HYMENOPTERA. 457 



terous females; the latter are always armed with a powerful sting. 

 The antennae are filiform or setaceous, and vibratile; their first and 

 third joints are elongated, and the length of the first is never equal 

 to the third of the total length of the whole organ. 

 They form the genus 



MUTILLA, Lin. 



These Insects are found in hot and sandy localities. The female runs 

 with- great quickness, and is always seen on the ground. The males fre- 

 quently alight on flowers, but their mode of life is unknown. 



. . 



FAMILY II. 



FOSSORES.(l) 



The second family of this section comprises those Hyraenoptera 

 armed with a sting, in which all the individuals of both sexes are 

 furnished with wings, and live solitarily; in which the legs are ex- 

 clusively adapted for walking, and in several for digging. The 

 ligula is always more or less widened at its extremity, and never 



J filiform or setaceous. The wings are always extended. 

 They compose the genus 



SPHEX, Lin. 



Most females of this genus place beside their eggs, in the nests they have 

 constructed, most commonly in the earth or in wood, various Insects or 

 their larvae, and sometimes Arachnides, previously pierced with their sting, 

 to serve as food for their young. The larvae are always destitute of feet, 

 resemble little worms, and undergo a metamorphosis in the cocoon they 

 have spun previous to becoming nymphs. The perfect Insect is usually 

 very active and lives on flowers. The maxillae and lip are elongated and in 

 the form of a proboscis in many. 



The numerous subgenera derived from the great genus Sphex, are now 

 distributed into seven principal sections, viz. the Scolietae, Sapigytes, Sphe- 

 gides, Bcmbecides, Larrates, Nyssones and Crabronites. 



(1) Diggers. 

 3 H 





