WZ 
one’s legs, but did not attempt to attack, as the true wasps (Vespidae) or 
the honey bees (Apis) would have done. 
‘©A noticeable thing was that the openings of the burrows ‘all faced the 
verandah, the direction of the burrows radiating outwards from the bar- 
rack. One or two that I dug up showed that they had been tunnelled 
obliquely into the ground for about a foot or so and then, turning at an 
angle upwards, ended in a slightly enlarged oval chamber. If one stood 
still the wasps took no notice, but continued their work uncone ernedly, 
some walking about with the alert jerky air and quivering of the wings 
peculiar to fossorial wasps, others dug on industriously, paw over paw like 
any terrier, while others continued bringing in their captures of green 
grasshoppers stung into a state of unconsciousness. These they stuffed, 
and pulled and pushed into their burrows always head downwards. The 
grasshoppers I found belonged to the family Locustidae and all that 1 
saw were in the immature stage, unable to fly. 
‘Of other species of Sphex, I have found and dug up at various times 
the nests of Sphex aurulentus Fabr. var. ferrugineus Lepel., and Sphex 
nigripes Smith. The latter I found provisioning its nest like S. wmbrosus, 
with immature Locustidae; while in the nests of Sphex aurulentus 1 found 
only the immature forms of some large species of Acrididae. It is probable 
that the species of Sphex keep to Orthoptera as their prey; each species 
confining itself to some one species of locust or grasshopper, for the cap- 
tures I found in the nests of S. nigripes belonged to a different and larger 
species of the Locustidae from the species I found Sphex wmbrosus bring- 
ing in as noted above.’’ 
Chlorion luteipennis (Mocsary ). 
Length 30 mm.; black; wings orange. 
During May, 1917, a small colony of this rather scarce insect 
was found nesting in a sandy excavation, digging gently sloping 
tunnels 10 to about 18 inches long and storing them with Locus- 
tidae. The prey is deposited before the burrow and the wasp 
entering turns about, grasps the 
locustid’s antennae in her man- 
dibles and drags it within. The 
wasp’s egg is shining creamy 
yellow, 6 mm. long and 1 mm. 
wide, gently curved, and is se- 
cured ventrally on the locustid, 
being transversely fastened on 
the anterior edge of the meso- 
sternum just inside the left fore 
coxa, (Fig. 63). I reared one 
larva until it was 22 mm. long. 
A single tunnel was found to 
have two horizontal cells instead 
Fig. 63. Ventral view of grass- of the usual single one. Some of 
hopper, showing egg of Chlorion 
eye alien nts hz sen de- 
luteipennis secured on its thorax. the cell contents had been le 
About natural size. stroyed by small ants. 

9 
