CARRYING PREY. 



475 



with silvery down. The thorax is black and very hairy, and 

 the middle of the abdomen is red. The legs are black, except 

 the tibiae, which are light red. They are of great proportionate 

 length, and have given rise to the generic name Exeirus, which 

 is formed from a Greek word signifying to "stretch out," or 

 "elongate." 



There is considerable difference in the sexes. The male is 

 smaller than the female, and the end of the abdomen, instead of 



I'ii:. 254.— Exeirus laterifcus 

 (Black and red.) 



being long and pointed, is short, blunt, and rounded. Moreover, 

 the male has one more joint in the antennas than the female, he 

 having thirteen joints, and she only twelve. 



Of the Crabronidae we have many examples in our own 

 country, there being some forty species of the one genus Crabro. 

 They are all burro wers, most of our own species preferring 

 decayed wood for that purpose. It has been remarked by Mr. 

 Shuckard that there is a difference in the mode in which the 

 various burrowing wasps carry their prey. Oxybelus conveys 

 it by means of the hind legs, Pompilus and Ammophila seize it 

 in their jaws and drag it backwards; while all, if not nearly all 

 the others grasp it in their jaws, hold it with their fore-legs, and 

 so laden fly to their nests. 



