34 HYMENOPTEEA. 



10. Sphex mexicana. 



Sphex mexicana, Taschenberg, Zeitschr. ges. Nat. Sachs. Thiir. xxxiv. p. 416 (1869) 1 . 

 Hob. Mexico 1 . 



v ii. Sphex ichneumonea. (Tab. III. figg. 8, $ ; 8 «, s .) 



Sphex ichneumonea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 959 ; Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. p. 207 ; Dahlbom, Hymen. 



Eur. i. p. 26 ; Lepel. de St.-Fargeau, Hist. Nat. Ins. Hymen, iii. p. 346 ; Smith, Cat. 



Hymen. Ins. iv. p. 261 x ; Packard, Guide to the Study of Ins. p. 167 (1869). 

 Sphex dorsalis, Lepel. de St.-Fargeau, loc. cit. p. 347; Smith, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1862, p. 36 \ 

 Sphex micans, Taschenberg, Zeitschr. ges. Nat. Sachs. Thiir. xxxiv. p. 419. 

 Sphex crcesus, Lepel. de St.-Fargeau, loc. cit. p. 351; Smith, Cat. Hymen. Ins. iv. p. 262 s . 



Hab. Noeth America 13 . — Mexico 3 , Orizaba (F. D. G.), Atoyac in Vera Cruz (Schu- 

 mann), Teapa in Tabasco (II. H. Smith), Valladolid in Yucatan ( Gaumer) ; Guatemala, 

 El Reposo, Zapote, San Geronimo (Champion) ; Nicaragua, Chontales (Belt) ; Costa 

 Rica, Cache (Bogers) ; Panama, Bugaba, Volcan de Chiriqui (Champion), Aspinwall 2 . 

 — South America, Cayenne 2 , Ega 2 , Santarem 2 . 



This is a somewhat variable species in size and coloration. The tegula? are usually 

 red, but sometimes verge into blackish ; the amount of red on the abdomen varies in 

 extent, and the apex is sometimes more or less of that colour, and the petiole occa- 

 sionally shows traces of red ; the femora are sometimes lined above with black in both 

 sexes ; and the colour of the wings varies in intensity. In the male the hind tibiae 

 are usually lined behind with black ; and the tarsi are more or less black. In some 

 examples the hair inclines to cinereous in tint, but this is perhaps due to discoloration. 



On the habits of this species, Mr. Stretch says : — " From the sandy embankments of 

 the railway at Aspinwall, it constructs a long burrow perpendicularly into the hard 

 sand. I saw it bring a grasshopper as large as itself, with great difficulty, to the 

 entrance of its burrow ; laying it down, it retreated, apparently to see that all was 

 ready, and then, re-emerging, seized the grasshopper and backed into its hole " 

 (<?/. Smith, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1862, p. 36). 



Packard (loc. cit.) gives the following account of its mode of life : — 



" In the last week of July, and during August and early in September, we noticed 

 nearly a dozen of these wasps busily engaged in digging their holes in a gravelly walk. 

 In previous seasons they were more numerous, burrowing into grassy banks near the 

 walk. The holes were from four to six inches deep. In beginning its hole, the wasp 

 dragged away with its teeth a stone, one half as large as itself, to a distance of eight 

 inches, while it pushed away others with its head. In beginning its burrow it used its 

 large and powerful jaws almost entirely, digging to the depth of an inch in five minutes, 

 completing its hole in about half an hour. After having inserted its head into the 

 hole, where it loosened the earth with its jaws, and threw out the earth with its jaws 



