6906 Tnsects. 



On reaching home I passed a wire through the centre of each 

 comb, just as people are in the habit of filing bills, placing between 

 the several tiers, by way of supporting columns, small fragments of 

 Celtic pottery I had obtained in prosecuting some archaeological 

 researches in the neighbourhood, and which happened to be the most 

 convenient material for the purpose I could at the moment lay my 

 hands upon. Having so done, I suspended this archseo-entomological 

 specimen near the window of a room in which I had established 

 a working community of the same species of wasp, procured on the 

 24th of June, when a body of workers at once passed over, and the 

 next morning were found to be busily engaged in feeding the larvae 

 the combs contained, and in the construction of a fresh covering. In 

 the course of a week the combs were completely enclosed. In a few 

 days after this Mr. Douglas's note on parasitic beetles appeared in 

 the columns of the ' Intelligencer ;' and on the 10th of August I for- 

 warded to that gentleman, for identification, a specimen of Ripiphorus 

 paradoxus 1 had obtained in the immediate vicinity of the nest above- 

 mentioned, and in which it had doubtless been bred. 



On the morning of the 15th of August I was watching the progress 

 of the work, and, in order to be enabled to do so the more narrowly, 

 was holding the nest in my hand by the wire which supported it, 

 when a second specimen bolted out, followed immediately afterwards 

 by another. As Mr. Douglas had stated that it was desirable some 

 observations should be made upon the habits of these parasites, if an 

 opportunity of doing so presented itself, I thought now was the time ; 

 so I contrived to rid the nest, there and then, of the more active 

 wasps it contained; and, taking it into an adjoining room, proceeded 

 to denude it, with the aid of a pair of scissors, of its recently-formed 

 covering. While preparing to perform this operation, as well as while 

 it was being performed and for some time afterwards, the parasites 

 continued to emerge at short intervals ; so that between the hours 

 of 10 A.M. and 2 p.m. twenty- eight specimens had made their 

 appearance. 



This nest, be it observed, had been removed from its original situa- 

 tion exactly three weeks ; consequently all the eggs (I am speaking 

 of those of wasps) deposited prior to that event must have produced 

 larvae, the larvae must have all become full-grown and spun up, while 

 such as had made any progress in their growth at the time the nest 

 was removed must have undergone their final change into perfect 

 wasps. Great was my astonishment, then, on removing the covering, 

 to find the cells containing not only larvae in every stage of their 



