THE AUSTRALIAN SELAUALZI EH 
without apparent inconvenience, and could also travel some 
distance when placed on a flat surface providing a. firm 
foothold. 
-. he method of escape of Carpenter Bees from the 
“nest has been a subject of considerable discussion, opinions 
differing as to the manner in which this is accomplished. 
The end cell in the nest, i.e., that farthest from the exit, 
is finished first, and the ied bee is therefore the 
oldest, and should emerge before the others. How, then, 
does the bee in the cell farthest from the exit emerge 
without destroying its brothers and sisters still sleeping 
in an immature stage in the cells above? Or does it re- 
main in the perfect state in its own cell until all the bees 
in the nest aboye it have emerged? The following is the 
method of Lestis bombylans as appears from my obser- 
vations :— : 
By the time the first bee is ready to emerge, all the 
occupants of the cells above have changed to pupae—none 
‘are in the larval stage. The pupa at the bottom of the 
shaft, endowed with the power of movement referred to 
above, proceeds to break away the partition of the cell 
~~ above him, the occupant of which falls down to the bot-~ 
- tom of the shaft among the dust and wood-fragments from 
the destroyed partition, there being just room for the two 
pupae to pass in the tunnel. Pupa No. 1 then climbs up 
and attacks the next and subsequent partitions, and the 
- pupae from the cells above fall down among the debris of 
the destroyed partitions at the bottom of the shaft. The 
first pupa having reached the clear space near the exit, 
after resting for a while, rubs off the pupal skin in a 
more or less fragmentary and frayed condition—that 
covering the eyes and antennae appearing to be the last 
removed. In a few hours, when the wings have expanded ~ 
and dried, the perfect bee is ready to take flight. When 
the next and subsequent bees are ready to emerge, they 
simply work their way up through the wood fragments, 
 ete., and escape from the pupal skin in the clear space. In 
a eee cases the pupa worked its way to the top of the 
- debris several days before divesting itself of its pupal skin. _ 
The perfect bees generally remain in the nest for several 
days before dispersing. ne, 
