196 DUKHAM DIPTEKA. 



XXVIII. 299. 



d (e). Third and fourth segments pale haired, 

 var. plumata, de Geer. 



Wearhead, 1 ?, 1-8-0 1. " Birtley common, 

 Killingworth, Harnham," C. Robson. This 

 mimics Bombus terresiis. 



Mr. C. Robson, of Birtley, sends me the follow- 

 ing interesting note regarding the larva of 

 this species, which shows that it is something 

 more than a scavenger as has been suggested. 



Mr. Robson writes, "In September, 1889, I 

 took the full fed larvae of Volucella filvmata 

 from a nest of Bombus agrorum, F., at 

 Killingworth. Of this larva I secured seven 

 specimens, and from these were reared the 

 imago. That these larvae had fed upon the 

 brood of this humble bee there was proof 

 sufficient, in the fact that at least four 

 cocoons of the perfect female, or queen 

 brood, had had the nymph, or pupa, less or 

 more or entirely consumed, leaving only the 

 shell or pupal pellicle. From each of three 

 of these large cocoons I abstracted an im- 

 mature queen bee, the contents of whose 

 abdomen alone had been entirely consumed, 

 the remainder of the body having been left 

 apparently untouched ; whilst in a fourth 

 similar cocoon, the only one preserved, there 

 is little more of the inmate left than the 

 pupal pellicle. This last cell or cocoon has 

 a single hole in its walls in the upper region, 

 this hole having obviously been bitten and 

 bored out from within. The other three in- 

 fested cocoons had a similar hole or holes in 

 the upper region. 



" In the summer of 1887 I took a nest of 

 Bombus venustus, Smith, in which were 

 many Volucella-like larvae, three of which 



