MR. STONE'S NOTES. 15b 



tides of curd. These appearances vanish after death, when the 

 body becomes dense, and has an appearance o^ solidity about it 

 which it had not before. Several pupne of the parasite were 

 found in the nest, as well as examples of the perfect insect. It 

 also contained a number of cocoons spun by the larva3 of Ano- 

 malon Yesparum, with the larvae still unchanged inside the 

 cocoons. 



' Between the above date and September 3, I took out thir- 

 teen more nests of V. vulgaris, which contained examples of 

 Ehipiphorus either in the larva, pupa, or perfect state. In one 

 which had been destroyed by means of gas tar a few days be- 

 fore I took it out, I was fortunate in discovering a small larva 

 of Ehipiphorus firmly attached to its victim. Both were dead 

 and had become partipJly dried, so that when immersed in 

 spirits they did not separate, but remained attached just as 

 they were before death. These are interesting, because in 

 them may be seen the exact way in which the parasitic larva 

 fastens on its prey. In another which I took out on Septem- 

 ber 2, I found, on opening some closed-up cells appropriated to 

 queens, one larva and one pupa, which differed in nothing that 

 I could discover from those of Ehipiphorus found in the cells of 

 workers, except that they were something like double the size ; 

 in fact, about as much larger as the larvae and pupae of queen 

 wasps are larger than those of workers. 



' Until the present summer I had not met with a specimen 

 of Ehipiphorus since the year 1859, although I had made dili- 

 gent search for it every succeeding summer. What had be- 

 come of it all that time, and how it was that all at once it 

 made its appearance in such numbers, are questions more easily 

 asked than answered. Wliere it occurs it appears to be very 

 local, for I have never met with it, except in one particular 

 part of Cokethorpe Park, within a space of ground about four 

 furlongs in length by two in width. I have searched yearly 

 for it in nests obtained from other parts of the park and the 

 surrounding neighbourhood, but always in vain.' 



The reader will remember that the female Beetle is, as a 

 rule, larger tlian the male. For some years it was taken for 

 granted tliat the larvae of the female Beetles fed upon those of 

 female wasps, i.e. the largest larvae in the largest cells, and 

 thereby obtained their superior development. Mr. Stone, how- 



