Xalitnil History Notes of Southern Arizona. 9 



A very interesting insect is the Arizona Carpenter Bee, 

 Xylocopa arizonica, and its nest is wonderful. I found a 

 Daslerion plant that was dead and had the large, dry Ilower 

 stalk standing. It was nine feet high. On one side of the 

 stem were some circular holes. Striking the stem a sharj) 

 blow caused a buzzing inside that was terrifying. I chopped 

 I lie stem off and split it open, and thirty mature Carpenter 

 Bees dropped out and went tumbling over the ground. 

 The manner of making this nest was a marvel of skill in 

 selecting the best location and material available for the 

 jjurpose, and is not excelled by any other bee. The pithy 

 interior of the stem is cleanly excavated and the debris 

 cemented together, used to make the septem between the 

 cells, and in each cell one of these beautiful, shining, blue- 

 black bees was hatched and matured. 



Some beautiful Lepidoptera were flying in July. The 

 majestic Papilio daunus sailed through the trees and over 

 the tops of the mesquite bushes, once in a while visiting a 

 flower, stopping only for an instant, then taking flight again. 

 The freshly hatched ones were very difficult to catch. Those 

 that had flown for several days being less wary. A number 

 of pretty skippers were darting through the open glades in 

 the woods, the most conspicvious of which was Achahtrus 

 celltts, which had the habit of darting at every other insect 

 that came near. At moist places in the creek bed, clouds 

 of brilliant blue Lycaenas rose up on being disturbed, flutter- 

 ing o\-er the spot where they had congregated, only to alight 

 again, when the danger was past. Very few moths came to 

 light. From the great number of larvae seen, July 12 to 

 24, the imagos must come later. Anosia berinice, Chlorippe 

 leilia, Terias mexicana, witli numbers of skippers, satyrids 

 and lycaenids, were all flying in favorable places, though 

 tlie freshly hatched ones not easy to catch. Some showy 

 and remarkable Hemiptera were taken. One huge species 

 attracted my attention by its bright red and white color in 

 its immature stages. It was several days before the mature 

 form appeared. Jul\' 20, while beating mesquite bushes, I 



