May 189^. 



rsrcHE. 



II 



mud mixed, which are attached liy a 

 small pedicel to the twig- of some shrub 

 or tree. These are filled with larvae, 

 a single egg is placed in each cell and 

 all are hermetrically sealed up by a 

 cap of clay. The cell of Zetlms spi- 

 >iipes Say I have taken most frequently 

 in Florida, attached to the twig of the 

 Iron-tree, while Euineties fralerna 

 Say is usually attached beneath one of 

 the large leaves of the Scrub Palmetto. 

 The latter species, according to Dr. 

 Harris, preys upon th§ Canker-worm 

 in Massachusetts, but in Florida and 

 elsewhere it also preys on other small 

 caterpillars. I have bred from these 

 cells in Florida Rhipiphcfiis dimi- 

 diatus. 



In the south, I\/o>iobia qiiadridens 

 preys upon large Cut-worms, as I have 

 frequently seen it carrying them into its 

 cells, which were placed in the old bur- 

 rows of the Carpenter-bee Xylocopa vir- 

 giitica, the sides of which it had reno- 

 vated by a thin veneering of clay and 

 then filled with clay cells from the 

 bottom upwards. More than one wasp 

 was seen going in and coming out of a 

 single burrow and undoubtedly several 

 individuals live and work in harmony 

 together. 



It is quite probable that the species 

 in the genus Odynerus were originally 

 wood-borers and sand-borers, although 

 now they are less particular in selecting 

 a locality in which to nidificate, the 

 most insecure and oddest places imagin- 

 able being often selected bv them. 

 Many now also appropriate the galleries 

 and cells made by difiei'ent bees and 

 wasps, the old mud-daulier's cells being 



a favorite localitv. A few even con- 

 struct their cells in an irregular mass 

 of clav and sand surrounding a twig or 

 plant, which on first sight might be 

 easilv mistaken for a clump of dried 

 mortur or sand. 



All of the Odyneri store their cells 

 with Lepidopterous and Coleopterous 

 larvae ; and sometimes even with 

 Hymenopterous larvae belonging to the 

 destructive Saw-fly familj' Tenthredi- 

 nidae. Odynerus capra Sauss. was 

 observed by the Rev. T. W. Fyles to 

 provision its cells with the larvae of the 

 Larch saw-fl\' Neinatiis erichsoiiii. 

 Indeed, the service of these insects to 

 the farmer and gardener must be of 

 incalculable value, as they destroy im- 

 mense numbers of the destructive 

 tineina, geometrina, tortricina, pyralina 

 and noctuina larvae during the season. 



In Florida, I have observed O. 

 errinys St. Farg, making its nests in 

 the lock of my front door and in old 

 holes in my board fence. I have also 

 reared it many times from cells con- 

 structed in old oak-galls Amphibolips 

 cinerea. Nine specimens, varying 

 greatly in size, were reared from a 

 single gall. O. albophalcratiis Sauss. 

 has also been bred from the oak-gall 

 Amphibolips conjlneiis Harris, in 

 Massachusetts, while 0.y>//t'//t;.s- Sauss. 

 was observed by Walsh building its 

 cell in a spool, certainly a cpieer and 

 insecure place. The habits of many- 

 other of our species could be given but 

 these will be left for another paper. 



Many of the Odyneri are parasitized 

 by species in the family Chrvsididae 

 and a few by two or tliree Ichneumonids. 



