66 THE entomologist's RECORD. 



Cistus and other woody bushes. The gullies in the sides of these hills 

 are slightly damper, and here I took ^ ^ Olancoimi/che ci/llanis fresh 

 and worn, and both sexes of Kuvhlo'e cnpheno, in some abundance. P. 

 hrassicae was also observed. I was struck with the fact that on these 

 dry sultry hillsides, the Locustid nymphs, which are so characteristic 

 a feature ot the rest of the Tell, were absent. On this day, and 

 frequently afterwards, I noticed that Bees and Fossors seldom or never 

 survive a day in a chip box in hot weather. This I take to be due 

 simply to the heat. Mr. 0. H. Latter has" described a case of a 

 Poiiijiilns, dying of heat apoplexy through chancing to run over a 

 particularly hot patch of sand-dune. He quotes other instances 

 showing that the Aculeata are extraordinarily subject to heat. 

 Antliidinii} aticticiiiii, F., is the only bee from Hammam-el-Lif, which I 

 appear to have brought home. 



On March 24th we motored from Tunis to Ferryville, near Bizerta. 

 The country traversed was flat, cultivated and uninteresting, at any 

 rate to an entomologist. Our wish was to explore a large lake called 

 Garaet Achkel, in the neighbourhood of Ferryville. In actual fact, 

 circumstances prevented this, and the dredge and tow-net were scarcely 

 wetted. We devoted three days to exploring the east and south-east 

 corners of this lake, which is brackish, though a wide river runs from 

 it, at any rate in autumn, winter and spring. The country was 

 typical Tell, and quite low-lying. We took worn specimens of Thais 

 rniiiina, (jr. cleoiiatra J s and $ s, l'arar(/e aei/eria J s, and TJwator balltis. 

 Both sexes of Kuchlo'e eupheno, L. { = bdia, L.), were common, the 

 males especially. The flight of the sexes is similar, near the ground 

 and not so swift as that of our K. cardaiinnen. The species is quite 

 easy to net, unless you fail in your first endeavour at capture. We 

 also took a feAV Anthochan's belia, Cr. {craiiwri, Butler), on a stony hill 

 covered with cistus and other scrub, near Ferryville. P. biassicae and 

 Pitiiiiicia pldaeas also occurred, with Plusia t/anuiia and Larentia 

 jiurlata J . The only Burnet we saw in Tunisia or Algeria was a 

 freshly emerged Anthroccra zitlieiiia, 'Pievvet, found drowning in Garaet 

 Achkel. Mecyna jwli/i/onalis, I'ljrauata (wrcalis, Hubn., and Micro 

 ostrina were netted. 



Oothecte of a Mantid were noticed in large n ambers on twigs, 

 stones and other objects. All those which I collected were so com- 

 pletely parasitized by a Chalcid that not a single Mantid larva 

 emerged. I judge the nests to be those of Mantis rcUi/iosa, Linn. The 

 usual Acridians were taken, all commonly, to wit P. cinerascens, Fab., 

 A. at'iiuiititiin, and T. nasnta. I took no Hymenoptera. The well- 

 known dung-beetle Scarabaeiis sacei- turned up, and a small Tenebrionid, 

 Opatnun eiiiarr/inatinii, Luc, was common under stones. This species 

 shams death to perfection, and is always smeared with clay and 

 covered with dust. I passed several over as dead before discovering 

 that they were merely shamming. A larva of a large Lampyrid 

 species was common. One or two were found inside empty snail shells, 

 and once I witnessed a conflict between a large snail and a Lampyrid 

 larva. 1 found the snail in a dry ditch, bubbling and hissing. The 

 Lampyrid was apparently biting it, and was covered with froth and 

 mucus. Presently the Lampyrid ceased to move and was indeed dead, 



* " Bees and Wasps," in Carnh. Manuals. Sci. and Lit., p. 120. 



