commonest member of the family is the little j\Jyrwosa melano- 

 cepJtala, which is almost sure to be met with, given a sandy patch 

 and hot sunshine. The rarest is Methoca irJineiniinnides, which 

 inhabits similar localities. I have, so far only met with it in the 

 New Forest. These species of Mutillidaf are often spoken of as 

 Solitary Ants. They have no close affinity, however, with the 

 true ants. 



Of the next genus, TipMa, I know nothing of the habits of the 

 two species. The larger one, T. femorata, is said to be very partial 

 to the flowers of the wild carrot, but I have always taken it when 

 constructing its burrows. It is fairly abundant on the southern 

 slopes of Redhill Common, but I have never been able to capture a 

 specimen when loaded with its prey. Of the genus Sa/ii/ya there 

 are also two British species, recorded as burrowing into banks and 

 also into decaying wood. Smith says that he has seen the female 

 of the commoner iS. quinqitepunctata carrying a green caterpillar to 

 its burrow, which was found to contain four cells filled with small 

 green caterpillars, from which he reared specimens of the Sapyna. 

 Shuckard says that he has caught it entering the cells of a bee, 

 Osniia riifa. I have never yet detected it carrying its prey, having 

 taken it flying up and down old posts that were riddled with 

 burrows, both of beetles and bees, or sometimes flying in the same 

 way at perforated sandy banks. The second species, S. clavicornis, 

 is recorded from only three or four British localities. 



We next come to that very puzzling family the Fompiluiae, 

 consisting of several genera and a large number of species. They 

 are all of very similar habits, exceedingly active, running rapidly 

 on the ground or on old posts, with very short flights, so that at 

 times it is not easy to decide where the flight ends and the run 

 begins. They are very quick, too, to take cover under a dead leaf, 

 twig, or blade of grass. This makes them very difiicult of capture. 

 Most of them nest in sandy banks, a few in old posts, and all, or 

 nearly all, provision their nests with spiders. They vary very 

 much as to their comparative rarity or abundance, though even the 

 rarer species are sometimes to be found in some numbers. Aporus 

 unicolor, which at one time was considered to be an extremelj^ rare 

 species, suddenly occurred in quite a number of localities. I found 

 several near Ventnor in 1898, and met with it again two or three 

 years later at Bexhill, where it was fairly common on the wild 

 carrot at the edge of the low cliffs. Faiiipihiii mfipes, a very showy 

 species ; P. pltimhetis, a black insect with grej^ pubescence, and P. 

 chalybeatiis, which is red and black, are all very partial to sandhills 

 such as occur on the coast. The first and second species are 

 abundant usually at St. Helen's, in the Isle of Wight; the second 

 and third are common at Camber, near Rye. Powpilus niyer, a 

 bold-looking black insect, is more abundant westerly, though 

 occurring elsewhere. The largest is Pompilus viaticxs, which is 

 fairly common, especially on heaths. Several of the Pompilidae are 



