262 

 A Note on an Epyris and Its Prey. 



BY J. C. BllIDWKLL. V 



Haliday in 1834 i-eported an nnknown Bethylas draggi'^ 

 al)ont a lepidopterous larva with the apparent pnrpose of bury 

 ing it. This observation has been looked on with a certair|l 

 anioinit of suspicion particularly since the general parasitidl 

 hal)it of the Bethvlidae has been recognized. He considerecll 

 it as showing the fossorial relations of the Bethylids. I airjl 

 happy to 1)0 able to add a second case to his and cite analogoiu 

 cases among the Scoliidae, the closest allies of the Bethvlidae. 

 and with siniihn- parasitic-predaceous habits. 



In A])i'il, lOlT), while collecting on the golf links of thf 

 ]\Jowbray Golf Club on the sand flats east of Capetown, 1 

 observed a small black Ilymenopteron dragging along between 

 its jaws a small tenebrioiiid larva which was, however, several 

 times larger than its ca])tor. After watching it for a moment! 

 I captured it and its prey and mounted them together. Uponi 

 examination the was]> proved to be a species of Epyris ap]iar- 

 ently as yet undescribed. 



In most cases I think the Bethylids find their prey in suit- 

 able locations, sting them and ovi])osit in them ; and only in ex- 

 ceptional cases attempt to place them more suitably and thi;-! 

 seems also to be the case with the Scoliidae. This would ex- 

 plain the rarity of such observations. 



In 1859 Philip Henry Gosse publislied a little book called^ 

 "Letters from Alabama fT"^. S.) Chiefly Relating to N"atural 

 History," which contains a numl)er of original observations on 

 our insects which have escaped the cataloguers. On ])p. 120 

 and 121 will be found the following ])assage reproduced here; 

 on account of the scarcity of the book from which it is drawn 

 and as showing such an exceptional case among the Scoliids. 



"There is a liyiiieiio])teroiis fly (Scolla qiiadrliiuiriihrta) 

 which I have seen here occasionally, in the paths of the forest, 

 towai'ds evening. It is shaped like a bee, but is vastly larger, 

 dee]) black, with four large yellow s])ots on the abdomen, 



Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc. Ill, No. 4, May. 191^ 



