204 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



insect. Her mode of procedure consisted in running very 

 rapidly in a rather zigzag fashion (when she much resembled 

 a male Mutillidse, or velvet ant), with occasional little fly'ng 

 jumps, and more rarely with a lightning-like flight of a few 

 feet, to a new hunting ground, when, as one would be led to 

 believe, she deemed the old one explored or unproductive. The 

 insect, as if mindful of the burden she must carry, does not 

 wander far from her burrow. 



One July morning at 9:15 A. M. I watched this little Tachy- 

 sphex hunting. She ran rapidly over the ground, passing by 

 the larger Acridiidse, which would often lift up their legs in a 

 threatening manner at the wasp's approach. An insect which 

 she deemed unsuitable she would inspect with scarce a pause, 

 but a desirable one she often pursued in flight. Every now 

 and then she would stop and rest for a few seconds. Her 

 powers of vision did not appear to be particularly good, for on 

 occasions she passed within an inch or two of a terrified 

 nymph, which, evidently aware of the nature of the hymenop- 

 teron, would leap away at her approach, dodge behind a plant 

 stem, or lift up its defensive legs. This last action was more 

 than a threat, for more than once have I seen a Taclnjsphex 

 repulsed for a time by a well-directed kick from the frantic 

 orthopteron. However, the aggressor would return instantly 

 to the fray if her prospective prey had not already made good 

 its escape. 



At 9:27 A. M. the tarsaUis under consideration, after a brief 

 pursuit, pounced upon a Melanoplus nymph, clinging te- 

 naciously to the same as it struggled, and finally quieted it 

 with a sting under the thorax. After a brief pause, during 

 which she cleansed herself and rested, she placed herself 

 astride her heavy victim (which lay on its back), seized it by 

 the base of the antennae, and, using her first two pairs of legs 

 for running, clasping her prey with the third, proceeded thus 

 at a run, varied with a frequent buzzing hop, to her nest, 

 about twenty feet distant. She overran her destination, how- 

 ever, by four or five feet, but retracing her steps soon located 

 her burrow, placed the locust within, and verj' shortly after 

 filled up the hole. Then she concealed the site to a fair degree, 

 exhibiting less skill in this than the careful Ammophila. Her 

 work was completed at 9 :51 A. M., or twenty-four minutes after 

 the capture of her prey. 



