lOO 



HYMENOPTERA 



Fig. 41.- 



■Sapijiia 5-jjunctcUa ?, 

 Britain. 



is less interrupted ; the eyes are deeply einarginate ; the hind 

 hody is not spinose at the apex. 



The economy of Sapyga, the only genus, has been the subject 

 of difference of opinion. The views 

 of Latreille and others that these 

 species are parasitic upon bees is 

 confirmed by the observations of 

 Fabre, from which it appears that 

 >S'. 5 -punctata lives in the liurrows 

 of species of the bee-genus Osmia, 

 consuming the store of provisions, 

 consisting of honey-paste, that the 

 bee has laid up for its young. Ac- 

 cording to the same distinguished 

 observer, the Sajjyga larva exhibits 



hypermetamorphosis (i.e. two consecutive forms), and in its young 



state destroys the egg of the bee ; but his observations on this point 



are incomplete and need 



repetition. We have two 



species of Sapyga in 



Britain ; they differ in 



colour, and the sexes of 



*S^. 5 -punctata also differ 



in this respect ; the 



abdomen, spotted with 



white in both sexes, is 



in the female variegate 



with red. Smith found 



our British Sapyga 5- 



punctata carrying cater- 

 pillars. 



Sub-Fam. 5. Rhopalo- 

 somides. — Antennae 



elongate, SpinigerOUS ; Fig. 42. — Rhopalnsoma poeyi. A, female imago ; 



ocelli very prominent ; ^' ^''"'^^ °^ ^'^^- ^''^^''^- (^^^"' Westwood.) 

 tarsi ofj^eculiar structure, their claws hiJJd. 



This sub-family has recently been proposed Ijy Ashmead ^ for 



^ P. cnt. ii'oc. IVaslnnijlon, iii. 1S96, p. 303. 



