.A) ^ rJ, ^ %' A, L. J. M. /^LOftiCH THE HARLEQUIN FLY INHALL AND HAMMOND HENRY FROWDE, M.A. PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK t>^ Hb!0< ABfiamiXLond del . et lith The Harleq^uin Fly fCh.vrcm..omjMs dorscdzsj THE STRUCTURE AND LIFE-HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUIN FLY (CHIRONOMUS) BY L. C. MIALL. F.R.S. A. R. HAMMOND, F.L.S. O;tforli AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1900 O;t:for;> PRIXTKD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS UV HORACE HART, M.A. I'KIVTER TO THE I'N'n'Kli.SlTY PREFACE We have undertaken to give an account of this insect because we believe that its abundance nearly all round the year, its transparency, and the ease with Avhich it can be reared, render it peculiarly fit for study by inland naturalists. Chironomus in its various stages has a very special biological interest, and we have thought that its inclusion in ordinary teaching-courses would be facilitated by such a description as is now^ offered. This insect has long- been a favourite object with histologists, embryo- logists, and others, but its many points of interest had not been exhausted by our predecessors ; \^'e are well aware that they have not been exhausted by ourselves. It would be a real service to biology if we could incite the members of naturalists' clubs and other non-academic biologists to take up the study of life-histories. The lists of species, which are now- printed so freely, have no particular scientific value. Meanwhile the life-histories of insects, which have in the past yielded facts of the greatest biological importance, are almost totally neglected. The great vi Preface majority of Dipterous insects, for instance, have never been reared, and only an insignificant minority have been closely examined. In determining flies for the purposes of this book, we have been aided by the experience and accurate knowledge of the late Mr. R. H. Meade, of Bradford. Mr. G. H. Verrall has been good enough to identify for us the fly of Orthocladius. We have acknow- ledged in the proper places our obligations to Miss Dorothy Phillips and Mr. T. H. Taylor, both of the Yorkshire College. We hope that these two naturalists of the new generation may succeed as well in the independent labours that await them as in what they have done for us. Lastly, we have to thank the Delegates of the Clarendon Press for the liberality with which they have produced a book, whose numerous illustrations render it costly, while it appeals only to a limited public. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAfiE Outline of Life-History ; Relations of Chironomus TO OTHER DiPTEKA I CHAPTER II. The Larva of Chironomus 25 CHAPTER in. The Fly of Chironomus 88 CHAPTER IV. Development of the Pupa and Fly within the Larva 118 CHAPTER V. The Pupa of Chironomus 138 CHAPTER VI. The Embryonic Development of Chironomus . . .153 APPENDIX. Methods of Anatomical and Histological Investigation 177 Additional Note on the Swarming and Buzzing of Harlequin-flies 183 BIBLIOGRAPHY 185 INDEX 193 DESCRIPTION OF PLATE (frontispiece) Fig. I. Male fly {Chirononms dorsalis). x 8. Fig. 2. Female fly. x S. Fig. 3. Dorsal view of half-grown larva, x 8. Fig. 4. Side view of older larva. Fig. 5. Ventral view of pupa, x 8. Fig. 6. Side view of pupa, x 8. The full-grown larva of C. dorsalis is about 20 mm. long ; the fly varies from 575 to 7-5 mm.; and the pupa is a little longer than the fly. THE HARLEQUIN FLY CHAPTER I OUTLINE OF LIFE-HISTORY ; RELATIONS OF CHIRONOMUS TO OTHER DIPTERA Note. — When an author's name is followed by a date, tlie work cited will he found in the bibliographical list at the end. The naturalist wlio searches the mud at the bottom of Habitat, food, move- a slow stream will oiten m.eet with crimson larvae, an ments. inch or less in length, which when full-fed turn to pupae, and shortly afterwards emerge as two-winged flies. These larvae are popularly called hlood-2V07'ms. They feed chiefly on dead leaves and other vegetable refuse. Micro- scopic examination of the contents of the stomach reveals a blackish mass of vegetable fragments, besides diatoms, infusoria, eggs of other aquatic animals, and grains of sand. The larvae usually hide themselves from view, and in deep mud form nearly vertical tubes which open at the surface. When captured, their chief anxiety is to bury themselves in mud or vegetation. If a larva is placed in a saucer with a few bits of dead leaves, it will gather them about its body, weaving them together with viscid threads passed out from its mouth, and in a quarter of an hour it will be completely concealed by a rude sheath, which is not easily distinguished from the similar objects which lie around. If the remains of plants are not to be had, it will weave together grains of sand or particles of Outline of Life-history mud. In summer the proportion of ac^ a-A ^f^ Rig. I.- — Larva of Chirononms dorsalis i, half- grown. X 9. 2, full-grown, x 9. The numerals mdicate the segments. JJ ap, prothoracic appen- dages. 7't, ventral blood-gills, a.ap, anal feet. a.p, anal blood-gills. In 2 the following are seen through the larval skin, r./, tracheal gill of pupa. I, leg. to, wing. saliva is greater, and the tubes are lined with felted fibres. These summer-tubes may be so coherent that they can be picked up with for- ceps and sufier no injury. The tubes are, if possible, at- tached to some fixed object, and are often much longer than the body of the larva. Larvae kept in a clean saucer with nothing but water make transparent tubes of saliva only. In winter the larvae often inhabit galle- ries, whose walls have little or no cohesion. The larva holds on to its tube, and travels along it, when neces- sary, by the help of two pairs of limbs, which are crowned with circles of hook- lets. One pair is just behind the head, the other at the tail (fig. i). The limbs are aided in locomotion Habitat, Food, Movements 3 by the labrum (fig. 16), a flap hanging down in front of the month, which is armed with an elaborate pro- vision of hooks and spines, and is often used to drag the body forwards. This use of the mouth for loco- motion can be observed in other Dipterous larvae. Sometimes the larva sticks out the fore end of its body in search of food ; at other times the hinder end is pushed out, and swayed up and down in the water ; by a similar movement of the body a current of water can be made to flow through the burrow ^. The larva, if undisturbed, seldom or never leaves its retreat by day, but at night it ventures out and swims near the surface of the w^ater, writhing in figures of-eight. The body is violently doubled up, and then suddenly bent to the opposite side, and the blows thus given to the water propel the larva slowly along. Daring these nightly excursions a store of oxygen is obtained, which amply suffices for the following day, when the helpless larva dares not quit its shelter. Captive larvae are careless about returning to their old burrows, being able to make new ones so easily, but in a small vessel they will come back time after time to the same burrows. If the water is well aerated and food plentiful, they often remain in their tubes day and night. Sometimes a number of larvae weave a felted mass of earth and threads, in which each animal has its own tube. The larvae commonly inhabit slow streams, but they are also met with in pools and troughs. They can exist at great depths, and have been fished up. sometimes in company with Tanypus, from the bottom of Lake Geneva, Lake Superior, and other deep lakes. They have often been found in salt water. Packard was the first to ' Caddis-worms and the aquatic cateiiiillar of Paraponyx, as well as the Chironomus-larva, keep up an undulatory movement of the body, wliich continually renews the water within the sheath, case, or burrow. B 2 Outline of Life-history Parasites. observe tliis ; he found tliem abundant at low- water mark in Salem harbour ; Verrill dredged one from a depth of twenty fathoms at Eastport, Maine ; and they have also b9en found on the coasts of Denmark ^ Swainson has found them in the sea at the Mumbles, Swansea, and has dredged them in fifteen fathoms off the Isle of Man. At Sheerness they inhabit salt-marshes, which are overflowed by the tide every day. As might be expected from its place of abode and the nature of its food, the blood-worm is much infested by parasites. Stalked infusoria attach themselves to its head as well as to other parts of the body ; nematoid worms coil themselves up in the body-cavity, and even distend the whole integument ; Gregarines lurk in the intestine. According to Villot ^ a species of hair-worm Fig. 2. — Gordian worm, infesting larva of Cliironomiis. i, immature female, from larva, y^, in. long. 2, adult male, from mud of stream, about i in. long. The adult female has no spicule, and the genital orifice is >3 of the leng-th of the body from the head end. (Gorclius), while still of microscopic size, bores into the Chironomus-larva, and becomes encysted within it. If the larva is swallowed by a fish, the Gordius is set free; it now fastens upon the mucous lining of the intestine of its new host, and again encysts itself. AVhen it has grown to its full size, it escapes into the water, elongates 1 Meinert, 1886, ji. 73 ; Packard, 1870 ; Monnier, 1874. 2 Yillot, 1874. Parasites 5 its body to a surprising degree, loses the cephalic armature, and becomes capable of propagation ^. i 1 Ti cS r\ cfl ^ T{ Ti r^ 0) CJ +^ IB ointecl out to us by Mr. T. H. Taylor, in which tlie worm escaped through one of the anal feet. 6 Outline of Life-history either a Gordius or a Mermis. In its first condition it infests the larva, but a later stage has been found in the pupa and in the newly emerged fly, coiled in the body- cavity about the abdominal viscera. At length the worm quits its host, and then lives free in the mud, attaining a length of about an inch. The sexes are distinct, the male being distinguished by a spicule near the end of the tail. The intestine runs almost the wliole length of the body, and is at first filled with grannlar matter. It ends blindly at both ends. An oesophagus extends backwards for some distance from the head-end, but does not enter the intestine '. The eggs are formed within a convoluted tube, but ultimately escape into the body-cavity, wdiich they distend to such a degree that the female worm becomes little more than an egg-sac. What appears to be the outlet of the female reproductive organs is distant about one-third of the length of the body from the head. In the mature male the testis extends along nearly the whole 1 ■ngth. The spicule is imperforate, and no outlet to the rej)roductive organs has been discovered. A double row of minute papillae runs along the inside of the curved tail, near the spicule. These seem to be glandular, for slight pressure (e, g. the weight of a cover-glass) causes them to exude a viscid fluid, which takes the form of threads mingled with loose cells. These occupy all the centre of the close coil formed by the tail, while the spicule is protruded (fig. 3, 2). Neither the double spicule of the male Mermis nor the cleft tail of the male Gordius was seen. The following species are said to infest Chironomus : — Gordius tolosanus, Duj., Mermis albicans, 8ieb., 31. acu- minata, Sieb., 31. chironomi, Sieb., 31. crassa, Linst. They are parasitic on the larva and pupa, and 3Iermis albicans at least is not uncommon in the fly. The identification of the species in the second larval stage is difficult, and we have often been in doubt as to the forms observed. Those who make many sections of Chironomus -larvae and pupae will be sure to come across specimens which harbour Gordian worms, and it may save them much time if they bear this in mind. It has happened to us to waste many hours over a singular new structure which at last revealed itself as a Gordius. ' A similar break of continuity has been described in Mermis. Enemies 7 Blood-worms are preyed upon by many aquatic insects, Enemies, as well as by fishes. Caddis- worms, Perla-larvae, Sialis- larvae, and Tanypus-larvae devour tlieni greedily. A number of empty heads of the blood-worm may often be seen in the stomach of a single Perla or Tanypus larva. If it is desired to get a supply of blood-worms, a slow, Method of , . . , . collecting. muddy stream, abounding m decaying organic matter, should be visited. Pure water is not at all necessary to the health of the larvae, and they often abound in foul streams. A long-handled iron spoon or ladle, which can be tied to a walking-stick if necessary, is a convenient collecting implement. The larvae may be picked or Avashed out of the mud, and brought home in a wide- mouthed collecting bottle. They can be kept alive for weeks with very little attention. Decaying vegetation and fresh water now and then are all that they require. A shallow vessel is better than a deep one for these and most other aquatic insects. In winter captive larvae continue a long time without Transfer. . -, , mations. marked change. Young ones grow bigger, and now and then moult, though it is rare that we see anything of the operation. A cast skin enables us to make out that the dorsal wall of the thorax splits along the middle line, while the head breaks up along two sutures which define the central plate (clypeus), and also along the mid- ventral line. When the larvae are nearly an inch long, they will often remain for many weeks together without visible alteration. But in summer, in a particularly warm winter- season, or in a well-warmed room, matters advance more rapidly. If we see larvae with the rings behind the head swollen, we know that they will shortly turn to pupae. When the last larval skin is cast, there emerges a very difi'erent-looking animal, in which we can make out with a little pains a pair of wings, six long legs, and a head with big, compound eyes. These organs belong 8 Outline of Life-history to the fly ; for the moment they are shrouded in a deli- cate, transparent envelope, the pupa-skin. The pupa commonly lies within its burrow, or half in and half out, until the time of extrication of the fly is at hand ; it neither feeds nor swims about. Sometimes it lies with its tail buried in mud, the head and tracheal gills sticking out, or it may excavate a little basin in the mud by the movements of the tail, and lie in it. The tail or abdomen is always the part which bends to and fro. When kept in a saucer of muddy water, the pupa lies on the surface of the mud, and being insufficiently supported by the mud. takes an unnatural position, lying on its side. The red colour of the fresh-emerged pupa soon darkens, and two bunches of silvery filaments just behind the head show out with great distinctness. In two or three days the pupa becomes buoyant, and rises to the surface, where it remains until the fly escapes. The process of extrica- tion from the pupa-skin is accomplished so quickly that it is hard to see in detail what happens. The cast skin floating on the water tells us that the back of the thorax splits lengthwise, as at an ordinary larval moult, and that the fly emerges through the cleft. Considering that the long and slender legs, the antennae, the new mouth- parts, the wings, and the abdomen have all to be drawn out from their sheaths, it is startling to find the fly taking wing before one is able to focus the eye upon it. In the case of a fly which escaped more slowly than usual, we estimated that the whole process occupied ten seconds. Now and then something catches, and the fly extricates itself with great effort, or not at all. Most of the larvae which we find in winter are destined to pupate and turn to flies in early spring. These lay eggs, and produce a fresh crop of young larvae. There is a rapid succession of broods until late autumn. A live fly is occasionally seen on the window-pane even in the The Fly 9 depth of winter. Some of these unseasonable examples have lately emerged from the pupa- skin ; others have lingered on from the previous warm season. An insect which has been unable to mate sometimes survives its companions for a long time. The fly of the blood-worm is a gnat-like creature, The %. which is often seen in summer on the window-pane, or hovering in swarms over streams and pools. When at rest, it usually stretches out its fore-legs, raising them altogether from the ground ^ Unlike the gnat, it has no biting or piercing organs, and is quite harmless. The mouth is almost closed, and feeding seems to be im- possible. The head is furnished with great compound eyes, and in the male, with large plumed antennae. The female has simpler antennae, and the eyes are not so large as in the male. Swarms of flies, composed almost entirely of males, dance in the air of an evening. Now and then a pair falls towards the ground ; the male soon rejoins