346 INSECTS AT HOME. 



divisions, the first of which has the abdomen set on a long foot- 

 stalk ; the second, in which the abdomen has a moderate foot- 

 stalk ; and the third, in which it has a very short foot-stalk, and 

 the ocelli are set in an equilateral triangle. To this division 

 the present species belongs. Its colour is black, variegated 

 with yellow patches, which are variable both in number and 

 size. The clypeus is deeply keeled in the centre, and thinly 

 covered with fine yellowish down. The abdomen has generally 

 four yellow patches — hence the name of quadrimaculatus — 

 and one yellow band. 



It is a very common species, and makes its burrows in de- 

 cayed wood. The future larva is supplied with various insects, 

 mostly gnats and other small Diptera. The larva of this 

 insect is shown at Fig. / 



The family of the Philanthidos comes next on our list. In 

 these insects the head is always wider than the thorax. The 

 tibiffi of the middle pair of legs have a single spur at their tips, 

 and the front tarsi are strongly fringed. A good example of 

 this family, Cerceris arvensis, is shown on Woodcut XXXIV. 

 Fig. 5. The colour of the insect is black, with the face and 

 thorax mottled with yellow. The female has four yellow bands 

 on the abdomen and the male five, and there is a yellow spot 

 on each side of the first segment. In this genus, the head is 

 squared, and the three ocelli are set in a triangle on the crown. 

 The first pair of wings have one oblong marginal, and three 

 submarginal cells. The first segment of the abdomen is 

 narrowed to half the width of the second, so as to form a sort 

 of footstalk. The legs are strong and the tarsi of the first pair 

 are fringed on the outside. 



All the members of this genus are burrowers, and this species 

 prefers hard, fiat, and sandy spots. It is, perhaps, the most 

 plentiful of its genus, and Mr. F. Smith remarks that it is 

 more miscellaneous in its choice of food for its young than any 

 other of the burrowing Hymenoptera. It always takes weevils, 

 but, owing to the vast numbers of tliese beetles, it has a very 

 wide choice. It has been observed to carry off the Nut-weevil 

 (Balaninus nucum), and even the Grrooved-weevil (Otio- 

 rhynchus sulcatus). Both of these insects have been de- 

 scribed, the former on page 180, and the latter on page 175. 



