158 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
carried on the hairs of the tibia and femur or thigh, and the 
mass of it is held by these parts close to the body—the bee hay- 
ing the appearance of a boy holding a large yellow mass under 
each arm. The gathering hairs are most highly and thickly de- 
veloped on the tibia, where they are long and soft, looking like 
slender stems with branches (under the miscroscope). At tne 
base of the tibia are two large beautifully- toothed spines which 
act as stays to hold the pollen mass in position. Gathering 
hairs are also found on the head of this bee, but the branches 
are smaller than those on the legs. 
The gathering hairs of the little social bee Trigona differ 
markedly from any of the former, though the general structure 
of the legs is identical with those of the hive bee. These 
gathering hairs are not long and soft, but very stiff, and with 
stiff branches only near the apex—the outer branches of each 
hair are much shorter than those on the inner side. 
The short sucking mouth of /Halictus is a very beautiful object 
under the microscope. The labium or inner maxillae form a 
solid central mass, the palpi are reduced to short pad-like strue- 
tures with fringes of hair. The outer maxillae are padlike and 
fringed, but the palpi are 5-jointed and so clear and strong as 
to give the palpi the appearance of polished-looking antennae. 
The mandibles are strong and plate-like with a prominent tooth 
on the inner edge. 
LARVAE OF TISAPHONE ABEONA FEED ON 
CLADIUM JAMAICENSE. 
By Miss Ross M. WIntER. 
When at Duck River (Auburn) on the 7th February, 1920, a 
clump of Cladium jamaicense was found growing on the water’s 
edge near the bridge. Being anxious to know whether the larvae 
of Tisaphone abeona (the Wood Brown Butterfly), which feed 
on the common Sword-grass, would eat C. jamaicense, I cut off 
several long pieces and took them home. The long leaves were 
put in a large pickle bottle with a little damp earth in the 
bottom and several larvae of 7. abeona: the bottom portion of 
a Wills tobacco tin inverted over the mouth of the bottle formed 
the lid; no special ventilation was provided. 
On the 2nd March the pickle’ bottle and contents were exhib- 
ited at the meeting. The bottle still contained what was uneaten 
