off. All the males of the present genus are exceedingly active insects, and sport from flower to flower in the sunshine; consequently their appearance soon changes: but the outer margin of the sixth segment, and the oblong ovate abdomen, will distinguish the male of O. bicolor from the other species. This insect appears early in the spring, at the latter end of March, if the weather prove favourable. It is a local species. I have met with it at Purfleet (Essex), and at Gravesend, in April. the immediate neighbourhood of London it is scarce, but I have taken it at Brompton. numerous in the vicinity of Bristol. Sp. 10. OSMIA HEDERA, Smith. In It is b Male. Length 4 lines. Nigro-æneous. The head finely and closely punctured; face clothed with longish white hairs, gradually becoming ochraceous towards the vertex, on which they are thinly scattered; the cheeks clothed with long white hair; the antennæ filiform, as long as the head and thorax. Thorax finely punctured; above, the pubescence is ochraceous, beneath, hoary. The tarsi are fulvous beneath; claws ferruginous; the calcaria testaceous. The abdomen is obscurely punctate, the margins of the first, second and third segments are thinly d Fig. 1. Represents the section of a Snail-shell, showing the disposition of the cocoons of Osmia tunensis. Fig. 2. Represents four nests of Osmia xanthomelana. a. Cell without the lid. b. Cell with the concave lid partly constructed. c. A cell closed in. d. A section showing the smooth interior of a cell; the cells are generally inserted in the ground to about the depth of this figure. Fig. 3. Represents a bramble stick split open, showing the manner in which Osmia leucomelana excavates her tunnel, also the alternate widening and contracting of that portion intended as receptacles of the pollen and honey. Cells a and b show the egg deposited on the food: c d and e, the larva in progressive states. fringed with palish fulvous hairs, the fourth and fifth segments have a dense fringe of fulvous hair, the sixth segment is somewhat acute and emarginate, the seventh entire. : I took the solitary specimen from which the above description is drawn up, in Hampshire. It is quite distinct from the males previously described its antennæ are much longer, and its abdomen gradually widens from its base (as in the male of O. cærulescens); otherwise it resembles the male of O. hirta. It may hereafter prove to be the male of O. parietina, there being a general resemblance between the insects, but I have no other reason for the conjecture. High Street, Newington, September, 1844. FREDERICK SMITH. Note on the Economy of the Bee. The bee will only work in complete darkness. The admission of light into the hive is the signal for the immediate cessation of all labour, and when the flap-door of a glass hive is opened, the bees are seen hurrying and skurrying about in a state of alarm and confusion, while the exhibitor explains to a spectator that the bees are at work. If I could be shown a bee making a cell, I would travel barefoot from Horsham to Windsor to behold the spectacle. It would at once lead to a solution of one of the most important problems in the Natural History of the bee, which is the origin of wax, about which we are almost as ignorant in the nineteenth century as in the time of Virgil or Columella. The actions of the apiarian monarch are enshrined in an almost impenetrable mystery. It is my sincere wish, however, to disabuse the minds of all keepers of bees, that the internal economy of a hive is to be ascertained by looking through a pane of glass; for so tenacious are these wonderful insects of that economy being explored by the eye of man, that supposing the flap of the hive to be left open, the bees will immediately cover the interior side of the glass with a coating of wax, so that no eye can penetrate to their works. — Huish. Note on a remarkable habit of the Wasp and Hornet. I have observed, on more occasions than one, a habit of the common wasp and hornet, which appears to have escaped the notice of naturalists. On fine summer and autumnal evenings, when the spiders usually come out and station themselves in the centre of their webs, a wasp may occasionally be seen hovering about from web to web, and finally seizing and carrying away one of these spiders from the middle of his fortress. I fancied, but could not on any occasion get near enough to ascertain, that the wasp then made a meal of his captive, eating it on the nearest or most convenient resting-place he could find. I observed, too, that every spider did not seem acceptable, but that many were passed over before the victim was finally decided on. Some of the numerous correspondents of The Zoologist' can doubtless inform me whether this is a common habit of the wasp; but it strikes me as worth notice and more close observation, for the abstraction of the spider must be a task of no little difficulty, owing to the tenacity with which he would cling to his net, and the absence of anything like a fulcrum on which to rest while pulling him away. The swoop of a hawk, or picking up of a hare by a greyhound, are clumsy evolutions compared to this. Let me add, too, that I never saw an abortive attempt, or a failure.