﻿SOLITARY 
  WASP 
  REINHARD. 
  

  

  373 
  

  

  anthus 
  capture 
  Halictidae 
  because 
  she 
  just 
  happens 
  to 
  visit 
  the 
  Halic- 
  

   tid 
  flowers, 
  or 
  does 
  she 
  visit 
  the 
  Halictid 
  flowers 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  

   capturing 
  Halictidae? 
  

  

  But 
  we 
  must 
  remember 
  that 
  in 
  raising 
  questions 
  of 
  this 
  nature 
  we 
  

   are 
  presupposing 
  that 
  our 
  taxonomic 
  groups 
  are 
  perfectly 
  natural 
  

   ones. 
  Has 
  not 
  this 
  discussion 
  arisen 
  because 
  to 
  our 
  notions 
  Oalliopsis 
  

   does 
  not 
  belong 
  with 
  the 
  Halictidae? 
  I 
  have 
  a 
  suspicion 
  that 
  the 
  

   Panurgidae 
  could 
  readily 
  be 
  brought 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  Halictidae 
  

   under 
  the 
  same 
  family. 
  If 
  these 
  two 
  families 
  were 
  merged 
  on 
  a 
  nat- 
  

   ural 
  basis 
  it 
  would 
  prove 
  a 
  magnificent 
  compliment 
  to 
  the 
  entomolog- 
  

   ical 
  instinct 
  of 
  Philanthus. 
  "Ask 
  the 
  beasts 
  and 
  they 
  shall 
  teach 
  

   thee," 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  improbable 
  that 
  Philanthus 
  is 
  offering 
  taxonomy 
  

   a 
  hint 
  which 
  taxonomy 
  might 
  profitably 
  consider. 
  

  

  THE 
  MENU 
  OF 
  BEES. 
  

  

  I 
  hasten 
  to 
  abandon 
  these 
  conjectures 
  for 
  the 
  secure 
  pathway 
  of 
  

   fact. 
  To 
  each 
  cell 
  the 
  provident 
  wasp 
  furnishes 
  a 
  supply 
  of 
  from 
  

   8 
  to 
  16 
  bees. 
  The 
  contents 
  of 
  three 
  cells 
  belonging 
  to 
  a 
  burrow 
  

   opened 
  on 
  July 
  7 
  will 
  show 
  how 
  varied 
  is 
  the 
  menu 
  which 
  Philan- 
  

   thus 
  supplies 
  her 
  offspring. 
  

  

  Chloralictus 
  sparsus 
  10 
  9 
  

  

  Oxystoglossa 
  pura 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  Evylaeus 
  arcuatus 
  2 
  $ 
  

  

  Evylaeus 
  arcuatus 
  1 
  9 
  

  

  Chloralictus 
  viridatus 
  1 
  $ 
  

  

  Chloralictus 
  sparsus 
  3$ 
  

  

  Seladonia 
  provancheri 
  2$ 
  

  

  Evylaeus 
  arcuatus 
  1 
  9 
  

  

  Halictus 
  ligatus 
  19 
  

  

  Chloralictus 
  caeruleus 
  19 
  

  

  Chloralictus 
  sparsus 
  8 
  9 
  

  

  Chloralictus 
  versatus 
  1 
  9 
  

  

  Chloralictus 
  versatus 
  1 
  $ 
  

  

  Dialonia 
  antennariae 
  1$ 
  

  

  If 
  each 
  wasp 
  provisions 
  10 
  cells, 
  what 
  a 
  record 
  of 
  butcheries 
  she 
  

   must 
  have 
  to 
  her 
  credit! 
  The 
  colony 
  of 
  Philanthi 
  under 
  observa- 
  

   tion 
  was 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  several 
  thousand 
  Halic- 
  

   tidae 
  every 
  season. 
  Because 
  of 
  its 
  wholesale 
  massacre 
  of 
  beneficial 
  

   bees, 
  Philanthus 
  gibhosus 
  must 
  be 
  classed 
  as 
  an 
  injurious 
  insect. 
  

  

  THE 
  BUTCHERING 
  OF 
  THE 
  BEES. 
  

  

  The 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  prey 
  may 
  be 
  looked 
  at 
  from 
  another 
  view- 
  

   point. 
  The 
  bees 
  brought 
  home 
  from 
  the 
  hunt 
  are 
  often 
  thickly 
  

   powdered 
  with 
  pollen 
  — 
  a 
  fact 
  that 
  would 
  lead 
  one 
  to 
  suspect 
  that 
  

   the 
  unfortunate 
  bee 
  was 
  caught 
  and 
  killed 
  so 
  quickly 
  and 
  skillfully 
  

   that 
  there 
  was 
  not 
  even 
  a 
  strugggle. 
  Such 
  was 
  actually 
  the 
  case 
  in 
  

   the 
  encounter 
  which 
  I 
  witnessed 
  on 
  an 
  umbel 
  of 
  Queen 
  Ann's 
  Lace. 
  

   A 
  Philanthus 
  was 
  sipping 
  nectar 
  on 
  the 
  dome 
  of 
  florets 
  and 
  moving 
  

   55379—24 
  25 
  

  

  