the swarm, but the female flies off'. (See addi- tional note, p. 183.) The fertile female skims over the surface of the water, Egg-iaying touching it lightly from time to time with her legs. This is preliminary to the laying of the eggs, which com- monly takes place in the late evening or early morning. She settles at last on the margin of a pool or stream, and brings the tip of the abdomen close to the surface of the water. A dark gelatinous mass, consisting of eggs thinly covered with mucilage, is then protruded until it touches the water, when it at once begins to swell up. After all the eggs are passed out, the whole mass, which forms a gelatinous cylinder, is secured by the female to some fixed object close to the water's edge. The attachment varies according to the species of the fly, but often takes ' Gnats may be seen to lift the liind legs, and wave them slowly about, as if to explore. lO Outline of Life-liistory Peculiari- ties of t'resli- hatched larva. Some com- mon species of Chiro- nomus. the form of a double cord, which traverses the egg-mass and projects beyond it at one end (fig. ii6). During the process of oviposition the female is not easily induced to break off'; if she is forcibly removed from the surface of the water, she sometimes flies a short distance with the egg-mass protruding, which disproves the statement formerly accepted, that she begins by making fast the end of the cord ^ The eggs are almost transparent, and can be studied microscopically while still alive. They hatch out in three to six days. When fresh-hatched, the Chironomus-larva is some- what less peculiar than after its first moult ; it has at first no red colour, and no blood-gills on the last segment but one ; the brain is not retracted into the prothorax, but enclosed in the head, and the nerve-cord is visibly'' double throughout its whole length. This is an ex- ample of what zoologists call Recapitulation, the earlier stage retaining more of what we take to be the primitive structure. There are many species of Chironomus, and it is remarkable that while the flies are very similar, the larvae are sometimes notably different. Two forms occur frequently. In one group of species the larva often has four long tubules (blood-gills) on the under- side of the body at the tail-end (fig. i) ; the pupa bears bunches of long filaments (tracheal gills) behind the head, and has a fringed tail-plate (Plate, figs. 5, 6). To this group belong the comparatively large red larvae, which are called blood-wormfi. In a second group the larval tubules are absent ; the pupa has a pair of short and simple trumpets in place of the bunches of filaments (fig. 7) ; the tail-plate is not fringed, but merely furnished with two bunches of short bristles ^. Most of the larvae of the first group burrow; the larvae ' Eitter. 1890, p. 411. - Meinert, 1886, p. 75. C. miniitus ii of the second group often live at the surface of the water, and feed upon weeds. Some of these surface- larvae are green instead of red, the green colour being due to a pigment in the fat. In at least one species the green pigment coexists with red blood. One greenish larva of the second group mines the floating leaves of Potamogeton (pond-weed\ and another smaller kind, Avith pale red blood, does the same \ Mr. T. H. Taylor, Assistant-Lecturer in Zoology at v. the Yorkshire College, favours us with a short account of the larva of Chironomm mimdus, Zett., whicli has not. so far as we know, been previously described. The fly, which was reared in captivity, was identified b^- Mr. E. H. Meade. ' The larva of C. minutiis is found on stones in streams both quick and slow. It escapes observation by sur- rounding itself with an irregular gelatinous tube, which is fixed to a stone, and coated with foreign particles. When disturbed, the creature leaves its case and crawls over the stones like a leech or a Geometer-larva, bringing the anal feet up to the prothorax, extending the bod}- again, and so on. It swims vigorously with a figure-of- eight movement. ' The larva is of pale green colour, and about seven mm. long. It is similar in general appearance to the blood- worm, except that the blood-gills on the last segment but one are absent. The hooks on the prothoracic feet are toothed like a comb ; the hooks on the anal feet are simpler (fig. 4). The tracheal system is well developed, longitudinal trunks with numerous branches extending throughout the bod3^ 1 These two groups are not exhaustive. Thus the larva of Chironomus niveipennis has red blood, but no ventral blood-gills. The pupa has a fringed tail-plate, and the branches of the tracheal gill are compara- tively few. See p. 13 for further details. miniitiia. 12 O III line of Life-history ' Larvae about to pupate have the thorax much swollen. The pupal stage is passed in a gelatinous case, wliich Fig. 4. — Larva of CJiironomus minutus. 14, hooks on prothoracic appendages. 5, 6, hooks on anal appendages. adheres to a stone in the stream (fig. 5). The wall of the case is structureless, but seems to have a fibrous texture within. At each end of the case is a spout-like Fig. 5. — Pupa of Chironomus minutus, lying in its transparent sheath. T]ie arrows show the current of water. >, 15. aperture, and by the undulations of the body a constant current is kept up, flowing in at the fore aperture, and out behind. The head of the pupa lies in a part of the C. niveipennis 13 chamber which is considerably wider than the rest. It not uncommonly happens that two pupae are enveloped in a common case. Each however has its own separate chamber, which lies alongside the other, but with the ends reversed — an arrangement which saves space. The pupa has no tracheal gills, but small respiratory trumpets (figs. 6, 7). The minute size of the trumpets, and the com- plete submer- gence of the pupa, indicate that respira- tion is carried on indepen- dently of these oro-ans. Fig. 6. — Dorsal stirface of pupal tlioi-ax of Chironomus minutus, showing the respiratorj' trumpets, fg. x 50. Fig. 7. — Respira- tory trumpet of Chironomus mhut- tiis. X 400. When ready to emerge, the pupa works its way through the wall of its case, aided doubtless by the strong hooks on the abdominal segments. It soon floats at the surface of the water, the thorax splits, and the fly escapes.' The larva and pupa of C. niveipennis have been pointed c. nUei- - - pcnnh. out to us by Mr. T. H. Taylor. The fly was named by Mr. R. K Meade. The larva inhabits a tube, and possesses red blood. There are no ventral blood-gills. 14 Outline of Life-history The pupa has a tail-fin composed of thirty to forty long setae, and the abdominal segments are laterally expanded. On the second abdominal segment are paired postero- lateral transparent appendages of small size, enclosing- minute blood- spaces. There are two conical prominences, each bearing a long seta, on the vertex of the head. Corresponding structures were not found in the ^y. The tracheal gill divides into three primary branches as usual. The secondary branches are comparatively few ; each encloses a number of tracheae, which pass to the ultimate branches. In the legs of the fly the variety of colouration, noted by Zetterstedt, was very apparent, though all the speci- mens were taken at the same time and place (Meanwood Beck, June, 1899). chirono- Lyonet met with a tube-dwelling larva, of which an Sadii?s)* "' account is given in his Anafomie et JSIetamorphoses de nvon%iro- difere7ifes especes d'Insectes, a posthumous work edited "^''^' by De Haan. He speaks of the tube as formed of silk and a sort of moss, plentiful in ditches ; it is open at both ends, enlarged in the middle, and sufficiently transparent to allow the movements of the larva to be watched. Unlike most other tubes secreted or built up by insect- larvae, the one in question is so flexible as to follow the bendings of the body when this is energetically contorted. He describes the method of feeding of the larva, which seizes the moss between its mandibles and fore-legs, and drags it into the tube, and its way of moving about, by grasping with the mandibles and fore-legs alternately. If the tube becomes lodged so as to be immovable, the larva quits it and makes another. When free, it swims with a looping action. The full-fed larva pupates in its tube. Beyond this point the description does not go. as Lyonet had mislaid his notes. He figures the tube, the larva, the pupa, and the male and female fly. De Haan identifies Mode of Life of Orthocladius 15 the insect as a Tanypus, perhaps T. nervosus, but it is really a Chironomus. Flies have been reared and sent to Mr. G. H. Verrall, who says of the species : ' It belongs to the group of Chironomi which Van der Wulp called Orthocladius, which have bare wings, the basal joint of the front tarsi shorter than the tibia, and the thorax not cowled. It is a large species for that genus, and is near 0. dUatatus,Y. d. Wulp, but is I think quite distinct, as Van der Wulp says nothing about the bearded front tarsi.' This insect has been rediscovered and studied in all its stages by Mr. T. H. Taylor, whom we have to thank for the following description and for the illustrative figures : — ' The larva finds its abode in a floating flock of Spiro- Mode of . life ot gyra. It makes a case of jelly-like substance, probably Oit.ho- out of the secretion of its salivary glands. With a high power a faintly fibrous structure can be seen in the jelly ; filaments of Spirogyra and also chain diatoms, &c., are Fig. 8.— Half-grown larva of Chironomus {Orthocladim) »p. in its case. X 12. interwoven, and this seems to be the result of a purposive act. The creature frequently stretches its body out of the tube and draws filaments towards the outlet, where they adhere to the viscous material and form a miniature arbour, like a porch over which creeping plants have been trained. There is nothing so elaborate in the con- struction as happens, for example, when a caddis-larva i6 Outline of Life-history builds its case ; the Orthocladius-larva appears to rely almost solely on its own secretion. It feeds voraciously on the surrounding Spirogyra, and the filaments which are interwoven are those which have already passed through its alimentary canal. ' On account of the transparency of its tube, the larva of Orthocladius is a convenient form for study. Its activities are : (i) Feeding. A filament of Spirogyra is seized by the mandibles and bitten in two. Then the labrum, beginning at one end of the filament, draws it into the gullet by a stroking action. In the case of Spirogyra condensata, amongst which the larva was first obtained, a filament was very soon eaten, but when aS^. ortliospira was supplied, the feeding was much slower and apparently more laborious, j)robably on account of the thick gelatinous sheath of this alga. If there is no food near, the larva, clinging to the tube by its anal feet, projects far out, and sweeps rapidly around until it gathers in a fresh wisp of filaments. In captivity, when the food-supply is exhausted, it will feed on other filamentous forms, e. g. Oedogonium. From time to time, the larva, protruding the tail-end from the tube, evacuates a bolus of digested Spirogyra, which at once disperses. This was rather surprising until microscopic examination showed that the filaments are not masticated, but simply crumpled up, and the contents removed, except remnants of the green protoplasm, so that when the filaments are released, the elasticity of the cell-wall straightens them out. (2) Respiration. The larva, when lying in its case, waves its body up and down ; this sets up a current of water, which flows in at the front-end and out behind ; either end may be the front-end, as the creature often reverses its position. The action is quiet and leisurely. (3) Loco- motion. As the case is not fixed, the larva can travel without leaving it. It does not creep like a caddis-larva, Mode of Life of Orthocladiiis 17 but jerks itself forward by a few powerful undulations in which the flexible case participates. It is unlikely that the creature swims by this method, which demands con- siderable effort, and is not continued long at a stretch. When it swims it leaves the case altogether, and loops through the water like a blood-worm. In captivity it has been seen to return to its tube after swimming in this manner. (4) Building. At intervals the larva apparently adds fresh material to its case. It with- draws its head towards the middle, and then works over the inner surface with its mandibles, from behind for- FiG. 9. — Egg-mass of Cliironomiis (Ortliocladitis). x lo. wards, testing the wall continually with its prothoracic legs. It has not been seen to work in this way on the outer surface. ' The larva grows rapidly, and pupates in about a fort- night. The cast larval skin is passed out of the pupal tube, which is now attached at one end to some fixed object. The pupa executes respiratory movements inside the tube, and after a short time— two days or less — comes out and floats at the surface of the water, where the fly escapes. i8 Outline of Life-history ' The eggs are laid in a jelly-mass, about 250 being counted in one instance. The row of eggs is contained within a hollow gelatinous rope of firm consistency. The egg-rope is bent into a series of frequently reversed loops, and its two ends are approximated, so that it is horse- shoe shaped. The whole is enveloped in a mass of much softer jelly. The larvae hatch out in about five days, and escape into the hollow egg-rope. By the end of the first day after hatching they become altogether free and take up their abode in the Spirogyra. They select a point where several filaments intersect, and begin building their case. This at first is of very irregular form, but by the third or fourth day it assumes a tube-like character. structural " The full-growu larva measures ten to twelve mm. in peculiari- ties of Or- thoelailius. Fig. 10. — Pupa of Cliironomus (Orthocladius). x 12. length. The general colour is pale green, and the green food in the alimentary canal is cons^Dicuous. Four anal blood-gills are present, while those of the ventral series on the penultimate segment are wanting. The paired sensory filaments are set on short stalks, and each consists of six long bristles. The tracheal system is well developed, and in this connexion the well-aerated habitat of this larva may be mentioned. The longitudinal tracheae are much larger than in C. dorsalis ; they are relatively wide in front, but narrow backwards. Numerous segmentally arranged branches are given off. The epithelium of the main tracheal trunks shows a purple colouration. Two thoracic intersegmental and eight abdominal intra- Chirononius and other Diptera 19 segmental spiracles are present ; all are closed. A pair of small processes were seen on the vertex of the pupa, like those of C dorsalis. The pu23a has a pair of respiratory trumpets, which are long, narrowed at each end, and spinous. , The second abdominal segment bears a median dorsal prominence beset with spines ; this perhaps serves to steady the pupa in its case. The tail-fin is expanded laterally, and fringed with about 100 setae on each side. ' The fresh-hatched larva does not differ materially in structure from the full-grown. The setae of the sensory filaments are not so numerous, and the tracheal system, if present at all, is not filled with air at this time.' This book will be occupied by a description of species belonging to the first group (p. 10), which includes the common large red larvae or blood- worms. The insect which we have chiefly studied is called Clilvonomus dorsalis iC. venustus is a synonym). There are other ^p'/''*^''^, !''"'"" ^ >J J I pet of Chiron o- larvae which difier only in minute details, "1*^^^ (Orthocia- "^ _ dius). X 100. such as the number and form of the joints of the antenna. For most purposes all large red larvae may be taken as practically identical ; by large is meant a larva nearly an inch long when full-fed. We have noted elsewhere (p. 150) the remarkable variety of structure presented by the larvae and pupae of the Chironomidae, and even by those of the single genus Chironomus. Baron Osten 8acken divides the order Diptera into ckirono- ^ , , -, mus and three sab-orders : — other I. Orthorrliaplia Nemocera. II. Orthorrhaplia Brachy- ^^ ^^^' cera. III. Cyclorrhapha Athericera. The names adopted for these sub-orders have the c 2 Fig. II Re- 20 Outline of Life-history advantage, as lie says, ' of being descriptive of a cliaracter taken from their metamorphoses on one side, and of another character taken from the imago and its principal organ of orientation (the antennae) on the other. The names OrthorrhapJia and Cyclorrhaplia were very happily chosen by Braner to characterize the metamorphoses of each of these groups, and should therefore be preserved. The names Nemocera and Atliericera were adopted for two groups by Latreille, and should likewise be re- tained ^.' Chironomus belongs to the sub-order Orthorrhapha Nemocera, in which the only pupal envelope is a thin membrane, the proper pupal skin. The antennae are slender and many -jointed. simpiifica- If a number of different Dipterous larvae are examined, larval com- a scries cau be traced which exhibits a twofold gradation, phcation of g£pg^j.