13G [Nuvcmbcr, 



the abdomen of Halictns, $ , the sting of which was well cxscrtcd, I presented it to 

 a TriunguUn, which at once climbed on to it. I then moved the sting up to the egg 

 of the Vespa vulgaris, and had the pleasm-e of seeing the little larva of Meloe pass 

 on to the egg. 



This occurred on the 26th June. I closed the tube, and, lens in hand, followed 

 the proceedings of my pupil. I proved that it ate or sucked the egg, and in its 

 somewhat transparent body I could see that it absorbed the nutrition. It increased, 

 its annulations swelled, the corneous plates of each segment which had touched each 

 other were separated by a tender transparent skin ; and at length, on the morning of 

 the Ist July, that is, in five days, the first moult took place, the thorax was split 

 open, and I saw an elongate larva of a citron-yellow colour with a pale head and two 

 black eyes issue from the TriunguUn, and rush boldly into the honey. Wliat will 

 become of it in this glutinous liquid so little like both in taste and odour to the 

 nauseous honey of the Anthophoridce ? The future will tell me ; at present, five or 

 six hours have elapsed and the larva does not seem displeased, for it swims and frisks 

 about like a fish in water. 



This is pi-obably the first time that the rearing of Meloe has taken place with a 

 feeding-bottle ; I have obtained the first and second larva-forms, and I will hereafter 

 report if the three or four other forms have also been successfully assumed. — Jules 

 LiCHTENSTEiN. (Translated from the " Compte Rendu de la Sociote Entomologique 

 de Belgiquo :" July, 1875.) 



Exportation of Humhle-Bees to New Zealand — Two nests of English Humble- 

 Bees were last week sent to New Zealand, by Mr. Frank Buckland, for the Canterbury 

 Acclimatisation Society. These insects are specially desired in New Zealand for the 

 purpose of fertilising the common clover ; the proboscis of the common bee is not 

 sufficiently long to reach down to the pollen of the clover flower, while the humble- 

 bee is enabled to do so. In this way, the insect is expected to do great service to the 

 agriculturist by largely extending the growth of the clover. The bees were packed 

 in their own nests in two boxes, and will be under the charge of a Member of the 

 New Zealand Council, who is provided with every necessary for their welfare during 

 the voyage. They are expected to arrive about the middle of January — Midsummer 

 at the Antipodes. — Extracted from " Natube :" lith October, 1875. 



Note on Trapezonotus disting''.iendus, Flor, and its allies. — In his " Synopsis of 

 the British Hemiptera," just published in the Transactions of the Entomological 

 Society, Mr. E. Saunders puts Traiyezonotus distinctus, D. and S., as a variety of 

 Fachyme^-us distinguendus, Flor ; but this does not exactly settle the question, — and 

 thereby hangs a tale. 



Pachymei-us (P.) distinguendxis was described by Flor (Rhyn. Livl., i, 266, 21, 

 1860) as having black antennae, with the second joint yellowish-red in the middle 

 (Glied 2 in der Mitte gclbrothlich). In the second volume, p. 584, he again alludes 

 to the species, comparing it with T. agrestis and T. convivus, but says not a word 

 about any error in his former description. 



Trapezonotus distinctus, D. and S.,was described in "The Entomologist's Annual," 

 1863, and again in the "British Hemiptera," i,19i,l (1865), as having black antennae 

 with the third joint having a broad red ring in the middle. 



