298 



Sclerodermus. It seems to be the purpose of the Scleroder- 

 mus to provoke the attack, for when this takes phiee it dodges 

 and strikes with its sting and the larva sometimes seems to 

 liave succeeded in getting hold of the abdomen, but it did not 

 in this case and soon after it became quiescent and the 

 Sclerodeimus females were seen feeding over the surface, nip- 

 ping the cuticle to suck its juice. 



After a half hour or so the Hypos)iioco)iia larva which 

 had been isolated not being attacked and having walled itself 

 away from the Sclerodermus, they were both placed in the 

 tube with the other larva and the two females. Here it was 

 very restless and began creating a disturbance, for it was 

 larger and more powerful than the other larva. The Sclero- 

 dermus female which had been moved with it began to make 

 tentative approaches and examinations, and after she had 

 learned her way about among the bits of rotten wood in the 

 tube, she began to be more definite in her examinations, ex- 

 amining it with her antennae when she encountered it and 

 then began to back up to it and to attack backward. Some 

 of these attacks were made at the anal extremity and a few 

 at the side, but after a while it succeeded in arousing the 

 attack of the larva and the fencing between the two was fast 

 and furious, now one seeming to have the advantage and now 

 the other. The Sclerodermiis was once seen Avitli its sting 

 inserted at the upper base of the mandible but the direction 

 of the attack was toward the throat. After perhaps a minute 

 of this conflict the combatants separated and the Sclerodermus 

 retired to a sheltered place. The Hposmocoma larva seemed 

 partially stupefied and ceased to move around so actively. 

 After fifteen or twenty minutes it began to move about again 

 but less vigorously and the attack was renewed, generally di- 

 rected against the head but occasionally pressed against the 

 sides of the thoracic segment. This time the conflict was 

 noticeably shorter and at its end the larva retired a little 

 while the Sclerodermus held its ground. By this time 

 the larva had begun to be noticeabl}' paler, an indication of 



