366 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the other by a laborious process, the egg which is first laid 

 will be the earliest hatched ; and that the first perfect insect 

 being older than its fellows in the same tunnel, will strive to 

 make its escape sooner, and so on of the rest. The careful 

 mother provides for this contingency. She makes a lateral 

 opening at the bottom of the cells. Reaumur observed these 

 holes in several cases ; and he further noticed another ex- 

 ternal opening opposite to the middle cell, which he sup- 

 posed was formed, in the first instance, to shorten the 

 distance for the removal of the fragments of wood in the 

 lower half of the building." It is apparent that this mode of 

 exit does not occur in the raspberry-canes occupied by the 

 Canadian species ; and the fact that all the eggs examined 

 in a series of cells, on the 11th of April, were of equal fresh- 

 ness, induces rae to state that I am not satisfied with Ren- 

 nie's statement as to its being obvious thai bees occupying 

 the lower cells will be hatched before those in the upper. 

 There may be, in some species, a short lapse of time be- 

 tween the perfection of each individual in a series of cells, 

 but it is of little consequence and does not incommode them. 

 It appears to me that they make little effort to escape until 

 the uppermost cells are vacated. I have seen a species of 

 Megachile two days cutting through its cocoon, and it 

 seemed in no huny to leave its cell ; while during this time 

 other specimens, that occupied the same group of cocoons, 

 came forth one after another. I sent this raspberry-boring 

 bee to Dr. Packard, and I quote from his letter dated May 

 8th, 1866, as follows : — "1 am glad to trace the habits of this 

 species (Crabro sexmacnlatus, Saij). I only wish 1 had a 

 larva and pupa. They build often in the empty hollow stems 

 of elders and rasjjberries, occupying and refitting the holes 

 excavated by ^gerians and other borers." It will be seen 

 from my description of the nest and larva-food of this spe- 

 cies, that it does not agree with the usual habits of Crabro- 

 nidae ; the food of the larvae of our genera of the latter 

 family, as hitherto recorded, consists of Articulata. The bee 

 obtained from the raspberry-canes is a small obscure insect, 

 a little over two-fifths of an inch long, and the only specimen 

 in my possession is now broken, having lost the abdomen. I 

 do not remember noticing spots on any of the specimens, and 

 I am satisfied that the one in ray cabinet is a duplicate of 



