lo Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol.11, 



another temple here, which is one of the better preserved of the 

 Egyptian temples. 



The old city of Dendera has passed away. The houses built 

 of brick of Nile mud have crumbled to dust, and the sands of the 

 desert drift over much of the formerly cultivated fields. But 

 fortunately the drifting sands buried and preserved Dendera's 

 magnificent temple. 



Modem archcologists have excavated this temple. The 

 magnitude of the labor involved in this undertaking can be seen 

 by a glance at Figure i in Plate III, which gives a general view 

 of the temple and of the mounds of earth that have been removed 

 from it. The object of this note is to show that, to a great 

 extent, the prodigious work of excavation that has been accom- 

 plished is being undone by an insect. 



It seems evident to a layman, I know little of Egyptology, 

 that in the study of these ancient temples there are two main lines 

 of investigation: first, the study of the general architectural fea- 

 tures of the temples; and second, the reading of the inscriptions 

 with which the walls and the columns of the temples are covered. 

 Of these the second is certainly not less important than the first. 



The temple of Dendera has been largely exposed, so that 

 its architectural features can be studied; but the inscriptions on 

 its walls are being rapidly buried beneath a layer of the cement- 

 like nests of the wall-bee, Chalicodoma nmraria, as is shown in 

 Figure 2 of the Plate. 



If future students and travelers are to see these inscriptions, 

 it will be necessary to carefully remove this layer of nests; and 

 as the nests are quite firm in texture, the labor involved will be 

 considerable. 



Entomologists are not accustomed to look upon this bee as 

 a noxious insect. The studies of instinct and the embryological 

 investigations that have been pursued upon it in Europe have 

 made it a favorite subject of study; and I have not read of its 

 doing serious injury there. But at Dendera it is certainly a pest; 

 and we are w^arranted in suggesting means of destroying it. 



The most practicable method of doing this that occurs to 

 me is the destruction of all of the nests at frequent intervals so 

 that no bees can develop. The duration of the larval state in this 

 locality at the different seasons of the year should be determined 

 as a basis for determining the frequency of the removal of the 

 nests. 



