500 



Saw-flies, Gall-flies, Ichneumons, 



J,^il^y'^^:J^^ 



monca (PI. XII, Fig. 14), a brilliant and powerful Sphecid, is a common 

 and widely distributed species, which makes a burrow from 4 to 8 inches 

 deep, provisioning it with green grasshoppers. The Peckhams have described 

 in detail in their fascinating book, "The Solitary Wasps," the life and habits 



of two species of Aslata, wasps 

 of the family Larrida;, which 

 make nests with funnel-like open- 

 ings (Fig. 703) in sandy soil and 

 provision them with bugs (He- 

 miptera), most of which are 

 killed, not paralyzed. The Bcm- 

 becidx, distinguished by the pro- 

 jecting, even beak-like upper lip, 

 are all diggers, and include our 

 largest solitary-wasp species. 

 Bembex spinolm (PI. XII, Fig. 

 8), a large black and bluish- 

 white banded form, shows an in- 



FlG. 



703. — Nest-burrow of Astata unicolor, 

 (After Peckham; natural size.) 



teresting variation from the usual digger-wasp habits of feeding the young. 

 Throughout their entire larval life (two weeks) the female catches flies and 

 brings them to the covered nest, having to dig away each time the loose soil 



Fig. 704. — Tarantula-kilU-r, Pepsis jormosa. (Natural size.) 



and to scrape it in again as she leaves the nest. One of the giant solitary 

 wasps of our country is the powerful cicada-killer, Sphecius speciosus, i^ 

 inches long, rusty black with yellow-banded abdomen. The wasp, attracted 



