LAinilD.E. 165 



c.'alea, with a single spine at the apex of the intermediate 

 til)i;e ; the abdomen is ovoid-conical." 



The genus Astata is a large hairy form, with long antennae 

 and pafpi and an elongated prothorax. Its spiny legs show its 

 lie >r relationship to the 5i> /* eg idee. Astata unicolor Say repre- 

 sents the genus in this country. 



Tachytes is also of larger size than the following genus. 

 It is covered with long dense golden short hairs, with a trap- 

 ezoidal front. Tachytes auridentus Fabr. is rare ; it frequents 

 the Ho vers of the Asclepias, as we have found pollen masses at- 

 tached to the spines of its legs. We figure 

 (89) a tarsus of a wasp belonging probably to 

 this genus, received from Mr. V. T. Chambers, 

 showing the pollen masses of Asclepias at- 

 tached to the spines. 



The genus iyarmcZa "contains those species 

 which have the marginal cell truncated at the 

 apex and appendiculated, and three submarginal 

 •cells, the fii-st as long as the two following ; 

 .... the metathorax [propodeum] truncated 

 posteriorly, elongate, the sides being generally 

 parallel ; the mandibles are large and arcuate, 

 Avith a tooth on their exterior towards the base; abdomen 

 ovate-conical, acuminate at the apex." Larrada argentata 

 Beauv. is covered with silvery pile. It is a slender form, with 

 short, nearly unarmed legs. 



A Brazilian species of Larrada, according to Mr. H. W. 

 Bates, builds a nest composed apparently of the scrapings of 

 the woolly texture of plants ; it is attached to a leaf, having a 

 close resemblance to a piece of German tinder, or a piece of 

 sponge. The cocoons were dark brown, and of a brittle consist- 

 ency. The reporter, Mr. F. Smith, adds : "I am not aware of 

 any similar habit of building an external nest having been pre- 

 viously recorded ; our British species of the closely allied 

 genus Tachytes, are burrowers in the ground, particularl}' in 

 sandy situations ; their anterior tarsi are strongly ciliated, the 

 claws bifid and admirably adapted for burrowing. On examin- 

 ing the insect which constructed the nest now exhibited, I find 

 the legs differently armed ; the anterior pair are not ciliated. 



