HARD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G OS SI P. 



15 



10. L. stagnalis, var. Shell shewing traces of 

 spiral banding. Pond at Chislehurst, with 

 Ranunculus aquatilis. 



1 1. L. palustris, monst. Shell turrited, about i inch 

 in length, whorls 5, last whorl more than half length 

 of shell. Pond at Bromley, with type. 



12. L. truncatula, var. Shell having 3 whitish 

 bands on body whorl, corresponding to 3, 4, and 5, in 

 H. nemoralis. Ditch at Bickley, with type. 



13. SpJncrium lacustre, monst. Shell distorted so 

 as to resemble Pisidium amnicum in shape. Pond 

 at Bromley, with type. 



14. Cyclostoma elegans, var. Shell light yellowish, 

 traces of spiral banding on upper whorls. Warling- 

 ham, Surrey, with type. 



15. Helix aspcrsa, var. Shell having four well- 

 defined bands. Chislehurst Common, amongst 

 Pferis aquilina. 



16. Helix aspersa, var. Shell having upper portion 

 of whorl chocolate colour, described in a former note 

 (p. 91). I find that when the light is allowed to 

 pass through the chocolate coloured portion very 

 faint mottlings become visible, indicating those 

 present in a normal shell. 



17. H. Cantiana, var. Shell smaller than type, 

 glossy, and semi-transparent, slightly tinged with 

 rufous, especially near the mouth. Lip pinkish. 

 Farnborough, Kent, two specimens. 



18. H. virgata, var. Shell large, and having one 

 or more interrupted bands. Margate. 



19. H. nemoralis, monst. Shell much distorted 

 from repair of fracture, umbilicus wide and deep. 

 Chislehurst Common, on Pteris aquilina. 



20. Clausilia biplicata, monst. Mouth of shell oval, 

 and contorted, probably from repair of fracture, 

 channeling of lower part not perceptible. Three 

 well-marked denticles present. Near Hammersmith, 

 with type. 



21. C. laminata, var. Shell rather tumid, inside 

 of mouth, including denticles, of a purplish-brown 

 colour. 



Other varieties are described in former notes. 



T. D. A. COCKERELL. 



Bedford Park, Chiszoick, 1884. 



NATURAL HISTORY JOTTINGS. 

 On Wasps, chiefly. 



AS stated in " Natural History Jottings for 1SS1," 

 in the May issue of Science-Gossip, 1882, the 

 summer of that year, in the neighbourhood of 

 Harnham and Bradford, Northumberland, was 

 remarkable, from a natural-history point of view, in 

 the almost entire absence of the social wasps and 

 humble bees. This I accounted for by the very 

 severe weather prevalent during the second week in 

 June killing off the large females, or queens, with 

 the embryo brood which they would be undoubtedly 



at that time rearing ; as these foundresses of colonies,, 

 of both tribes, had been plentiful enough during the 

 latter part of May and commencement of June, and I 

 had already observed the wasps gathering wood 

 fibres for the manufacture of the paper of which they 

 build their nests and combs.* Moreover, during the 

 spell of wintry weather that prevailed from June 6th 

 to 10th inclusive, I had discovered a nest of the 

 moss or carder bee (Bonibus muscorum), containing a 

 large amorphous cell, or wax-enclosed mass of bee- 

 bread, enclosing six or seven larvae of varying size 

 from very small to what I took for nearly full-grown, 

 as well as a single elegantly urn-shaped thin wax 

 cell containing a very little clear honey. 



The summer of 1883, however, was remark- 

 able for a superabundance of the social wasps, and 

 an abundance of the humble bees. To give an idea 

 of the great plenty of the wasps I may state that I 

 have known of twenty-five nests, or "bikes" (as 

 they are here called), within an area of not more than 

 forty acres of meadow and pasture land, this area 

 being represented by the figure of a square ; as well 

 as two more nests a very little outside that square. 

 Within this same area were found three nests of the 

 orange-tailed humble bee (Bornbus lapidaria), and 

 one of the common humble bee (B. terrestris) ;. 

 whilst outside of it, but at no great distance, another 

 nest of each species was found. 



Of the above-mentioned twenty-seven nests of the 

 wasps, fifteen belonged to the Vespa vulgaris, six to- 

 the V. sylvestris, five to the V. ritfa, and one to the 

 V. Germanica. In addition to these were two others, 

 small secondary nests of the V. tufa, built on the 

 sites of the first nests which had been destroyed. 



Premising that I was in the district indicated from 

 the beginning of the fourth week in July until near 

 the close of September ; — that the earthen dykes, with 

 their hedgerows and numerous trees, bounding the 

 several fields, were mostly stone-faced to strengthen 

 them against the rutting and butting of the cattle, 

 though with occasional interspaces free from stones ; 

 that flies (Diptera) were exceedingly numerous, 

 especially in the lee of the dykes and hedgerows, and 

 fruit abundant ; and that the weather during the 

 most of that period was warm, though variable and; 

 moist ; — I shall give some of my observations, on the 

 wasps chiefly, mostly as they were jotted down and 

 commented on at the moment. 



July 25th, 1883. — Wasps are exceedingly numerous ; 

 have already seen nearly a dozen nests, or ' ' bikes. " 



July 30th. — Observe more wasps' nests in the 

 dykes. I have also observed three nests in the level 

 ground in a small meadow, two being those of the 

 Vespa vulgaris and one that of the V. rufa. 



August 2nd. — In the evening, after a very heavy 

 and continuous rainfall, the temperature being then 

 much lowered, three large nests of the Vespa sylvestris 



* Science-Gossip, May, 1882, pp. 102, 103. 



