260 l^i^'ii- 



appeared to be known here ; so that it may be of some interest. The egg must be 

 laid in July, and the larva hibernates. — John Sang, 6, Chestnut Street, Darlington : 

 February 28fk, 1879. 



The food and habits of Velleius dilatatus. — For a long time it was a mystery to 

 me why Velleius dilatatus dwelt only with hornets, and how it happened that it also 

 lived in harmony with them ; I conjectured that the Velleius must in some way be 

 of service to the hornet-colony, otherwise the hornets would not tolerate its presence, 

 yet I was not then sure of what its food consisted. To solve this question I had 

 again to take a hornets' nest, but on account of its unfavourable situation I could 

 only extract from it seven larvte, and of these only one entire, the other six were in- 

 jured and perished. 



As only one Velleius was developed, I at once, by means of a pencil, gave it 

 honey, which it ate with the gi-eatest avidity ; as I withdrew the pencil it clung to it 

 so fast that I could thus drag it quite round the room. On the second occasion it at 

 once recognised the pencil and approached it ; it also drank much water ; and I saw 

 that it was very readily fed, — just like a young bird. As this kind of feeding took 

 up too much of my time I gave it a piece of sugar, on which it remained for half a 

 day, and would not leave it until it was satisfied. Thus there can be no doubt that 

 these insects derive their nourishment from sweets, and that they partake of the same 

 food as the hornet-brood. 



The Velleius tears to pieces, with the greatest tiger-like fury, all insects which 

 are injurious to the hornet-brood, especially the Myriopoda — Cryptops, Leach, and 

 Scolopendra, Koch, — ; these resist so strenuously, that only a confused action can be 

 seen, but nothing distinguished, yet their dead dry bodies are thrown about with the 

 greatest rage on every occasion. The Myriopoda which live among plants and de- 

 caying matter, such as Geophilus, Leach, are not touched, even if they crawl about 

 on the Velleius, as also is the case with all other insects which are not injurious to the 

 brood. It is not to be attributed to the hornets that they clear out all such animals 

 from the hollow trees they select for their nests, for I had an opportunity to examine 

 thoroughly the inside of one tree and found no creatm-e which could be injurious to 

 their brood, whilst, in other hollow trees, Myriopoda and other predacious creatures 

 swarmed. Thus I believe that no hornets' nest can thrive in a hollow tree without the 

 presence of Velleius, and who knows whether the sharp, musky odour of this insect 

 may not even contribute much to its security by keeping enemies at a distance ? — 

 the odoiu* is so powerful that five or six of the Velleius will sensibly perfume a room. 

 It therefore appears that Velleius eats the honey, and in return protects the hornet- 

 brood, and the colony generally, by keeping oS their foes. 



Observation of Velleius soon brings conviction that it is very intelligent, at any 

 rate, much more than most other beetles : the species is among beetles what parrots 

 are among birds. When newly developed it is very shy, but it soon loses its wild- 

 ness, at least when close to its food. It is lively and ever ready for conflict, and if 

 disturbed from its rest, or if it becomes aware of an enemy, it springs on the intruder 

 with out-spread wings, and uses its strong mandibles as weapons of attack. It flies 

 easily, and this power is very serviceable, for it often has to travel great distances 

 when seeking hornets' nests. 



It occasionally happens that hornets make their nest for several years successively 