- j-^g ^i^p 1^^,^,^^ ^^^^ ^1-^e imago in opposite directions, the larva becoming simplified as the imago becomes com- plicated. This apparently results from the gradual trans- ference of certain functions and responsibilities from the larva to the imago. In the more primitive forms the larva is active, and moves about to seek its food. Its structure is relatively complex, and its intelligence rela- tively high. The winged insect is short-lived, and the eggs are laid all together. The development of the fly within the body of the larva is gradual, and compatible with active life. Though the pupa does not feed, it never becomes motionless, and the pupal stage is brief. In pro- portion as the fly becomes more expert in seeking out stores of highly nutritious and easily assimilated food for its offspring, the larva degenerates. Some flies lay their ecTcrs in green leaves, in living fungi, or in decaying carcases, and to find out a site which is exactly suitable they often require a comparatively long life, keen senses, ' Entomol. M. Mag., 1893, pp. 149-150. Simplification and Complication 21 and good powers of flight. The eggs must, as a rule, be laid a few together in carefully selected spots. The larvae have little to do except to feed ; their limbs, sense- organs, and even their mouth-parts become reduced or lost, and the ultimate result may be a headless and foot- less maggot. So great is the contrast between the larva and the fly that an elaborate process of reconstruction is necessary to effect the passage from one to the other. The grub feeds voraciously, goes to sleep within the hardened larval skin, and there undergoes a complete renewal of all its organs and tissues, emerging as a fly, which, in accordance with the difficulty of its task, is Fig. 12. — Larva of Corethra. ^ , dorsal view ; J5, side view, x 8. Tlie two pairs of air-sacs are seen in tlie first and eighth segments behind the head. (From Miall's Natural History of Aquatic Insects.) peculiarly active and gifted. A few insects may be quoted to illustrate the progressive simplification of the larva and the simultaneous complication of the fly. 1. Corethra (fig. 12). — Larva active, carnivorous, with prehensile antennae and mouth-parts. Larval head not retractile ; eye-spots ; a tail-fin. No complete resting- stage; the pupa lasts four to five days. Fly short-lived : lays the eggs in a floating mass all together. 2. Chlronomus. — Larva active, concealed, often feeding on decaying vegetable matter. Larval head often small, not retractile ; eye-spots and antennae distinct, though 22 Outline of Life- history small, to five on the No complete resting- stage ; the pupa lasts three days. Fly short lived ; lays the eggs all together margin of a stream. Fig. i3.—Sfratiomi/s rhamacloon. i, larva. 2, larva floating at sixrface of water. 3, larva descendiug. 4, pupa within larval skin. 5, head of larva, dorsal view {a a marks the attachment of the thoracic integument). 6, head of larva, ventral view. The ventral wall is incomplete behind, and the pharynx and gullet arc exposed. 7, piece of integument. 8, ditto, in section, with conical, calcareous nails, q, a single calcareous nail (surface view). 10, spiracle, lying in centre of tail-coronet. (From Miall's Natural History of Aquatic Imccts. 2. ^, and 4 are copied from Swammerdam ) 3. Stratiomys (fig. 13).— Larva fairly active, but only in rising and sinking ; feeds on microscopic organisms. Brauer's Classification 23 Larval head minute, lialf-retractile ; the month-parts, antennae, and eye-spots much reduced. Pupa inactive, enclosed within the larval skin ; commonly lasts through the winter (five to seven days in summer). Eggs laid all together on water- weeds. 4. GalUphora (Blow-fly).— Larva very sluggish, im- mersed in putrid flesh. Head minute, rudimentar}-, completely retractile, without antennae or eye- spots, and with only a pair of hooks in place of mouth-parts. Eesting-stage complete, passed within the hardened larval skin ; the pupa lasts fourteen to thirty days according to the season, during which time the body is completely reformed. Fly active and long-lived, laying- eggs in several batches, and feeding on nutritious fluids. Brauer (1880) has attempted to make use of such Bmuer's differences as these for the purpose of classification, and classifica- tion. has published a system in which larval characters, and especially the degree of reduction of the larval head, are employed to denote extensive divisions of Diptera. The attempt has not proved satisfactory. Very few Diptera have been studied anatomically in their early stages, and Brauer has sometimes from defective information placed the genera wrongly in his own system (Chironomus and Phalacrocera are examples). Moreover, the organization of the larva is strongly adaptive, and varies with external circ*umstances. Almost every degree of reduc- tion of the larval head can be found in nature, but the amount of reduction may give little information as to the affinities of the insect. Adaptive and finely graded characters prove here, as else^diere, untrustworthy for the definition of large groups. The flies of the many species of Chironomus are dis- Adaptive . resem- tinguished with difficulty, to judge from the characters biancesami employed in systematic books, which are largely drawn in Nemo- from colour, from the relative length of tarsal joints, and '^'^''''' from the arrangement of the setae on the legs. Though the flies are so similar, the larvae and pupae may differ notably according to their species. Some larvae, for 24 Outline of Life-history B instance, have red blood, others not ; some have blood- gills on the eleventh segment, which are wanting in others. Some pupae have prothoracic respiratory trum- pets ; others have branched tracheal gills instead. This adaptive specialization of particular stages is no new thing in zoology. Natural selection seems to act upon the separate stages of certain life-histories almost as it acts upon species. Baron Osten Sacken ^ quotes two cases of Nemocera in which the reverse relation obtains, that is, the larvae are closely similar, but the Fi«. u— Papa of Corethra. A, ^168 SO UnlilvC aS tO bo re- ventral view. B, side view To show ferred to different families, the prothoracic respiratory trumpets. (From MiaU's Natural 'llidoru of rj^]^Q j^^q caSCS are (ci) MvCC- Aquatic Insects.) ^ ' ^ tobia and Rhyphus, (6) Ano- pheles and Dixa. We are unacquainted with the early stages of Rhyphus, and will therefore offer no remarks on case a. The larvae of Anopheles and Dixa, though so like as to have deceived one experienced entomologist, are not, we think, so like as to raise any new biological question. They are easily and certainly distinguished by an attentive observer, and many definite points of difference could be brought forward. They are only superficially alike, and the resemblance is merely adaptive, like the resemblance of some Isopod Crustacea to Millipedes^. * 1892, pp. 418, 465. 2 It has been remarked that larvae of Noctuae (e. g. Agrotis), thoiigli almost exactly alike, may produce moths of very different appearance. CHAPTER II THE LARVA OF CHIRONOMUS I. External form. Many external features of tlie larva can be made out Method of examina- witli the lielp of simple lenses, magnifying from five to tion. thirty diameters, but the details require the compound microscope. Larvae are easily killed by placing them for a few seconds in water heated till it feels hot to the finger. Then they may be placed in water on a glass slip, and covered with a glass circle. It is often desirable to take off the weight of the cover by cotton-wool or three small glass beads. When it is desired to examine a larva alive, small specimens, not more than half-grown, are to be preferred. A little cell is made of cotton-wooi ; this is filled with water; then the larva is picked up with a clean brush, and dropped inside the cell ; lastly, a glass cover is gently lowered upon it. The cottcn-wool keeps off the pressure of the cover, and also restrains the movements of the larva. The space enclosed by the ring of cotton- wool should be clear of threads or nearly so, in order that the object may not be obscured. The beating of the heart, the contractions of the intestine, the action of the jaws, and many other operations of the living animal can be conveniently studied in this way. The details of the larval head can be made out by treating the parts with caustic potash. Soak several heads in a ten per cent, solution for two or three days, wash thoroughly with water, and mount in glycerine, or (after dehydration) in 26 Segments and ap- pendages The Larva of Chirononius Canada balsam. Some of the heads should be broken up with needles. For surface -views, larvae hardened in Flemming's solution or some similar fluid are particu- larly useful. Further descriptions of methods are given in the Appendix. The body (fig. i) consists of a head and twelve seg- ments \ The head is rather small, and defended h^ a dense armour. The first three segments behind the head correspond to the thorax of the fly, and are distin- guished as pro-, meso-, and metatliorax. The prothorax has a pair of stumpy claw-bearing feet. The only other pair of feet, the anal feet, are carried on the last segment. Fig. 15. — Jjsxrva oi C'!iir(s dorsaUs. A, head, dorsal view. B, ditto, front view. C, edge of labium, with its teeth and papillae. (From MialFs Nahiral Hist or !/ 0/ Aquatic Insects.) The larval head. The larval head (figs. 15, 17) is protected on its upper or dorsal surface by three plates, one median and two lateral. The median plate (clypeus) carries the labrum, which hangs like a flap in front of the mouth, and can be bent backwards. The epipharynx or hind surface of the labrum, which looks towards the mouth, is furnished with an elaborate armature, which will be better understood by reference to fig. 16 than by any explanation in words. ' Tliis is the usual number in Neniocerau larvae. Pericomn and Pliah crocera have only eleven segments behind the head. The Larval Head 27 The hooks and spines no doubt aid the larva to gras]) firmly with the mouth, as it continually does, not only in feeding, but in creeping ; we have also thought it possible that some of these curious hooks may be used to guide the threads of silk as the}^ are paid out from the salivary duct ^. The lateral {e])icran\al) plates bear two pairs of rudimentary eyes (which are mere pigment-spots without lenses), as well as the antennae and the jaws. The epicranial plates curve round to the under-side of the head, and meet along the middle line in a faintly marked suture, along which the head splits at times of moult. In insects whose head is capable of considerable retrac- tion into the thorax, there may be no suture here, but a wide gap (many Dipterous larvae) ; where the mouth-parts are large, they may almost com- pletely fill the gap, or a separate piece {suhmentiim or gida) may defend the space (Orthoptera, Coleoptera). The fusion of the epicranial plates on the lower surface of the head of the Chironomus-larva is well suited to an insect whose head is small, exposed, and furnished with minute mouth-parts. The genae, which in the cockroacli and many other insects lie along the sides of the clypeus and bear the mandibles, are hardly separable in the Chironomus-larva. The larval antennae are small ; each consists of a com- paratively long basal joint, on which is a small, circular, ' The mouth of the tadpole is armed with rows of liorny teeth, which are not very unlike those of a Chironomus-larva. Fi(_;. i6.- -Under surface of labrum of larva, with its armature. 28 The Larva of Chironomiis sensory spot; beyond tliis are two terminal pieces of nearly equal length, one jointed, tlie other simple ; the number of joints varies with the species. The jaws. In insccts generally the jaws form three pairs of appendages, which somewhat resemble legs in their form, attachment, and mode of development. The man- dibles, or foremost pair, are the least like legs, being unjointed and usually toothed. They divide the food, and may also be used in grasping, fighting, &c. Two sm- Fig. 17. — Venti'al surface of head of larva. ant, antenna. W(7., mandible, mx p maxillary palp. s)H, submentnm. a', tooth-bearing surface of labrum. (/, striated flap bordering the sub- mentum. Fig. 18. — Mandible of larva, with chitinous tendons and muscles attached. /, fulcrum. pairs of maxillae follow, which are generally weaker than the mandibles, divided into many parts, and furnished with palps or feelers. The second pair of maxillae may closely resemble the first (Orthoptera, &c.), but they are often greatly modified for special purposes. The mandibles of the Chironomus-larva (figs. 17, 18) are strong and toothed, and so placed that in closing they do not move in the same plane, but at angles of 45° with a vertical plane. They are not opposed to each The Jazvs 29 other, but rather to the strongly toothed snhmentnm. On the inner side of each mandible is a bunch of setae, which help to close-in the mouth. The first pair of maxillae are not so easy to make out, for they are reduced to stumps, which are concealed from view when the head is at rest. There is a rudimentary setose prominence internally;, which in some species bears a row of tooth- lihe projections, and a minute palp on the outer side. The maxillae of the second pair, which often unite to form a single organ, the labium, can only be understood by comparison with other insects. In the Chironomus- larva they have lost so many of the original parts that at first sight they seem to consist of a single comb-like plate, whose teeth point forwards, and are opposed to the man- dibles, helping them to grasp or divide the food. On close examination a second plate is discovered above the other, and almost hidden by it. The upper plate is of softer texture, and furnished with many spines and bulb- like projections, some of which may be connected with the sense of taste (fig. 15, C). The fore-edges of these two plates form the hinder border of the mouth-opening. In Orthopterous insects, which with respect to the mouth- parts are less specialized than most others, there are two successive plates at the base of the labium, a basal and larger piece, called the suhmenturiu and a distal piece, the mentum, to which the terminal parts are attached. It seems to us probable that the mentum of the Cliironomus- larva has gradually slipped behind the submentum. which now almost completely conceals it. On each side of the labium is a striated and rather flexible flap (fig. 17, ?/), which helps to close-in the mouth. The interior of the larval head is largely occupied by Orgrans en- . 11 closed the muscles of the jaws. The slender gullet passes back- within the wards from the mouth into the body. The salivary ducts pass forwards to open above the mentum, and behind 30 The Larva of CJiiroiwinus a minute projection in the floor of tlie nioutli (lingua). We should naturally expect to find the brain in the head, but in the blood-worm it has been retracted into the segment next behind (prothorax). In the fresh- hatched larva, however, it occupies its normal position in the head. A few words of explanation may be given here, though the subject is ^more fully discussed in chapter iv. The larval head is small in Clilronomus dorsalis and other blood-worms, as in many other insects which feed upon dead organic matter. Their food is plentiful and ready to hand, so that highly developed Fio. 19. — Median section tliruugh larvul lieail. ws, oesophagus. f thorax. The first abdominal is shifted forwards from its eord' * proper segment to the metathorax (fig. 35). The connectives between the ganglia, though really double, appear to form a single cord behind the first abdominal ganglion, except in very young larvae, where ' Weisniiimi, 1863. 44 TJie Larva of Chirononms they are still distinct \ connective-tissue slieatli. Tlie nerve-cord lias the usual In the ganglia the masses of Fig. 35. — Nervous system of adult larva (fore part, extending to second abdominal ganglion, together with muscles of body-wall). The nerves are black. Ktes.g, sub-oesophageal ganglion, im, rudiments of imaginal legs, pro.g, pro- thoracic ganglion, t.n. i-io, transverse nerves, mesg, mesothoracic ganglion. itiet.g, metathoracic ganglion. 