468 



INSECTS ABKOAD. 



burrows with large insects, preferring for this purpose the fiehl 



cockroaches, one of which is shown in the ilhistration. In all 



the species the abdomen is 

 much compressed, but in the 

 Chinese species which has 

 just been mentioned the ab- 

 domen looks exactly as if it 

 had been squeezed between 

 the finger and thumb. The 

 reader will probably recol- 

 lect that in entomological 

 language, "compressed " sig- 

 nifies flattened sideways, and 

 " depressed " flattened down- 

 w^ards as if by a weight. As 

 th(} insects on which the 

 Ampulex preys are large and 



strong, it is necessary that the jaws should be very powerful, 



and this is the case in every species. 



The Larridffi, although rather a small family, are spread 

 widely over the world, and in the British Museum there are 

 examples of the genus Larrada. taken not only from Europe, 



Fig. 248. — Larrada ihioalis. 

 (Black, with blue wings.) 



Asia, Africa, and Australia, but both from North and South 

 America. The present species is found in Java and the Celebes. 

 Only two specimens are in the Museum. 



This species was called ducalis by Mr. F. Smith, on account 



