prey, she closes the hole with earth, and aban- 

 dons it. The young, hatched from the egg, has 

 an abundant and convenient supply of food, in 

 the body of the interred insect. Descending 

 the Arkansaw river, with Major Long's party, 

 I was one day surprised to see a species of this 

 genus, dragging along the ground the body of 

 the gigantic Bird-catching spider, the Mygale 

 avicularia, or a very closely allied species. 



These insects are lively and active, flying 

 rapidly from place to place for short distances, 

 running briskly on the earth, vibrating their 

 antennae, and raising a little, and then depress- 

 ing their wings, which are reclined upon the 

 back. 



The female is armed with a sting, and may 

 be distinguished from the male by having twelve 

 joints to the antennae, whilst those of the male 

 have thirteen joints. 



Latreille was the first to separate this group 

 from Sphex, under the name of Psammochares, 

 but in his subsequent works, he adopted the 

 more recent name of Po3ipilus, given by 

 Fabricius. 



PLATE 42. 



