22 [June, 



We are still in the dark respecting the habits of the larva of even 

 the latter species ; Zincken supposed that it lived in nests of humble- 

 bees, but could not verify the fact. Zeller, in the " Stettiner ent. 

 Zeitung " for 1868, p. 413, wrote that he had discovered, in the month 

 of July, numbers of tubular galleries placed perpendicularly in the 

 soil of a sandy locality, or horizontally on the surface of the ground, 

 which was sparingly covered with patches of Hieracium pilosella, Tri- 

 folium repens, and various grasses. vSome of these galleries were 

 tenanted by larvae, others by pupae, but he could not discover the 

 food-plant of the larva. He tried the latter with dead flies, and 

 thought that the bodies of some had been nibbled ; he also noticed 

 that a larva had devoured one of the pupae, but he did not feel justified 

 in aiSrming that the larva at large would live on animal food, and 

 remarked that the silken tubes had no vestiges of insects mixed with 

 them. Zeller bred several of the insects, and although he called them 

 hipuncfanus, he thought they might have been considered as anellus, 

 and that perhaps it was a mistake to consider the latter distinct from 

 hipunctanus. 



Biittner confirms Zeller's observations, and states that he bred 

 large specimens of hipunctanus from larvae fed on dead insects. 



J. von Hornig submitted to me a number of anellus, S.Y., bred 

 from wasps' nests (Fespa sylvestris and Polistes g allied), and mentioned 

 that the species was usually bred from these nests in Vienna. 



On the other hand, M. Milliere states that he has bred anellus 

 from larvae fed on the flowers of Inula Jielenium. M. Chretien, of 

 Boulogne, informs me that he had received in the summer ova of 

 anellus from M. Milliere, and had reared the larvae on flowers of various 

 plants ; he obtained several large specimens of the imago in the 

 autumn. I also received two batches of eggs from M. Milliere, and 

 thinking that the larvae might feed on sweet substances in the nests 

 of wasps, I gave them some dried figs, but they did not thrive and 

 produce the perfect insect ; they are still small, and no doubt I shall 

 not breed the moth before next summer. Mr. Barrett informs me 

 that Mr. Sydney Webb finds hipunctanus in England sitting on swampy 

 ground more frequently than elsewhere. 



Achroea griseella, E. — The larva was figured by Eeaumur, and has 

 frequently been described since. It feeds in bee-hives, and is often 

 injurious. M. Lhotte of Eouen, however, has bred the insect from 

 dried apples, so that it does not affect bee-hives only. 



* Melissohlaptes cepltalonica, Stt. — A-s Mr. Stainton rightly sur- 



