124 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.52. 



Handlirsch in his monograph gives an excellent summary of what 

 had been discovered with regard to the biology of Bemhix up to the 

 time when his valuable work was brought out. According to tliis 

 author the first report we have of observations upon the nesting 

 habits of a species of Bembix is that made by Linnaeus in 1745, in 

 which he reports Bemhix rostrata (Apis^ rostrata) flying about over 

 sandy soil and digging burrows therein, within which the larvae 

 were to be found. What is probably the earliest record of observa- 

 tions on the habits of a Bembicine wasp in this country is that reported 

 by John Bartram in the year 1763 ^ in which he says: 



I saw several of these wasps flying about a heap of sandy loam: they settled on it, 

 and very nimbly scratched away the sand with their fore feet, to find the nests, whilst 

 they held a large fly under their wings with one of their other feet: they crept with it 

 into the hole, that led to the nest, and staid there about three minutes, when they came 

 out. With their hind feet they threw the sand so dextrously over the hole, as not 

 to be discovered: then taking flight, soon returned with more flies, settled down, 

 uncovered the hole, and entered with their prey. 



This extraordinary operation raised my curiosity to try to find the entrance, but the 

 sand fell in so fast, that I was prevented, until by repeated essays I was so lucky as to 

 find one. It was six inches in the ground, and at the farther end lay a large magot, 

 near an inch long, thick as a small goose quill, with several flies near it, and the remains 

 of many more. These flies are provided for the magot to feed on before it changes to 

 the nymph state. Then it eats no more untill it attains to a perfect wasp. * * * 



But this yellow wasp takes a different method, with great pains digging a hole in the 

 ground, lays its egg, which soon turns to a magot, then catches flies to support it, 

 untill it comes to maturity. 



In 1809 Latreille, in the Anneles du Museum d'liistoire Naturelle, 

 gives a report of liis observations on two species of Bemhix, rostrata 

 and integra (tarsata) . In this article he reports the fact that these 

 wasps feed their young upon flies, and gives a description of the bur- 

 rows constructed for their nests and a detailed description of the larvae. 

 He points out the fact that although these wasps nest in colonies, each 

 wasp digs a nest for herself, using for this work the stout spines with 

 which the front legs are provided. He states that when the wasp has 

 provided sufficient fhes for the nourishment of her young she deposits 

 a single egg in each cell and closes it up. He reports that although 

 rostrata uses adult flies to store her nest she does not prey upon a 

 single species, but attacks several. He further states that copulation 

 occurs on the wing. 



Lepeletier ^ gives a very complete account of the nesting habits 

 and mode of copulation of B. rostrata. In this account he points out 

 the fact that flies taken by the wasp and stored are not killed but 

 paralyzed. He says : 



Je lui enlevai sa proie, et la trouvai dans le meme 6tat que celles saisies h I'entr^e 

 du nid: d'ou je conclus que cette pigure met ses victimes dans une espece de paralysie 

 qui n'est mortelle qu'au bout d'un laps de temp assez considerable pour qu'elles soient 

 d^vor^es vivant par la larve du Bembex. 



1 Philos. Trans. London, vol. S3, p. 37. 2 Hist. Nat., vol. 2, 1841. 



