i7l 



O. HYMENOPTERA. 

 Fossore Wasps. 



(fossa a ditch). 



The term ''fossore" is given because of the habit 

 that many of these wasps have of digging in sand, 

 They can be distinguished from the higher group 

 of true wasps by the following characteristics : — 



(i) The pronotum (part of the first segment of 

 the thorax) is in the form of a collar-like ring at the 

 back of the neck. (Plate 21, Fig. 9. b). The 

 "pin waisted" mud dauber Avasp shows this well be- 

 cause the collar is yellow and stands out clearly 

 from the darker part of the thorax. 



(2) The wings are not folded fanwise in repose, 

 as is the case with true wasps, but held more 

 or less horizontally over the body. (See Plate 22, 

 Fig. 8.) 



Fossore wasps differ from ants in having no nodes 

 on the petiole or stalk of the abdomen. , 



These wasps differ from bees in having no 

 branched hairs such as bees have to gather the 

 pollen. 



Fossore wasps are all solitary in habit. 



Habits. — Fossores are predaceous, capturing in- 

 sects and spiders which they sting in such a man- 

 ner as to paralyse but not kill them, for these vic- 

 tims are the future food of their larvae. However, 



