Crap.konid.e.- 



-INSECTh Philantiiid.^!. 



two I'emales. He found the larva; of the Mutilla 

 in ' •■ cells, closed in, as usual, bj' the full-fed grub of 

 the bee, which seems to have unwittingly closed in 

 with it the egg of the parasite which, when reared, 

 fed on it ; for there is little doubt tliat JIutilla is carni- 

 vorous, and devours the larva and pupa of the humble 

 bee. The Australian and African Mutilhie must be 

 parasitic on other Hymenoptera, for humble bees are 

 not found in those countries. 



MUTILLA EPHIPPIUM.— This is a much smaller 

 species than the M. Europwa^ and more common in 

 this country than that insect. The Brazilian species 

 are well marked, and some large. Black and wdiite, 

 red and black, are their prevailing hues. Mr. West- 

 wood first figured some of the Australian species. Dr. 

 Dalton specifies one as being very common in British 

 Guiana, the Mutilla diadema. It is about three- 

 quarters of an inch long, of a deep black, and striped, 

 with yellow on the thorax and body. It is solitary, 

 and is often seen in sandy places. "They are very 

 cautious and shy in their habits, and sting severely. 

 They build in the ground ; for when chased they dis- 

 appear rapidly in subterranean passages."* The males 

 are not so common as the females. 



Family-THYNNID^. 



This family consists of insects closely allied to the 

 MutillidiG in many respects. The family is chiefly 

 Australian, but a number of species have been found 

 in Brazil. Mr. Robert Bakewell, who has done so 

 much for Australian entomology, informs us that the 

 Thynnidae arc parasitic on Lepidoptera. That gentle- 

 man obtained specimens from the cocoons of moths 

 which had been dug up from the ground. 



Family— CUABRONIDiE. 



In this family the insects have frequently the head 

 very large ; the abdomen is oval or elliptical, some- 

 times clavate, sometimes petiolated. The eyes are 

 ovate, but sometimes kidney-shaped. The antenna; 

 are often thickened at the end. 



In the genus Trypoxylon the eyes are large, and 

 deeply notched on their inner orbit. Three Briti.^h 

 species are known; one of i\\es,<i {T. fir/ulus) is \eTy 

 abundant everywhere, and may be frequently noticed 

 conveying its prey to its nest, consisting of spiders. In 

 June, 1845, a colony of Trj'poxylon was found burrow- 

 ing in a bank of light earth, above which was a cut 

 hawthorn hedge. On this hedge spiders were numer- 

 ous, and the female insects were flying in numbers 

 from the burrows up into the hedge, provisioning their 

 nest with great facility. The cocoons of this species 

 are met with in banks and decayed wood; the cells 

 are separated from each other by a cap of agglutinated 

 sand. 



Tl e genus Crdbro is very extensive ; the eyes are 

 rounded, the face being usually coveied with silvery 

 or golden pubescence. Thirty-six British species are 

 described. Many burrow in decaying wood, some 



* Eietory nf British GuLiua, ly Ileury G. Dalton, M.D., 

 vol. ii., 1). 297; 1855. 



perforate bramble sticks and rose branches, so that by 

 gathering such perforated sticks in the spring, many 

 species of the genus and occasionally the parasites are 

 bred. C. luteipalpis provisions its nest with the rose 

 aphis. One species, C. varius, carries gnats to its 

 burrows. C. podacjricus and C. leucostoma, and other 

 species, provision their nests with dipterous insects. 



The genus Oxyhelus, of which there are seven British 

 species, belongs to this family. The insects of this 

 genus prey upon Diptera, and their mode of capturing 

 them is singular. Several females were observed run- 

 ning amongst blades of grass which shot up from the 

 surface of a little hillock upon which the sun shone, 

 and tempted various Diptera to occasionally alight. The 

 Oxyheli continued to run about apparently unheodful 

 of the flies, until at length the latter became somewhat 

 accustomed to their presence ; but when the Oxybelus 

 came within five or six inches, it darted upon the 

 luckless fly in the same manner as a cat springs upon 

 its prey. The most common British species is the 

 Oxybelus uviglumis, which occurs in most sandy situa- 

 tions. 



The species of the genus Dlodontus, so called from 

 the mandibles being bidentate, are small, and may be 

 taken in plenty by collecting perforated rose branches 

 or bramble sticks. In these they burrow for the most 

 part, and provision their nests with Aphides, so that 

 they are among the numerous bands of insects useful 

 to mankind. 



One species of the genus Peniphrcdon occurs in this 

 country : this is the Pcmphredon hiyuhris. It burrows 

 in posts, rails, &c., in a decaying state. This insect 

 provisions its nest with Aphides. 



Fajiily— BHILANTHID^. 



In these insects, so named from P/iilantJius the 

 typical genus, the head is wider than the thorax. The 

 intermediate tibiae are armed with a single spur at the 

 tip ; the legs and anterior tarsi are strongly ciliated. 



The genus PJnlardhus has the clypeus with three 

 lobes, and the antennse are suddenly thickened. It 

 has a large head, eyes, and mandibles. See Plate 7, 

 fig. 10, for a figure of the front of the head of the 

 Pliikmtlms trimigulum. Mr. Smitlt took it abun- 

 dantly during a visit to the Isle of Wight, in which 

 he discovered what may be regarded as the British 

 metropolis of the unique British species {Philan- 

 tlius triaiigidum).* This fine insect is abundant in 

 Sundown Bay. The female takes various bees for her 

 prey, such as the Andrenafulvicriis, Halictus zonatiis, 

 or more frequently the Honey bee {Apis mellijica). 



This genus Ccrceris contains some of the most 

 beautiful species of insects of the whole tribe of fos- 

 sorial Hymenoiitera. It is found in all parts of 

 the globe. In this genus the antenna; are gradually 

 thickened, and the segments of the abdomen have their 

 margins constricted. Some of the Indian species are 

 tlio giants of the family, being upwards of an inch in 

 length. In some of the South American species, the 

 first segment of the abdomen is prolonged into a long 



varus 



Tlie Pliilanthus apivorus of Latreille, who named it nj'u 

 '■' from its bee-destroying propensities. 



