SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS 



cocoons, in others larvae, and in one was an egg. The 

 gnats were very carefully examined, and all of them, 

 from the cells that had been filled last as well as from 

 those provisioned earlier, were dead. 



Other species of Rhopalum are said to prey upon 

 spiders and aphides. 



In studying the species that come in our way we are 

 continually developing distinct likings for some kinds 

 above others. The ap- 

 pearance of one of 

 these favorites is al- 

 ways hailed with de- 

 light, and when the 

 season's work is over 

 we remember them 

 with lively pleasure. 



OXYBELUS QUADRINOTATUS 



It is thus, dear little 



Oxybelus, that we dwell upon the thought of you and 

 your pretty ways. No other wasp rose so early in the 

 morning, no other was so quick and tidy about her 

 work, so apt and business-like without any fuss or 

 flurry. No other was more rapid and vigorous in pur- 

 suit of her prey, and we think with admiration and 

 gratitude of the number of flies that you must have 

 destroyed in the course of the summer. 



75 



