given, it would appear that no one has been wilHng to assert 

 positively from what creature this marvelously beautiful skin 

 has come. Is it a freak, like a sport in botany, a hybrid, or a 

 distinct species of the genus felis, which has lurked in the jungles 

 of India, heretofore unknown to Science, like the lately discov- 

 ered Okapi of the unexplored Stygian gloom of darkest Africa? 

 All agree that it has characteristics of both the tiger and the 

 leopard, but whatsoever may be ultimately determined as to its 

 classification, I give credit to the belief that it is sui generis, 

 and that nowhere upon this earth, either in public or private 

 collections, wdiether embracing the limits of Zoology or the uni- 

 versal field of Biology, is its duplicate to be found. 



When proper arrangements shall have been made for its 

 safetv and preservation, it will be placed upon exhibition in the 

 Biological Division of the Museum in Exposition Park. 



HABITS OF A CLEPTIS (WASP) 

 By A. Davidson, C. M., M. D. 



The habits of the wasps of Southern California are all of 

 peculiar interest on account of the widely divergent habits of 

 individual species in the same genus. 



There is around Los Angeles a wasp of the genus Cleptes 

 (species undetermined) that I have hatched from the cocoon, 

 but have never captured on the wing. The species is very small 

 (less than one quarter inch long) and somewhat rare, so it is 

 not likely to be found in many collections. This species nests in 

 the hollow stems of small shrubs and prepares the larval beds 

 by filling the bottom of the cavity with particles of earth, sand, 

 grains, seed or any debris convenient ; on this the food supply 

 with its accompanying egg is laid; a layer of earth, etc., is put 

 on top ; this is repeated until 2 to 5 eggs with food supply, are 

 deposited, as is the habit with many other wasps. 



This insect is noteworthy in that its store of larval food 

 consists of specimens of Coreidae, only one other species so far 

 as I have observed has been discovered using these as food 



supply. 



Why these common insects are not more frequently used by 

 wasps I do not know, though I presume the acrid juice the 

 majority of these insects exude, affects their palatability. 



The larval cocoon is formed from sand and earth in its 

 immediate surroundings. It measures one quarter inch in 

 length, cigar shaped, rounded at both ends like those »f the 

 common sand wasp (Sphex). The wasp is one of the most in- 

 dustrious of the family. 



The number of trips required to carry the sand, grains, etc., 

 found in anv of the nests, is always considerable, but what was 

 necessary in the case of one nest in my possession, in which 

 five cocoons were found and the earth particles, etc., weighed 

 60 grains, I leave it to the reader to imagine. 



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