HYMENOPTERA 



263 



one of our largest wasps, one and one fourth inches long, black 

 or rusty in color, with the abdomen banded with yellow, which 

 pounces upon a cicada and carries it off to its burrow in the ground 

 as food for the larva. Other nearly related families of digger-wasps 

 make their nests in the pith of plants or bore into more solid 



FIG. 418. Mud-dauber wasp (Pelopaeus sp.) and nest. (Natural size) 

 (After Linville and Kelly) 



wood, or often use the deserted burrow of some other insect (such 

 as some of the bees which have similar habits), provisioning them 

 with flies, spiders, and various insects. 



The true wasps (Vespind) may be distinguished from the digger- 

 wasps by having the wings folded on the back like a fan when at 

 rest, and the legs are not adapted to burrowing, being free from 

 spines and bristles. The solitary- wasps (Eumenidae) resemble the 



