ENTOMOLOGICAL CABINET. 



POMPILUS VIATICUS. Fabr. 

 Sphex viatica. Linne. 



Black and hairy : head broad : eyes large, the 

 hexagons moderate : stemmata three, placed in a 

 triangle near the summit of the head : clypeus or 

 shield of the mouth large : the antennae inserted 

 near its base, in the females the antenna? are gene- 

 rally curled, filiform ; and in the males straight : 

 thorax and breast black : body with the first three 

 segments red, and black on the posterior margin, the 

 remainder black and hairy towards the extremity : 

 wings blackish brown, with a darker band at the 

 extremity : legs and the whole of the under side 

 black, femur and tibia? short : tarsi long and hairy. 



Length of the body 5§ to 6 lines. 



Expansion of the wings 10 lines. 



Inhabits umbelliferous plants and holes in sandy- 

 banks, in which it retires with caterpillars for the 

 nourishment of its larva?. 



Mr. Stephens has enumerated thirty-two species 

 of the insects of the Pompilhlce in his Systematic 

 Catalogue. From the little attention that has been 

 paid to the insects of the order Hymenoptera, (with 

 the exception of Mr. Kirby's woik on the bees) we 

 may say that much is yet to be done, but it will re- 

 quire a steady perseverance. The insects of this fami- 

 ly, as before observed, jnidificate in sandy banks, more 

 19-6 



