( cxlv ) 



sides of the Lake which may be of interest to the Entomo- 

 logical Society. On this morning I saw and obtained a fine 

 Pompilid [Psammochares irpex, Gerst.] quite new to me, 

 apparently specialised for digging in very loose sand such as 

 Berribex also Loves, for, like Bembex, it had the fore-limbs 

 set closely with large bristles much more abundantly than 

 those of other Pompilids which dig in hard soil. It is obvious 

 that a brush-like lei*; is much more suitable when the sand 

 is soft and loose. This species, which I send you, is grey 

 and black, with wings approaching the Lycid coloration. 

 I first saw it running quickly about, obviously searching for 

 something, and soon it came to a spot where it scratched 

 away a little loose sand and laid bare a spider, paralysed, 

 and apparently hidden, away until the wasp had found a 

 suitable spot in which to bury it (this is a trait I have not 

 met before among Fossors). The wasp then took it up and 

 ran backwards with it for a good many yards, only occasion- 

 ally turning round to negotiate a difficulty, until she came 

 to the spot where the burrow had been previously dug: for 

 she put the spider down, took away a lump of sand, and laid 

 bare a very shallow hole into which she put the spider, 

 without going down herself, and quickly covered it up with 

 loose sand. 



" On the evening of the fifth I embarked on a small tug, 

 which had done 12 years' service on the Congo, and was 

 bound for Albertville, the port which the Belgians have made 

 on the west side of the lake, where .the Lukuga river, one of 

 the main sources of the Congo, takes origin. Since the war 

 began the Belgians have made this port and run a railway 

 to it, so that now one can cross Africa from Dar es Salaam 

 to the mouth of the Congo by rail and steamer alternately. 

 This Albertville is a new place : the former Albertville (now 

 known by its native name of Toa) lies some 20 miles north- 

 wards. After a night of oily calm I awoke just before dawn 

 to find that we were passing the most prominent point of 

 the western coast (which lies S.S.W. from Kigoma), steaming 

 between the mainland and a few small islands very close to 

 the shore, rocky, and densely covered with bush, reminding 

 me very much of islands of the type of Ngamba in L. Victoria. 



PROC. ENT. SOC. LO.ND., Ill, IV. 1918. K 



