265 



down nil lier and arcordinii' to ^Ir. Hacker's observations the 

 female g-rasps him with her mandibles by the end of the al)do- 

 men or leo-s and accoiijjlement is effected while in fliii'lit. The 

 conpled pair visits flowers and apparently the male, in some 

 cases at least, feeds the female. 



]N"o reliable observations appear to have been pnl)lished in 

 re£»:ard to the breeding- hal)its of any of the species, tho one 

 published note credits one species with dragging- a cricket 

 about. This, however, appears to he a mistake. ^Ir. Rowland 

 E, Turner, who has monographed the species and has collected 

 them extensively, suggests that they may be parasitic on other 

 Aculeate Hymenoptera after the manner of the ]\rutillidae. It 

 would, however, be diffictdt to find Aculeates enough of the 

 size necessary to provide food for the numerous species of the 

 size of Tliynmi.s aptcvus and abundant enough to account for 

 the great numbers of them which are to l)e found. The great 

 number of species to be found in a locality greater than the 

 nund)er of abundant sjx'cies of Aculeates ai)pears also to nega- 

 tive this view. To the writer it seems more likely that the 

 larvae of Scarabaeid and lihyncophorons beetles furnish them 

 with prey. The larvae of l)Oth groups are nearly enough alike 

 to serve as the prey of such a compact grou]) where we would 

 expect community of habits. If the group has community of 

 habits there is no other source for prey for the group than 

 the grubs of these beetles, which are largely subterranean, nu- 

 merous enough in species and in individuals, and with differ- 

 ences enough in size to provide for all the species of Thynni- 

 dae. The affinities of the Thynnidae are also with the Scoliid 

 wasps such as PJesia and Myzine which attack Scarahaeidae 

 rather than with the ^lutillidae Avith their usual habits of para- 

 sitism on other Hymenoptera. 



We await with great interest a series of life-history studies 

 in this gi-oup from some of our capable Australian entomolo- 



