278 



The Orders of Insects 



Hymenoptera. They are 

 abundant in the tropics, but 

 scarce in cooler regions ; only a 

 single species inhabits England. 

 The females dig in search of 

 burrowing beetle - larvje which 

 they paralyse by their sting ; 

 they then lay an egg on the 

 victim's body, thus providing 

 the maggot on hatching with a 

 supply of food (162). 



Pompilidae. — The PompUlda: 

 are a large family of Digging- 

 Wasps. differing from the 

 Scoliids in having no constric- 

 tion between the 

 second and third 

 a b d o m i n al seg- 

 ments, but agree- 

 ing with the three 

 preceding families 

 in the backward 

 extension of the 

 pronotum to the 

 forewing -bases. 

 The legs are re- 

 latively much 

 longer than in the 

 Scoliids, and the 

 whole aspect is 

 more slender and 

 wasp-like. The 

 fore-wing has a radial and two 

 or three cubital cells; the 

 neuration covers the whole 

 wing-area. The wasps of this 

 family construct nests, usually 

 by digging in sandy banks, and 

 capture spiders (more rarely 

 insects) which they paralyse 

 by stinging, to furnish food for 

 their grubs. The Pompi'ids, 

 like the Scoliids, vary greatly 

 in size; they are distributed 

 in all p a r t s of the world 

 Fig. 154. — Honey-Bee {Apis 7nellifica, (161-5 '• 



Linn.). a. Female (queen); b. male SphCffidae. — The Sbhegida 

 ^rone) ; c. unfertile female (worker), f^rm the largest family of the 

 Twice natural size, rrom Benton, Bull. . ,,- ° , ■' ,. 



I (n.s.), Div. Ent. U.S. Dept. Agr. Digging- Wasps ; they are dis- 



