312 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



ing trip spent in the neighbourhood of Corrour in July last I was 

 fortunate enough to capture an example of this conspicuous and 

 somewhat rare longicorn beetle. It alighted on a low bush after a 

 vigorous flight which resembled that of other longicorns, such as 

 Rhagium, etc. — Percy H. Grimshaw, Edinburgh. 



A Porticoed Wasp's Nest. — Mr A. Macdonald, of Durris, 

 has drawn our attention to the following interesting paragraph, 

 written by him, which appeared in the Aberdeen Free Press of loth 

 September, and also kindly procured for us a specimen of the 

 insect, the identity of which we were able to confirm. It is quite 

 usual for wasps to keep open an entrance to their nest by cutting 

 away any obstructing herbage, but the present seems an excep- 

 tionally good illustration of the habit : — 



" There may be seen at Rose Cottage, Crathes, a nest of the 

 ground wasp ( Vespa vulgaris), which seems to merit notice. It 

 forms a very strong community, as the stream of workers coming 

 and going during the hours of sunshine is constant, but the feature 

 which deserves attention is the presence of a tunnel-like porch in 

 front of the ground opening. This entrance is six inches in 

 diameter, and at least a foot in depth, and has been scooped out of 

 the tall grasses and weeds that grow naturally along the fence of a 

 potato field. The grasses have been bitten off on the floor of the 

 opening, and all the fragments, stones, and earth cleared away, so 

 that it is smooth and tidy, except for some withered stumps of 

 grasses, etc. The tube by which the wasps approach their nest is 

 quite free from straggling grasses, and slopes at a high angle to the 

 ground. This arrangement not only permits of easy egress and 

 ingress to a number of insects at the same time, but serves as a 

 ready way of finding the exact locality, and makes a sheltered 

 entrance. Whether the adaptation has been noted before we 

 cannot say. It is, however, sufficiently rare and ingenious to call 

 for a passing record." 



