AMMOPIIILA. INSECTS. 349 



wards the middle of the head ; jaws and lip scarcely longer 

 than the head, and bent only towards their extremity ; joints 

 of the maxillary palpi almost all elongated and obconical. 



The insects of this genus have a narrow and elongated body ; the antennas fili- 

 form and a little shorter than the body; the abdomen oval, attached to the thorax 

 by a short peduncle, and inclosing at its extremity a conical and sharp sting. In 

 their perfect state they fly with much agility, feed on the sweet fluids of flowers, and 

 stop here and there in search of a place for the deposition of their ova. Having 

 found a suitable station, generally in a dry sandy place exposed to the sun, the in- 

 sect carries away with its teeth the grains of sand and particles of earth, which it de- 

 taches to some distance, till having formed an entrance, it works with its posterior 

 feet, throwing the particles outward and behind, till it has perforated a gallery of some 

 inches in depth, and oblique to the surface. This retreat being finished, the sphex 

 seeks a caterpillar or insect, which it kills with its sting, carries it to its burrow, and 

 having placed it there deposits its ovum in the body, and again shuts up the hole. 

 The dead animal forms the food of the larva when the egg is hatched. 



S. Pennsylvania, Lin. (Pepsis, Fab.) Body and feet deep black ; 

 abdomen oval, pointed at the extremity, and attached to the tho- 

 rax by a short peduncle ; wings of a deep violet colour, shining, 

 and brown at the extremity. 15 lines long. Inhabits Penn- 

 sylvania. Nouv. Diet, xxxii. 20. 



&jlavipennis,Lat. (Pepsis, Fab.) Black, with the mandibles, the 

 tarsi, and the anterior legs brownish ; wings yellowish, with the 

 extremity black. South of France. Nouv. Diet, xxxii. 20. 



Gen. AMMOPHILA, Kirby, Lat. Sphex?, Fab. 

 Mandibles dentated interiorly ; antennae inserted towards the 

 middle of the head ; jaws and lip forming a spurious trunk 

 much longer than the head, and bent in the middle ; palpi 

 very slender, and the joints cylindrical. 



The Ammophilae burrow and deposit their ova in the same manner as in the pre- 

 ceding genus. 



A. sabulosa, Lat. Black, pubescent, and the face covered with a 

 silky down, silvery in the males ; wings obscure, short ; abdo- 

 men narrow, attached to the thorax by a long peduncle ; first seg- 

 ment and base of the second black, the rest of that and the third 

 reddish brown ; a black line above the second and third in the 

 male. 18 lines long. Europe, in sandy places. Shaw, vi. pi. 93. 



A. viatica, Lat. Black, hairy, with the second and third segment 

 of the abdomen as well as the base of the fourth reddish brown ; 

 upper wings brown, as long as the abdomen. Common in Eu- 

 rope, by waysides. Shaw, vi. pi. 93. 



TRIBE V. BEMBECIDES. 



Labrum entirely discovered, or much projecting. 

 Gen. BEMBEX, MONEDULA, STIZUS. 



Gen. BEMBEX, Lat. Apis, Lin. 



First segment of the thorax very short ; feet of medium size ; 

 head as seen below appearing transverse ; antennae slightly 

 thicker towards their extremity ; labrum entirely projecting, 



