Insects. 7369 



sions, which displays both red and green light. Ou the upper surface of the thorax 

 there are two oval tubercles, hard and transparent, like " bull's-eye " lights let into a 

 ship's, deck; these are windows out of which shines a vivid green luminousness, which 

 appears to fill the interior of the chest. Then on the under surface of the body, at the 

 base of the abdomen, there is a transverse orilice in the shelly skin, covered with a 

 delicate membrane, which glows with a strong ruddy light, visible, however, only 

 when the wing-cases are expanded. During the dark nighis it is most interesting to 

 mark these large beetles flying along over the herbage at the edges of the woods and in 

 the pastures ; the red glare, like that of a lamp, alternately flashing upon the beholder 

 and concealed, according as the insect turns its body in flight, but the ruddy reflecliou 

 on the grass beneath being constantly visible as the animal leisurely pursues its 

 course. Now and then the green light from the upper " bull's-eye," which seems to 

 be under the insect's control, is displayed, and then again the mingling of the two 

 complementary colours, red and green, in the evolutions of flight, is indescribably 

 beautiful. — '■Romance of Natural History^ hj P. H. Gosse, p. 35. 



Habils of Sagra.—I wonder if Mr. Baly is aware of the use of the large hind 

 femora and strong curved tibiae of Sagra ? As he may never have seen Sagra living, 

 I will give him my experience of that beetle. I speak of S. femorata, which is com- 

 mon in the South of China, though I never saw it north of Shanghai. It comes 

 nearest Eulmolpus, and, like that resplendent genus, it is indolent and sluggish, 

 delighting to perch itself in the sun on a topmost twig; and the use to which it puts 

 its kangaroo legs is simply to enable it to obtain a firm grasp of the stick in its ele- 

 vated position. There it remains, looking very tempting and pretty ; but no sooner is 

 the hand stretched forth to secure the prize than down drops Sagra in the tangled 

 bush, and may no more be discovered than the much-talked-about needle in the 

 bundle of hay. When all again is quiet it again begins its slow laborious ascent. 

 The motto of Sagra is evidently " Excelsior." — Arthur Adams. 



The Hexagonal Form of the Cells of Hive Bees. — Mr. Hawkes (Zool. 7292) has 

 endeavoured to prove that these cells are not as above stated. Let Mr. Hawkes 

 examine one of the small honeycombs often made by bees in wet weather, or by weak 

 hives, and he will soon be convinced that the theory of pressure to alter the form is 

 far fetched. As he justly says, the hive-bee honeycomb is one of the most wonderful 

 things in the volume of Natural History. I regret to see sometimes (not iu Mr. 

 Hawkes's case) that an over zeal for new theories and new discoveries often leads men 

 to go out of the right direction ; and I think in the case of these wonderful insects, the 

 bees, this too often takes place. It has been clearly proved that the hexagonal form 

 of the cells cannot be improved, and that this form has the greatest economy of space, 

 the greatest symmetry as well as strength, and perfect adaptation to its purpose, 

 more than any other which man could conceive. The bees, as Virgil said of old, 

 fully display, in this, " partem Divince mentis." In illustration I quote the words of 

 the late William Kirby, in his work entitled ' Monographia Apum Angliae,' where, in 

 describing some of the curious sorts of wild bees, he says :— " Who is it that instructs 

 them to bore a fistular passage underground, or in the trunk of a tree, for the reception 

 of their nests ? What rule do they take with them to the shrub from which they bor- 

 row their materials to assist them in meting out their work, by which they cut some 

 pieces into portions of an ellipse, others into ovals, others into accurate circles, and to 

 suit the dimensions of several pieces of each figure so exactly to each other ? Where 

 is the architect who can carry, impressed upon the tablet of his memory, the entire idea 



VOL. XIX. L 



