IOO 



HYMENOPTERA 



CHAP. 



FIG. 41. Sapyga 5-punctata 9 

 Britaiu. 



is less interrupted ; the eyes are deeply emarginate ; the hind 

 body is not spinose at the apex. 



The economy of Sapyga, the only genus, has been the subject 

 of difference of opinion. The views 

 of Latreille and others that these 

 species are parasitic upon bees is 

 confirmed by the observations of 

 Fabre, from which it appears that 

 S. 5-punctata lives in the burrows 

 of species of the bee-genus Osmia, 

 consuming the store of provisions, 

 consisting of honey-paste, that the 

 bee has laid up for its young. Ac- 

 cording to the same distinguished 

 observer, the Sapyga larva exhibits 



hypermetamorphosis (i.e. two consecutive forms), and in its young 



state destroys the egg of the bee ; but his observations on this point 



are incomplete and need 



repetition. We have two 



species of Sapyga in 



Britain ; they differ in 



colour, and the sexes of 



S. 5-punctata also differ 



in this respect ; the 



abdomen, spotted with 



white in both sexes,, is 



in the female variegate 



with red. Smith found 



our British Sapyga 5- 



punctata carrying cater- 

 pillars. 



Sub-Fam. 5. Rhopalo- 

 somides. Antennae 

 elongate, spinigerous ; 

 ocelli very prominent ; 

 tarsi of peculiar structure, their claws bifid. 



FIG. 42. Rhopalosmna poeyi. A, female imago ; 

 B, front of head. Cuba. (After Westwood.) 



This sub-family has recently been proposed by Ashmead * for 



1 P. ent. Soc. Washington, iii. 1896, p. 303. 



