172 Llti^E STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECT^. 



the victim is frequently killed when small or not' 

 very robust, and sometimes even at the first sting- 

 ing, for wasps usually sting several times. They 

 store the victims in their nests made either in sand, 

 in stems of plants, in crevices, or in mud cells 

 which they may build. Each particular species 

 seems to have a preference for a certain food store ; 

 some capture spiders, others caterpillars, beetles, 

 flies, cicadas, locusts. After storing their victims 

 in the nest an egg is laid on one of them and the 

 nest or cell is then closed. The larva hatches 

 out, and is a tiny maggot which begins to feed on 

 the food-store. It develops after several moults; 

 it pupates and later on the adult emerges from 



its prison. 



The adults feed on the nectar of flowers, on honey 



dew deposited by scales or lerps; but there is 



no return given by these insects for the sweets. 



Ants protect their sweet-yielding friends. The 



wasps simply enjoy the good provided. 



A great deal of observation work needs to be 



done in getting accurate accounts of the life history 



of our fossores. 



I. Family Scoliidae. 



The wasps of this family have a chink or notch 

 between the first and second segments of the abdo- 

 men, and this is seen on the ventral or under side. 

 (See Plate 21, Fig. i. a). There are many wingless 

 forms. The family can be divided into three sub- 

 families : — 



A. Sub-family Scoliides. Characteristics:— 

 They are hairy wasps, the legs are stout; both sexes 



