7156 Insects. 



produce that eighteen out of fifty contained the grub ; the perfect insect I have never 

 seen alive. — Edward NewmaTi]. 



Ephestia pinguedinella. — It may perhaps interest some of your readers to know 

 that Ephestia pinguedinella may now be taken and examined in all its stages, in the 

 decayed bark of the ash. The larva, which feeds within the bark, forms a slight 

 cocoon, with an opening to the air, and by removing the bark, which has been per- 

 forated in every direction by the insect, any number of pupae or of larvae may be 

 collected from it. Whilst collecting some pupae last week I found the pupae, the larvae, 

 and the perfect insect depositing her eggs, as it appeared, all within the space of a few 

 inches.— i?ei>. B. H. Birks ; Stonor, Henley-on-Thames. — From the ' Intelligencer! 



Hymenoptera in repose. — Since the publication of the Rev. A. R. Hogan's note 

 (' Intelligencer,' No. 193, p. 84) on the singular manner in which Hymenopterous 

 insects are in the habit of reposing, three instances have come under my own obser- 

 vation, two of which occurred during the eclipse of the sun on Wednesday last: 

 wishing to ascertain whether these individuals had settled themselves down for the 

 night or whether their slumbers would end with the eclipse, I remained near the spot 

 and kept an eye upon them. One had attached itself to the point of a blade of grass 

 upwards of six inches in length, and, as a brisk wind was blowing at the time, the 

 insect was in consequence contiliually being violently swung from side to side, not- 

 withstanding which, and the unceasing buffets it received from the stems of the sur- 

 rounding plants, it resolutely maintained its hold. No sooner had the eclipse ended, 

 and the clouds (which make it an invariable rule to assemble on such occasions) dis- 

 persed, than both the insects woke up and were again upon the move, actively pursuing 

 their ordinary avocations. Both these and the one I had observed on a previous occa- 

 sion were of one species. I have sent one of the individuals to Mr. F. Smith, who 

 will doubtless be obliging enough to name the insect. [Nomada ochrostoma]. — 

 S. Stone; Brighthampton, July 21, I860.— M 



Hymenoptera in repose. — Mr. Stone writes to say that he has sent you a communi- 

 cation respecting a singular mode of reposing observed during the eclipse last Wednes- 

 day, and desires me to furnish the name of the bee so discovered : it is Nomada ochros- 

 toma, a female of the species. I may add that, a fortnight ago, on one of the dull 

 mornings,— of which we have had so many lately, — I saw the same species of Nomada 

 suspended at the side of Bishop's Wood, Hampstead. I suspect it is not an uncommon 

 mode of reposing, but I never observed it before, although oihers have, and have pub- 

 lished their observations. Mr. Stone asks me to add any observations of my own : 

 the above is all I have to record. — F. Smith ; British Museum, July 24, I860.— Id. 



[I believe I made the first observation on this curious fact in 1832 ; the species 

 were Nomada furva and N. borealis (see Zool. 6468). — Edward Newman.'] 



Scarcity of Hymenoptera in 1860. — Bombi have not been so few in number since 

 the year 1828 (a season of summer floods); the long frosty season in April and part 

 of May kept them back, and the unprecedented wet weather in June destroyed two- 

 thirds of the nests begun by the females. I have observed few males of any of the 

 species in this neighbourhood ; last summer they abounded, and the males appeared a 

 fortnight before their usual time. I have captured one nest of the B. Derharaellus 

 with about sixty inhabitants. Up to this day I have not seen one young wasp ; at 

 the commencement of May I saw several queen wasps : the wet weather seems to have 

 destroyed the greater part of them also ; last July and August they abounded in this 

 locality. Perhaps some of the readers of the ' Zoologist ' may make some remarks as 



