HABITS OF MET(ECUS PARADOXUS AND VELLEIUS DILATATUS. 319 



beetle often runs out and flies away at once to the window. I con- 

 sider that in about eight weeks from the date of finding the nest is the 

 best time to open it up, as, if done sooner, no good result will follow, 

 and if delayed too long the parasites all disappear, unlike the Crypto- 

 pJiaifi, and other iuquilines, which remain until the nest decays. 



Another of our rarest beetles, Vellems dilatatus, breeds in the nest 

 of the hornet {I'espa crahro). The proper time to take a nest is about 

 the middle of October, as then all the sexes can be obtained, and the 

 full-grown larvae of the beetle. In 1896 I took a large nest from an 

 oak tree, and found 18 queens, 26 males, and 53 workers, and several 

 larvBB of Vc'Ueius, but I failed to rear any. Some years ago I found a 

 perfect beetle and a good many larv* in a nest of Vespa (jennanica, in 

 a tree stump, which the year before had been occupied by hornets. 

 The nest should be attacked in the day time, as the hornets work all 

 night, and the hornets killed or stupefied two hours previously. They 

 succumb very readily to any strong mixture, and the nest should be 

 secured before the young hornets in the cells have time to develop, 

 or the operation is attended with some danger. The nest, unlike any 

 of the wasps', seems to be made from the scrapings of rough bark. I 

 took a nest, this year, in a bank — a very unusual place, as the nests 

 are generally to be found in old trees, or thatched buildings. In one 

 nest, in a granary, I found a colony of Lepisma saccharina , the " fish " 

 insect (which is known to infest kiichens), besides a good many Cnjp- 

 tophagi and other small beetles. 



Some further notes re the Tephrosia hybrids. 



By W. S. EIDING, B.A., M.D.. F.E.S. 



Following up my notes on this subject {ante, pp. 149-150 ; pp. 243- 

 246 ; pp. 277-278), I would add that the pupae of the hybrids have 

 been kept during the autumn, either in a lumber room facing N.W., 

 with open window, or in an outside larder. The insects continued 

 emerging more or less during a period of over four months, and till 

 recently ; the last hybrid of (J T. hutortata + $ T. var. delamerensis 

 appearing on October 22nd, two pup^e remaining at the present time ; 

 the last of $ T. var. delamerensis -\- 5 T. bistortata about the middle of 

 September, no pupae left ; the last of <? T. bistortata + 5 2^. biundnlaria 

 on October 24th, two pupa? remaining'-' ; and the last of ^ T. 

 biundidaria -\- $ T. Mstoriato on October 21st, seven pupae left, f The 

 weather being now cold, and east winds prevailing, it is doubtful 

 whether these pupae will produce more imagines this year. 



Of the pairings of the hybrids which yielded ova (June 13th-26th), 

 as mentioned in a previous note, only some of the batches from ^ 

 ( ^ T. var. delamerensis -f $ T. bistortata) -f $ {3' T. bistortata + $ 

 T. var. delamerensis), proved fertile, and these only partially so, a 

 large proportion of ova shrivelling up. The larvfe fed during July, and 

 the first week of August, and on August 8th, I find a note in my diary : 

 "most of the hybrid larvae, 2nd generation («), reciprocal T. bis- 

 tortata and T. var. delamerensis, gone down." On August 21st, the first 



* These two pupae emerged on Oct. 31st and Nov. 3rd, respectively. 

 t Two of these emerged Oct. 30th and Nov. 1st, leaving five pupse. 



