in SCOLIIDAE SCOLIIDES SAPYGIDES 99 



in order to reach this the Scolia mounts on its victim, and is 

 frequently dislodged by its struggles ; sooner or later, however, 

 the proper position is obtained by the wasp, and the larva is 

 then stung in the exact spot necessary to allow the sting (and the 

 poison introduced by it) to reach the most important of the 

 nervous ganglia that control the movements of the body, this spot 

 being, in the case of the Cetonia, the line of demarcation between 

 the pro- and meso-thorax, on the middle line of the ventral 

 surface of the body. The Scolia gives but one sting to the 

 victim, and this it will not administer until it can do so exactly 

 in the proper place. This practice of devouring the victim 

 slowly, without killing it till all is eaten, is very widely spread in 

 the Hymenoptera, and it is satisfactory to find that we may infer 

 from Fabre's observations that it is not so horrible as it 

 would at first appear ; for it is probable that the stinging 

 prevents decomposition of the victim, not by reason, as some have 

 supposed, of the poison injected by the wasp having an antiseptic 

 effect, but rather by means of destroying sensibility, so that the 

 creature does not die from the pain, as it is believed it did in 

 certain cases where Fabre induced the young Scolia larva to feed 

 on a victim that had not been stung. We may here remark 

 that very little exact information exists as to the operation of 

 stinging. Fabre attaches great importance to the sting- being 

 inflicted on a nerve -ganglion. Whether a sting that did not 

 reach this part might not have a sufficient effect appears, how- 

 ever, doubtful. 1 



A remarkable form of Scoliides, with wings of smaller size 

 than usual and deeply divided, has been described by Saunders 

 under the name Pseudomeria graeca. Still more remarkable is 

 Komarovia victoriosa found in Central Asia ; in this Insect the 

 male retains the appearance of a slender, pallid Scolia, but the 

 female differs totally in form, and has the peculiar wings so re- 

 duced in size as to be useless for flight. 



Sub-Fam. 4. Sapygldes. Closely allied to the Scoliides, but j>os- 

 sessing slender legs and antennae ; also the first abdominal 

 segment is less disconnected from the second, so that the outline 



1 As this work is passing through the press we receive a book by Mr. and Mrs. 

 Peckhani on The Instincts and Habits of the Solitary Wasps, Madison, 1898. 

 They are of opinion that, in the case of some species, it does not matter much 

 whether the victim is or is not killed by the stinging. 



