THE ANTS 



2997 



nests in the beetle borings of old trees and posts, and prey upon all kinds of insects 

 and their larvae; others prey exclusively on spiders, and confine their burrowing 

 operations to sandy soils. Not only do spiders of the family Lycosidce, which run 

 freely on the surface of the ground but make no nest, fall victims to the Pompilus, 

 but the Epeiridce are snatched from the very centre of their maze and carried off, 

 their powers of resistance rendered futile by one paralyzing stroke of the poisonous 

 sting. Well are these spiders aware of the danger, for they drop instantly from 

 their webs into the herbage when the hum of wings warns them the near presence 

 of a wasp. Others, however, whose staple food consists of bees and wasps, are not 





1. Pompilus natalensis; '2. Pompilus trivial is; 3. Larva of latter on garden spider; 4. I'riocnemis variegatiis; 



). Agcnici pniictinn, with its two cells. 



so easily alarmed, and learn to distinguish between friends and foes. The figured 

 Pompilus natalensis is of considerable service in Natal, since its habit is to search 

 every nook and cranny for house-frequenting spiders. Up and down the windows, 

 in and out among the rafters, the female passes to and fro in search of the large 

 spiders which lodge in their webs hung up among the woodwork. The victims 

 when captured are buried with the egg in a hole in some suitable corner within or 

 without the house. A large species of this genus attacks spiders of the genus 

 Lycosa on English commons, and buries them in a somewhat similar fashion. The 

 second species figured in the illustration (P. trivialis) also attacks spiders, especially 

 Lycosa inquilina. 



Family 



Many of the handsome insects belonging to this family are uniformly black, 

 black and red, or yellow and black. The majority, however, are black with brilliant 

 yellow or white markings, and shine with the lustre of burnished metal. These 



