IO6 MELANDER. 



calm overcame him, and with his mouth and the fore feet that 

 normally are so inactive, he caressed the head and thorax of his 

 bride. This lulled her to tranquility, and with a sudden dart the 

 male turned around and clasped the eighth ventral in his bifid 

 pygidium. Instantly both were struck with a rigor. They al- 

 lowed themselves to be turned over without showing a sign of 

 movement, and were it not for the rapid but faint pulsation of the 

 thinner chitin of the segmental interstices of the male they would 

 have seemed as if dead. For four and one half minutes they re- 

 mained thus, the body of the male twisted over the back of the 

 female, and turned towards her right side. The copulation then 

 being effected they separated, and both ran about with the quiet 

 movements of their ordinary gait. Now we understand why the 

 male so frequently carries the tip of the abdomen uplifted for this 

 position has a functional significance during coition. During this 

 time the heart-beat of the male attains three hundred per minute. 

 This pulsation is remarkable when we remember that the highest 

 number recorded is one hundred and forty-two per minute for 

 Anthophora, and that, too, at a time of excitement. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



All of the specimens of texana were taken in the same situa- 

 tions as were the larva; described in the June number of this 

 periodical, under flat limestone surface-rocks that form so promi- 

 nent a feature of this region of the Texas country. Net-sweep- 

 ings through the grass in the vicinity failed to reveal any speci- 

 mens. This is to be expected, however, for our species is prac- 

 tically nocturnal. In the case of inanritanica, specimens have 

 been taken in grass-sweepings during the daytime, while nigra 

 has been found in the same way in the evening. The situations 

 frequented by the different species present quite a range of varia- 

 tion. Some have been found among the roots of orchids where 

 they are said to cause considerable injury (insnlaris, Michaeli, 

 etc.). Many construct their web-nests on the fibrous bark of 

 palms and cycads (Saundersii, maiiritanica, Uliriclii, etc.). The 

 former species, too have been seen running about on the sand. 

 The habits may vary with the altitude, even. Insnlaris becomes 

 arboreal in high situations but is found under stones in the low- 



