremity, and that fertilisation and the escape of the young are effected by the natural passages, the anterior parts of the body being affected by a complete degeneration. Nassonoff, in controversion of Meinert, has recently pointed out that the "cephalothorax" of the young is shown by the nervous system to be the anterior extremity. It still remains, however, to be shewn that the "cephalothorax" of the adult female corresponds with that of the young, and we shall not be surprised if Meinert prove to be correct. The internal anatomy and the processes of oogenesis appear to be of a very unusual character, but their details are far from clear. Brandt has given some particulars as to the nervous system; though he does not say whether taken from the male or female, we may presume it to be from the former; there is a supra-oesophageal ganglion, and near it a large mass which consists of two parts, the anterior representing the sub-oesophageal and the first thoracic ganglia, while the posterior represents two of the thoracic and most of the abdominal ganglia of other Insects; at the posterior extremity, connected with the other ganglia by a very long and slender commissure, there is another abdominal ganglion.[[162]]
It is a matter of great difficulty to procure material for the prosecution of this study; the fact that the instars to be observed exist only in the interior of a few Hymenopterous larvae, which in the case of the bee, Andrena, are concealed under ground; and in the case of the wasps, Polistes, placed in cells in a nest of wasps, adds greatly to the difficulty. It is therefore of interest to know that Strepsiptera occur in Insects with incomplete metamorphosis. They have been observed in several species of Homoptera; and the writer has a large Pentatomid bug of the genus Callidea, which bears a female Strepsipteron apparently of large size. This bug[[163]] is abundant and widely distributed in Eastern Asia, and it may prove comparatively easy to keep stylopised examples under observation. Both v. Siebold and Nassonoff think parthenogenesis occurs in Strepsiptera, but there appear to be no facts to warrant this supposition. Von Siebold speaks of the phenomena of Strepsipterous reproduction as paedogenesis, or pseudo-paedogenesis, but we must agree with Meinert that they cannot be so classed.
The males of Strepsiptera live for only a very short time, and are very difficult of observation. According to Hubbard the males of Xenos dash about so rapidly that the eye cannot see them, and they create great agitation amongst the wasps in the colonies of which they are bred. Apparently they are produced in great numbers, and their life consists of only fifteen or twenty minutes of fiery energy. The males of Stylops are not exposed to such dangers as those of Xenos, and apparently live somewhat longer—a day or two, and even three days are on record. The individuals of Andrena parasitised by Stylops are apparently greatly affected in their economy and appear earlier in the season than other individuals; this perhaps may be a reason, coupled with their short lives, for their being comparatively rarely met with by entomologists.
Fig. 156.—Abdomen of a wasp (Polistes hebraeus) with a Strepsipteron (Xenos ♀) in position, one of the dorsal plates of the wasp's abdomen being removed. a, Projection of part of the parasite; b, line indicating the position of the removed dorsal plate.
It is not possible at present to form a valid opinion as to whether Stylopidae are a division of Coleoptera or a separate Order. Von Siebold considered them a distinct Order, and Nassonoff, who has recently discussed the question, is also of that opinion.
CHAPTER VI
LEPIDOPTERA—OR BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS