58 HYMENOPTERA. 



Pensylvanica, which is a large insect an inch 

 and a quarter long, proceeds in the same way 

 with its nest, but provides its progeny with 

 grasshoppers only. They are of the large green 

 kind; three of which at different times are 

 dragged to the nest, an egg laid in the body of 

 each, and the mouth of the hole closed upon 

 them. These insects use a cruel precaution 

 with the grasshoppers, that their larvae may 

 not find them putrid when they issue from the 

 egg. They wound them, but in such a man- 

 ner that they may exist for some days after be- 

 ing buried. 



The sting of the Sphex is sharp, but does not 

 cause the same inflammation as that of the 

 wasp or bee. 



SPECIFICATION. 



Sphex figulus. S. atra, abdomine subpetiolato : 



marginibus segmentorum lucidis. Linn. Syst. 



Nat. 1. p. 942. Gmel. p. 2727. Fabr. Spec. Ins. 1. 



p. 444. Mant. Ins. 1. p. Z7A. Ent. