THE ENEMIES OF THE ORTHOPTERA. 171 



expected to see it spin its cocoon, but sometlung was lacking 

 which, we were too ignorant to supply and on August fifth it 

 died. It had eaten six small crickets and half of the large one, 

 which was equal to about two more. Thus ended our only ac- 

 quaintance with this interesting little wasp. 



Priononyw atrata St. Farg. 



PL XIV., fig. 4. 



It had rained heavily in the night, and when we went down 

 to the garden at a little before noon of August foui-teenth, al- 

 though the sun was sliining brightly, we found that everything 

 was still too damp to suit our fastidious friends, the wasps. One 

 of them, however,! had begun a task on the day before and felt 

 that she must go on vdth it whether the weather suited her or 

 not, for in walking through the strawberry bed we disturbed a 

 big black Prionmiyjp that flew up from her nearly completed 

 nest at our approach. At one side of the opening was a pile of 

 freshly excavated earth, and beneath this was the material that 

 had plainly been taken out the day before, since the pellets 

 were wet and beaten together by the rain. Our wasp did not 

 go far but settled down on the ground near by and remained 

 quiet for some minutes. Then she flew, over the adjoining row 

 of plants into the next space and, after running about a little, 

 found her prey — a big brovm locust (D. Carolina) which had 

 been deposited there while she went to give final touches to the 

 nest. She was satisfied now with merely taking a look at it, 

 after which she rose on her v^dngs and circled widely about, 

 alighting here and there, but not going back to the nest. When 

 on the ground she flattened herself out, in an odd way, lying so 

 that the ventral surface of the body was in contact with the 

 earth. We had never before seen just this action in a wasp, 

 but afterward we observed the same thing in P. scelestus when 

 she was in the neighborhood of her nest. After ten minutes 

 had passed in this way she went back to her burrow and took 

 out half a dozen loads of earth, running down and then back- 



