1896.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



April, 1893, I gathered a large nest of this bee from one of the 

 desert shrubs; the nest had evidently been constructed the pre- 

 vious season. Some of the occupants found their way out in the 

 following June, and the remaining cells lay unmolested in my 

 cabinet until this Spring, when my curiosity prompted me to 

 examine them. On dissection I found in two of the cells dead, 

 but apparently full-grown, specimens of Trichodes ornatus var. 

 tenellus with the thin membranous shroud with which the larvae 

 had surrounded themselves. In two others larvae were found, one 

 of which was of a dark vermilion hue, and is probably the larva 

 of this Trichodes; the other was enclosed in an Anthidiuin co- 

 coon. I put these two larvae carefully aside, and the bee, which 

 proved to be a typical A. consimile, issued in July. The beetle 

 larva is still active and crawling around its prison with apparently 

 no disposition to reveal its identity. 



The Anthidram last to emerge must have remained in the larval 

 stage for nearly three years, the egg having probably been de- 

 posited in the Autumn of 1892, and having remained in my pos- 

 session since April, 1893. This, although unique in this family, 

 is not the only instance of long continued existence in the larval 

 state; the historic Osmia of the British Museum having furnished 

 an example of the same kind. 



Instances of bees remaining for more than one season in the 

 larval state are probably not so very rare. It seems reasonable 

 to suppose that those species inhabiting such arid districts as 

 Palm Springs must have some such natural provision to preserve 

 them from extinction, as it frequently happens that in two succes- 

 sive seasons absolutely no rain falls, and food must, of necessity, 

 be very limited. 



The beetles found, and the larva still under observation, are 

 probably of the same species, and present the same peculiarity 

 as the bees in question, in that some of them remain for an ex- 

 tended period in the larval state. Of the habits of these beetles 

 ( Trichodes) I know nothing, although I believe some members 

 of this genus have been found in the nests of bees. 



Appended is Mr. Ashmead's description of the two new species: 



Anthidium consimile Aslim. n. sp. Female. Length 7 mm. Black, 

 punctate; a line before front ocellus, the clypeus, the anterior nrhit 

 widened at clypeus, a small triangular spot on middle of face just Ixluu 

 insertion of antennae, a stripe on posterior orbits, two l;iri^<.- spots mi an- 



