Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/273

Rare Insects.—I have pleasure in reporting the capture of Chærocampa Celerio, fresh and in beautiful condition, on the 29th of last month, about twenty minutes past six o'clock, or just dusk. I took it in the net whilst hovering over the flowers of a bed of geranium christine. This is the second specimen I have taken in the garden at Brantingham, ten miles from Hull. I took one in 1846, fast by the proboscis in a flower of Physianthus albicens, the flower of which is an excellent insect capturer; the flowers are very sweet and attractive to insects; the stamens are so placed that the slightest touch by the proboscis of an insect entering the nectar, the stamens and anthers close firmly round it. I have seen this plant with dozens of dead insects upon it, Pluisa gamma, in abundance. Macroglosa stellatarum has been abundant, hovering over the flowers throughout the day. The larva of Acherontia Atropos never known so abundant in this part.—J. H. C. Kingstom, Brantingham, Yorks.

Wasps in Plenty.—A correspondent, writing from near Guildford, says, that "contrary to the experience of many observers in other parts, we have been annoyed with most unusual numbers of wasps, no room in the house being free from dozens of them."

Hive Bees Removed.—I have been taking up four stocks of Bees in the common straw hives this season, and instead of killing the Bees I have removed them into four other stocks, where they are now doing well. The smoke from a piece of puff-ball forced into the hive renders the Bees insensible. I have a small fumigator, or circular bellows, used for fumigating plants when infected with insects. I put a small piece of the puff-ball, well dried, with a live coal on it, into the box of the fumigator, and introduce the pipe into the entrance of the hive, stopping up any space there may be left, and by turning the handle the smoke is forced into the hive; a great buzzing is soon set up within the hive, but in a few minutes all is quiet again. The hive may now be lifted from the board it stands on, and the Bees shaken out upon a newspaper, and search made for the queen, which should be removed. I then take the bottom part of an old hive, or a hitch made purposely, and place it on the board the hive stood on. I put all the Bees into it and place it on the stand where the old stock stood. I then take the stock the bees are to be joined to, and place it over the hitch. The Bees, as they revive, will ascend and mingle with the others, and no opposition will be made to it. Some time the next day the hitch may be removed, and the stock set on its own board again, and all will go on well.—P. P.

Why Wasps have been Scarce.—At a recent meeting of the Entomological Society, Mr. Stone, who is specially interested in the natural history of wasps and their allies, confirmed the fact that these insects have been unusually scarce in England this autumn, and stated that the larvæ had been attacked by a disease which had destroyed them in large numbers.

Rose Saw-fly.—An interesting life-history of this insect is translated from the Dutch and published in the Zoologist for October.

The Fly Nuisance.—You are not perhaps accustomed to regard Wasps and Hornets as of any use to us; but they certainly destroy an infinite number of flies and other annoying insects. The year 1811 was remarkable for the small number of wasps, though many females appeared in the spring, scarcely any neuters being to be seen in the autumn; and probably in consequence of this circumstance, flies in many places were so extremely numerous as to be quite a nuisance.—Kirby and Spence's Introduction, p. 157.

Money-wort Aphis.—In his "Observations on Natural History," the Rev. L. Jenyns records (p. 285) the occurrence of a species of Aphis "at the roots of Lysimachia nummularia, when growing in a pot in my garden, and rendered unhealthy by being kept too dry. They kept more on the surface of the ground, at the bottom of the leaves and stems, than under the ground, though many might be noticed at the roots themselves." Under precisely similar conditions I have now the same insects flourishing on the same species of plant, which latter is commonly cultivated in towns, and submit them for identification.—A. F.

It is probably Aphis Dianthi. See Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., set. ii. v. 391.; Zoologist, vi. 2218, 2246; vii. App. xlvi., li., lv., lvii.; viii. App. ciii., civ.—F. W.

Aphis Populi.—From the 15th to the 24th October, 1858, I observed here (Melle, near Ghent, Belgium) an immense quantity of Aphis populi, coming from the West; the same were seen at Ostend the 12th and 13th. Should not these insects have been observed somewhere in England? I have just read in several papers that immense swarms of little flies had been seen at Leeds about the 12th of this month. Were they not Aphides? I saw from the 9th the Aphis populi in Belgium.—Bernardin.

Appendages to Water-Beetles.—I have read somewhere that the eggs of water-mites are parasitic attachments on Dytiscus and other aquatic insects. See Lane Clarke's book on the Microscope, page 148.—S. J. M.