1896.] BXPBDITION ON TUB LOWER AMAZON. 776 



and Locusts. It wns, however, noticed that as we proceeded 

 further up the river the number of insects that visited us by night 

 sensibly diminished. The reason for this I am at a loss to 

 undsrstaud ; but the same observation was made by Mr. Bernard 

 PifEard, a naturalist who passed up the river about the same time 

 as ourselves on board one of the boats of the Eed Cross Line. 



Hijmenoptera. — As regards this Order ray best day's collecting 

 was at Obydos, where ou Feb. 2nd I was fortunate in finding 

 a large bush in full flower and covered with specimens of a great 

 variety of species. At each locality visited the most conspicuous 

 and commonest of the large Ilymenoptera were various species of 

 Pepsis, while the common Wasp of the Lower Amazon and the 

 Para Itiver was found to be PoUstes canadensis, Linn. This species 

 abounds everywhere, and numbers of its stalked nests are to 

 be found attached to the rafters in every open shed or similar 

 building ; thev were particularly noticeable inside a little mortuary 

 chapel in the cemetery at Itacoatiara. Here and there on the 

 Parand de Buyassu, as well as at Gluruj)!! and other places, a long, 

 white, cylindriforra object was observed hanging to the branch of 

 a tree ; this was the nest of the Card-making Wasp {Chariergug 

 chartarius, Oliv.). The natives are extremely fond of these nests 

 as ornaments for their houses. Some of the Bees met with seemed 

 particularly iuquisitive creatures : thus iu clearings in the forest 

 Chrysantheda nitida, Perty, a small species of a brilliant metallic 

 green, hovers around one, or over any article one may have thrown 

 upon the ground, as if inspired witii the utmost curiosity ; while, 

 when steaming about in the ship's launch at Buyassu, a large 

 reddish-brown species of EjiicJiaris hummed round us in sweeping 

 curves, and by its actions led us to mistake it for a Horse-fly 

 {I'abamis). Among the various species of Ants the well-known 

 Saiibas, or Leaf-carrying Ants (Aita spp.), were by far the most 

 noticeable, and were abundant iu the more open places everywhere. 

 When collecting in a clearing one frequently came upon a narrow 

 moving column of small green leaves, or rather segments of leaves, 

 crossing one's path and meandering away in either direction as 

 far as the eye could trace it among the herbage, the insects them- 

 selves often being entirely concealed by their burdens. 



Diptera were by no means so abundant as I had hoped, and the 

 majority of the species met with were not very striking. The 

 comparative scarcity of species of this Order must have been due 

 to the season of the year, as I failed to come across numbers of 

 fine species taken by Bates at the very localities we visited. Un- 

 fortunately none of Bates's Diptera in the collection of the British 

 Museum are labelled with the date of capture. I am happy 

 to say that I secured a fair series of specimens, representing 

 a number of species, of the much-abused but rarely-collected 

 Mosquito ( Culex). Although in the forest Mosquitoes always made 

 their presence felt, the only place where I found them really 

 troublesome was Macapd ; here they literally swarmed round me 

 in clouds, and collecting quickly became a source of pain and grief. 



