84 
THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
Stenus ater ? (if so, half the size of 
ordinary examples), 
„ impressus, 
„ plancus, 
„ providus, 
Conurus pubescens. 
The influence of a very damp peaty soil 
upon the colour of insects is exhibited 
strongly in the wet hollows here, not being 
confined to one species, and showing itself 
in different ways. Plerostichus cupreus, 
for instance, being generally much darker 
than usual ; one specimen, indeed, I found 
that was perfectly black all over, and a 
precisely similar example of Noliophilus 
aquaticus. Lathrobium brunnipes also 
and L. elongatum , which both occur here 
(and in company), form a very puzzling 
pair, — nearly every specimen of the latter 
wanting the bright red band on the elytra, 
thereby looking precisely like brunnipes 
at first sight. Some species, on the con- 
trary, appear (though quite mature) to 
become much lighter than usual, several 
of Anchomenus fuliginosus having dis- 
tinctly brown wing-cases, and one jNebria 
brcvicollis being light brown all over, 
though as hard and active as any of his 
more funereal brethren. Anchomenus ob- 
longus and Bradycellus fulvus also fre- 
quently are found here very much darker 
than usual, and Slenolophus luridus varies 
considerably in depth of tone. — E. C. 
liYE, 284, King's Road , Chelsea , S.IV. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Stigrnonota nilidana. — I have lately 
bred this species from a cocoon found 
last January in Dulwich Wood between 
united oak leaves. The cocoon was formed 
of silk, with the grains of the excrement 
of the larva thickly woven on the outside. 
There can be little doubt that the larva 
feeds between the said leaves. — Robert 
M c Lachlan, Forest Hill; May 30. 
Observations at Ratisbon . — Yesterday 
we made an excursion to the Walhalla. 
The hills on the north of the Danube are 
very picturesque, and are covered with a 
great variety of plants. Dianthus Car- 
thusianorum, now just coming into bloom, 
is plentiful, as is also Lychnis viscaria. 
Silene nutans is no rarity. Slachys recta 
is quite infested with the larva of Cole- 
ophora auricclla, which makes such a very 
loose smock-frock lor a case ; and Cole- 
ophora Virgatella is moderately common 
on Salvia pratensis. This last-named 
plant is one of the commonest field plants 
of the South of Germany, and gives the 
prevailing tint to many a meadow. Herr 
Ernst Hofmann gave me some larva* of 
Coleophora ochrea, and one epicure had 
deserted the leaf to feast upon a bud of 
the Helianthemum. Apollo flies on these 
hill-sides later in the season, and Dr. 
Herrich-Schaeffer pointed out to me the 
plant, Sedum album , on which its larva 
feeds. — H. T. Stainxon, Ratisbon; 
May 28. 
Wasps’ Nests. 
(Concluded from p. 77.) 
I may be permitted to conclude with 
two or three short extracts from a paper 
“ on the habits and economy of wasps,” 
communicated by me some time since to 
the Ashinolean Society. 
“The task of feeding the larva was 
greatly facilitated by the supply of syrup 
I placed near the nest. This process is 
an extremely interesting one. An at- 
tendant or nurse on returning from a 
foraging excursion with a caterpillar it 
has found on a neighbouring hedge; a 
piece of meal neatly rolled up, that it had 
purloined from a butcher’s shop or some- 
body’s larder ; a specimen of the iusect 
popularly known as ‘daddy-long-legs,’ 
shorn of its wings and other encum- 
brances, especially if the day be a windy 
one, for the purpose of lessening the dif- 
ficulty of conveying such an unwieldly 
creature through a disturbed atmos- 
phere — for wasps have powers as nearly 
as possible allied to reasoning ones, as 
