TWEXTY-SECOXD REPORT OF STATE EXTOMOLOGIST 9 



in the cricket-infested area, but it was not particularly abundant 

 and no attention was paid to it. During the late summer of 

 1927, however, these large black wasps were quite conspicuous 

 and were consequently closely watched. They were seen attack- 

 ing crickets and stinging them. The sting apparently paralyzed 

 but did not kill the cricket. When attacked the cricket would 

 extend its large hind legs above its body in an endeavor to pro- 

 tect itself, and, if a male, it would chirp distressingly. The 

 wasp usually succeeded in stinging the cricket but not without 

 considerable difficulty. After stinging several crickets, the 

 \\asp would search for a suitable place, then dig a hole into 

 which it would laboriously drag the cricket. It would then 

 deposit one of its eggs on the cricket, always attaching the egg 

 to the soft membrane which joins the large legs to the body. 

 The cricket was then covered with dirt. After filling the hole 

 level with the surface, the wasp would carry small straws, sticks, 

 and stones, and pile them on the surface in an attempt to make 

 the opening appear like the surrounding soil. Very often, how- 

 ever, they would overdo this camouflaging so that their burrows 

 could be found by searching for the little piles of sticks and 

 stones. As many as five parasitized crickets have been taken 

 from a single burrow, each one, however, separately buried with 

 an individual egg. One cricket was placed on top of the other, 

 separated by a layer of dirt. Sometimes a burrow consisted of 

 several branches, each containing a cricket. 



During the fall of 1927 these large black wasps were un- 

 usually abundant and holes were evident every few inches over 

 tracts of 40 acres or more. Upon hatching, the larva or grub 

 of the wasp remained attached to the cricket, eating and grow- 

 ing until the entire contents of the cricket's body were con- 

 sumed. The larva would then spin a tough cocoon in which it 

 would pass its pupal or resting stage, emerging as an adult 

 wasp late the following summer (July) just in time to begin 

 work on the new crop of adult crickets. 



The other cricket parasite was a tiny dark wasp (Sparaison 

 pilosum Ashmead) less than one-fourth inch long. It was a 

 parasite of the cricket eggs. Although considerable time was 

 spent observing this parasite, we never learned just when or 

 how it deposited its eggs. In any event, the tiny larva of this 



