356 



APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



FIG. 372. Cicada-killer (Sphedus speciosus 

 Dru.), about natural size. (Original.) 



capture with its paralyzed prey and flies as far as possible before striking 

 ground. It has been claimed that at times the wasp drags the cicada 

 up trees or bushes several times en route, in order to gain elevation for a 

 fresh start toward its nest. The nests themselves may branch under- 

 ground several times, each having 

 a terminal chamber for the recep- 

 tion of one or two cicadas and an 

 egg of the wasp. 



Superfamily Vespoidea (The 

 Social Wasps). This common 

 name for the Superfamily is mis- 

 leading, as a number of families 

 included here do not live in colonies, 

 but no other term at present ap- 

 plied to the group is at all ex- 

 pressive, and some at least of the 

 insects included are colonial in 

 their habits. 



Some of the Vespoids are very 

 small, being less than a sixth of an 

 inch long, while others found in 



the tropics measure more than two inches, their bodies having a bright 

 blue luster, and with orange or yellow wings. Forms present in the 

 United States except in the South and Southwest are smaller, some 

 having bodies marked with black and yellow. The families included 

 in the group differ much in appearance and in habits, and it is probable 

 that further study will result in the .group being dismembered and 

 several Superfarnilies being formed instead of one. 



Some of the Vespoids are solitary, dig nests in the ground which 

 they stock with spiders, and perhaps with some kinds of insects: others 

 are parasites, some of the insects attacked being beetle larvae and cater- 

 pillars, but in these a nest to which the prey is taken does not seem to be 

 formed, an egg of the wasp being laid on its host wherever it is found, and 

 the wasp larva feeding there. Some appear to be parasites on bees and 

 wasps, living in the cells of the bees and feeding on their young. Still 

 others are not parasites but feed on honey, pollen, etc. 



In one family, known as the Velvet Ants or Stinging Ants (Mutillidse), 

 many of the insects live in the nests of wasps and bees while others dig 

 holes in the ground and store flies and other small insects there, it has 

 been claimed. The males (Fig. 373) are winged, while the females (Fig. 

 374) are wingless and very active. Both sexes are generally densely 

 covered with hairs, often long, and generally of two or three contrasting 

 colors, such as black with a red cross-band, or white, yellow and black. 

 The females sting very effectively. Northern species are nearly all quite 



