HOW TO KNOW THE INSEQS 



Fig. 240. Pollstes varlatus Cresson 



Head and thorax black, marked 

 with brown. Abdomen blackish with 

 yellow margins on the antennal seg- 

 ments and often reddish yellow 

 spots on sides. A very common wasp 

 or hornet which builds a flat paper 

 nest and invades houses at the 

 approach of cold weather. Length 

 17-22 mm. 



Some of the Vespids are social 

 wasps and build large nests which 

 house a fairly sizable colony by 

 the latter part of the sumir.er. In 

 Figure 240. 0^1^ reglon Only the fertile young 



queens go through the winter, so 



that nest building and colony raising starts all over every spring. 



Many species of the family are solitary, and after building and 



provisioning a nest and placing a few eggs in it give it no 



further attention. 



16a Coxae very large and long; legs much lengthened, the hind 

 femora when extended reaching almost to the tip of the abdomen; 

 wings usually dark. Eyes not notched. (The Spider Wasps) 

 Fig. 241 Family 42, PSAMMOCHARIDAE 



Fig. 241. Psanmocharus am.ericanus 

 Pal. de Beauv. 



Dull black, dorsal part of first 

 and second abdominal segments brick 

 red. Wings sm.oky. Length 12-14 mm. 



These wasps use spiders that have 

 been paralyzed by stinging, in pro- 

 visioning their nests. The nests 

 are usually in burrows In the ground 

 but some are made of clay. The fam- 

 ily Is a fairly large one and some 

 very large wasps belong to It . 



Figure 241. 



16b Legs shorter, the tips of the hind femora Figure 242. 



not reaching beyond the middle of the abdomen . 17 

 17a Tarsal claws simple. (Fig. 242). (The Scollids) Fig. 243. 



Family 51, SCOLIIDAE 



Fig. 243. Scolia blclncta Fab. 



Black, shining with bluish or 

 purplish sheen. Abdomen with two 

 broad golden yellow bands. Wings 

 dark. Length 21-25 mm. 



These wasps and some members of the 

 next family locate white grubs, the 

 Fic-re 243 larvae of May beetles, and having 



paralyzed the grub by stinging, attach 

 8'i egg to it, then build a cell about the grub and leave It where 

 found. The wasp larva makes Its entire development on this grub 

 and eventually emerges a fully mature wasp to hunt out and destroy 

 more grubs. Since white grubs rank among the most serious Insect 

 pests In our state, the Scollids and Tiphilds play an Important 

 role. 112 



