104 



Art. XVII. — Scraps from the Note-Book. By J. W. Douglas, Esq. 



Cucujvs dermestoides. This rare insect was taken under the bark 

 of oak trees at Hainault Forest, last summer, by Mr. Norman and 

 others, on the authority of Mr. Hindley, of the Society of Practical 

 Entomoloaists. 



Tiresias serra. The larvae of this beetle I have taken this season, 

 and also in former years, under the loose bark of oaks in Richmond 

 Park, always in company with a certain species of spider, with which 

 they seem to live in perfect harmony. Mr. Waterhouse (' Ent. Mag.' 

 ii. 273) believes that these larvae feed on the web-like case which the 

 spider makes and in which it lives ; but I think rather, that they sub- 

 sist on the wood or bark of the tree, having kept some for some months 

 without any thing else they could possibly eat. 



I was much pleased, during the last summer, to see the honey-bee 

 and one or two species of Bombus obtain the nectar from the flowers 

 of Chelonia barbata, of which many plants were growing in the garden 

 where I witnessed the ingenious performance. The tube of the flower 

 was too long to permit them to reach the nectarium from the top, and 

 the mside was covered with bristles that would have made the passage 

 anything but convenient ; so like experienced burglars they went the 

 most effectual way to work, and by biting holes in the corolla, near 

 the bottom, they easily secured the spoil. And it was interesting to 

 see them, in every instance, proceed direct to the aperture, without 

 trying to force a passage down the tube. Does not this look very much 

 like reason — contriving a way to get at the treasure they could not 

 obtain in the ordinary manner, and which they must have thought they 

 could thus procure ; and then carrying it into effect just at the most 

 appropriate spot ? I much wished to see them at the work of break- 

 ing in, but though every flower was punctured, I did not succeed. — 

 The same contrivance for obtaining honey from flowers of honey-suc- 

 kle has been noticed before, but it was not in this instance the less in- 

 teresting to me ; and I mention it here to induce others to observe, 

 being an example how a fact, involving a most interesting speculation 

 as to the mental faculties of some of the lower animals, may be within 

 the notice of almost every one. 



