202 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 
with two long lateral lacinie. The collar is minute, not extending 
laterally to the base of the wings; the body is elongate, and pos- 
teriorly acuminated, smooth, and generally varied with black and 
yellow; the legs are short, or but of moderate length, and the anterior 
are generally furnished with strong ciliz. They are of a moderate 
size; some few, however, are nearly as large as any known Hymen- 
optera. They are generally inhabitants of hot climates, and are 
extremely active in their movements, flying from flower to flower, and 
making a sharp humming noise ; many of them emit a rose-like scent. 
They appear only in summer. 
No species of this family has hitherto been proved to be a 
decided inhabitant of this country, although Donovan has figured a 
species of Bembex (B. octo-punctata, Brit. Ins. vol. xiv. pl. 474.). 
The type of this genus is B. rostrata (Apis rostrata Linn.), which is 
an inhabitant of the central and southern parts of Europe. It is 
about the size of a wasp. ‘This genus is remarkable for having the 
lower parts of the mouth (the maxilla and labium) produced into a 
long trunk or proboscis, like that of the bees. The female burrows in 
the sand to a considerable depth, burying various species of Diptera 
(Syrphidz, Muscide, &c.), and depositing her eggs at the same time 
in company with them, upon which the larvae when hatched subsist. 
When a sufficient store has been collected, the parent closes the 
mouth of the cell with earth. The history of B. rostrata has been 
detailed by Latreille in the Annales du Muséum tom. xiv.; and Bull. 
Soc. Philomat. 1810, 1811; and by Messrs. St. Fargeau and Serville 
(Encycl. Méth. tom. x. p.497.). According to the latter authors, the 
Bembex is subject to the parasitic attacks of Parnopes carnea (one 
of the Chrysidide), as above described. An anonymous correspondent 
in the Entomol. Mag. (vol. iii. p. 464.) states that B. rostrata con- 
structs its nests in the soft light sea-sand in the Ionian islands, and 
appears to catch its prey (consisting of such flies as frequent the sand ; 
amongst others, a bottle-green fly) whilst on the wing. He describes 
the mode in which the female, with astonishing swiftness, scratches its 
hole with its fore legs like a dog. Bembex tarsata, according to 
Latreille, provisions its nest with Bombylii. 
The genus Stizus appears to form a connecting link between this 
family and the Scoliide, with which latter it agrees in the males 
being armed with one or three acute points at the extremity of the 
body; the lower parts of the mouth are not produced into a long 