1-8 ah.y, abdominal ganglia. «', nerves passing from first abdominal ganglion to muscles of that segment. N.B. — The Ijrain is not shown. ^ The connectives between the j^ro- and mesothoracic ganglia enclose between them the insertions of a puiv of strong muscles, which arise from the hinder margin of the mesothorax. The separation of the thoracic connectives by muscles is more evident in large and active insects, such as tlie cockroach. (See Miall and Denny, 1886, fig. 34.) Transverse Nerves 45 nerve-cells are, as in other insects, ventral to tlie fibrous tracts. Each franglion sends branches to its own se2:ment. Branches ^ ^ ° of distribu- "Where the ganglion is shifted out of its proper segment tion. the branches retain their primitive distribution. The last ganglion sends a pair of nerves to the ventral surfaces of each of the last two abdominal segments. There are probably nerves, which we have not clearlj- ^ t/r.'i'iiKi.M: s^i. Fig. ,^6. — Nervoiis system of adult larva (hinder part), s.gl, sexual glands. «", n'", nerves i^assing from last ganglion to muscles of eighth and ninth abdominal segments. 6, ventral blood-gills. The rest as in fig. 35. seen, connected with the ganglia at the bases of the bunches of sensory hairs (pp. 35, 49). A transverse nerve proceeds from each of the thoracic Transverse „ 1 1 • 1 1 nerves. and abdominal ganglia, except the hrst abdominal, and runs transversely above the ventral cord, usually along the junction of two segments (figs. 35, 36). Each is con- nected by a longer or shorter median nerve with one of 46 The Larva of Cliirononius the ganglia in front or behind ; and at the junction of the median and transverse nerves there is a minute triangular plexus. The first, second, third, and tenth transverse nerves are thus connected with the thoracic ganglia in front of them, while the fourth to the ninth inclusive join the second to the seventh abdominal ganglia behind. The origin of the tenth and last trans- verse nerve lies immediately above the eighth abdominal ganglion, and its median nerve is too short for observation. The first abdominal ganglion has no transverse nerve, owing to the concentration of the ganglia in this region, where there is more than one gan- glion to a segment. Each transverse nerve lies along the junction of two segments, and the figures show that every junction between the prothorax and the eighth abdominal seg- ment has its nerve. The third and tenth transverse nerves take an oblique course owing to the forward displace- ment of the ganglia from which they spring. Similar nerves have been elaborately figured and de- scribed byLyonet^ in the caterpillar of Co5SM5 lign'qjerda; by Newport- in the caterpillar of Sphinx ligustri; hy Leydig '^ in Locusta inridisslma ; they have also been found in various other insects'*. Lyonet gives no Fio. 37. — Thoracic ganglia and transverse nerves of larva, the latter in black. Letters as in \. x, figs. 19. 20). irgans. Sense-organs 49 eyes, whicli are never replaced, but persist as the eyes of the fly. If this is really the case, the number of elements must be greatly increased during transforma- tion. Weismann believes that the imaginal eye of Corethra,. though not superficial, is functional in the transparent larva '. The antennae consist of a basal piece, relatively large, which carries two terminal pieces of nearly equal length, one jointed and one simple, the former consisting of four joints ; a stout seta projects from the basal joint. There is a circular sensory spot about the middle of the basal joint; a similar spot occurs on the maxillary palp of the Phalacrocera-larva. It seems probable that the antennae of the Chironomus- larva are of limited physiological importance ; they are minute and of comparatively simple structure. On the dorsal surface of the last segment, and at the very end of the body, are a pair of sensory appendages. Each bears several long setae, and is in close connexion with a ganglion at its base. The ganglion is no doubt connected with the abdominal nerve-cord, but we have not made out the connexion to our satisfaction (see p. 45). In the Tanypus-larva these prominences are long, and the setae numerous (see p. 33). 4. Alimentary Canal. The alimentary canal of the larva takes a nearly General straight course through the body, which it slightly tion. exceeds in length (fig. 40). It is subdivided into oeso- phagus, stomach, and intestine. The stomach includes a distinct anterior region, which we shall call the cardia or cardiac chamber, while the intestine is divisible into a small intestine in front, and a large intestine or colon ' Weismann, 1866, p. 16. UIALL. E 50 TJie Larva of Chirononius beliind. There is no separate rectum, and tlie parts known in other insects as crop and gizzard are not distinguishable from the rest of the oesophagus. The stomach, small intestine, and colon all begin at their maximum width and gradually narrow behind. The usual appendages of the alimentary canal are the salivary glands, the glandular caeca, and the Malpighian tubules. All these are found in our larva. Nomencia- We shall devotc a few lines to the nomenclature of *'^'^' the parts of the alimentary canal in insects generally, and to the definition of the terms which will be employed here. The alimentary canal in all insects is divided on developmental grounds into three primary sections : — (i) the fore-gut or stomodaeum, Fr. preintestin, Ger. Vorderd'arm ; (2) the rnid-gid or ivesenteron, Fr. medi- intestin\ Ger. MiUeldarm ; (3) the hind-gut ov proctodaeum, Fr. posfinfestm, Ger. Hiuterdann. The mid-gut is the primitive alimentary canal, and in animals which pass through a well-marked gastrula- stage, it is at first a large internal cavity, formed by infolding of the hollow blasto- sphere, and lined by entoderm (hypoblast). The fore-gut and hind -gut arise by infolding of the ectoderm from the mouth and anus respectively. In all Arthropods they are lined by chitinous cuticle. The beginning of the hind-gut is marked, in nearly all insects, by the insertion of the Malpighian tubules '^. The fore-gut of insects includes the oesophagus, and often exhibits a large dilatation, which may be followed by a chamber with thickened muscular w^all and dense chitinous lining. The lining may be shaped into internal teeth or ridges. For the dilatation the name crop (Fr. jabot, Ger. Kropf) is in general use, while the muscular chamber is called gizzard (Fr. gesier, Ger. Kaiimagen). Plateau'' objects that the so-called gizzard of insects has no analogy with that of birds. This is put strongly ; * This term is proposed by Biilbiani, 1890, p. 3. ^ Ptychoptera, according to Gehuchten, 1890, and Meloidae, according to Beauregard, 1886, are exceptions. Here the Malpighian tubules are said to pass off from the mid-gut. The same peculiarity is believed to obtain in scorpions. ' 1874, p. 114. Nomenclature oes 'C 5-1 /?^t \- --S£ •^O^ Fig. 39. — Bisected larva. 6r, brain, s.g, salivary gland. 055, oesophagus, flw, dorsal vessel, o.rf.i', outlet of ditto. s<, stomach, m.t^ Malpighian tubule, s.i, small intestine. L?', large intestine. 7(t, heart, i a.g^ first abdominal ganglion. Cffl, cardiac chamber of stomach, pm, peritrophic membrane. «.C, nerve-cord. sx.g. se.xual gland. 7ifr, hoolis of anal feet. tq, terminal ganglion of nerve-coixl. vjr, ventral blood- gills. E 2 Fig. 40. — Alimentary canal of larva, tes, oesophagus. s(/, sali- vary gland, crt, cardiac chamber of stomach. *<, stomach, mi, Malpighian tubules. c7(, di- lated chamber at beginning of intestine. 9i, small intestine, col. colon. 52 The Larva of Chironomus there is at least tlie resemblance implied in a thick muscular wall and a dense cuticle. Of course the gizzard of the bird is part of the vertebrate stomach, while that of the insect is part of the arthropod oeso])hagus. If we will employ no vertebrate terms except strictly in the vertebrate sense, we shall be forced to invent unfamiliar and cumbrous expressions of our own. Plateau's appareil valvulalre. which he proposes to substitute for gizzard, is liable to be confounded with the oesophageal valve next to be mentioned. The lower end of the oesophagus of insects commonly protrudes into the mid-gut, and is then reflected, forming a circular valve, the cardiac or oesophageal valve of authors. The latter designation is preferable. For the mid-gut or mesenteron in the coinpletely developed insect, stomach is a convenient term. Plateau points out that the so-called stomach of insects is absorbent, l3ut not secretory. It is not, however, clear that such plijrsiological distinctions, even if well founded ', need affect our nomenclature. The fore part of the stomach sometimes forms a distinct cardiac charnber, and into this, if present, the glandular caeca, which often project from the stomach, usuallj^, but not always, open. The name intestine may be applied to all parts deve- loped from the hind-gut. The intestine is often divisible into a fore section (small intestine), a middle section [colon), and a terminal section [recttmi). The walls of the rectum are often longitudinally folded. Mouth. The mouth lies between the labrum in front and the labium behind ; on either side are the mandibles and the greatly reduced maxillae (fig. 19}. The labrum has the form of a flap ; its free border is bent back- wards when at rest, and the surface which faces the mouth (epiphari/nx of some authors) is armed with many teeth, ras23ers, and setae, whose disposition can be seen in fig. 16. Some of these are probably sensory, others defensive, and others again masticatory or prehensile. The labrum is muscular and mobile ; it is often employed to assist the mandibles in rasping the food, grinding it ' See Secretion of the stomacli, p. 57. Oesophagus 53 against tlie toothed labium, or cramming it into tlie mouth. In the floor of the mouth above the mentum (see p. 29) is a small forward projection, the lingua, behind which the salivary ducts open. The oesophagus or gullet is a straight and narrow tube Oesopha- of simple structure. It is lined by an epithelium (not easily seen, and often only to be discerned by the cell-nuclei) and a chitinous cuticle, which is sharply folded lengthwise, so that the enclosed cavity is almost obliterated except when food is actually passing along it '. Outside the epithelium comes a muscular coat, invested inside and out by a thin membrane, which sometimes becomes separated in a macerated gullet. The muscular coat consists of a number of transverse rings, each of which is a cell, with thin cell-wall and nucleus. The ends of the cells are in contact on the ventral side, and form oblique sutures. In optical section they often look deceptively like an epithelium. Each cell, e:5^cept in very young larvae, encloses a skein of fibres, which show cross-striation. The fibres lie in the direction of the length of the cell, i. e. at right angles to the oesophagus'". In the head the gullet is held in place by several pairs of slender muscles, which pass downwards and forwards from the occipital region (fig. 19). A small pouch extends forwards from its dorsal wall near the mouth. The dilatations of the oesophagus, known as crop and Oesopha- gizzard, which in many insects and myriopods facilitate a process of oesophageal digestion, as explained by Plateau -^ do not occur in the Chironomus-larva. The ' In a cast skin the chitinous lining is drawn out, and remains attached to the skeleton of the head as a long crumpled band. 2 A much finer striation, which we believe to be due to local and tem- poraiy aggregations of the cell-protoplasm, often forms across the cell from side to side. This is shown in fig. 52. = 1875, 1878. 54 TJie Larva of Chironomus tube enlarges a little behind, and tben seems suddenly to dilate into the much wider stomach. A longitudinal section of the parts shows, however, that the oesophagus protrudes well into the larger chamber, and then returns upon itself, forming in this manner a circular valve, which we call, with Balbiani ^, the oesophageal valve (fig. 47). It lies in the fore part of the larval meta- thorax. The oesophageal cuticle is here very sharply folded so that it appears rosette-like in cross-section ; in the Chironomus-larva this is only a more pro- nounced form of the folding which extends through- out the oesophagus, but in some other insects it is a special feature of the included termination of the oesophagus. The oesophageal valve retards the passage of solid food into the stomach, and further, delivers it, not into the beginning of the stomach, but some way down. The epithelium of the cardiac chamber, into which the caeca usually open when they exist, is therefore not brought into direct contact with the solid food. Only dissolved food, microscopic particles, and digestive fluids actually reach this epithelium. In the Chironomus-larva and many other insects an inner tube, which will shortly be described under the name of the peritropMc membrane, conducts the solid food to the very end of the stomach, and thus completely protects every part of the epithelium of the stomach from abrasion -. stomach. The stomach, mid-gut, or mesenteron is a long cylin- drical tube, which occupies more than half the length of the alimentary canal. It is widest in front, gradually tapering to its junction with the small intestine, which is indicated by the four Malpighian tubules. Cardia. The chamber which encloses the oesophageal valve is ' 1890. p. 26. - For fuller information resi^ecting the oesophageal valve, see p. 60. Cardia 55 often called proveiitr/culus, in the belief that it is, like the crop or gizzard of many insects, a dilatation of the oesophagus. Weismann indeed expressly asserts that it is such ^ Our sections of Chironomus- embryos (fig. 127) lead us to a different conclusion, Avhich is confirmed by the study of other insects. In Ptychoptera ^ Dicranota ^, and the cockroach '^ the break in the epithelium is quite unmistakable, and shows that the outer wall, which in the cockroach is drawn out into caecal projections, is mesenteric and not stomodaeal. The bee ^' and many other insects show essentially the same structure. The chitinous lining of the stomodaeum can often be distinctly traced as far as the break in the epithelium, where it disappears ; in other cases the peritrophic membrane described below introduces complications, or the chitinous lining disappears graduall3^ "We believe that all or very nearly all of the outer wall of the tube which encloses the oesophageal valve is developed from the mesenteron, and that caeca in this region always belong to the mesenteron. It is therefore inappropriate in our opinion to apply the term proventriculus to the part in question, which when distinct we call the cardia, or the cardiac chamber of the stomach. The term pro- ventriculus has been long associated with the gizzard of insects. The cardiac chamber, or beginning of the stomach, lies structure 11 mi of stomach. in the metathorax ; it is externally well marked. Ihree sets of short caeca project from its outer surface (fig. 41) ; they have no muscular wall ^. A pair of muscles, arising, ' 1863, p. 35 and fig. 96. - Geliuchten, 1890. •' Miall, 1893, fig. 18. * Miall and Denny, 1886, fig. 64, p. 120. * Schiemenz, 1883. * These caeca vary much in different Dipterous larvae; they are usually short, but long in the blow-fly larva ; the number may be two (Cteno- phora), four (Tipula, Simulium, &c.), or many. 56 The Larva of Chironomiis we believe, from the junction of tlie meso- and meta- tliorax on the ventral surface, are inserted into the fore part of the chamber (fig. 41) ^ The outer surface of the succeeding part of the stomach is studded over by very numerous prominences, which bulge out between the crossed fibres of the muscular coat, being covered only by i>^vy'*?")^^^^ ^^ '^'K-Jf fajwl --M ^ ^ ';:^ ( (©) new xvif Fig. 41. — I, cardiac chamber of stomach of larva, showing its three tiers of caeca. 