78 ÏIIK CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



pupa remains until it attains the parent form, about the end of June. Ronnie 

 informs us that the Carpenter Bee {Xylocopa violacea) of Europe '*■ occupies 

 several weeks in these complicated labors," and that as each egg " is separa- 

 ted from the other by a laborious process — the egg which is first laid 

 will be the earliest hatched ; and that the first perfect insect being older than 

 its fellows in the same tunnel, will strive to make its escape sooner, and so on 

 of the rest. The careful mother provides for this contingency. She makes 

 a lateral opening at the bottom of the cells. Reaumur observed these holes 

 in several cases ; and he further noticed another external opening opposite to 

 the middle cell, which he supposed was formed, in the first instance, to shor- 

 ten the distance for the removal of the fragments of wood in the lower half 

 of the building." It is apparent that this "mode of exit does not occur in 

 the raspberry canes occupied by the Canadian species — and the fact that all 

 the eggs examined in a series of cells, on the 11th of April, were of equal 

 freshness, induces me to state that I am not satisfied with Reunie's statement 

 as to its being obvious that Bees occupying the lower cells will be hatched 

 before those in the upper. There may be, in some species, a short lapse of 

 time, between the perfection of each individual in a series of cells, but it is 

 of little consequence, and does not incommode them. It appears to me that 

 they make little efi"ort to escape until the uppermost cells are vacated. I 

 have seen a species of MegacJiile two days cutting through its cocoon, and it 

 seemed in no hurry to leave its cell; while during this time other specimens 

 that occupied the same group of cocoons, came forth, one after another. 



I sent this raspberry boring Bee to Dr. Packard, and Iquote from his letter 

 dated May 8th, 1866, as follows : — " 1 am glad to trace the habits of this 

 species (^Gvahro sexmaculatus , Scnj). I only wish I had a larva and pupa. 

 They build ofteu in the empty -hollow stems of elders and raspberries, occu- 

 pying and refitting the holes excavated by ^"Egerians and other borers." It 

 will be seen from my description of the nest and larva-food of this species, 

 that it does not agree with the usual habits of Crahronidce. the food of the 

 larv33 of our genera of the latter family, as hitherto recorded, consists of 

 Articulata. The Bee obtained from the raspberry canes, is a small obscure 

 insect, a little over two-fifths of an inch long, and the only specimen in my posses- 

 sion is now broken, having lo.st the abdomen. I do not remember noticing 

 spots on any of the specimens, and I am satisfied that the one in my cabinet 

 is a duplicate of that sent to Dr. Packard. Not having Say's description, I 

 am at a loss to understand his reason for naming this insect sexjyiaculatus. 

 Is tlie male spotted, or is it possible that there are two kinds of females, as 

 occur among the Ajpidce. If the latter is the case, has our Crahro one with 

 six spots, and the other spotless? These questions are not penned with a 



