THE INSECT WORLD. 



403 



exercised great care in portioning out the food to the best ad- 

 vantage. The aduhs may often be found on flowers, and when 

 the golden-rod is in bloom in late summer, some of our largest 

 and most attractive species, like Sphex ichneiimonea, make their 

 appearance in great abundance. 



The allied "diggers" belonging to the Larrida: have the 

 abdomen more closely joined to the thorax, and provision their 

 nests, which are made underground, with small grasshoppers. 

 The insects are not nearly so common or so numerous in species 

 as those previously mentioned, and are chiefly inhabitants of the 

 more southern States. 



In the Bembecidce we have many large, brightly colored spe- 

 cies, some of which prey upon cicadas, stinging so as to render 

 them helpless, and carrying them off" to their nests as provision 

 for their young. It is interesting to watch a specimen of Sphe- 

 chis speciosus when it has a large cicada to be transported. If 

 the insect is captured and 



paralyzed upon a tree, the ' '^'' 



wasp drags it along the 

 branch to some convenient 

 point, and from it flies as 

 directly as possible towards 

 its nest. Sometimes its 

 strength is not sufficient to 

 sustain the weight, and 

 then it is drawn gradu- 

 ally to the ground. In 

 such case it again drags the 

 insect to the top of some 

 convenient shrub or tree, 

 and makes another effort, 

 again flying as far as pos- 

 sible before allowing itself 

 to be pulled down, but always arranging matters so that it is able 

 to make a new start from an eminence. In other words, the wasp 

 is often unable to lift the cicada from the ground in direct flight, 

 but is able to drag it to an elevation sufficiently great to fly a con- 

 siderable distance before being drawn to the ground, and in this 

 way, after a time, it manages to reach its nest. These Bembecids 



Sphecius speciosus carrying a cicada to its home. 