2, transverse section of fore part of stomach, showing the epi- thelium, and the food enclosed in a peritrophic membrane. Fig. 42. — Epitheliuni of larval .stomach. I, 2, from middle ; 3, from fore end. \vi. i the striated seam can be observed around the island-like iolds of epithelium; in 3 the nuclear figures are shown. a thin connective-tissue layer. They are not caecal pro- cesses but solid outgrowths, consisting each of a single epithelial cell, or parts of two such cells ; when seen in face they form a tolerabl}^ regular mosaic. Before the middle of the stomach is reached these prominences ' Similar muscles are found in (ho crane-fly larva. Secretion of the Stomach 57 subside. In the middle and hinder part the epithelium is sometimes thrown into shallow folds of irregular shape, which, when seen in face, look like islands with intervening channels (fig. 42, i). The epithelial cells here assume a character which is usual in the stomach of insects, though by no means peculiar to it, being drawn out into numerous filaments, which are some- times very long'; they may resemble, when contracted, the ' striated hem ' usual in the intestinal epithelium of vertebrates. Fio. 43. — Epithelium of stom.ach, showinfi^ jirotrusions and detacheil peri- trophic membrane. Tlie striated hem is not drawn. Protrusions from the p-landular epithelium of the Secretion stomach (such as those described and figured by stomach. Gehuchten in the larva of Ptychoptera) are easily seen at certain times in the stomach of the Chironomus-larva : they are finely granular, and protrude through the striated hem (fig. 43 \ In an earlier phase the granular substance (mucigen) collects along the inner face of every cell, and is readily distinguished from the ordinary cell-protoplasm in which the nucleus lies ^. During active secretion large drops of mucus are squeezed out, and blend with the drops from neighbouring cells to form a viscid mass. Empty cells, with only the basal protophism and the nucleus, are occasionally but rarely seen. We agree with Gehuchten in believing that the secreted fluid ' Frenzel, 1885. - But soo noto to p. 60. 58 The Larva of Cliiyononms Musculiii' coat, of stomach. does not at once come into contact with, the food ; it is separated therefrom by the peritrophic membrane, which, extends throughout the stomach. Between the epithelium and the membrane is a narrow space, which is occupied by a granular iiuid, probably derived from the protrusions ; it contains also granules of larger size, which we suppose to come from the food. It is not necessary to suppose with Gehuchten that the secreted fluid diffuses through the peritroj^hic membrane ; the granules just noted indicate that another communication exists. We think it prob- able that fluid squeezed out from the food in the oeso- phagus and oesophageal valve passes down the cylindrical tube formed by the peritrophic membrane, and that it is regurgitated into the outer space by the contractions of the mus- cular chamber in which the small intestine begins (see p. 66). The muscular coat of the stomach consists of two layers, an internal layer of annular fibres with frequent anasto- moses, and an external longitudinal layer (fig. 44). A connective-tissue membrane invests both the inside and outside of the muscular layer, and is sometimes seen detached from the underlying epithelium in the meshes between the muscles \ Peritrophic Tlic proper chitinous lining of the stomodaeum usually membrane . . "^ of stomach, ccases in insects at the lower end of the oesophagus. Nevertheless it is not uncommon ^ to find that the stomach ' e. g. wlien the epithelium is macerated in weak alkali. ' Examples have been discovered in all the chief orders of insects (see Fig. 44. — Muscular coat of stomach of larva, after immersion in i per cent. sodic carbonate, showing longitudinal and transverse fibres^ The basement- membrane bulges out between the muscles on the sides. PeritropJiic Meiiibrane of Stomach 59 also is lined by a cliitiiious tube, wliicli is not usually in contact with the epithelium. This is the funnel (Trichter) of Schneider, the peritrophlc memhi'ane of Balbiani. Its chitinous nature is inferred from its resistance to alkalis. It invests the food, and may be a provision for keeping- rough particles from abrading the delicate epithelium. At times of moult, and in some Myriopods and Crustacea at all times, the peritrophic membrane breaks off, and passes out of the stomach with the faeces, which are thus enclosed in a kind of bag. In the Chironomus-larva it can at times be seen to begin exactly where the mesen- teron begins ; sometimes its fore edge is included in the first fold of the epithelium of the mesenteron (fig. 48). The peritrophic membrane has been found in nearly every ]3ipterous larva examined ; Dicranota is an exception. It occurs also in many insects of other orders. AVe have not been able to obtain entirely satisfactory evidence of the actual formation of the peritrophic membrane in Chironomus. In the larva of Simulium there may occasionally be seen a very copious fluid, coagulable by alcohol, in the cardiac caeca, and investing the food in the stomach. We have thought it possible that this may be the peritrophic membrane in a nascent condition. The membrane may in Chironomus also be a special secretion of the cardiac caeca, but of this we have still less evidence. Gehuchten (Ptychoptera), Cuenot (Orthoptera), besides Plateau and Balbiani (Chilopoda), agree that the membrane originates in tlie mesenteron. The membrane extends throughout the stomach, though without attachment to its wall, except at its fore end, Schneider, 1887, p. 95), in some Myriopods, Crustacea iCirrii^eds, Clado- cera), and Gasteropoda (Limnaeus, Helix, Limax). Refei'ences to the literature are given by Balbiani, 1890, p. 30 ; Schneider, loc. cit. ; and Gehuchten, 1890, p. 91. 6o Tlie Larva of Chironomus Miss Phil- lips' ac- count of the oeso- phageal valve. and forms a loose inner tube of relatively small diameter (fig. 39, ]pm) ; sometimes it is thrown into loops or bends wHicli do not affect tlie stomach itself. Black masses of food usually occupy the inner tube, and distinguish it from the surrounding cavity of the stomach. At the beginning of the small intestine the chitinous intima of the proctodaeum begins, and a little beyond this place the peritrophic membrane thins out and ceases. If the alimentary canal is removed from a fresh larva, and divided at the junction of the stomach and small intes- tine, the muscular and epithelial coats above the section contract, while the chitinous tube lies passive, and soon protrudes considerably from the cut end. This gives a ready proof of the want of adhesion between the mem- brane and the surrounding epithelium ^. At our request. Miss Dorothy Phillips, a student of the Yorkshire College, has investigated more fully the struc- ture of the oesophageal valve and peritrophic membrane, and furnishes us with the following account, as well as with sketches for the accompanying illustrations : — ' The oesophageal valve of the Chironomus-larva is a complicated structure, and will be better understood when compared with a simpler case. Simulium has been chosen as a convenient term of comparison, ' The layers of the oesophageal wall of the larva of Simulium and Chironomus, in order from within, are as follows ; — ' Vignon (1899) has published a preliminary note on the histology of the alimentary canal of the Chironomus-larva, in which he. •^tates(I) that the cavities or transparent spaces beneath tlie striated hem of the cells of the gastric epithelium are not visible in the living larva, and are due to pressure or the action of reagents ; (2) that the peritropliic membrane is secreted in the neighbourhood of the gastric caeca, and gradually pushed downwards by the i^ressure of tlie food extruded from the oesophagus ; he describes certain details, for which wo must await the fuller account to be published in Arch, de Zool. exper. ; (3) that vibratile cilia occur in the stomach and beginning of the intestine. Oesophageal Valve 6i ' I. The chitinous iritima, secreted by ' 2. Tlie epithelium. ' 3. A muscular layer, of wliich the circular muscles form the principal part. ' The oesophagus is contiiiuetl into the cardiac chamber as an inner tube, whose wall becomes abruptly reflected, and passes upwards again, to the point where the epithelium of the sto- mach begins. There is thus an upper and a lower hend in the tube. The part of the oesophagus which is doubled into the cardiac chamber is called the oesopha- geal valve. ' We will now do- scribe, in more detail, the oesophageal valve of the Simulium - larva (fig. 45). In the reflected wall, i. e. the part between the upper and Ipwer bends, the layers behave in the following manner : — The intima and epithelium extend to the upper bend. The epithelial Fig. 45. — Oesophageal valve of Simiilimn-larva, one-half of a longitudinal section, in, chitinous intima. s.ep, stomodaeal epithelium, mj, muscle- cells, b.s, blood-space, r.s.ep, reflected stomo- daeal epithelium, r.m, reflected intima. p.m, peritrophic membrane, tii.ep, mesenteric epi- thelium. 62 The Larva of Chtronomus layer decreases in thickness on approaching the upper bend, and is there bent into a small secondary fold which projects into the stomach. It then abuts upon the mesenteric epithelium. The passage from one epithelium to the other is abrupt, without transition. The muscular layer is not reflected, but ends at the lower bend. ' Between the oesophageal wall and its reflected con- tinuation is a blood- space, which does not quite reach the lower bend. It has a proper wall, in the form of a thin membrane, and is crossed by a number of oblique con- nective tissue-fibres (fig. 45). ' In the larva of Chironomus (fig. 47) the layers of the wall of the oesophagus, in order from within, are as follows : — ' I. The cMtlnous infima, thrown into deep, longitudinal folds ; and secreted by '2. The epitlieUallayei', wh.ic\i is thin, and consists of a single layer of cells. This kyer is generally inconspicuous and sometimes becomes much at- tenuated, probably after it has performed its function of secreting the chitinous layers. ' 3. The basement- memhrane is a thin and apjiarently chitinous layer which lies close to the epithelium, by Fig. 46. — TJie same parts as in fig. 45 The blood-space is now contracted. Oesophageal Valve 63 which it is secreted ; it is also closely applied to the muscular layer. Like the generating epithelium, it is thrown into longitudinal folds, which alternate with the folds of the intima^. ' 4. The muscles, circular and longitudinal. The cir- FiG. 47.- Diagram of oesophageal valve of Cluronomus-larva. A transverse and a longitudinal section are here combined, the place of intersection being marked by a thick line, m.ep, mesenteric epithelium, pm, peritrophic mem- brane, in', reflected intima. st.ep', reflected stomodaeal epithelium. . 6.s, blood- space, a.m, annular muscle-cells, step, stomodaeal epithelium, in, chitinous intima. f.in, longitudinal folds of intima. cular muscles form the innermost layer, and are large and conspicuous. At first they are simple, annular > Weismann has noted the presence of this chitinous layer in tlie oesophagus of Muscidae, and in the stomach and intestine of Corethra. 64 The Larva of Chirononiiis miiscle-c-ells, each surrounding the oesophagus, and show- ing a line of junction on the ventral side, where the ends of the cell meet ; each cell contains a large nucleus. At a later stage, the nucleus breaks up, and the whole cell- substance divides into a number of striated fibres, Ijang more or less parallel to the original cell. The wall of each muscle-cell appears in transverse section as a clear, wavy, fairly distinct line on the superficial side, but somewhat difficult to determine on the deep side. The longitudinal muscles of this part of the alimentary canal are restricted to the neighbourhood of the upper bend ; they are few, and lie outside the circular muscles, stretching across the mouth of the blood-space from the oesophagus to the cardiac wall (figs. 45, 46). ' The oesophageal valve of Chironomus has the same general arrangement as in Simuliam and many other insects, but is complicated by secondary folds of the epithelium and intima, which are the upper and loicer in te rmedia fe hen ds. ' In the reflected wall of the oesophageal valve the behaviour of the different layers is difficult to determine; but it is probably as follows : — ■ ' I. The chitlnous intima continues to the upper bond, where it ends in an uneven edge. At a distance from the lower bend equal to about one-fifth of the total length of the valve it becomes abruptly folded inwards and backwards to the lower bend, thus forming the upper intermediate bend. Arrived at this point, it is again sharply reflected upwards (lower intermediate bend), and lying jiarallel to its former course, passes straight to the upper bend. Two of the three layers formed by this repeated folding are closely applied to each other, but between these and the third is a sj^ace, filled with a clear coagulable fluid, which is not obliterated even when the oesophagus is distended with food. This folding of the Oesophageal Valve 65 intima gives the appearance of a deep chitinous band, encircling the base of the valve externally, and best seen in fresh specimens from which the epithelium of the cardiac chamber has been removed. ' 2. The epithelium is difficult to observe, but it closely follows the course of the chitinous intima. It consists of polygonal, nucleated cells, which decrease in size towards the upper bend. When it is in an inactive condition the nuclei of the epithelium are relatively very small. ' 3 .It is not clear whether the hasement-memhrane continues to the upper bend, or, as seems more probable, disappears in the region of the lower bend. ' 4. The muscular layer is reflected for about half the length of the valve. The boundaries of the muscle-cells become faint, and their thickness gradually diminishes as the reflected layer passes upwards. ' Between the muscular layer and its reflected con- tinuation is a blood-space similar to that already described in the Simulium larva. During the passage of large masses of food along the lower part of the oesophagus the inner tube may be so greatly distended as to obliterate the space and squeeze out the blood (fig. 46). A number of oblique fibres may be seen to pass from the inner to the reflected muscular layer across the lower half of the blood- space. These fibres, which are probably of connective tissue, bind the walls of the fold together, but so loosely as to admit of considerable relative movement. It is obvious that fibres passing directly across would be much shorter, and would restrain the movements within much narrower limits. The fibres at their inner ends seem to be attached directly to the walls of the oesopha- geal muscle-cells, but at their outer extremities they are attached to a more or less cylindrical layer of connective tissue, which forms the outer boundary of the blood-space ; it is generally applied to the surface of the reflected 66 The Larva of Chironomus muscular layer, but occasionally is seen to be separated from it. This connective-tissue layer extends upwards beyond tlie reflected layers in some cases, and passes out from the blood-space, at the level of the upper bend, into the body-cavity. Gehuchten (1890) has described a somewhat similar structure in the oesophageal valve of Ptychoptera contamhuita. The blood-space, however, in this case does not appear to communicate freely with the body- cavity, as in Chironomus ; and it is traversed by radial membranes, some of which are described as mus- cular, others as elastic, not simply by connective-tissue fibres, as in Chironomus. Miss Phil- ' The whole of the stomach is lined by a distinct comit of chitinous membrane, the peritrophic membrane of Bal- trophir biani. It is thinner than the oesophageal intima, and membrane, ^j^^^^ ^^^ longitudinal folds. A space, filled with fluid and food-particles, separates it, except at one point, from the epithelium of the stomach. The one place of attach- ment is at the beginning of the mesenteric epithelium, where it comes in contact with the oesophageal epithelium. ' The peritrophic membrane is renewed from time to time, and is occasionally double throughout. In such cases the inner tube is evidently the old one, which has failed to be carried away with the food as usual. The times of renewal of the membrane have not been ascer- tained. ' All the facts point to the derivation of the peritrophic membrane from the epithelium of the stomach, either by secretion or conversion, but the process has not been directly observed in Chironomus.' Small The small intestine begins in a pear-shaped chamber, which receives the four Malpighian tubules. It may be seen to contract suddenly from time to time, and then slowly to dilate. There is some reason to suppose that, when it contracts, the fluids extracted from the food are intestine. ■ Colon 67 impelled into the space between the wall of the stomach and the peritrophic membrane. The rest of the tube is narrow and uniform. Its wall closely resembles that of the oesophagus, consisting chiefly of annular muscle-cells, each enclosing a number of obscurely striated fibres ; within the muscular coat is a mosaic epithelium. The colon, or large intestine, begins as a wide tube Colon, with rather distant bundles of striated, muscular fibres, all annular. In this part of the colon the epithelial cells form transverse rows of large nucleated cells lying between the muscles, and bulging externally (fig. 49). m. Fig. 48. — Chamber at be- ginning of larval intestine. m, origin of two of tlie Mal- pighian tubules. Fig. 49. — Epithelium and annular muscles of larval colon. Lower down, the epithelium becomes thinner and less distinct, so that the muscular coat constitutes nearly the whole thickness of the wall. At the same time the diameter of the tube steadily diminishes. There is no rectum, or terminal enlargement, and the colon is con- tinued to the anus, which is situated in the last segment. The salivary glands of the larva (fig. 50) form a Salivary pair of thin hollow sacs, situated in the second and third thoracic segments. Each is slightly curved in F 2 glands 68 Tlie Larva of Chironomus conformity with the wall of the body, the concavity being turned towards the oesophagus, which lies between them. The lining epithelium is not continuous through- out, but ceases along the middle of the broad surfaces. The cells form a single layer, and are of large size, while the nuclei are enormous, being easily studied with a quarter-inch objective (fig. 50, 5). Sometimes the cells, probably in a special phase of activity, are flattish, while at other times the nuclei, surrounded by a thin coat of Fig. 50. — Salivary glands of larva, i, position of glands on either side of oesophagus and dorsal vessel. 