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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



charge. Perhaps you might find, upon making 

 enquiries, someone else who would assist. — 

 A. Clarke, Hon Sec. Huddersfield Naturalists' and 

 Photographic Society, 9, St. Andrea's Road, Hudders- 

 field; August jth, 1897. [Mr. Clarke's proposition 

 seems well worthy of discussion in these columns. 

 We shall also be pleased to receive offers of aid, and 

 be giad to become the centre of some plan such as 

 is here suggested. — Ed. Science-Gossip.] 



Habits of Leaf-cutting Bees. — Probably 

 some of your readers may be interested in hearing 

 of, as we were in watching, the movements of a 

 leaf-cutting bee ( Hegachilc centuncularis). Early in 

 July of last year it was noticed that a bee was a 

 daily visitor to our conservatory. She would 

 come and go continually, and after buzzing about 

 the pots for a time, she at last set her affections upon 

 a particular orchid and commenced digging a hole 

 in the mould. It was then observed that between 

 her hind legs she carried in pieces of green leaves, 

 which she dragged into the hole. After a few days 

 she began operations underneath, creeping with the 

 leaf through the hole at the bottom of the pot, and 

 gradually turning out the mould as she proceeded 

 with her work. This continued until the end of 

 July, when we left home. Upon our return 

 nothing more was seen of our little friend. 

 Curiosity, however, compelled us, in September, 

 to turn out the orchid-pot, and to our surprise we 

 found seventeen chrysalis-cases, most perfectly and 

 wonderfully formed. They were about three- 

 quarters of an inch in length, and a little more 

 than a quarter of an inch in diameter, formed by 

 oval pieces of rose-leaves of precisely the same 

 size wrapped round and overlapping one another. 

 The edges were apparently gummed to the lower 

 one ; the ends of the leaves were brought together 

 at the bottom so as to make it perfectly convex. 

 The other end was fitted with a cap composed of 

 several little circles cut from the leaf with mathe- 

 matical precision, and set slightly within the edge 

 of the chrysalis, so as to make that end concave. 

 We unwrapped one and found it composed of nine 

 oblong leaves, and five round ones forming the lid. 

 Within was a tough chrysalis-case, so tough as to 

 be difficult of incision with a knife. This contained 

 a white grub about a quarter of an inch in length. 

 We placed the remaining cases in some flannel for 

 the winter months, and through the spring waited 

 in vain for sign of life. We were beginning to 

 think our foster nursing had been a failure, when, 

 on July 3rd, two little bees were seen, and a third 

 just emerging from its cradle. They were black 

 with yellow down on legs and underneath the 

 body. They waited some hours by their empty cases, 

 and then took their flight. One by one the others 

 appeared. A clicking noise, like a tiny pair of 

 scissors at work, was heard before the little caps 

 were pushed up by the heads-of the bees. All had 

 gone in about four days. The process, however, 

 is being repeated ; on July 15th, a bee was again 

 noticed at work, this time having chosen a hanging- 

 pot of dead musk. We tracked it to its quarrying 

 ground in the garden, a rosebush with rather large 

 leaves, and there saw it cut and carry away the 

 needed material, the little clicking noise again 

 being heard. This, of course, cannot be our friend 

 of last year, but one of her children. A second 

 bee seems now in attendance, probably this is the 

 male. We have turned out the musk pot, and 

 found forty-three cases arranged mostly in pairs, 

 placed end to end. — [Mrs.] F. W. Bell, Rosemont, 

 St. John's, London, S.E. ; August, 1897. 



Conchological Society (London Branch). — 

 On July 22nd the Rev. J. W. Horsley, M.A., 

 President of the London Branch of the Concho 

 logical Society, gave an interesting and instructive 

 lecture on " Slugs and Snails," at the Newington 

 Free Library, Walworth Road, S.E. To illus- 

 trate his remarks, Mr. Horsley exhibited a large 

 number of British and foreign helices, and Mr. 

 J. E. Cooper showed under a microscope the darts 

 and jaws of some of the British snails. In order 

 to encourage the study of our land-shells, Mr. 

 Horsley has presented a collection, which includes 

 nearly all the species of British land and fresh- 

 water mollusca, to the Newington Free Library. 

 The shells are neatly mounted in two wall-cases 

 for easy reference, and are accompanied by a 

 framed synopsis of the species, with a glossary of 

 the names. Other collectors may well follow such 

 a good example. — /. E. Cooper, Hon. Sec, 93, 

 Southwood Lane, Highgate. 



City of London Entomological and Natural 

 History Society. Meeting held Tuesday, August 

 3rd, 1897. Exhibits — Mr. Dadd, larvae of Choero- 

 campa elpenor, three being in their last skin and two 

 in the last skin but one, taken on Lea Marshes, 

 near Ponder's End, on bedstraw. When exhibited 

 these larvae were feeding on willow herb. He 

 also showed larvae of Arctia caia, in second and 

 third skins, bred from dark female with yellow 

 suffused hind wings. Mr. E. Heasler, the result of 

 fourteen days' work in the New Forest, forty-six 

 species of lepidoptera in all, including two 

 Diphthera orion, one Arctia villica from Lymington 

 Salt Marshes, also larvae of same in fourth and 

 fifth skins. He drew attention to a dark var. of 

 Aplecta prasina (Herbida), and, as good captures, 

 Acidalia straminiata, A. trigcminata, and A. subseri- 

 cata. He also showed the results of breeding 

 Selenia illuniaria, var. Juliana, from eggs of spring 

 brood. Mr. Bate, larvae of Platisamia cecropia, 

 given to him when in their second skin by Mr. O. 

 Lindermann. In this skin they are yellow, with 

 black tubercles, each surmounted by five short 

 hairs. In the third skin they have four red 

 tubercles on the first two thoracic segments, the 

 remainder black with blue tips and black hairs. 

 In the fourth skin the four red tubercles remain, 

 and the two rows of seven next the dorsal line and 

 one single tubercle on the eighth abdominal seg- 

 ment are yellow, the remainder being blue. In 

 the fifth skin there are six red tubercles, the re- 

 mainder as before, except that the yellow ones 

 have only one bristle each instead of five or six, as 

 in the earlier skins. — H. A . Sauzi. 



Hull Naturalists at Spurn. — On Saturday, 

 August 14th, 1897, the members of the Hull 

 Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club spent a 

 pleasant and profitable day at Spurn. Notwith- 

 standing the unsettled state of the weather the 

 previous day a large number of members and 

 friends assembled at Withernsea Station, three 

 conveyances being required to take the party. 



