54 Some Solitary Wasps of Texas, 



The egg, one mm. in length, was placed on the dorsolateral side 

 of the abdomen near the pedicil, as shown in figure 12, which is 

 natural size. The spider had been stung to death since it never 

 responded to stimulation and was soon overtaken by mould. The 

 egg never hatched. 



(b) POMPILOGASTER FUSCIPENNIS (LePEL). 



This wasp with black legs and thorax and bright red abdomen is 

 a furious hunter, flying from plant to plant in a whirlwind. No 

 wonder therefore that I lost sight of a specimen so suddenly one 

 afternoon as she was carrying off her prey. A flash of red and 

 green is all I saw as wasp and spider tumbled down a hole in the 

 sand and disappeared. The hole lead into a burrow that had been 

 dug by some rodent and extended for many feet just beneath the 

 surface of the sand. I have noticed other spider ravishers choose 

 such a place to hide their spider and to dig their nest. Solid black 

 soil, which cracks in dry weather, offers more opportunities in this 

 Way than does the sandy land where most of my observations were 

 made. 



• The wasp remained inside the burrow one hour and twenty min- 

 utes. Thinking that the wasp had by that time escaped at another 

 point along the burrow, I dug this up and came upon the wasp, 

 that had buried the spider in a shallow hole which it had dug in 

 the side of the burrow. The spider, which was dead, was a large 

 green "cotton spider^' belonging to the genus Dolomedes. The 

 wasp remained in the vicinity for half an hour, when I caught her. 



(c) PoMPiLiD That I>oes Not Bury its Prey. 



In the Cambridge Natural History, vol. VI, p. 106, Sharp makes 

 mention of Emery's account of ''some Pompilids that do not bury 

 their prey but, after stinging it and depositing an egg, simply leave 

 the spider on the spot." Such an one came flying about our veranda 

 with businesslike airs one fine July day. She was of a brilliant 

 metallic blue, somewhat lighter than Pelopaeus coeruleus. She 

 looked into every nook and cranny of the walls that struck her 

 fancy. Finally she remained some little time behind a detached 

 piece of wallpaper from which the edge of a spider's web protruded. 

 Looking down I saw the wasp tugging away at a spider; but this 



