74 To the River Plate and Back 



couple of fine specimens. A large bumble-bee with black 

 wings and reddish body was at work everywhere. Ants 

 of various kinds appeared to be numerous. Dragon- 

 flies were abundant, but proved difficult to capture. 

 The beetles of Brazil, especially those the larvae of 

 which feed upon wood and leaves, constitute a mighty 



Fig. 5. Eudtemonia semiramis. 

 | natural size. 



host. It is probable that only a small part of them 

 have as yet been named and described. We know com- 

 paratively little of their habits and life-history. The 

 Cerambycidce, or Long-horn Beetles of Brazil, include 

 many thousands of species as yet unnamed. There is 

 in my custody a collection of these interesting insects 

 in which I am told by one of my assistants that there 

 are certainly twelve thousand species, the greater 



