( xxxiv ) 



were destroyed, either from curiosity or ignorance by some, but in 

 wanton mischief by others. Soon afterwards reports came to 

 hand from every quarter, far and near, some having travelled as 

 far as Timaru (100 miles south), West Coast Road (86 miles 

 west), beyond Glenmark (55 miles north), and in many parts of 

 Banks' Peninsula (east). By the end of summer, many pleasing 

 evidences reached us of their ubiquity and utility. On the 3rd 

 February a farmer from Avonhead Farm called on me, to make 

 known to the Society that a field of red clover, in which he had 

 in previous years been able to find but a small quantity of seed, 

 only a few in each head, was this season a perfect mass of seed, 

 each head being completely full.' Mr. Farr's account is cor- 

 roborated by our colleague, Mr. R. W. Fereday, who, writing 

 from Christchurch on the 3rd May, 1886, says that ' the humble- 

 bees have thriven and multiplied in a most wonderful manner; 

 they already abound all over the country.' There is no longer 

 any doubt that Bombus terrestrls has established itself in New 

 Zealand ; the rapidity with which it has colonized a large tract of 

 country is remarkable. By this time another generation, pro- 

 created as well as born in the Colony, will be on the wing ; and 

 we may expect soon to hear that the long-wanted clover fertilizer 

 has become a nuisance, and that an antidote is required for the 

 fecundity of the imported pest." 



Mens. Louis Peringuey communicated the following " Notes 

 on some Coleopterous Insects of the family Paussidce "; — 



" Since the publication of my notes on three Paussi (Trans- 

 actions Ent. Soc. 1883, Part II.) I have carried on my obser- 

 vations of the habits of those insects, which at last have 

 elucidated the hitherto unaccounted-for presence of the Paussi 

 among ants. 



" The Paussi feed on the larvae of the ants. I had in captivity 

 numbers of P. lineatus, P. Burmeisteri, P. Linnei, a few P. 

 cucuKotiis, and one specimen of P. Shuckardi. 



"The diiSculty ot observing exactly the movements of such 

 sluggisli insects was enhanced by the depth of my glass 

 receptacles, but having at last located my colonies of ants in very 

 shallow vessels, thus following Sir John Lubbock's plan, I saw 

 the Pausu deliberately seize the larvai between their jaws and 

 devour them, using often their fore legs to hold the prey to the 



