Feb., '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 49 



through the cocoon of the parasite, and thus endanger the life 

 of the latter, if not held back by the very effective barrier of a 

 defense partition. I have come across two old nests of Ceratina 

 with an empty cocoon-chamber of the emerged parasite, and 

 several dead Ceratina bees below the lower partition. The 

 parasite is able to gnaw its way through the partition but the 

 bees can not overcome such an obstacle. 



There is no period of a "resting larva" in Habrocryptus 

 gmnicheri. Very shortly after the spinning of a cocoon a 

 pupa is formed, and 11 or 12 days later the imago makes its 

 appearance in advance of the young Ceratina bees. No 

 necessity exists for the construction of defense partitions at the 

 ends of the cocoon-chamber, the later being protected bj^ the 

 still occupied bee-cells, and the cocoon is a simple affair, as 

 compared with that of Grotea angiiitia. 



It takes Grotea a7igui?ia about a year to pass through its 

 entire development, and of its habits throughout the year we 

 are pretty well informed. Not so with Habrocryptus grcB7iicheri. 

 This parasite goes through the different stages within a month, 

 but as to its doings and whereabouts during the remainder of 

 the 3'ear we know nothing. 



The mode of oviposition has not been observed in either of 

 the species, although I have repeatedly seen Grotea anguina 

 flying around in the neighborhood of the nests of Ceratina 

 dupla. The ovipositor of Habrocryptus gj'cenicheri is 3 mm. 

 in length, and that of Grotea anguina over 4 mm., and in both 

 .species it is strong and well developed. 



In the Eastern States several small Hymenopterous parasites 

 have been bred from the nests of Ceratina dtipla, but in our 

 region the two Ichneumonids considered above are the only para- 

 sites of this bee so far observed. It has been shown that the 

 larva of either of these Ichneumonids is a very destructive 

 inhabitant of the bee's nests, always killing more than one of 

 the bee larvae. Such a parasitic larva when full grown is 

 longer than a cell of the Ceratitia nest, and consequently it has 

 to occupy at least two of the cells. But notwithstanding the 

 destructive tendency of the parasites, they do not seem to occur 

 in sufficient number to interfere materially with the frequency 

 of Ceratina dupla. 