-W. S. Lewis; Kingsdown, Bristol, October 8, 1844. Note on an Australian Hymenopterous Insect. There is a species of bee here that is in the practice of stopping up the key-holes with clay. We have been amused lately by seeing one of them engaged in building in a crevice of our stone chimney. It comes into the room, and goes to the fire-place, as unconcerned as though no one was present, even when we are all in the room. This has given us an opportunity to see the progress of the business. It makes a hollow tube of clay, about the size of one's forefinger, and nearly as long; one side of this adheres to the wall. When it is finished, the bee lays an egg at the end, and then fetches two small green spiders, and puts them in with the egg. It then closes them all in with some clay, allowing just room enough for the spiders and egg. Another egg is then laid, and two more spiders put in, and then clay again; and so on, till the whole tube is filled up, there being six or more partitions, with egg and spiders in each space. I have broken some of these tubes heretofore, and always found them made in this way, and with the same kind of spider, which no doubt is put there for food for the maggot of the bee. I cannot tell whether the spiders are killed or not; I rather think not, because they look so very fresh after having been some time boxed up: but that may be owing to the air being excluded.—Joseph May;* Mount Barker, South Australia. Note on Ichneumons' Eggs on Caterpillars. In the Annales de la Société Entomologique de France,' December, 1843, it is recorded, that at a meeting of the Society held on the 29th of August, 1843, M. Pierret stated that M. Bruand had succeeded in rearing a caterpillar of Dicranura furcula, which had eggs of an Ichneumon inserted in the skin, he having destroyed the eggs by crushing them with very fine pincers. Some caterpillars of Notodonta tritropha similarly attacked, were operated on by cutting the eggs with a penknife, but they all perished. This is a hint that may be useful, when, as is sometimes the case, the larva of a rare moth is found "stung," as the collectors term it. — J. W. Douglas; 6, Grenville Terrace, Coburg Road, Kent Road, October 8, 1844. The following Coleop Note on the capture of Coleopterous Insects at Plumstead. tera were taken by me at Plumpstead-wood, two miles beyond Woolwich, in Kent, (a very good locality), in the summers of 1842, 3, and 4. Lamprias chlorocephalus, on broom. Throscus dermestoides, very common on the birch, in June and July, 1843. Elater balteatus. Anobium rufipes. Nedyus melanostictus, on wild mint. Acalles ptinoides, and A. Roboris (Curtis). Otiorhynchus fuscirostris (Scho.): I have taken four specimens of this pretty species, which has not been hitherto recorded as British : this insect will be described by Mr. Walton, in the Notes on British Curculionidæ, published in Taylor's Annals. Trachyphlæus Waltoni (Scho.). The last four insects I found in a gravel-pit on the common. Balaninus Betulæ, very common on one occasion on the birch, at other times rare. B. Elephas, on oak. Polydrusus confluens, on broom. Apion simile, on birch. Oxystoma fuscirostre, on broom, June and Sept. Cryptocephalus lineola, occasionally common on birch and oak. Hypulus Quercinus, a single specimen taken by sweeping in a marshy place in the centre of the wood, the 15th of last June. Aderus Boleti, a specimen beat off the oak, September, 1842.—S. Stevens; 38, King St., Covent Garden, August, 1844. Note on captures of Coleopterous Insects at Charlton. The following I have also met with at Charlton-pits. Poecilus lepidus. Rhinusa Linariæ and R. Antirrhini, both found on Antirrhinum Linaria, the former in May, the latter in July. A species *Communicated by John Beck, Esq. of Nedyus not yet described. Tychius Meliloti, T. lineatulus, Sitona Meliloti, and Apion Meliloti, all on Trifolium Melilotus in June and July. Apion filirostre.—Id. Note on the capture of Lebia Crux-minor. On the 11th of September last, while on a visit to my friend, the Rev. W. M. W. Call, I had the good fortune to capture a specimen of this rare insect, which I brushed into my net from a moist meadow in the parish of Treneglos, one of the wildest and most uncultivated spots in Cornwall. For a week I visited (often twice a day) the same locality, but could not procure a second; however, the same valley afforded me many rarities, including specimens of Chrysomela geminata, Thyamis holsatica and Nastursii, and a single specimen of the true Gymnaëtron Veronica of Germar, captured at Treglith.