1887.1 273 



So far, I have been spealiing solely o£ the hibernated females ; 

 what follows refers to the brood sprung from these. 



About the middle of July the first males appear, and continue on 

 the wing until nearly the end of September. They may be found 

 abundantly on flowers in the vicinity of their breeding-place, but often 

 wander to some distance, so that stragglers may be found in most 

 unlikely places. 



They may sometimes be taken by scores off Carduus arvensis, 

 various Umhelliferce, and Achillea millefoUuvi, and less abundantly on 

 Senecio, Crepis, Centaurea, Hubus, and many other flowers. 



In a few days the fresh females emerge. They are, comparatively 

 speaking, rarely seen on flowers, and, probably, as a rule, retire to their 

 ! winter quarters almost directly after impregnation. None of the 

 Bomhyces amongst Lepidoptera have greater powers of attraction for 

 the males than these. Often a dozen of the latter may be seen 

 buzzing round some tufts of grass, amongst the roots of which the 

 female will often be found. Nor does the attraction cease even with 

 death. For if a freshly -killed female be placed upon the ground, the 

 males will not be long in finding her out, and this is a sure way of 

 getting the former correctly named, as the latter sex affords much 

 clearer specific characters. Indeed, they are so bold, that one day on 

 turning out some dozen specimens from a killing-bottle into my hand 

 (although at the time I was sitting under a tree, and quite in the shade), 

 a male was attracted, settled on my hand, and walked about over the 

 heap, nor was it frightened away, until I had twice attempted to catch 

 it with my other hand. 



There would seem to be some peculiarity with regards to the 

 economy of some of those species of Nomada, which are parasitic upon 

 Halictits. For whereas N. Fabriciana, Linn., iV. Jlavogiittata, Kirb., 

 and N. furva, Panz., appear in April or May, and are found in June 

 (*. e., are on the wing when the Halicti with which they breed are 

 provisioning their nests and depositing their eggs), N. solidaginis, 

 Panz., N. jacohoBce, Panz., and others appear with the fresh brood of 

 Salictus in July and August, of which the females hibernate and 

 deposit eggs in the spring. To continue the race it would appear 

 necessary for the females of these Nomadce to follow their example — 

 but do they do so ? 



With regard to N. Falriciana, Linn., though common, it is an 

 interesting species. Generally, I have found it abundantly infestino- 

 colonies of Halictus rubicundus, Christ. Mr. Saunders, in his Synopsis, 

 says that, probably it is parasitic on Andrena Gwynann, Kirb., and 



