ISO HYMEXOPTERA ACULEATA. 



1866, and recorded by F. Smith in Ent. Ann. 18G8, p. 87 

 but, as snggested by Lim, it was probably imported, and, 

 as no further captures have been recorded, it appears to 

 have no claim to a place in our list. 



VESPA, Linn. 

 Other generic characters besides those common to the 

 family, are the broad form, the long antennae of the male, 

 the absence of the small basal lobe of the posterior vfings, 

 the truncate base of the first abdominal segment, and the 

 strongly-curved anterior femora. The genus is divided into 

 two natural groups by the form of the face. In one the 

 eyes nearly touch the base of the mandibles, in the other a 

 considerable portion of the cheek is inserted between them; 

 with the exception of the hornet, the species within these 

 groups are very closely allied and often difficult to separate, 

 especially in the ? and 5 ssex. I have briefly alluded to 

 their habits of nest-building under the heading of the sec- 

 tion. Mr. R. Newstead, who has paid great attention to 

 the parasites and other inmates of wasps' nests, has given 

 an account of the species he has found in them in vol. xxvii. 

 p. 41, of the But. Month. Mag. Most of the beetles men- 

 tioned, no doubt enter the nests in the imago state, either 

 in search of food or shelter ; but a closer relationship has 

 been supposed to exist between Felleius clilatatus, one of 

 the largest ol oav Brachelytrons Coleoptera, and the Hornet, 

 Velleiiis having frequently been found in the nests of the 

 latter, but to what extent the beetle is dependent on the 

 Hornet for its existence seems to be at present doubtful. 

 Another Coleopleron, Meta'cus paradoxus, is well known as a 

 parasite in the nests of our ground wasps. It lays its eggs 

 in the cells of the wasp, and the larva, when hatched, enters 

 the body of the wasp grub, and in course of time entirely 

 devours it. The life history of this parasite is given by 

 Dr. Algernon Chapman in Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist, for October, 

 1870. 



