THE BUG-HUNTERS. 97 



out, we placed a large bug near her. She seized it promptly 

 and stung it on the under side of the thorax as in the other case, 

 and then carried it into the nest. We saw no malaxation, but 

 this, perhaps, was done inside. 



One afternoon we saw a little female of this species dig a 

 very shallow nest, which she then entered, closing the door be- 

 hind her. This was probably only a temporary shelter to be 

 used for the night. 



Astata bicolor, with her dreamy ways and reflective turn of 

 mind seems out of place among our restless Ammophilae, 

 Sphegidae, and Bembecidae. Her character is distinctly Ori- 

 ental, and nothing of the hurry of the West is seen in it. As 

 might be expected the individuals of the species do not differ 

 from each other as is the case with other wasps. We found a 

 remarkable unanimity in their hours for rising and retiring, and 

 in the manner of digging the nest, in the result accomplished, 

 and in their habits of departing and returning, each one was 

 like all the rest. 



So far as the habits of bicolor have a bearing upon the ques- 

 tion of the stinging instinct, they show that there is no exact 

 surgery involved in her method of dealing with her prey. She 

 stings in the thoracic ganglion, and as a usual thing she stings 

 to kill. It may be that in some cases malaxation is substituted 

 for stinging, for a few of the bugs taken from the nests seemed 

 too lively to have been subjected to so serious an operation. 

 The second conclusion to be drawn is that the larva of bicolor 

 subsists principally upon dead bugs. There is no wonderfully 

 preserved store of fresh provisions for this little plebeian. Bugs 

 can scarcely be considered dainty fare under any conditions and 

 how much less so when they have been dead for days! Yet 

 this is certainly a flourishing species, bearing no marks of de- 

 generation or decay. 

 7 



