186 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



OVIPOSITION. 



Except in the case of Miscophus, the egg of the Larridse is 

 placed transversely, or nearly so, across the base of the pro- 

 thorax of the orthopteron or hemipter, as the case may be, and 

 is securely fastened at its cephalic end in the soft membrane, 

 behind* and a little inside of one of the fore coxae. It may be 

 well to mention here that Priononyx, one of the Sphecidse 

 which preys on Orthoptera, glues her egg on the membrane at 

 the exterior base of one of the hind coxse, the egg lying along 

 the base of the posterior femur, instead of across the thorax, 

 as in the first case. In either case, however, it is well protected 

 by its position from any movement which the often sprightly 

 entombed victim may make. According to Ferton (Actes de la 

 Soc. Lineenne de Bordeau, xlviii, 266-8; 1895), the egg of Mis- 

 cophus bicolor is secured to the anterior face of the spider's 

 abdomen, and is vertical in position. 



The Larridse do not display as much specialization in nidifi- 

 cation, perhaps, as do many of the Sphecidae, and far less than 

 is exhibited in the Eumenidse. They are, however, persever- 

 ing workers, and at times show much valor (if such it may be 

 called) in attacking their often huge prey. 



Habits of the Males. 



The foregoing remarks apply solely to the female Larridse, 

 for seldom, if ever, do the males assist in the work of nidifica- 

 tion, and, not being furnished with a sting, are wholly in- 

 capable of subduing such an insect as is overcome by the 

 female. 



While it is true, generally speaking, that the males are seen 

 more frequently than the other sex, the explanation of this 

 may be found in the habits of the former. They are often 

 found at flowers, or resting on a tree trunk, whence they make 

 frequent sallies at passing insects, much in the same manner- 

 as some of the more pugnacious butterflies. The above applies 

 largely to the genus Tachytes. 



A few Larropsis males can be taken at flowers ; it is likely, 

 however, that they occur in greater numbers in the vicinity of 

 holes made by various animals, such as rabbits, gophers, and 

 badgers. In the walls at the entrance of such burrows numer- 



* The Peckhams (Wasps Social and Solitary, p. 263 ; 1905) speak of a Tachysphex 

 (Larra) quebecensis storing her nest with several little grasshoppers and laying the e?g 

 in front of the first pair of legs. C. M. Weed, in his Life Histories of American Insects, 

 p. 150, fig. 55, shows a young tryaline locust with a Tachysphex egg placed behind the 

 fore coxEe. 



