48 _ THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
among others in a consignment to England. When it 
flowered, it was found not to be in itself a beautfiul flower, r 
but by hybridising other varieties, it added an additional = 
beauty. ‘The home of the plant has been found, and : 
lately plants were sold for 3/- each at auction in London. + 
It is not generally known there are quite a large = 
number of beautiful orchids that can be grown outside in ~ 
the vicinity of Sydney. A rockery, sheltered from the 
south and cold winds, and by a tree from fierce hot 
sun, would grow several. As fine a Cypripedium insigne, 
a favourite, as ever I saw was grown on a rockery in a : 
Double Bay garden. All the epiphytal spécies prefer = 
trees. J have quite a number so grown. In a small, un- — 
heated glass-house a number of varieties can be grown, and 
“quite as easily as other plants. A few hints would be © 
necessary. ‘The principal ones are, they must have good 
drainage, not to be over-watered, and except deciduous 
varieties in winter, never allowed to get bone-dry. The _ 
potting material, a mixture of stag-horn root fibre and 
broken crocks, is about the best now available; a little 
fine sphagnum moss mixed in in some ¢ases is an adv: antage. 
: MYRMECOPHILOUS INSECTS. 
THEIR COLLECTION AND OBSERVATION IN THE 
r FIELD. 
\ By E. H. Zeck. 
It is at the request of the Editor of the Australian 
Naturalist, Mr. Steel, that I have written the following —_ 
- detailed notes on the collection of ants’-nest insects,. ‘ 
On arrival at the collecting ground the first thing = 
done is to search about for stones, both large and small, <i 
beneath which there seems the likelihood of ants being 
present. Having found a likely one, it is then turned 
over, and if any ants are present, the species is nottd and 
the nest examined. To do this properly one has to kneel = 
or recline at the side of the nest. A large nest, that is, 
_one about a foot or more across, cannot be examined in 
a few seconds, as many of the beetles, such as Chlanvydop- 
sis, Kershawia, etc., often do not move for some minutes, 
gang. unless they move, it is almost impossible to detect 
