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affected by the parasite had a peduncle attached to the case; but the appendage to 

 the cases exhibited appeared to be nolhing but straw or vegetable matter. 



Prof. Westwood also exhibited specimens of a beetle belonging to the family 

 Nitidulidge, which was parasitic in the nest of Trigona carbonaria, the honey bee of 

 New South Wales: the wax which accompanied the specimens of the beetle sent to 

 him was merely a rude shapeless mass, and he was unable to ascertain whether or not 

 the Trigona made cells ; he had also been desirous of discovering whether the larva of 

 the beetle fed upon the larva of the bee, or upon the wax ; with this view he had 

 placed pieces of cooked meat before the larvae, but they avoided it, and many of them 

 died ; upon the removal of the meat, he put in portions of the wax, which was soon 

 found with the Coleopterous larvae crawling over it. 



The President sent for exhibition some specimens of the same beetle, accompanied 

 by the following note : — 



" This very interesting insect was obtained by Mr. T. W. Woodbury, of Exeter, 

 from a nest of Trigona carbonaria, in which it lives, feeding upon the wax of which 

 the combs are composed. The nest came from Brisbane, in Queensland. Specimens 

 of the insect have been forwarded to Mr. Murray, who has so long worked upon the 

 family of the Nilidulidse, to which it belongs; and he informs nie that it is the 

 Brachypeplus auritus of his work, the ear-like form of the basal joint of the antennae 

 having suggested its specific name. The insect is closely allied to the British Carpo- 

 philus heniipterus, which is frequently found in great numbers feeding upon figs; 

 both select a sweet and nourishing substance upon which to feed, both in the larval 

 and perfect condition. I hope on another occasion to give some account of the nest 

 iu which the beetle was found, as my friend Mr. Woodbury proposes a thorough 

 investigation of it." 



Mr. Bates exhibited some South-American palm-nuts attacked by the larvae of 

 Caryoborus cardo, one of the Bruchidse, which had recently been received by 

 Mr. Cutter, of the Crystal Palace; specimens of the imago, of the larva in various 

 stages of growth, and of the nuts in corresponding stages of destruction, were shown ; 

 the nuts belonged to three species of palm, of which the largest was probably the 

 Maximiliana regia. A similar disappointment had occurred to Bonpland, who brought 

 over a number of nuts from New Granada, intending to plant them in France, but on 

 his arrival the whole were found to be attacked by the larvae of Caryoborus curvipes. 



Mr. Cutter (who was present as a visitor) explained the circumstances under 

 which he had received the palm-nuts: 1000 specimens of each kind had been sent by 

 Mr. Henderson, of Para, and the consignment would have been worth £30, if not 

 attacked by the larvae, from which, however, scarcely a single nut was free, whilst 

 some contained as many as a dozen grubs. 



A letter from Mr. John Young, of No. 80, Guildford Street, addressed to the 

 Treasurer, was read, in which the writer complained of the presence of large swarms 

 of a small ant in the kitchen of his house, and enquired what means could be adopted 

 to rid the house of such a pest. 



Mr. Bates suggested a search for the nest, and when found to deluge it with hot 

 water. 



Prof. Westwood said that, many years ago, a Committee of the Society had 

 examined into this very subject, and the conclusion arrived at was that the most 

 efficacious plan was to make a careful search for the principal runs, and place therein 



