ACULEATE HYMENOPTERA AND ICHNEtTMONID^. 295 



tering houses from under the floors, and devouring every thing 

 Ccatable. Its sting also is excessively painful, so that it bears the 

 name of the "lire ant." When once a house is infested with 

 them, there is nothing to be done but to support all boxes, 

 tables, &c. on blocks of wood or stone placed in dishes of water, 

 as even the perspiration on clothes is sufficiently attractive 

 to them ; and woe to the poor fellow who puts on garments in 

 which a dozen of these are lodged ! It required the most watch- 

 ful, care to keep my collections from the attacks of this insect, 

 as they would devour all the soft parts about the beaks and eyes 

 of bird-skins, and were so particularly fond of fresh Lepidoptera 

 that I have often lost the results of a day's good work by leaving 

 my collecting-box unprotected for half an hour after my return 

 home. iS. pungens and several other species also frequent 

 houses, and are very destructive, so that in the islands from Ce- 

 lebes eastwards it is hardly possible to preserve collections of 

 natural history without being incessantly on the alert and taking 

 especial precautions against the attack of these ants. S. la- 

 horiosa, found in Batchian, presents an almost complete series of 

 workers, nine in number, taken from one nest, the largest of 

 which have immense heads and largo abdomens, and are four 

 times the length, and probably at least a hundred times the bulk 

 and weight, of the smallest. 



The last family of ants, the Cetptoceeidje, are represented in 

 the Eastern archipelago by the three genera Meranoplus, Gatau- 

 lacus and GepJialoxys. They ar^ scarce both in individuals and 

 species, and are generally found on foliage or timber, solitary and 

 often motionless. 



On the remaining families of Hymen op tera I have few observa- 

 tions. The MuTiLLiDiE were rather abundant, the apterous fe- 

 males running about the ground in sandy places or pathways in 

 the hottest sunshine; the males fly actively about shrubs and 

 foliage, and were often seen carrying ofi" the females. The sexes 

 often differ extraordinarily both in size and coloration ; and I 

 took every opportunity of capturing them together, so as accu- 

 rately to determine their sexual relations. 



The ScoLiADiE were generally captured at flowers, especially of 

 cinchonaceous shrubs. The smaller species, however, were often 

 found on sandy pathways. The larger species, such as Scolia 

 procera, S. speciosa, &c., are among the most striking of tro- 

 pical insects. 



