The asymmetric male and female genitalia of the spider Metagonia mariguitarensis (González-Sponga) are described, based on semi-thin serial sections and SEM photographs, and several male genital and non-genital characters are measured and analysed statistically. Left male genital bulbs are significantly larger than right bulbs while right palpal tibiae are significantly stronger than left tibiae, suggesting a functional segregation into a more predominantly displaying right palp and a more predominantly sperm-transferring left palp. Despite several structural differences between right and left male palps, however, there is no indication of qualitative differences: both bulbs transfer sperm, and both palps are provided with a full set of muscles. The female internal genitalia are provided with an unpaired receptacle that is connected to the uterus externus by a wide and complicated duct and to the valve separating uterus externus from uterus internus by a short narrow duct. This resembles entelegyne genitalia, but the functional details remain unknown. The evolution of asymmetric genitalia is discussed in a wider framework, with the conclusion that the causes of asymmetry in spiders may be different from those in other arthropods such as insects and copepods.

Fliess, an ENT surgeon, was Freud’s closest friend and confidant. They both believed that sexual problems were the chief cause of neurosis. Fliess postulated that eflex nasal neurosis was based on the important physiological connection between the nose and the genitals. He described specific genital spots located on the nasal inferior turbinate. Fliess’ second preoccupation was with vital periodicities. He believed that the symptoms of his reflex nasal neurosis followed regular 28-day cycles as does menstruation. He further proposed a male 23-day menstrual cycle, that he centred specifically on the nasal turbinate. Clearly, Fliess’ fanciful theories of neurosis based on the turbinates have never held any scientific validity and are presented for their curiosity. This eccentric rhinolaryngologist, however,exerted a profound influence on Freud’s conception of human development, that is often undervalued.

Nephila edulis is a spider with large body size variability in males and females. Genital characters show negative allometric values compared to somatic characters. In males, the embolus (the most important structure for sperm transfer) had a significantly lower coefficient of variation than body size. This suggests that male genitalia are under stabilizing selection favouring intermediate size. Female N. edulis showed a trend similar to males regarding allometric values in genitalia. In females, however, the variation coefficient in a specific genital character crucial for successful copulation did not differ from that of indicators for overall body size. This suggests that in Nephila the genitalia of the females experience less stabilizing selection than those of the males. In male and female genitalia, the mode of selection seems to cause developmental instability not in degrees of fluctuating asymmetry but in the degree of data scatter which indicates a lower coefficient of determination.

Detailed biology of the sorghum earhead bug, Calocoris angustatus Lethierry was studied at Dharwad, India during 1979–1981. Egg incubation and nymphal developmental period ranged from 5.6–11.0 and 10.0–17.0 days, respectively. The duration of first, second, third, fourth and fifth nymphal instars was 2.2 to 3.4, 2.3 to 3.0, 2.0 to 2.8, 2.0 to 3.0 and 2.0 to 2.7 days, respectively. The males lived for 8.9 to 17.6 days and females for 12.2 to 21.3 days. Fecundity varied from 57.7 to 267.1 eggs per female. Preoviposition, oviposition and post oviposition periods varied from 1.2 to 2.1, from 7.2 to 14.0 and from 5.0 to 15.8 days, respectively. All the developmental stages of the bug are described.

Mussidia nigrivenella Ragonot is the main cob borer of maize in Ivory Coast. An accurate description of male and female genitalia is given. Rearing in the laboratory has permitted determination of the number and duration of the pre-imaginal instars, fecundity of adults and fertility of eggs as also the sex-ratio. An artificial diet has been elaborated which provides conditions of similar development to those observed in the field: The insect has 5 to 6 larval instars and the total duration of development from the egg-laying to the adult emergence is 46 days for the male and 49 days for the female.

1. Under laboratory conditions (25 to 27°C), female Cydia ptychora (Meyrick) laid an average of 44 eggs. 2. The egg incubation period was 5 days, while the larval developmental period lasted 7 to 10 days, and the pupal period 12 days. Thus, the total developmental period (egg to adult) lasted 24 to 27 days. The adult longevity averaged 10 days (13 to 15 days). 3. Descriptions of the different life stages and setal maps of the different larval instars are provided.