100 



HYMENOPTERA 



CHAT. 



FIG. 41. $cij>i/yn -l-j/i'/tctata ?, 

 Britain. 



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

 body is not spinose at the apex. 



The economy of Sapygn, 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 



h\ -pel-metamorphosis (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. AVe have two 



species of Sapyga in 



Britain ; they differ in 



, * 



colour, and the sexes of 

 S. 5 -punctata also differ 

 in this respect ; the 

 a bdomen , spot t e d with 

 white in both sexes, is 

 in the female variegate 

 with red. Smith found 

 our British Sapyga o- 

 punctata carrying cater- 

 pillars. 



"CR- 



Sub-Fam. 5. Rhopalo- 

 somides. --Antennae 



elongate, spinigerous ; FIG. 42. Rhopalosoma poeyi. A, female imago ; 



ocelli very prominent ; B < IVoilt of " Cuba " (After Westwood -) 

 tarsi of peculiar structure, their claws bifid. 



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



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



