94 HYMENOPTERA CHAP. 



Fam. 1. Scoiiidae. 



The members of this family, so far as is known, display less 

 perfect instincts than the Sphegidae and Pompilidae, and do not 

 construct cells or form burrows. Information as to the habits is 

 almost confined to European forms. AVe adopt five sub-families. 



Sub-Fam. 1. Mutillides.--77/r stiles of the pronotum, reach the 

 ti'ijiilae : the female is destitute of wings and ocelli, 

 frequently h.aviny I In 1 parts of f/ir thorax so closely soldered 

 that the divisions between them are obliterated : the males are 

 winged, furnished with ocelli, and having the thoracic divisions 

 distinct ; intermediate tibiae with tiuo apical spurs. Front 

 i ring with, two or three suh-i>mryi iml fells. The larvae live 

 parasitically at the expense, of other Hymenoptera Aculeata. 



The Mutillides have some resemblance to ants, though, as 

 they are usually covered with hair, and there is never any node 

 at the base of the abdomen, they are readily distinguished from 

 the Formicidae. The great difference between the sexes is their 

 most striking character. Their system of coloration is often 

 very remarkable, the velvet-like pubescence clothing their bodies 

 being variegated with patches of sharply contrasted vivid colour : 

 in other cases the contrast of colour is due to bare, ivory-like 

 spaces. They have the faculty of stridulating, the position and 

 nature of the organ for the purpose being the same ;is in ants. 



Very little exact information exists as to the habits and life- 

 histories of the species. Christ and Drewsen, forty or fifty years 

 ago, recorded that M. euro'paea lives in the nests of bees of the 

 genus Jiombus, and Hoffer has since made some observations on the 

 natural history of the same species in South East Europe, where 

 this Mitt ill a is found in the nests of ten or eleven species of 

 Bombus, being most abundant in those of B. ayrorum, and B. 

 variabilis ; occasionally more individuals of Mnfilln than of bees 

 may be found in a nest. He supposes that the egg of the 

 Ma tHlu, is placed in the young larva of the Bombux, and hatches 

 in about three days; the larva feeds inside the bee-larva, and 

 when growth is completed a cocoon is spun in the interior of 

 the pupa -case of the bee. When the perfect Insects emerge, 

 the males leave the nest very speedily, but the females remain 

 for some time feeding on the bees' honey. Females are usually 

 produced in greater numbers than males. This account leaves 



