200 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



other nifofasciatiis were watched while stinging and trans- 

 porting their prey. In two cases the latter were mature 

 Melanoplus of about the size of a male fcmtn--ruhrinn — heavy 

 burdens indeed for these wasps. The larrids frequently hunted 

 at about the middle height of the thistle, where, though at 

 times lost to view, they could be heard colliding with the plant. 

 In seizing her intended victim she seemed to forget all else, 

 and the pair often fell to the ground during the struggle. The 

 locust once overcome, the wasp does not delay the journey 

 nestwards for long, nor does she always rid herself of the dust 

 incurred during the fray, as many other species of the Larridse 

 do with great care. 



The wasp worked in a rather desultory manner during the 

 later afternoon hours. One, which had the appearance of 

 being very tired, was noticed hunting at five p. M. The day 

 was exceedingly waiTn, and rufofasciaUis did not appear to rel- 

 ish the task of dragging her prey over the dry and dusty field, 

 which offered numerous impediments to her progress in the 

 form of a multitude of furrows, loose, shifting soil and other 

 irregularities. Often, indeed, would the tired wasp gain the 

 summit of some small ridge, only to tumble headlong with her 

 prey into the furrow which she had but left. Thus covered 

 with dust, the weary insect would sometimes abandon her prey 

 and fly up in the air in a slow manner. Small parasitic flies 

 sometimes follow these and other wasps in hopes of depositing 

 their young, at a favorable opportunity, upon the captured 

 acridian. Madame Wasp, however, is not always unmindful 

 of the presence of these pests, for once she was seen to make 

 a short dash at the dipteron, and turning again from her work, 

 regard the unwelcome insect. 



I attempted to dig out three burrows, but owing to the loose 

 and unstable chaiacter of the soil met with no success. There 

 \vas rttle or no evidence of a soil heap before the tunnels. 

 which might lead one to infer that the wasp did much tamping 

 and pishing and but little ejecting of the soil. The nests are 

 probably several-celled. 



Tachysphex. 



These comprise a goodly number of small or rather small 

 wasps, largely cursorial in habits. They are much less pilose 

 than Tachytes, and are exceedingly active in their movements. 



