265 



down on her and accordini; lo Mi'. Hacker's nhscrvations the 

 female a'l'asps liini with her mandibles hv llie end of ihe al)d(»- 

 nien or le^-s and a('('on])leni{'nt is effeeled while in fliehi. The 

 coupled pair visits flowers and a])parenlly the male, in some 

 cases at least, feeds the female. 



Xo reliable observations ap]»ear to have been ])nblished in 

 reo-ard to the hreedinji' hal)its of anv of the s])eeies, tho one 

 published note credits one species with draiiu-ini>- a cricket 

 ahout. This, however, appears to he a nnstake. ^\v. Rowland 

 E. Turner, wdio has monooraphed the species and has collected 

 them extensively, sug-gfsts that they may he ])arasitic on other 

 Aculeate Ilymenoptera after the manner of the Mutillidae. It 

 would, however, be difficult to find Acideates enough of the 

 size necessary to ])rovide food for the numerous s])e;'ies of the 

 size of Tlii/tiniis (ipfcnis and abundant enoniih to account for 

 the areat nnnd)ers of them which are to be found. The great 

 nund)er of species to be fonn<l in a locality greater than the 

 nnmber of abundant s])ecies of Aculeates ap])ears also to nega- 

 tive this view. To the writer it seems more likely that the 

 larvae of Scarabaeid and Khyncoidiorous beetles furnish them 

 with prey. The larvae of both groups are nearly enongh alike 

 to serve as the prey of such a compact grou]) where we would 

 (>x])ect conununity of hal)its. If the grou]) has community of 

 habits there is no other source for prey for the grou]) than 

 the o-rubs of these lieetles, which are largely subterranean, nn- 

 merous en(mgh in species and in individuals, and with differ- 

 ences enough in size to provide for all the species of Thynni- 

 dae. The affinities of the Thynnidae are also with the Scoliid 

 wasi)s such as Plesia and }fi/ziiie which attack Scamlxie'ulae 

 rather than with the Mutillidae with their usual habits of para- 

 sitism on other Hymenoptera. 



We await with great interest a series of life-history stu<lies 

 in this grou]:» from some of our capalde Australian entomolo- 

 gists. 



