Ecological and Behavior Notes 3 



Tiphia inornata Say. [S. A. Rolnvor]. Taken on the 

 sidewalk in the city on September 12. 



Brnesia sparsiformis Ckll. and Roll. [S. A. Rohwer]. A 

 pair was discovered just at the conclusion of copulation 

 on a clay bank at Jerseydale, Mo., July 31. 



Bruesia hexar Blake [S. A. Rohwer]. 

 Dasymutilla zella Rohwer [S. A. Rohwer]. 

 Basymutilla mutata Blake [S. A. Rohwer]. 



Can it be that wasps, like the rest of us, may sometimes 

 be gravely misjudged because of the company they keep? 

 The part of a stubble field bordering the woodlands con- 

 tained a large number of burrows occupied by Cicin- 

 dela larvae, and about this particular area an abundance 

 of the three above-named species of velvet-ants lurked. 

 The abundance of both larvae and wasps seemed to indi- 

 cate that there might be some relation between the two, 

 especially since it is known that certain species of Mutil- 

 lids are parasitic upon Cicindela larvae. We spent a 

 good many hours in the field on many days watching the 

 parasites move about in the vicinity of the beetle burrows, 

 in the hope of catching them redhanded at something or 

 other, but all that they did was to slowly walk about 

 doing nothing that we wanted or expected them to do. 



Thinking that in confinement some results would be 

 obtained, several jelly-glasses were filled with soil and a 

 Cicindela larva and a Mutillid introduced into each. 

 The larvae immediately made their burrows, and the 

 Mutillids dug deep into the soil. The way those jMutillids 

 bury themselves is quite interesting, and since they are 

 often seen in the open fields with particles of earth cling- 

 ing to their velvety bodies one is led to believe that this 

 behavior is for some reason necessary. The head is the 

 simple implement which these insects use in digging their 

 way sometimes for several inches into the soil. They 

 thrust the head under the earth and pry it up, by manip- 



