18!)-.] 23J 



hicolor and Piezodorus liturafus in a larval state. F. Smith says that 

 he has caught this insect preying on OxyheJus uniglumis, L. This seems 

 a priori most improbable ; and though on the above and many other 

 occasions I have seen Asfatus and Oxyhelus burrowing side by side in 

 great abundance, I never could see a sign of hostility between the 

 two species. Each seemed quite unconscious of the other's presence, 

 though they were often close enough together to be taken in a single 

 sweep of the net. I cannot help thinking that some accidental 

 occurrence of this kind may have misled Mr. Smith ; otherwise, his 

 observation seems to me simply inexplicable. 



Prosopis cornuta, Smith. — On August 9th I found my first British 

 specimen (a ? ) of this extremely rare species on Daucus carota in a 

 large field very near my house. This field, I regret to say, is being 

 rapidly covered with new buildings, and will probably soon cease to be 

 available as a hunting ground. Next day, by diligent search in the 

 same spot, I secured three more specimens, all females. All were on D. 

 carota, though Achillea millefolium — the plant on which Mr. Saunders 

 took the males of this species at Hollington, near St. Leonard's — 

 grew abundantly close by. For some reason the latter plant seemed 

 on the present occasion quite unattractive to any kind of insect, 

 while the carrots swarmed with Diptera and Hyinenoptera. I took 

 on them many Pompilidce of various kinds, but mostly common, a 

 few specimens of Prosopis brevicornis, Nyl. (all females), and many 

 kinds of Sphecodes, es])ec\a,\\y reticulatus, Thorns, piMicficeps, Thoms., 

 and similis, Wesm. 



Megachile versicolor, Smith. — Mr. Saunders has bred this bee from 

 broom stems, and also found it burrowing in the ground. At West 

 End, Chobham (July 30th), I caught a female in the act of nidifying 

 in an old stump or root of gorse, which was lying quite loose on the 

 edge of a sandpit. I picked the stump up (it was only a few inches 

 long), and brought it home. As it appears to contain several com- 

 pleted cells, I hope to rear something from it next year. 



The above note reminds me that last winter I gathered some 

 bramble stems in this neighbourhood for rearing, but was not particu- 

 larly successful with them. I got, however, one (^ of Odynerus 

 Icevipes, Shuck., which emerged on May 14th, two others having 

 unluckily perished just before completing their pupation. I was also 

 surprised to find four or five naked larvae, which I had set down as 

 Pemphredons, develop in a glass tube into females of Prosopis com- 

 munis, Nyl. I had thought that all species of Prosopis spun cocoons, 

 but these certainly did not do so. 



Brunswick, Woking : 



August, 1897. 



