266 ADELE M. FIELDE. 



rapidity of the muscular contraction produced at different times 

 an effect like that of playing different tunes on a minute stringed 

 instrument. The sound was sometimes audible at a distance of 

 one yard ; but it was much more often audible only when the 

 fist inclosing the insect was in contact with the ear. Occasion- 

 ally she stridulated continuously for as long a time as three or 

 four minutes. 



It is probable that this velvet ant lived at least three summers. 

 The tendency to hibernate in a snug, arid cell, at temperatures 

 below 75 F., makes it unlikely that her progenitors had reared 

 her in the summer in which she was captured. She must, then, 

 have been hatched as early as the summer of 1904. Her exis- 

 tence was probably shortened by an unnatural environment. 

 My observation of this specimen therefore indicates that the 

 female of the velvet ant may live several years. 



