472 INSECTS ABROAD. 



and working with wonderful speed and activity. She then 

 catches flies of various kinds, and places them in the burrow for 

 the use of the future young. She is so active that she can even 

 catch the swift-winged Hoverer Flies (Syriihidcc), pouncing on 

 them during flight, just as a falcon swoops on a partridge. 

 Having stocked the nest with a sufficient quantity of flies, she 

 closes the entrance with earth, and leaves the eggs to be hatched 

 in their own time. 



It is rather remarkable that so fierce and active an insect 

 should itself be the victim of another insect, but such is the 

 case. The gorgeous ltuby-tail Fly, called Stillmm splendidum, 

 and described on page 415, haunts the burrows of the Bembex, 

 crawls into them during the absence of the real owner, and 

 surreptitiously deposits its eggs there. As the egg of the 

 Stilbum is hatched before that of the Bembex, it naturally 

 happens that the former not only eats the flies, but the Bembex 

 larva itself. 



In the generic name of the present insect there is another 

 of those curious, not to say inexcusable, confusions in nomen- 

 clature which have been more than once mentioned. The word 

 is Latin, and is used by Ovid to signify " a jackdaw," so that it 

 clearlv ought not to be used as a name for a genus of insects, 



especially as it is anti- 

 cipated in the scientific 

 name of the jackdaw, 

 Corvus monedvla. 



This is altogether a 



South American genus, 



'■^''Z^r£-M^- \ ■ \ an d a good description 



ot the manner m which 



Via. 281.— Monsdula heros. the insects dig their 



(Black and yellow.) ° 



l>ui rows and stock them 

 with flies may be found in Mr. Bates' well-known book on the 

 Amazons River. 



This is one of the largest of the genus, and is a really fine 

 insect. The colour of the head, thorax, and abdomen is velvety 

 black, while on each side are five patches of brilliant yellow. 

 There are also some yellow marks on the thorax, as shown in 

 the illustration. The legs are black, covered with a greyish down. 



