THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
151 
follow the instructions of Mr. Stone for 
rearing and observing wasps, may I draw 
their attention to the fact that Rhipi- 
phorus paradoxus is a resident in their 
nests, and that we should be glad of the 
insect as well as an account of its eco- 
nomy. 
To the investigators of the habits of 
hornets it may not be amiss to say that 
Velleius dilatatus, one of our rarest 
Staphylinidae, is a parasite in their nests. 
The Rev. J. S. Henslow published in 
the ‘Zoologist’ for 1849 (Zool. 2584), 
an account of the method he used in the 
rather more than ticklish business of 
taking the nests of the hornets. He 
says, “ Neither myself nor assistants were 
stung, though we took more than six 
hornet-nests, with no other precaution 
than the active use of a butterfly-net, 
one person working while the others 
stood guard. The hornets often flew 
directly at us, but by standing perfectly 
still, and gently waving the net, they 
were always persuaded to change their 
aim, and were caught or killed accord- 
ingly.” So much for the danger of 
taking the nest. Respecting the para- 
sites he says, “ I took about thirty or 
forty specimens of the Velleius from the 
hornet’s nest by placing a bowl under it, 
into which most of them fell within a 
month of the time after it had been 
brought home; most of them were placed 
in a glass-jar among rotten wood in a 
powdered state. They burrowed in this, 
and I could see many of them alive in 
March, each in a separate cavity which 
he had formed for himself against the 
bottom inside of the jar. I am sorry, 
or rather ashamed to say, that my own 
care for their welfare destroyed them- 
Thinking they were getting too dry, I 
poured in a little water once or twice, 
and after an absence of three or four 
days, on one occasion, I found they were 
dead.” This experience will be a guide 
to whoever may have the good fortune 
to find and obtain a hornet’s nest con- 
taining larvas of Velleius, but it strikes 
me as being extremely probable that 
some of the perfect insects might be 
found about the nests in situ, at this 
time of the year. In one way or the 
other it is surely practicable to obtain 
specimens of this fine and rare Staph. 
In the nests of the common bee, 
Anlhophora relusa , often formed in old 
walls, dwells another beetle, Sitaris 
humeralis. Mr. S. Stevens once found 
it at Hammersmith, and Mr. Westwood 
took several specimens in Oxfordshire, in 
or about the nests of the Anlhophora ; 
but it is still one of our rarities, 
probably only because its habitat has 
not been sufficiently investigated. — 
J. W. Douglas, Lee ; July 29. 
WAKEFIELD NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY. 
To the Editor of the 1 Intelligencer .* 
Sir, — I have pleasure in informing 
you that it was decided in April last, by 
persons interested in the various branches 
of Natural History, to form a Society in 
this town, to be called the “Wakefield 
Naturalists’ Society,” which, I am glad 
to say, now numbers twenty-one Mem- 
bers. 
We hold our meetings on the first and 
third Thursdays in each month from April 
to September, and the third Thursday in 
each month from October to March, at 
the house of Mr. W. Talbot (our Presi- 
dent), whose name is well known to the 
readers of the ‘ Intelligencer.’ We have 
every prospect of forming a good Society. 
The following is copied from the 
minutes of our Meeting, held on the 7th 
instant: — 
