xXcl 
“Sept. 27, 1921°—At Kilossa, Tanganyika Territory, on 
Dec. 4, 1920, I saw a Mylabris excavating a hole in a path, 
the ground being sandy but hard. The method was to bite 
into the ground all round until a little pile of loose sand was 
accumulated near the throat of the beetle. About every 
fifty seconds (average) this was dragged out by means of 
throat and first legs. Only these legs were in the hole and 
were often bent, the beetle being on its ‘knees’ as it were. 
The second legs straddled out very uncomfortably on either 
side of the hole, while the third legs were busily engaged in 
pushing freshly brought-up soil further back: they worked 
very mechanically. 
“ At 10.30 a.m. the sun was shining fiercely. The earth 
was only heaped on one side of the hole, forming a mound 
two inches long and perhaps three-quarters of an inch at 
its widest; in height half an inch. The entrance to a nest 
of small ants was only 15 inches away. The abdomen of 
the Mylabris was much distended with eggs. It showed 
two small red spots near the termination of the elytra and 
these, when the beetle dug deeper into the hole, had the 
effect of making the abdomen look face-like. 
“At 10.36 the beetle was in the hole up to the anterior 
edge of the elytral cream spots. By 11 a.m. the hole was 
increased in depth so that the posterior edge of these spots was 
level with the ground surface. [Mr. Blair estimated from these 
data that the hole was about an inch deep.] The sand-heap 
now formed a semicircle round the hole and much nearer to 
its edge. The hole was not absolutely vertical. At 11.5 
the Mylabris backed into the hole with its first legs resting 
on the rim of the excavation, and bent inwards like the arms 
of a man might be in a similar situation. At 11.10 the 
beetle rose slightly in the hole and now rested its middle 
legs also on the marginal rim. 
“ At 11.20 the beetle came out of its hole and commenced 
energetically to kick earth backwards into it as a mammal 
might do, but with the advantage of an additional pair of 
legs. The hind pair were engaged in ramming the earth well 
in. After the hole was filled the beetle continued to shoot 
earth towards it, so that a little heap soon accumulated on 
