118 [May, 



which I took males of Vespa rv.fa, norreijica, aud sylvestris. The 

 V. riifa were variable aud the norveijica well marked, and, judging 

 from their similarity, all from the same uest. It is rather remarkable 

 that V. vulgaris and germanica are rarely seen on flowers, whereas 

 males of the three other species named are quite commonly to be 

 taken in that way. Workers of V. rufa also seem to frequent flowers, 

 freely, especially if erac?e?<»», for the purpose of capturing flies thereon 

 as food for their larvae. 



) The Pastinaca also attracts Ichneumons freely, as well as Diptera, 

 In fact, in the Stroud district it is one of the most attractive of flowers 

 for many groups, and Heracleum sphondylimn is a good second. Gout- 

 weed {Aegopodimn podagraria), which usually grows in patches, 

 especially near houses, is also good for Diptera, Coleoptera, and Tenthre- 

 dinidae in that district. Pastinaca, however, seems uncertain in its 

 attractiveness, as I found it practically unproductive in a field near 

 Dorking on July 28th, 1915, whilst in my garden here it is visited by 

 Foenus jaculator, Ichneumons, Chrysotoxu^n caidum, and other species 

 of Hymenojjtera. and Dipt era. 



I think it would be useful to have on record the experience of 

 other collectors as to the attractiveness of flowers in various districts, 

 with particular reference to those kinds most generally visited by 

 many orders of insects. Hints of this sort would be very useful to 

 others besides tyros like myself. 



The year 1914 will long be memorable to me as the year in which 

 I first saw and captured Metoecns paradoxus. In the lane near the 

 house at which I stayed at Pitchcombe, there was a nest of Vespa 

 vulgaris in the hedgebank, and I looked vipon it as in a very desirable 

 position to take in due course. One day on returning from an expedi- 

 tion I spied a female Metoecus quietly at rest on a nettle^ leaf near 

 the nest, and this quite decided the fate of that nest. Just pi'e- 

 vious to the conclusion of my stay I armed myself with a bottle of 

 cyanide solution, a pair of old kid gloves, a bill-hook, trowel, and other 

 impedimenta, and amid a small knot of wondering children grouped 

 at a very respectful distance, proceeded to storm the vespiue strong- 

 hold. Owing to a large bough of elder, which grew i-ight across the 

 entrance hole, it was difficult to inject the cyanide with good aim, 

 especially as the entrance turned rather upwards just inside. I there- 

 foi'e decided to dig down to the nest from the top of the bank after 

 clearing away the nettles and other weeds. This was eventually 

 accomplished amid a small cloud of resentful wasps, some of which 