-T. Vernon Wollaston ; Jesus Coll. Cambridge, Oct. 12, 1844. Note on the capture of Cordulia alpestris, a species of Dragonfly new to Britain. I had the good fortune to capture a single male specimen of Cordulia alpestris, in the Black forest, Perthshire, in July last. This insect, unique as British, is now in the cabinet of Mr. Dale. - Richard Weaver; 63, Pershore Street, Birmingham, September 18, 1844. Note on Halisarca Dujardinii. Dujardin has described a sponge in the 'Annales des Sciences Naturelles,' No. 8, which he has made the type of a new genus, and designated Halisarca, from its fleshy character and the supposed absence of spicula; and Dr. Johnston, in his excellent history of the British Sponges, has adopted the genus, which is thus described. — “Substance fleshy or rather gelatinous, semitransparent, unorganized, forming an irregular crust on the object to which it adheres." In the spring of 1843, I had the good fortune to find this curious species of sponge on the coast near Scarborough, coating the under surface of a small detached mass of sandstone; and upon examining a small fragment of it with a microscopic power of 300 linear, I found that instead of being destitute of spicula, they were in abundance, but exceedingly minute. They are imbedded in all parts of the fleshy matter, without any definite mode of arrangement. They are exceedingly long in proportion to their diameter, nearly uniform in thickness throughout the whole of their length, and terminate hemispherically. The surface of the sponge is thickly studded with oscula, which are nearly of a uniform diameter. From these circumstances it would appear that the new genus, Halisarca, is in fact but one of the various forms of Halichondria. J. S. Bowerbank; 45, Park St., Islington, October, 1844. The habits of the hedgehog are generally Note on the Habits of the Hedgehog. strictly nocturnal; but on the 27th of last June, about 3 o'clock P.M., whilst walking with my children in a wood, thinly planted with forest trees, but abounding in low bushes, they called my attention to what they fancied was a large rat coming towards us. I at once saw that it was a hedgehog, proceeding at a moderately fast pace. I secured it, and as it was a female, I regret that I did not examine a bush, thickly matted with grass, towards which it was tending, and into which there was a well padded hole; as it would probably have appeared that family cares had forced it to roam. Wm. Turner; Uppingham, Rutland, October 16, 1844. Remarks on Mr. Waterton's Essay on the Oil-gland. ON the receipt of 'The Zoologist' for this month, (September,) I eagerly turned to the table of contents on the fly-leaf, and was much gratified to read 'Notice of Waterton's Essays, second series.' I had heard that the promised volume was out, but had not as yet been able to procure it; I seized my paper-cutter with a degree of avidity, suspending even the operations of the breakfast table, so greedy was I to ascertain what pleasure and instruction I was likely to receive from a second series of Essays from the pen that so pleased and instructed me in the first. I perused your opening remarks with full acquiescence; I admired the generosity of the author in presenting his volume to Mrs. Loudon; I read your various quotations with much interest; when lo! on reaching the last passage selected from the autobiography, I stumbled on my own name. I felt flattered that what I had contributed to your pages should have attracted the attention, and received the approbation of so distinguished a naturalist. But, if I had been startled at the sight of my own name previously, how was my surprise increased when, on turning the next leaf, I found (Zool. 674) an entire Essay on "The Windhover Hawk, and the Oil-gland," based on the contribution to 'The Zoologist' alluded to above. So unexpected was the compliment that I confess it cost me my breakfast. The epithets Mr. Waterton has been pleased to apply to me and my observations are indeed sufficiently flattering; and if he can feel himself under obligation because I have mentioned his name with respect and my pen would have belied my feelings had it written the name of Waterton other than respectfully-how much more deeply indebted should I feel for the honour he has done me in treating with so much courtesy the name and writings of an obscure individual. I, therefore, tender my best thanks to Mr. Waterton; and beg to assure him that, if, as it so chances, I am in "dispute" with him, that dispute shall not be “hot." I am under no temptation to wound his feelings by so much as a hasty expression, or a disrespectful word: and in venturing to differ from a much greater proficient in ornithological science than I either am, or am likely to become, I am only faithfully following the convictions of my own mind; and, in recording those convictions, my sole object is to elicit the truth on an interesting, if not a very important topic. If I shall chance to induce Mr. Waterton to resume his pen, and adorn the pages of 'The Zoologist' with |