34 



INSECTS. 



Some make their nests in the beetle-borings of old trees and posts, and prey upon 

 all kinds of insects and their larvae ; others prey exclusively on spiders, and confine 

 their burrowing operations to sandy soils. Not only do spiders of the family 

 Lycosidce, which run freely on the surface of the ground but make no nest, fall 

 victims to the Pompilus, but the Epeiridce are snatched from the very centre of 

 their maze and carried off, their powers of resistance rendered futile by one 

 paralysing stroke of the poisonous sting. Well are these spiders aware of the 

 danger, for they drop instantly from their webs into the herbage when the hum of 

 wings warns them of the near presence of a wasp. Others, however, whose staple 

 food consists of bees and wasps, are not so easily alarmed, and learn to distinguish 

 between friends and foes. The figured PompUus natalensis is of considerable 

 service in Natal, since its habit is to search every nook and cranny for house- 

 frequenting spiders. Up and down the windows,*in and out amongst the rafters, 



1, PompUus natalensis ; 2, Pompilus trivialis ; 3, Larva of latter on garden spider ; 4, Priocnemis variegatas ; 



5, Agenia punctum, with its two cells. 



the female passes to and fro in search of the large spiders which lodge in their 

 webs hung up amongst the woodwork. The victims when captured are buried 

 with the egg in a hole in some suitable corner within or without the house. A 

 large species of this genus attacks spiders of the genus Lycosa on English commons, 

 and buries them in a somewhat similar fashion. The second species figured in the 

 illustration (P. trivialis) also attacks spiders, especially Lycosa inquilina. 



Family 



Many of the handsome insects belonging to this family are uniformly black, 

 black and red, or yellow and black. The majority, however, are black with brilliant 

 yellow or white markings, and shine with the lustre of burnished metal. These 

 markings are very variable even in the same species, rendering their identification 

 difficult for the student, though on account of that contrast of colour, and the 



