OBSERVATIONS ON HYMENOPTEROUS PAPERS, ETC. 91 



I obtained a large number of the larvae of Anlhophora 

 acervorum, two-thirds quickly changed to pupae, and shortly 

 afterwards arrived at the perfect condition of the insect; the 

 remaining third continued in the larva state until the au- 

 tumn, when they underwent their changes, becoming imago, 

 in which state they passed the winter. Mr. Walcott has 

 communicated a similar fact in connection with Osmia auru- 

 lenta. " I found," says my correspondent, " on the sand- 

 hills near Burnham, on the 23rd of August, broken snail 

 shells, from which several bees had left their cocoons ; but 

 in most of the shells there still remained two or three un- 

 opened cocoons. On opening twelve, I found the bees were 

 perfect, and quite ready to come out ; yet from the time of 

 their usual appearance being long passed, the beginning of 

 April, it appeared quite clear that they would not do so, but 

 would be covered over by the drifting sand, together with 

 those shells that had been filled with cells of eggs and pollen 

 during the present season, and carefully stopped at the 

 mouths to prevent the intrusion of the sand." I have no 

 doubt of the bees in the broken shells having passed the 

 previous winter in the larva state, or of their having changed 

 to pupae and imago during last autumn. 



The saw-fly, Athalia spinarum, infested the turnip fields 

 along the coast of Suffolk in perfect swarms about the 

 middle of July last. When first seen hovering over the 

 fields, at a little distance, they were mistaken for the shim- 

 mering heat which every one must have observed in ex- 

 tremely hot weather. A month later the turnips were in 

 most instances entirely stripped of their leaves, the ribs 

 only remaining. I have always found it utterly useless, to 

 attempt to impress on the mind of a farmer, the possibility of 

 mitigating the evil. 



