H YMENOP TERA . 649 



Family SCOLIID^E (Sco-li'i-dae). 



The Scoliids (Sco 'li-ids). 



The Scoliids are quite closely related to the preceding 

 family but differ in their general appearance, resembling 

 wasps rather than ants. In their habits they do not exhibit 

 as much intelligence as do most digger-wasps, for although 

 they make burrows in the earth, it is said that they do not 

 have the power of building nests and transporting prey to 

 them for their carnivorous larvae. Instead of this, they dig 

 in the ground in order to find larvae that have buried them- 

 selves to undergo their transformations ; and lay their eggs 

 upon such larvae. These insects occur in sunny, hot, and 

 sandy places ; more than forty American species are known. 



One of our most common species is TipJtia inornata 

 (Tiph'i-a in-or-na'ta) ; this is a shining black species, and 

 measures three fifths of an inch in length 

 (Fig. 770). It is parasitic upon white grubs, 

 the larvae of May-beetles. Elis quadrinotata 

 (E'lis quad-ri-no-ta'ta) is a magnificent spe- FIG. 77 o. 



cies common in the South. It is black, with four yellow 

 spots on the abdomen, and measures nearly or quite one and 

 one fourth inches in length. 



Family SAPYGID.E (Sa-pyg'i-dse). 

 The Sapygids (Sa-py 1 gids). 



This is a small family including only two North Ameri- 

 can genera, and but little more than twenty species. These 

 insects are of moderate size, with short legs, and are usually 

 black, spotted or banded with yellow, rarely entirely black. 

 So far as their habits are known, they are inquilines in the 

 nests of solitary wasps and solitary bees. 



