LOUISIANA CIRCULAR No. 6. 



21 



-are considered injurious, beneficial or neutral, according to the 

 habits of the insects or animals they prey upon. 



The horse guard has received much discussion from a prac- 

 tical standpoint in some of the agricultural papci-s, besides be- 

 ing mentioned frequently in entomological journals. While lo- 

 cated at the Gulf Biologic Station in June and July. 1905, this 

 species was abundant, and I made some observations on its life 

 IL story and habits, and especially on the number of tlies it 

 carries into a single burrow as food for its young. My attention 



FIG. 12. Horse guard (Moncdula Carolina): a, egg; b, larva: c. cocoon; 

 d, adult ; enlarged to one and a half diameters. 



was first attracted to the species in 1903 at the same place, when, 

 for the first time, I observed the adults flying around cattle and 

 horses. I soon saw what they were after, and that they wer* 

 expert at catching flies from around these animals. It is some- 

 what amusing to see how peaceably an animal stands when three 

 or four of the wasps are flying around, eaeh making more noise 

 than a botfly or some of the small Tabanids which llu-y show BO 

 much nervousness about. 



During my stay at the place in 1905 several breeding 

 colonies of the wasps were located and various ages of the larvae 

 were observed in their burrows, together with the remains of 

 flies they had been feeding upon. These colonies -were situated in 



