THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
ing it, as before, by one of the raised processes on’ the — 
elytra, and carried it to the other end of the tube, where 
beetle back, the ant picked it up in its mandibles, seiz cs 
it deposited it. The ant then commenced to clean its own 
legs and antennae. 
About ten minutes later the ant again began to clean die 
the beetle on the dorsal surface, gently moving it about 
with its front legs whilst licking it. ; 
Another day the ant did not seem to be certain which — 
end of the tube the beetle should be left at, as it was’con-— 
tinually carrying it to and fro. 
The following evening the ant seemed determined to’ 
have the beetle remain at one end of the tube. If the eS 
beetle walked back of its own accord the ant would im- 
mediately carry it back to where it had started from. - ~ 
Whilst the beetle was being carried it contracted its — 
legs, and did not during the whole of these proceedings 
attempt to escape from the ant. A 
Description of Plate—Figs. 1 and 2, Chlamydopsis me 
_epipleuralis, Lea. Fig. 3, hind wing of C. epipleuralis. — 
As far as I know, this beetle has not been previously — 
figured, but was described in the proceedings of the Royal 
Society of Victoria, 1912, by Mr. A. M. Lea. 
NOTES ON THE HABITS OF (LESTIS BOMBYLANS), 
THE CARPENTER BEB OF THE GRASS-TREES. 
; (By Keith McKeown). 
In view of the fact that very little has been Si 
lished regarding the habits and life-history of the Car- _ 
penter Bee of the Grass-trees (Lestis bombylans), it is 
thought that the following notes made during a visit to — 
Joadja Creek, N.S.W:, may prove of interest. 
The Carpenter Bees make their nests in the dead and — 
dry flower stalks of the Grass-trees (Yanthorrhoea) by ES 
hollowing out the pith to a depth of up to 12 or more si 
inches. The bee commences operations by boring a cir | 
cular hole, about 314 lines in diameter, towards the centre. 
of the flower stem, where it abruptly turns upwards or 
downwards, following the soft pith. Karly in the season 
(November) the ThATKS of the bee’s mandibles in the first — 
