X54 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Shuckard. Oerceris has a long abdomen, with convex rings. It 

 is gaily marked with golden yellow. It has not been known to 

 use its sting upon its captors. It lays up stores of young grasshop- 

 pers and CarcnUoiddae. " Pliilanlhus burrows iu hot sandy situa- 

 tions, and provisions its nests with hive-bees ; a single individual 

 of which, after being stung, is deposited with an egg ; and as each 

 deposits five or six eggs, the number of bees destroyed must be at 

 least equal to that, if not more considerable, which is most proba- 

 ble ; and Latreille counted as many as fifty or sixty females occu- 

 pied in making their burrows in a space of ground one hundred and 

 twenty feet long." Westwood. 



This is a most diflScult family to study. The two sexes differ 

 greatly, and are apt to be mistaken for distinct species, and the 

 collector is fortunate if he comes upon a " metropolis " of a species. 

 In limiting the species, more value must be placed upon the size 

 and sculpture than the coloration, which varies greatly. 



Larridae. This is rather a small group, having a sessile conical 

 flattened abdomen, and with the legs of the females very hirsute. 

 They are generally dark in color. They are caught about sand- 

 banks. Larra provisions its nests with the caterpillars of small 

 moths. 



Bembecidae. We have but two genera, Bernbex and Monedula, 

 which have large heads and flattened bodies, bearing a strong re- 

 semblance to syrphus flies from their similar coloration. The 

 labrum is very large and long, triangular, like a beak. The species 

 are very active, flying rapidly about flowers with a loud hum. 

 " The female Bembex burrows in sand to a considerable depth, 

 burying various species of Diptera (Syrphidae, Muscidae, &c.,) 

 and depositing her eggs at the same time in company with them, 

 upon which the larvae, when hatched, subsist. When a sufficient 

 store has been collected, the parent closes the mouth of the cell 

 with earth." "An anonymous correspondent iu the Ent. Mag. 

 states that B. rostrata constructs its nests in the soft light sea- 

 sands in the Ionian Islands, and appears to catch its pre}'- (consist- 

 ing of such flies as frequent the sand ; amongst others, a bottle- 

 green fly,) whilst on the wing. He describes the mode in which 

 the female, with astonishing swiftness, scratches its hole with its 

 fore legs like a dog. Bembex ntarsata, according to Latreille, pro- 

 visions its nests with 8omb)jlii." Westwood. 



Sphegidce. The mud-wasps are known by their long antennae, 

 long hind legs and pedicelled abdomen. They are of large size, and 



