206 INSECTS. 



various species of Pompilus are strong, fierce, and 

 active insects, generally (though not without exception) 

 making choice of Spiders, which they kill before storing 

 them in their nests. They walk backwards with their 

 prey in this way, carrying or dragging large Spiders for a 

 very considerable distance. Some of the species burrow 

 in hard seaside sandbanks, others in light sand ; it has 

 been said that some use ready-made burrows in wood. 



Pompilus exaltatus (PI. VII., fig. 3) is one of the 

 commonest species. It is a bright and pretty insect, 

 black and shining, with the exception of the abdomen, 

 nearly two-thirds of which are red. The wings are 

 darkish, with a pale spot near the tip, but this is some- 

 times absent in the females and usually so in the males. 

 In this family the abdomen has a very short peduncle. 



The fourth family, Sphegidee, much resembles the 

 former, but may be distinguished from it by the abdomen 

 being set on a long stalk and the head on a small neck. 

 There are four genera, all with three submarginal cells. 

 This family contains but few species, of which Ammo- 

 phila Sabulosa (PL VII. fig. 4) is the most conspicuous. 

 This insect is sometimes nearly one inch long, and is 

 black, with the central part of the abdomen red. It pro- 

 vides Caterpillars for the food of its young, in the store- 

 room at the end of the burrow, placing a Caterpillar 

 first and laying one egg upon it, then adding three or 

 four Caterpillars and carefully closing this burrow, it 

 proceeds to form another. 



The fifth family, Larridse, is at once distinguished by 

 the form of the mandible, which has a deep notch near 

 the base on the outer side, and by the legs, which have 

 one spine at the end of the tibiee in the two first pairs, 

 and two on the same place in the hind pair. The eyes 



