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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



ing, I placed a dead cicada and wasp 

 at the mouth of a suitable burrow in 

 the most life-like manner possible, and, 

 while focussing the camera, noticed the 

 rightful tenant bringing in a cicada. 

 It could not pass without bumping 

 against the dead wasp, but gave no 

 sign of interest in it whatever and 

 passed rapidly down into the depths. 



I dug the ground up around several 

 burrows and found cicadas buried ten 

 to eighteen inches from their mouths. 

 It would seem that several tunnels are 

 scooped out, each of which is connected 

 with the main opening, and a cicada is 

 placed at the end of each tunnel. 

 Several cicadas were found in an area 

 of about two square feet, each providing 

 nourishment for a more or less advanced 

 larval wasp. These are blind, legless 



and very helpless creatures, very soft 

 and translucent, whose principal claim 

 to solidity lies in the possession of a 

 large pair of horny jaws, terminating 

 the ridiculously small head. Their 

 large bodies rest upon the locust, only 

 their small heads being inserted into its 

 body. One cicada, fresher than the 

 others, had a white, spindle-shaped egg- 

 attached to the lower surface of its 

 thorax, near the bases of the legs, 

 which is probably the place selected hy 

 the mother wasp to deposit her eggs, 

 since all the cicadas were attacked by 

 the grubs in the same part. The cicadas, 

 in the burrows belonged to two 

 species the common green Monday and 

 the black and yellow Fiddler being 

 about equally numerous and of botk 

 sexes. 



Reminiscences of the '^ Challenger '' 

 Expedition* 



By W. H. Hargraves, 



[H.M.S. Challenger cruised for three and a half years over the oceans, dredging and 

 exploring the depths, and laying a broad foundation for the science of oceanography and 

 making most valuable contributions to zoology in general. Mr. Hargraves, now a trustee 

 of this Museum, and a. life-long student of conchology, well remembers the visit of the famous 

 exploring ship to Sydney in 1874, and in this short article he recalls a few incidents of her 

 stay. ] 



THE Challenger arrived in Port Jack- 

 son on 5th April, 1874, and remained 

 until early in June. From the Manly 

 boat I frec{uently saw the ship's steam 

 pinnace dredging in the harbour, and 

 one afternoon, as Mr. John Brazier, 

 afterwards of the Museum staff and still 

 happily alive, and I were dredging 

 betA\een the Sow and Pigs Reef and the 

 South Head, the ships party came 

 close to us and commenced operations. 

 After an hour or so our dredge ropes 

 became entangled, which served as an 

 introduction and started conversation. 



" What are you dredging for ? " we 

 were asked. " Oh, anything we can find 



in the way of shells," I replied, " What 

 are you trying for ? " " Trigonias\ 

 and we have got five. Did you get 

 any ? '' "A few," said I, and, taking 

 the bailer from under the thwart, I 

 exhibited our catch of twenty- five or 

 thirty Trigonias, one or two with a 

 beautiful Myochama attached. The 

 Challenger party were delighted at 

 seeing such a quantity of this rare shell 

 and wished to buy the lot. I said 

 " They are not for sale, but as you do 



iTrigonia is a shell of common occurrence 

 as a fossil, but living sjjecimens are 

 found only in Australian seas. It 

 resembles a small cockle. 