2, transverse section of gland, showing the dis- position of the secreting cells. 3, two epithelial cells. 4, epithelial cells stand- ing ont into cavity of gland. 5, nucleus of epithelial cells, the last from Balbiani, 1881. protoplasm, project into the lumen of the gland, being connected with the wall only by a slender neck \ Bal- biani 2 has described the very interesting nuclei of these glands. They are easily prepared for examination, and the object is well suited in every way to the young ' The projection of the nuclei of these cells into the cavity of the gland seems to be an extreme case of what may be noticed elsewhere ; for instance, in the epithelium of the Malpighian tubules, and sometimes in certain cells of the epidermis, especially iu those of the anal blood gills. Occasion- ally small cells have been noticed in the basal portions of the epithelium, as if for replacement of the existing functional ones. " 1881, p. 637. Salivary Glands 69 histologist. A full-grown larva is decapitated on a glass slip. The glands often float out with the blood ; if this docs not happen, gentle pressure should be applied. The tissue may be examined at once, while still bathed in the blood of the insect, but the finer details cannot be made out until the glands are stained. The cells do not take the stain until they are killed, and it is instructive to note that they remain long unstained in non-poisonous, aqueous, staining fluids. Strong alcohol or osmic acid (the latter is preferable) hills the cells, and then the stain penetrates. The following procedure will be found to answer well : — Immerse a gland momentarily in a mixture of equal parts of 1/^ solutions of osmic and acetic acids, wash in distilled water, stain with acetized methyl green, followed by carmine, and mount in glycerine. The nuclei vary much in shape, being circular, oval, club- shaped, &c. Sometimes they send out radiating projec- tions into the cell-protoplasm. They slowly change their figure. Each nucleus contains one or two nucleoli, besides a long convoluted, transversely striated cord. The ends of the cord are attached to the nucleolus (one to each,- if there are two nucleoli). The transverse striation of the cord suggests that it is composed of a number of component disks, which are sometimes seen separated into small groups in a broken-up nucleus. Korschelt ^ believes, however, that the striation is due to infolding of the surface. He considers that Balbiani's figure is too regular. The nucleoli diifer much in shape, being cup-shaped, oval, lobed, &c. They do not stain with acetized methyl green, though they readily take a carmine stain. The cord stains with methyl green, but very feebly with carmine. Similar nuclei have been found in the Malpighian tubules, as well as in the epithelium of the stomach and ' Zool. ^w,?.,vii, pp. 189. 221.241 (1884). 70 The Larva of Chironomiis colon ; they Lave also been found in young embryos of Hydrophilus ^ and in plants (endosperm of Fritillaria, &c.). The physiological meaning of the structures has not been elucidated. The salivary fluid is used in the form of silken threads to weave together the vegetable or earthy particles of which the wall of the burrow is composed. We have no reason to attribute to it any digestive property, and its rapid coagulation on contact with water renders it hard to suppose that it can act upon food which is necessaril}'- mixed with water. The salivary ducts pass off from the inner or concave sides of the glands. They have a ringed (' pseudo- tracheal ') structure, like that of insect air-tubes. They pass forwards to the tubule ofT^fvf^''^"'^ """' "*' *^'^'i''^^"^'" head, and enter the iloor of the mouth beneath the lingua (fig. 19, sd). The common duct is extremely short. Ganin '^ and Bugnion •'' find that in Hymenoptera the salivary glands are developed independently of the alimentary canal from a special ectodermal invagination. Carriere (1897), adopting the earlier suggestions of Biitschli and Grassi, derives them from the prothoracic spiracles, which, he says, in Hymenoptera open at first inside the second maxillae, and become approximated and at length fused as the maxillae unite to form the labium. Maipighian There are four long Alalpiyhian tubules, which enter the dilated beginning of the small intestine. They are lined by an epithelium of flatfish cells with large ^ Carnoy. 1885. ^ ' Ueb. d. Embiyoiialhiitte dtu- Ilymenoptereu u. Lepidopteren- Embryonen.' Petersb. Acad. Sti., xiv (i87o\ ' *Anat. et moeui-i de I'Encyrtus fuscicollis.' Fee. Zool. Suisse, torn, v, p. 454 (1891). Dorsal Vessel 71 nuclei, wliicli often project into the lumen of tlie tubule (%• 51)- The muscular wall of Deveiop- , , , . , 1 . meiit of the alimentary canal is striped 11 'Jii ,^ ,1 muscular well suited to the study fibres, of the development of striped muscular fibres from simple muscle- cells. AYe have made some progress with the investigation, but found it necessary to leave this and many other special features incomplete, in order to bring our work to a close in moderate time. The valuable Recherches of Viallanes (1882) would be a useful guide to any one who might be disposed to pursue the inquiry. 5. The Heart and Circulation. "When a live larva is Dorsal vessel. examined under the microscope, the dorsal vessel is easily seen on the bach of the hinder part of the body (fig. 39). In Dipterous larvae the parts — the heart, which runs forwards from the Fio. 52. — Muscle-cells of larval alimentary canal, i, optical sections of fresh oesopha- geal muscle-cells, showing differentiation of contractile substance. The same appearance occurs in the intestinal muscle-cells ; some- times it cannot be found. 2, striated con- tractile substance and nuclei of muscle-cells of oesophagus. 3, muscle-cells of intestine, examined in blood of larva. 4, the same, after the addition of acetic acid. dorsal vessel is divisible into two is posterior, and the aorta, which 72 The Larva of Chironomus lieart. lu a larva of one of the larger species of Chiro- nomus the heart lies in the eleventh post-cephalic segment, and forms a single chamber with a muscular and rhythmically contractile wall. A pericardium can be seen in transverse sections which pass through the hinder part of the heart ; elsewhere it is deficient. Two pairs of ost'ia or lateral inlets, of which the hinder pair are the larger, lead from the pericardium or from the body-cavity into the heart. The aorta leads from the Fig. 5.^ — Heart of larva, ventral view, showing muscles (w) and con- nective-tissue fibres, which hold it in its place {ct.f). Fig. 54. — Heart of larva, dorsal view, showing ostia and muscles of wall. heart to the head, lying above the alimentary canal. It passes beneath the commissure of the supra-oesophageal ganglia, and becomes enlarged further forward. A pair of rather large aortic valves guard the passage from the heart to the aorta ; in front of these neither valves nor ostia are to be found, at least in young larvae. We have several times observed small bodies, which may be ganglia, set alternately on opposite sides of the aorta. Muscles of the Heart 73 The aorta ends in the head by a trumpet-shaped orifice, and here the blood escapes into the body-cavity. In the living larva the energetic contractions of the heart are seen to drive the blood along the aorta, and the pulse can be followed by the eye as far as to the fore end of the stomach. The blood with its corpuscles can be seen to stream into the ostia during the dilatation of the heart. The muscles of the heaif, when seen from above, are Muscles -.- . . , - of heart. transverse, except behind the posterior ostia, where they radiate, and become nearly longitudinal (fig. 54). They do not extend completely across the heart, but thin away toAvards the middle line. On the ventral side the muscles have a radiate disposition ; many of them converge towards a median space just in front of the posterior ostia ; none extend completely across. A high power shows that all the muscles of the heart are striated. The valves at the beginning of the aorta resemble Aorti.- 111-1 valves. triangular pockets, and when seen irom the dorsal side their pointed tips seem to meet in a point ; a side view shows that this is not really the case ; the tips are separate, and attached to the wall of the aorta by bundles of fibres, rather like the tendinous cords of the mam- malian auriculo- ventricular valves \ Six pairs of segmentally arranged alary muscles (so Alary called because they form, as it were, the wings of the heart) are found in the abdomen (fig. 55). As a rule, they spring from the junctions of the segments on the sides of the abdomen : from each junction a muscle passes forAvards and another backwards -. Each muscle expands at its insertion into a triangular fibrous sheet, with numerous ' Jiiworowski, 1879. ^ Tho muscle in front of a junction and that behind would together correspond with one alary muscle of a more primitive insect. i^Cf. Miall and Denny, 1866, p. 135, fig. 75.) 74 The Larva of Chivonomiis Devel.>r- inent of tlie dorsal vessel. meshes, wliich apjDears to be attached to the ventral side of the heart ; a large multinucleate pericardial cell, elongated in the direction of the dorsal vessel, overlies each of these expansions. There are also small pericardial cells, which are attached to the upper surface of the same alary tendons singly or in clusters. They are uninucleate, and contain oil-drops, as well as minute brownish concre- tions, probably fatty (Wielowiejski). Kowalewsky has discovered indications that the pericardial cells perform an excretory function. They eliminate carminate of ammonia, and have an acid reaction. A very small cell cam. Fig. 55. — Part of dorsal vessel of larva, with pericardial cells and alary muscles of one segment, am, alary muscles. i>c, pericardial cell, n, nucleus. or nucleus (perhaps a nerve-cell) is found near the middle of each alary muscle. The aorta is held in place by a great number of very fine threads which pass to its dorsal side from the body-wall. The stomato-gastric nerves of the aorta are described on p. 48. All Chironomus-larvae do not exhibit the same structure of the dorsal vessel, and the variations cannot be fully understood without some knowledge of the development of the organ. We learn from Jaworowski (1879) ^^^ G-raber that the heart of an insect (Pj^rrhocoris) may during embryonic development take the form of a nearly Two Types of Dorsal Vessel 75 uniform tube, encircled by innumerable and close -set muscle-cells. The cells are usually deficient above and below, or united by non-muscular substance, so that they do not form complete circles about the dorsal vessel, but pairs of semicircles. The hinder part of such a tube may afterwards enlarge and form a heart, whose simple muscle-cells are often replaced by strands of striated muscle, as in the larger Chironomus-larvae. In the rest of the tube a great increase of length takes place with- out increase or even with considerable diminution in the number of the muscle-cells, which therefore become widely spaced. Certain of the muscle-cells become much enlarged, and send out nucleated projections into the cavity of the dorsal vessel. A pair of such projections, or in particular cases a single projection, forms a simple cellular valve, which, when the muscle contracts, prevents the passage of the blood. Such cellular valves are nearly always opposite, but in the dorsal vessel, or some part of it, of the larvae of Corethra, Ptychoptera, and Calliphora, they are not opposite, but alternate ; in the Corethra- larva (where they are found only in the last chamber) they seem to be multicellular, but are not really so. Between two pairs of cellular valves, ostia, or inlets for the blood, may form; these too are specially associated with muscle-cells, and nuclei are often visible, one just in front and another just behind the inlet. The cellular valves and ostia often show something of a segmental arrangement, which is however usually effaced in the aorta and may disappear altogether. In Dipterous larvae two types of dorsal vessel have Two types been described. In the first type, which is by far the vessel. commonest, both in Diptera and in insects generally, there is no important difference of structure between the heart and the rest of the abdominal dorsal vessel, which is cantractile throughout, and provided with several pairs of inlets ; of the many pairs of muscle-cells one pair here and there becomes enlarged, and forms cellular valves, whose free surface is often lobed ; these cellular valves are intermediate between the inlets, and generally nearer to the one behind than to the one in front. There may be no enlargement of the hinder part of the dorsal vessel, and striated muscle-fibres are not found ; aortic valves may be present or absent \ ' Jaworowski says that in Dipterous larvae which exhibit this type of 76 The Larva of Chironomus The larva of Tanypus exemplifies this type, as also do certain unnamed Chironomus-larvae. The second type of dorsal vessel is found in the larva of Chironomus dorsal is. Here the heart and aorta are clearly differentiated, the heart being much the wider of the two ; it is furnished with two pairs of valvular inlets, and its muscles, while still retaining something of the origi- nal semicircular arrangement, form bundles of striated fibres. The aorta has no muscle-cells, inlets, or valves, except the pair at its base (which properly belong to the heart) ; its wall, though very elastic, is not contractile. In a dorsal vessel of the first type the valves are usually of very simple structure, and arise by modification of the muscle-cells ; where inlets form, the adjacent muscle-cells do not altogether lose their original character ; the more complex aortic valves may be absent altogether. In the other type the simple cellular valves almost or altogether disappear, aortic valves of complex structure are found, and the inlets themselves become valvular. Graber ^ has described and figured the appearance which the posterior inlets present, during contraction, in a Chironomus -larva of this kind. The muscular bands adjacent to the inlet, in which nuclei can often be distinguished, appear to cross one another and to unite where they cross, forming a figure-of-eight. During contraction, they appear to close the vessel and the inlets by one operation. All the valves found in the heart of any Chironomus, whether cellular, ostial, or aortic, appear to be derived from the semicircular muscle-cells. Sections of dorsal vessel. Course of blood. Thin sections through the heart of a Chironomus-larva show that there is an outer fibrous layer, an intermediate space in which the muscle-cells lie, and an inner mem- brane or endocardium. The blood passes from the heart to the aorta, and so to the head, where it escapes into the body- cavity, bathing all the viscera contained therein. A small portion of the blood is distributed to the respiratory tubules, and dor.-al Vessel the heart does not extend backwards into the eleventh post- cephalic segment. ' 'Propulsat. Apparat d. Insekten.' tiitsb. rf. A". Akad. Wien, 1872, fig. 7 ; •Javvorowski, 1879, ^S^- 24. 