1864.] 247 



the Dipterous Yolncella. I do not believe.* It i.s a remarkable fact that 

 the Coleopterous Rhiplphorun pnrarloxmi (Europe) which is parasitic 

 in the nests of Vfspa vulgaris, and the Lepidopterous Gallcria rrrr- 

 ana which inhabits the nests of another social insect, the common 

 honey-bee, are as unlike the insects among which they live as it is 

 possible to conceive. 



4. The food of Diptera and of Ooleoptera is said to be " vegetable, 

 articulate-animal or vertebrate-animal," (pp. 17, 24.) In the case of a 



*As illustrative of the possibility of Bombus mistaking Apathus for its own 

 species. I may quote here a remarkable fact, which I witnessed the very day 

 (Sej)t. 20) that I received the proof sheets of the above. — Noticing what I sup- 

 posed to be a 9 Apathus elatus Fabr. surmounted by a % on the flower of a this- 

 tle, but not in actual copulation, and having long sought for the 9 "^f that spe- 

 cies in vain, thougli the % % occur here by hundred, I wrapt them both up in 

 my handkerchief and took them straight home. On turning them loose into 

 a glass vessel, the % in the course of a few minutes again surmounted the 9 • 

 but all his amorous caresses could not induce her to withdraw the tip of her 

 anus from under her abdomen. In about five or ten minutes, he desisted and 

 released his hold: when on killing them I was astonished, and disappointed 

 withal, to find tliat the supposed 9 Apathus elatus was nothing but a,*^ Bombus 

 fervidus Fab.,, so fresli and bright that it evidently belonged to the newly- 

 hatehed autumnal brood. I could scarcely believe my own eyes when I saw 

 the pollen-basket, the tooth on the first tarsal joint of the hind leg, the anus 

 directed })ackwards in death, and the broad, obcuneiform, striated mandibles 

 of the 9- and the convex hind tibife. covered with short, dense, stubbly bris- 

 tles, and devoid of any polislied s])ot or long lateral fringe, in the*^ . Althougli 

 the caresses of the incestuous lover were firmly rej)elled, yet tliere was evidently 

 no anger or hostility on the part of the lady; for she made no attempt eitlier to 

 bite or to sting him. though she had abundant opportunity to do either. It is 

 remarkable that, so far as known at present, this species of Apathus does not 

 occur in tlie nests o{ B. fervidus. which it so closely resembles, but in the nests 

 of a very dissimilar species, B. pensylvanicus DeGeer. (Cresson Proc. Ent. Soc. 

 Phil. II. p. 164.) — I may add here, that as I have recently captured K '^ "^ df 

 Apathus citrinus Smith in company with A ^ ^ oi A. laboriosus Fabr., and us 

 the 9 of tlie former and the '^ of the latter species appear to be unknown, I in- 

 cline tv believe tliem to be the sexes of one and the same species. In that case 

 the % having the dorsal base of his abdomen yellow, and the 9 black, finds a 

 ]iartial parallel in %, 9 B. pensylvanicus. In the genus Apathus. as in nniny 

 others, [Proc. Enf. Soc. Phil. II. p. 223.) the % % seem to preponderate great- 

 ly over the 9 9= *o that it is very improbable, that I sliould find as many 

 as four 9 9^'f -^- laboriosus and not a single % in comj)any with them, whicli 

 must have Ijeen the case if lnhoriosus and citrinus are distinct species. 



