102 



bramble-stems, and the like, divicling the tunnels into cells, in each 

 of which an egg is laid, and the cell packed with flies. Each 

 species of Crahro appears to have its own special taste in flies, and 

 will provision its cells with only one species. Whether Or/codes 

 f/ibbosiiK is regularly exploited for the purpose is not established, but 

 that it is so used an occasion is made clear by a communication to 

 to the " Ent. Mo. Mag." (Vol. xxxviii., 1902, pp. 205-6) from 

 the Rev. H. S. Gorham, who came upon a hoard of the flies in 

 a nest of the wasp. The latter, with that regard for economy 

 of labour that is shown by many species, instead of making a 

 tunnel for itself, had found one that had been excavated by 

 the larva of Gnrtyna flarai/o in the stem of the marsh thistle. 

 This she had divided into cells, and packed each of them with 

 Of^code^t f/ibhonKs. There were twenty-five to thirty flies in each 

 cell, and the row of cells measured eight inches. In some of 

 the cells the wasp-egg had hatched and the wasp-grub was already 

 feeding upon the stored up flies. A further peculiar circumstance 

 of this discovery is that Mr. Gorham's attention was attracted to 

 the thistle, not by the entry of the wasp with its prey, but by the fact 

 that several spiders appeared to be watching the hole in the stem. 

 The spiders — whose name he did not know — so greatly resembled 

 the fly that he considered it to be a case of mimicry. Mr. Gorham 

 considered these spiders to be of the actual species parasitized by 

 Oi/cndeti, but 1 fail to see that he had any evidence to that effect. 

 It may be so, and the}' may have been watching rejoicingly to see 

 how many of their enemies were being safely interred in the stem 

 of the thistle ; or they may have been attracted by the odour of fly 

 emanatmg from such a store, and were discussing ways and means 

 for breaking into a larder so well stored with spider food." 



A further exhibit by Mr. Step was the living larvae of Anthrenus 

 muscEorum, the museum-beetle. 



Mr. Main exhibited some parasites of the two species of cock- 

 roach — Periplaneta orientalis, and Blatta (/ennanica — and a large 

 example of the glow-worm, Lampyris noctilnca. 



Mr. Ashby exhibited a box of Hemiptera and Coleoptera from 

 Oyo, Southern Nigeria, with two drawers of British Coleoptera, 

 containing the genera Donacia, Clir'jmniela, and Cnj/itocepJialtm. ■ 



Mr. Colthrup exhibited a large collection of the eggs of the 

 common guillemot {Lomvia troile) showing great variation. 



Mr. A. E. Gibbs exhibited a number of giant Saw-flies, and com- 

 municated the following notes :— 



" A few years ago I had occasion, as the visiting member of 



