188 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



ordinate action. Again, I have found fresh as well a.s 

 putrefying Orthoptera in a single closed cell, showing that the 

 wasps administer their stings with varying degrees of cer- 

 tainty, sometimes with the effect of killing, at other times onlv 

 paralyzing. Furthermore, the egg is placed in such a secuie 

 position that it can not be readily if at all dislodged by any 

 movement of the victim, and the larva, on hatching, remains 

 for some time in the same position as the egg. 



Malaxation. 



A number of species of wasps have been observed by differ- 

 ent entomologists to "malaxate" their prey after it has been 

 stung. To malaxate {malasso — to knead, to soften), as T'e- 

 ferred to these insects, consists in that process of biting or 

 chewing at their victims for a purpose which, to my knowledge, 

 has not been satisfactorily explained. The procedure has been 

 carefully observed by Marchal, in Europe, who considers it 

 very important. He noted it in the case of the philanthid wasp 

 Cerceris ornata, which pricks and squeezes the neck of the bee 

 Halictus, licking off the juice which exudes. In this case 

 malaxation was found to quiet the victim more than if merely 

 stung, having therefore a tendency to shorten its life. 



I have seen Notogonia and Tachysphex and Taclnjtef< bite the 

 prosternum of their prey, going as far as the mouth of the 

 prostrate insect. In one case the wasp remained with its dis- 

 tended jaws applied the orthopteron's neck, suggesting, per- 

 haps, that she was lapping up a liquid. Ferton is of the 

 opinion that Miscophus malaxates her spider prey to obtain 

 such a fluid. It is doubtful, however, if the wasp's jaws are 

 always sufficiently powerful to draw out any nourishment in 

 that manner. Malaxation, as the Peckhams have observed, is 

 not done in every case. It would seem, therefore, to be sec- 

 ondary in importance to the act of stinging, and appears to be 

 of doubtful purpose. 