25. Blood of Larva 77 becomes aerated in them ; the return-current during diastole passes by the ostia into the heart again. The red colour of the larvae of some species of Chiro- Biood <.f nomus has long been familiar. It must be due to some- thing contained in the blood, for when a larva is cut open and gently squeezed, the body- wall and alimentary canal become pale, while the escaping fluid, if collected in fair quantity, for which a number of larvae must be sacrificed, is of a lively red. The colouring matter is dissolved in the fluid or plasma of the blood, and is not restricted to the corpuscles, as in vertebrates. A point of special interest is that the colouring matter is haemoglobin, the same substance which gives a red colour to the blood of man and other vertebrates. This was first shown by Eollett (1861). He collected the blood of Chironomus- larvae in quantity, and obtained from it crystals of haemoglobin ; he also showed that it is dichroic, the light which lias traversed a sufficiently thick stratum being- red, while tliat which has jDassed through a very thin layer is green \ Briicke had shortly before (1853) shown that the venous blood of the frog is also dichroic. In 1867 Lankester ^ showed that the blood of Chironomus-larvae gives the characteristic absorption-spectrum of haemo- globin. It is a striking fact that haemoglobin should occur in a number of animals which are not closely related to one another. This peculiar respiratory pigment occurs in very nearl^^ all vertebrates, as well as in the following invertebrates : — a small planarian, found at Suez by the late H. N. Moseley, some nemertines (where it is often specially associated with the nervous system, but may be found in red corpuscles), some leeches, many chaetopod ' Attention to this dicliroic property of the blood is necessary to avoid drawing wrong conclusions fi"om the colours seen in the different tissues of Chironomus-larvae. ^ Journ. Anat. and Phys., ii, p. 114 (1867). 78 The Larva of Chi'ronomus worms (such as the earthworm, Tubifex, Nais, Capitella capiiafa, in corpuscles, Terebella, Arenicola, &c.), gephy- reans, crustaceans (among others Daphnia and Chiro- cephahis), the burrowing bivalve mollusk, Solen legu- men, Planorh'is corneiis, Limnaeus, Paludina, Littorina, Aplysia, Patella, and Chiton. It seems to be absent only from the larval Muraenoids among vertebrate animals. Lankester ^ long ago remarked that haemo- globin occurs where increased facilities for oxidation are required, as by burrowing animals and inhabitants of stagnant pools, especially such as lurk in foul mud. It also occurs in animals which are particularly active, and in tissues which are frequently exercised (voluntary muscles of vertebrates, jaw-muscles of snails, &c.). It is well develo23ed also in large thick-skinned animals with limited respiratory surface (vertebrates). Pelagic animals, which are of soft texture, usually of small size, and there- fore with a relatively large surface, and which need above all things trans23arency so that they may escape the notice of their enemies, are nearly always i]l-suj)plied with haemoglobin, or more commonly want it altogether. Certain Chironomus-larvae and various closely allied Dipterous larvae have no haemoglobin, and it is to be observed that these usually haunt the surface of the water, or at least do not bury themselves in mud. Thus the surface-feeding gnat-larva, and the phantom- larva (Corethra), which j^oises itself in the middle depths of clear water, have no haemoglobin. "We cannot, how- ever, explain on these or any other principles all the cases of presence or absence of haemoglobin in particular animals. We cannot tell, for instance, why caddis-worms or the larva of Dicranota, living in the same streams as red Chironomus-larvae, and leading a very similar life, should have no respiratory pigment at all. ' 1873, p. 9. Changes in Dorsal Vessel 79 In the larger animals haemoglobin is chiefly important as a means of carrying oxygen from one part of the body "to another ; in the Chironomus-larva it seems to be rather employed as a means of storing the oxygen. In either case its usefulness depends upon its power of forming a very loose combination with oxygen, which it takes up easily, and easily parts with. Almost any reducing solution, a stream of hydrogen or some other indifferent gas, or diminished pressure, suffices to liberate much oxygen from its temporary combination with haemo- globin. Even in its crystalline form it gives oft' oxygen readily, changing colour like the blood itself, and becom- ing dichroic. Either the storage capacity for oxygen of the Chiro- nomus-larva is considerable, or the oxygen must be used very economically, for the animal can subsist long with- out a fresh supply. One of us took a flask of distilled water, boiled it for three-quarters of an hour, closed it tight with an india-rubber bung, and left it to cool. Then six larvae were introduced, the small space above the water being at the same time filled up with carbonic acid. The bung was replaced, and the larvae were watched from day to day. Four of them survived for forty-eight hours, and one till the fifth day, two of them meanwhile changing to pupae. Nevertheless the water was from the first exhausted of oxygen, or very nearly so. Dareste (1873) observes that in the pupa of Chironomus ciianges in the dorsal vessel becomes contractile throughout, and vessel, divided into chambers by valves. We can confirm this statement, having found that in the abdomen of the pupa and late larva the dorsal vessel is provided with several pairs of opposite valves and ostia. The chambers contract in succession from behind forwards. Following a suggestion made by Dareste, we may point out that the larval heart of CMronomus dorsalis is 8o The Larva of Chironomus suited to a state of things in which the functional respira- tory organs are limited to the hinder end of the body. But when, in the course of post-embryonic development, the insect acquires an extensive tracheal system, segmentally repeated, the circulatory apparatus becomes repeated too, and many segments are provided with contractile chambers. 6. OyganH of Respiration. [a) THE TRACHEAL SYSTEM. Traciieai TliG oxAj mcaus which the Chironomus-larva is known to employ for renewing its supply of oxygen is wriggling Fm. ^6. — Tracheal system of larva, in side view. The head and thoracic segments are included. Two tracheal systems, with communicating branches, and two closed spiracles at the extremities of initial branches, are seen. about in the comparatively well-aerated water near the surface of the stream. Owing to the circumstance that this exercise is usually taken by night, we have no detailed information as to its frequency or duration. The few observations which we have ourselves made only show that larvae kept in a deep tank with a sediment of mud and decaying leaves are frequently seen to rise to the top, nearly always by night. The larva has only a rudimentary tracheal system, which appears late in the larval stage (fig. 56). In Chiro- Tracheal System 8i nomus dorsalis there are two pairs of segmental tracheal systems in the thorax, of which the fore pair are much the larger. The segmental systems appear first in or close to the intersegmental boundaries, between the pro- and mesothorax, and again between the meso- and meta- thorax. At first they are independent of one another, but in the end they become slightly connected by longi- tudinal vessels. A very slender lateral or initial tube passes from each segmental system to the integument, but the spiracles are closed. The tracheae, with the exception of the initial tubes, are filled with air ^. Each of the four initial tubes is plugged with dark chitinous deposit at the point where it reaches the skin ; at these points the old tracheae are withdrawn during a moult as separate bunches, the slender longitudinal vessels being broken across. No insect is known to us which has more completely departed from the habits and structure of an air-breath- ing animal. Yet even here we find visible proof of descent from a terrestrial insect with branching air-tubes. It is noteworthy that these larvae can live at very great depths, where it is impossible for them to rise to the surface (see p. 3). The account just given holds good of the blood-worms, which we have more particularly studied, but not of all larvae of the genus Chironomus, some of which have well-developed longitudinal tracheae. Terrestrial Nemoceran larvae may have numerous Tracheal spiracles disposed along the sides of the body ; such ^J^^l^^ ^^ larvae are peripnetistic -. Bibionidae, Cecidomyidae, and Nemoceran Myceto^^hilidae furnish many examples. The larva of ■^^'^^'*'^* * Forel (' Materiaux jiour servir a I'etude de la faune profonde du Leman, Bull. Soc. Vm(d. de Sci. Nat, 1874, p. 57) says that Cliironomus-larvae brought up from great depths in the Lake of Geneva always had the tx'acheae devoid of air. = Haliday, 1857, p. 179. MIALL. Gr 82 The Larva of Chironomiis Mycetobia, however, is not peripneustic, but ampM- pneastic, having the middle spiracles closed, and only the prothoracic and terminal spiracles open. The larvae of Rhyphns, some Tipulidae, and some Psychodidae are also amphipneustic. Most Culicidae and Tipulidae, besides the aberrant genus Dixa, are metapneustic, with spiracles at the hinder end only. This gradual reduction in the number of open spiracles is no doubt due to increasing- obstruction by water or earth. As in other insects, initial tubes are usual in Nemoceran larvae ; they lead inwards from the spiracles, one branch to each spiracle. The initial branches subdivide in- ternally, forming local systems in each segment. The Chironomus-larva does not advance beyond this stage (we are speaking of the bottom-feeding species), and its imperfect tracheal apparatus consists at most of three thoracic segmental systems of very small extent. The local systems may be connected in a rather later stage by longitudinal trunks, from which branches to the vis- cera, body -wall, and limbs are given off. In the larva of Mochlonyx ^ the boundaries of the segmental systems of the abdomen are still marked by thin septa, which stretch across the longitudinal trunks. In many Chironomidae, as well as in Corethra, Simu- lium, and Blepharocera, the tracheal system no longer opens at the surface of the body. The initial tubes become impervious, and may perhaps disappear alto- gether in some forms. The longitudinal trunks are usually retained in those larvae which have once acquired them, but in Corethra they subsequently become obli- terated, two pairs of dilatations only persisting as hydrostatic vesicles. Nemoceran larvae commonly bear the posterior spi- racles on the eleventh segment, whether this is the last, as in Phalacrocera and Pericoma, or the last but one, as in Culex and Mochlonyx. In Dicranota and Ptychoptera, however, it is the twelfth segment which bears the spiracles. The spiracles are usually flush with the general surface of the body, but may be sunk a little, as in Dixa, where a respiratory cup is formed, like that of some aquatic Coleopterous larvae (H^^drobius). In the Culex- and Mochlonyx-larvae, on the contrary, the spiracles are 1 Meinert, 1886, p. 60 (428). Blood-gills 83 elevated upon a long dorsal stalk, an outgrowtli from tlie eleventh or penultimate segment. The aquatic larva of a Muscid, Ephydra, has two separate tubes, each fringed at its extremity by a circle of setae. In the larvae of Ptychoptera and Bittacomorpha the twelfth segment is very long, slender, and retractile, and the minute spiracles open at its extremity. (&) THE BEANCHIAL SYSTEM. Insect larvae which live immersed in water often Biood-giiis. develop gills, which are thin, transparent extensions of the body-wall, filled with blood, and employed for respiration. According' as they contain tracheae or not, they may be distinguished as tracheal gills ov Mood-gills^. They have in general little morphological constancy, and vary much in position and number, as well as in minute structure. It is remarkable that functional gills are veiy rarely found in an adult insect, however aquatic its propensities (Packard, 1898, p. 476). The larger species of Chironomus-larvae, such as C. dorsalis and C. plumosus, are furnished with two kinds of blood-gills, but tracheal gills are entirely absent. Two pairs of blood-gills are borne upon the lower surface of the last segment but one (fig. i). These are long and flexible, but incapable of independent movement. From the last segment and close to the anus, two pairs of much shorter blood-gills project (fig. i). We find, therefore, two pairs of ventral, and two pairs of anal blood-gills. The hinder end of the body, when the larva is not actually feeding, is often seen to be thrust out from the burrow. When the larva is completely concealed and apparently at rest, it keeps up a vertical undulatory movement of its body within the burrow, which continually renews ' This distinction, though often convenient, is not strictly .applicable to everj' known case. There are gills whicli are neither tracheal gills nor blood-gills. G 2 84 The Larva of Chirouomus tlie water. The larva lias another mode of charging its blood with oxygen. It frequently comes up to the surface by night, and though it does not actually reach the air, it bathes its body in well-aerated water. The blood-gills no doubt effect an exchange of gases, giving off carbon dioxide and taking in oxygen. The only visible action which can be detected by the microscope is the in-and-out pulsation of the blood, driven to the gills by the heart. Bionci-t' ^ rectal papilla of fly (from larva), fly the tllOracic pOrtioil of the X 300. '^ 5 . dorsal vessel exhibits a feature which we have not found in early larvae, viz. a numerous series of what we take to be ganglia, placed alternately on the right and left sides in the neighbourhood of the head. These were also found in the larva of Corethra by Dogiel (1877). Tracheal The two paii's of tlioracic spiracles of most insects system. are now believed to belong to the meso- and meta- thorax. This has been proved for several Coleoptera ' and Hymenoptera (A^Dis, Hylotoma), Hemij^tera (Coccidae), and Thysanura (Lepisma). We believe that no clear case of a prothoracic spiracle has been recorded in any winged ' See Heider on Hydroj)hi]u-^, Wheeler on Doryplioia, Graber on Melo- lontlia and Lina. Tracheal System 109 insect. In Chironomus the posterior thoracic spiracle is clearly nietathoracic, while the anterior spiracle lies in the groove between the pro- and mesothorax. The tendency of the spiracles to shift into the intersegmental grooves in front may be attributed to the necessity of protection for an organ of vital importance. In Aphis-larvae the whole series can be plainly seen. Each segment has its own pair of spiracles, that of the prothorax being of peculiar form ; the spiracle in all cases is situated near the middle of the segment. The tracheal system of the fly, though very much more extensive than that of the larva, is not so elaborate as in large insects of powerful flight. Its arrangement is as follows : — The anterior or mesothoracic spiracle is con- nected by a short branch with a longitudinal trunk, which sends off several branches to the head, and with an external branch which passes outside the vertical muscles of the mesothorax. There is a pair of good-sized air-sacs between the vertical and longitudinal muscles of the mesothorax. The main longitudinal trunks pass inside the vertical muscles, and are connected in front of them by a transverse branch. They are continued forwards to the head, and in this part of their course lie very near to the dorsal vessel. From each metathoracic spiracle a branch joins the main longitudinal tnink, which gives off at the same place a large descending branch. The trunks are then continued into the abdomen, and receive branches from the spiracles. The abdominal spiracles are so minute that it is hard to say how many of them are open ; probably either four or five, viz. those lying in the intersegmental spaces behind the four or five anterior abdominal segments. In the more primitive insects, the reproductive organs Reproduc- are not very unlike in the two sexes, and the general arrangement is comparatively simple. A number of no The Fly of Chirononms tubes, ovarian or seminal, enter paired ducts (oviducts or vasa deferentia), which run lengthwise through the abdomen. The ovarian or seminal tubes approximate to the number of the segments, and sometimes give indica- tions of segmental arrangement ^ ; they commonly enter the ducts at right angles or nearly so, and from one side only ^, In Ephemeridae ^ the outlets are double in both sexes, and this we suppose to be the primitive arrangement. In the great majority of insects, however, the ducts unite behind ; and there may be a common tube, divided into chambers of special functions, and receiving the secre- tions of accessory glands. The common tube is usually prolonged by the invagination, or inward telescoping, of the integument around the outlet ; a considerable section may thus be added to the original ducts, and furnished with recesses, glands, &c., of its own. The invaginated portion is usually lined by a chitinous membrane, continuous with the chitinous cuticle of the external surface^. The ovarian or seminal tubes often deviate greatly from their original disposition. In the male all, or all but one, of the seminal tubules may be suppressed ; and the functional testis is then either a dilatation of the sperm-duct, or a cajisule of similar form. In the female the original number of ovarian tubes is often retained, but they may be reduced or greatly multiplied. In the earwig, for instance, there is only one ovarian tube on each side, but this gives off three longitudinal rows of short secondary tubes.'^ In female Diptera we often hnd a similar arrangement, • .Tapyx, according to Grassi, AVi d. R. Ac. Lincei, 1888. - Oudemans, 1887, pi. iii, figs. 41-43. •'■ Palmen, Puarige Ausfilhrungsgdnge d. GeschlecMsorgane bei Insecten (1884). ' Palmen (loo. cit., pi. v) gives useful diagrams of the morphology of the reproductive passages in a number of insects. * Dufour, Ann. Sci. Nat, xiii. (1828), Female Organs III a multitude of short tubes opening into one central passage. The essential reproductive organs are the ovaries and testes, within which the ova and sperm-filaments (spermato- zoa) are formed. Particular germinal cells, formed within a part of the ovary distinguished as the germarium, are converted into ova, nutritive cells, or folli- cular epithelial cells ; particular cells of the epithelium of the testis undergo repeated division, and form multitudes of seminal filaments. In Chironomus we find the remarkable and almost unique phenomenon, that the eggs or sperm-filaments are de- veloped from cells which have never formed part of a perma- nent tissue ; they are believed to be merely handed on from generation to generation, and though some of the cells to wdiich they give rise are differ- entiated for special purposes and used up, others undergo no change except division ^. Let us now examine the struc- Female ture of the female organs in the Pig. 79.— Ovary from fuU-grown n (> r\\ • mi larva. The external envelope is lly 01 UllironomuS. lilC OVariaU tubes (fig. 79) are short and ex- tremely numerous, radiating from a central axis which takes the place of an oviduct, or else of a primary ^ Weismann, 1889. organs. IT2 The Fly of Chironomus ovarian tube. The axis is not g9 al~ Fiii. 80. — Abdominal cavity of female fly. «?, alimentary canal, f/s, gluten-gland. The ovary ana the paired spermathecae are also seen. Dorsal surface to left, outlet below. Fifi. 8i. — Two ovarioles. i, optical section. 2, surface view, fc, follicular epithelium, o, ovum. visibly hollow, but that it is an actual oviduct may be inferred from the fact that all the eggs de- veloped within the nu- merous tubes escape in a continuous egg-mass. The whole collection of ovarian tubes is enclosed within a transparent outer sheath, and consti- tutes the ovary, a smooth, sausage - shaped organ, which unites behind with its fellow. From the point of junction of the two ovaries a short, wide oviduct or uterus passes backwards, and is con- tinued to the genital outlet by the ectodermal invaoination described below. The two ovaries are applied to each other along almost their whole length, but are not every- where in contact, for an unpaired sac, the gluten- gland (fig. 80). lies between them. The three to- gether form a large semi-trans- parent mass, Female Organs 1T3 which fills almost the whole abdomen, and bulges a little into the thorax. Above it lies the empty alimentary canal. Many tracheae ramify on the surface of the ovaries. A single ovarian tube consists of three successive chambers of unequal size, connected by narrow passages ^-- Fig. 82. — Ovary, from pupa. To left a number of follicles ; to right a single follicle, o, ovum. 7/, yolk-granules. V - (fig. 81). The free extremity is a short thread, and from the other end a narrow duct passes towards the axis of the ovary.' Microscopic study of the large chamber in an oviduct not yet mature shows that it con- tains, as in other Diptera, an ovum, several nucleated cells, yolk, and a follicular epithelium. This last secretes the chorion or egg-shell, and afterwards disappears (fig. 83). The two chambers next above each contain a small ovum and a few ^ „ r. ■ , , Fig. 83. — Ovarian chamber, nutritive cells ; the distal portion ^i^n"^ %• »' o^™- *'. nntri- live cells. ^ ventral plate. y)i\ prominences from which the ento-mesoderm is derived. Ih, lateral bands of ento-mesoderm. n, nerve-cord. (From Eitter, 1890, figs. 30-33.) entoderm. These are pushed into the interior by the oral and anal invaginations (fore-gut and hind-gut). A pair of cellular strings then grow backwards from the anterior cell-mass, and a similar pair forwards from the posterior mass. The two pairs approach, meet on either side, ' e. g. Musca ^Kowale^vsky), Apis (Grass!'), Hj-dropliilus (Heider), Doi-yphora (Wheeler', and Chalicodoma (Carriere). Diversity of Entodciin-fonnation 163 extend vertically until they are converted into slieets enclosing tlie yolk, and finally coalesce to form the mid-gut. In Chironomus the formation of the entoderm, as first described by Ritter (1890), is somewhat different. The inward -projecting ridge, at first single and median, becomes paired by the formation of lateral thicken- ings, and then divided by constriction into segmentallj^ arranged prominences, which are almost hemispherical, and bulge into the yolk. Secondary prominences (rudi- ments of the mid-gut) now form upon the hemispherical surfaces. These are at first segmental, distinct from one another, and paired, like the prominences from which they grow out ; they consist of different kinds of cells on their inner and outer faces (i. e. on the faces which are turned towards and away from the middle line). The inner cells are relatively large, while the outer ones remain small. The secondary prominences project more and more into the yolk, fuse together on either side, and at length become detached as a pair of longitudinal bands, each consisting of an outer and an inner layer of cells (fig. 121). The inner layer, which comes next to the yolk, ultimately yields the mucous wall of the mid-gut, while the outer layer forms the muscular wall. The two bands are at first ventral to the chief mass of the yolk (fig. 121), but they soon extend until they meet and fuse above and below, thus completing the wall of the mid-gut, and enclosing the yolk. It is not a little perplexing to the student that the Diversity entoderm should arise in a variety of ways in different ""^ ^^*°- animals. The variety of formation is illustrated by the mation. fact familiar to every embryologist, that the j^olk some- times lies inside the entoderm and sometimes outside it. For instance, in the two primary divisions of Myriopods this difference seems to be regular and characteristic. In Chilopoda the mesenteron encloses the yolk ; in Chilo- M 2 164 Embryonic Development of Chironomns gnatha it runs as a tube through the yolk ', In the less complex cases of animal development, which are usually chosen for elementary teaching, the entoderm arises by invagination of the blastoderm (Sagitta, Amphioxus, Echinoderms). Here there is little or no yolk. Where yolk becomes abundant we get the modifications known as e]3iboly, delamination, polar regression, &c. The con- tinuity of the entoderm may be lost. Its cells may be gorged with yolk. Their nuclei may afterwards retreat outwards and form a new epithelium (Astacus, &c.) which encloses the yolk. Not only may the invagination for the entoderm disappear altogether, but when it is retained it may take the most unexpected forms. In Chironomus and other insects it is on general grounds .likely that the tissue formed by infolding is really the entoderm, from which the mesoderm is afterwards differentiated. The details still require to be elucidated by practised embryologists. Position of At this time (end of first day of hatching) the parts of embryo at • i r- m • • i • m ^(^^ end of first the embryo are m the lollowmg position (ng. 122;: — Ine '^^^' body is curled up within the egg, l3^ing in the median longitudinal plane, with its ventral surface close to the egg-shell, and the dorsal surface, which is largely open, in contact with the yolk. The head is thrown back and lies on the dorsal surface. The tail-end is at a short distance, and between the two is a thin sheet of extra- embr37onic blastoderm. At this point the yolk projects between the head and tail, which are therefore distinctly marked out. Envelopes The edgcs of the ventral plate pass into the extra- embryonic blastoderm, which retains its original character of a single layer of cells. On the sides of the future body this tract will gradually be encroached upon by the extension of the ventral plate, which grows upwards on either side, and ultimately completes the body-wall ; between the head and tail, temporarily in apposition, the ' Metschnikoff, Zciisch.f. wiss. Zool, Bde. xxiv-v ,1874-5). Envelopes 165 extra -embryonic blastoderm gives rise to the envelopes of tlie embryo. The tail-end, which is particularly thick in this stage, now bends inwards (i. e. towards the centre of the egg) and a little backwards (i.e. towards the hinder pole of the egg), pushing before it the sexual germs, which are, so to speak, caught in its /■■■ •• \f J/ ■:'<=i.,V\ is \ ■■ >i u.\-^ ' v'^ ^ji ' ' '■;:'. fe- ■ %! W,r'. "ti y/>-% , ^ ^ji.J; fe- ' ^^i- concavity (fig. 122). The extra - embryonic dorsal blastoderm now sends out a fold (tail-fold of the amnion) which grows backwards in close contact with the embryo as far as the hinder pole of the egg, and ultimatel}^ still further, bending round to the ventral surface. A little later a head-fold forms just behind the head from the same dorsal blas- toderm, pushes forward, and then, curving round the anterior pole of the egg, grows backward along the ventral surface to meet bryo dm- the tail-fold. The _„ „'. ^ ^ ^ , , p termination of tail-fold upon future ven- lolds coalesce, and lorm a u-a\ sm-faoe. ua. hind-sut. hi, sexual Fig. -Lor^itudiual section of em- ■ formation of tail-fold of am- nion. /(, head, vj)^ ventral plate, am, outer two layer of amnion. am\ inner ditto, am" , tral surface. luu hind-gut. .'vards the middle of the second day the embryo, Second which has for some hours been so placed in the egg that the head- and tail-ends of the ventral plate lay on the convex side, slowly rotates a second time through 180". In the course of the second day the fore- and hind-gut Fore- and , . , hind-gut. form. An invagination appears at the tail-end 111 tlie inturned extremity of the ventral plate. The proximal wall of the invagination is thick ; the distal wall (nearer to the end of the body) is continuous with the extra- embryonic blastoderm. The fore-gut forms in the same ' Patten, 'The Eyes of Acilius,' Journal of Mon^holocjij, vol. ii, 1888. 170 Embryonic Development of Chironomiis Nerve- cord. way by an infolding of ectoderm from the future moutli (fig. 126). AVliile tlie fore- and hind-gut are forming, the embryo has begun to shorten, and in a few hours tlie tail-end retreats to the hinder pole of the egg, while the body becomes almost straight (fig. 125). The details of the formation of the nerve-cord cannot be followed with advantage in Chironomus-eggs, which are small and hard to orientate. The main features of the development, so far as we have been able to observe them, agree with the beautiful results obtained by AVheeler in Xiphidium (1893). Large cells appear on the deep face of the ectoderm of the ventral plate. From these are derived by pro- liferation ganglion - cells which arrange themselves as columns of daughter-cells. Two lateral masses are thus formed, and we have seen indications of a middle element. The masses of nerve-cells grow rapidly, and are mainly responsible for the prominent lateral tracts already mentioned. There are at first as many ganglia as segments ; they are large, extend throughout the seg- ments, and are only interrupted by the intersegmental constrictions. Connectives and commissures form later. The neurilemma is an epithelium derived from the ecto- derm. The original fifteen ganglia behind the brain are gradually reduced to twelve, the suboesophageal ganglion of the larva being a comj)lex of three, and the last abdo- minal a complex of two. During development the anterior ganglia are always in advance of those further back. The development of the brain is more complicated and Fig. 124.— Transverse section of embryo, showing sexual germs (sjr), IDroctodaei^m or hind-gut (pr). Condition of Embryo at end of Second Day 171 more uncertain. Authors liave recognized three or even four pairs of successive ganglia, which are taken to be the primitive elements of the brain. From the last brain- segment the oesophageal connectives are given off. From the second segment the antennae are innervated. The first segment constitutes the chief mass of the brain, including the optic ganglion \ n7x ■•' J iir 75 j on development of ditto, 74- Johnston on auditory organ of gnat, 96. Kowalewsky on pericardial cells of larva, 74. Landois, on transverse nerves, 47 (note) ; on sounds of insects, 97. Lankester on haemoglobin, 78. Larval moults of blow-fly, 132 (note). Legs, of fly, 104; of pupa, 140. Lyonet on Orthocladius, 14. Index 195 Male organs of fly, 1 16. Malpigbian tubules of larva, 70, 108; development of, 175. Mayer on gnats, 97. Meinert on two groups of Chironomus- larvae, 10. Methods, of collecting, 7 ; of examin- ing larvae, 25 ; of examining salivary glands,' 69 ; of examining imaginal rudiments, 121 ; of examining eggs, 158 ; of fixing and preserving larvae, 177 ; of staining and ]>reparing for continuous sections, 178 ; of cutting in continuous sections, 1 79 ! t*f staining on the slide, 179; of eelloidin sections, 180; of mount- ing entire larvae, 181 ; of examin- ing oesophageal valve, 182. Mochlonyx, 31, ?'2, 84. Moults of larva, 7, 132 (note). Mouth-parts, of fly, 99 ; development of, in larva, 131. Miiller on sympathetic nervous system, 48 (note). Muscidae, 119, 151 ; invaginations of, 132. Nemocera, a sub-order of Diptera, 19 ; adaptive resemblances and differences in, 23 ; leduction of larval head in, 31 ; larval appen- dages of, 33 ; position of larval brain in, 43 ; tracheal system in larvae of, 81 ; blood-gills of, 84 ; tracheal gills of, 84 ; ocelli of, 91 ; respira- tory trumpets of, 123 ; more and less primitive genera of, 131 ; pupal respiratory organs of, 146. Nemocei-an larvae, appendages of, 33 ; ti-acheal system of, Si ; blood-gills of, 84 ; auditory organ of, 96. Nervous system of Chironomus-larva, 43- Oesophageal digestion. Plateau on, 53 ; valve of larva, 53. Osten Sacken, on sub-orders of Diptera, 19 ; on Nemocera with similar larvae but unlike flies, 24. Palmen, morphology of reproductive passages, no (note). Parasites of larva, 4. Patagia, 124. Pericoma, 82, 85. Peritrophic membrane of larva, £^3, 58. Phagocytes, 125. Phalacrocera, 43, 49, 82, 84. Phillips, Miss Dorothy, on oesophageal valve of larva, 60 ; on peritrophic membrane of larva, 60, 66. Phytomyza, 31. Plateau, on nomenclature of ali- mentary canal of insects, 50 ; on oesophageal digestion, 53. Ptychoptera, 43, 55, 59, 75, 82, 83, 146. Pupal organs, 139; skin, 143; stage of insects, 151. Pupation, 138. Recapitulation, 10. Rectal papillae of fly, 107. Reproductive organs, of fly, 109 ; de- velopment of, in larva, 135. Respiration, organs of, 80. Ritter on embryonic development of Chironomus, 157. Rolletfe on haemoglobin in Cliiro- uonius-larva, 77. Salivary glands of larva, 67. Secretion of stomach of larva, 57, 60 (note). Sense-organs, 48. Sensory setae, 35, 49. Sexual germs, 159. Simulium, 35, 43, 59, 61, 82, 85, 146 ; peritrophic membrane of, 59 ; oesophageal valve of, 61. Sounds emitted by fly, 97, 1S3. StoDiach of larva, 55. Stomato-gastric nerves, 48. Stratiomys, 22. Swammerdam on transformation, 119. Swarms of Chironomus-flies, 9, 183. Tail of pupa, 141. Tanypus, 7, 33, 49, 76, 84, 85, 95, 135- Taylor, on Chironomus rainntu.'i, 11 ; on C. nivtipennis, 13; on Ortho- cladius, 14 ; on Clinocera, 34 ; on Hemerodromia, 35 (note) ; on swarms and buzzing, 183. Tentorium, 90. Thoracic appendage.s, development of, 121. Thorax of fly, 100. Tipula, 43. 196 Index Tracheal gill of pupa, 141 ; castinff of, 144. Tracheal gills, S3. Transformation, of Chironomus dor- salis, 7, 119; off. mmutus, 12; of C. nireipennis, 13; of Orthocladius, 17 ; of insects, 151 ; embryonic and adult, 152. Transverse nerve.=, 45. Two groups of Chironomus-larvae and pupae, II, 146, 150. Ventral plate of embryo, i6x. Viallanes, Recherclies of, 71. Vignon on histology of alimentary canal, 60 (note). Villot on hair-worms (Gordius), 4. Walker on methods of fixing, staining, and cutting, 177. Waterhouse on chitinous tunnels in heads of insects, 91. 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