THE OTTAWA NATURALIST 



VOL. XXII. OTTAWA, JULY, 1908 No. 4 



FAUNA OTTAWAENSIS. 



Hymenopter.\— Superfamily III— Vespoidea. 



By W. Hague Harrington, F.R.S.C, Ottawa. 



In Volume XV a list was published of eighty-one species 

 of Ottawa wasps, belonging to the superfamily Sphegoidea, and 

 the following list gives an equal number of the species mcluded 

 in the adjoining Vespoidea. This superfamily contams sixteen 

 families of which nine are represented in the list. Some of the 

 remaininc^ families have representatives in Canada, but these are 

 mostlv w'estern forms, such as Trigonalis and Masaris. and it is 

 probable that Sapvga is the only form which may be expected to 

 occur in this district. For those who have not made a study of 

 the numberless interesting forms belonging to our Hymenoptera, 

 a few introductorv remarks on the appearance and habits of 

 the members of the several families may prove of more interest 

 than the Ust itself. 



The Ceropalidae (Pompilids) are mostly small, or medium- 

 sized black wasps, with frequently bluish or purplish reflections 

 and occasionallv with red or white markings , while the wi ngs may be 

 clear smokv or maculate. Thev are very swift and agile insects, 

 and the females, in common with those of other families, have 

 stines which, especiallv in the larger species, can inflict a painful 

 wound Anoplius (Pompilus) and Salius (Priocnemis) All their 

 burrows in the ground with spiders, which they will take even 

 out of their webs. The species of Agenia, which are smaller, 

 construct mud nests in which they also store spiders. The spiders- 

 thus provided for the offspring of the genera mentioned are 

 rendered immobile by the stings of their captor and often have 

 their legs nipped off so that they may be more easily stowed m 

 the nests The wasp then lavs an egg in the cell and seals it up. 

 The members of the genus Ceropales are parasitic upon the other 

 genera the females watching for an opportunity to place their 

 Iggs in the nests which are being provisioned. 



The Vespidde are the typical Social Wasps, the yellow- 



