NOTES. 
179 
and the apical two black. The typical L. fuscipennis ((Jam.) has 
only the two basal segments red, with the centre above black, and 
the rest of the segments black. 
Possibly the Larrid may be a new species, although very like 
L. fuscipennis in structure. Dr. Willey tells me he caught this 
Larrid under the impression that it was a male Mutillid, the 
resemblance in general colouring and size being so deceptive. 
Colombo, March 14. 1910. OSWIN S. WICK WAR. 
5. Awkward nesting place chosen by Sceliphron violaceum 
(Fabr.).— Wasps are very justly credited with a considerable amount 
of instinct and reason, and it is therefore interesting to note what 
appears to us to be a want of common sense in certain individuals, 
and to try and. account for it. 
In the ceiling of my room there are some horizontal rafters- with 
a flat surface whitewashed over, and at some time or other stout 
nails have been driven in from below and withdrawn, leaving 
perpendicular holes about 1 to i \ inch deep with the opening at 
the bottom. For a long time a specimen of this wasp (a common 
metallic blue insect with a very thin waist or petiole, which 
frequents houses in search of spiders or nesting holes) has been 
trying to store one of these holes with spiders. It comes along with 
a stupefied spider generally held between the intermediate legs, 
and in the first place has a considerable amount of difficulty in 
alighting, so much so that it often drops its prey in trying to do 
so. When at last it succeeds, it has then to ram home these 
spiders as “ cold meat ” for its young, but in doing so the 
spiders, or most of them, naturally fall out as soon as they are put 
in, with the result that the particular nest which I have watched 
for some weeks is not yet fully provisioned, and still this industrious 
little insect works away as hard as ever. Perhaps this little 
individual has some very good reason of its own for selecting such a 
difficult position. 
In other instances these insects show a considerable amount of 
instinct or reason, for I have seen several nests built in the holes in 
whitewashed walls, and after lining a hole, storing it with spiders, 
and sealing it up with clay, they have covered over the clay with a 
white substance, thus covering all traces of a nest. I have not been 
able to ascertain what this white substance is composed of, although 
I suspect it is made from the white secretions of some of the common 
scale bugs which are found in large quantities on some plants, 
especially in the dry weather. I have often noticed S. violaceum 
busy amongst clusters of these bugs, but have not actually caught it 
in the act of collecting this white substance. 
Colombo, March 16, 1910. 
OSWIN S. WICKWAR. 
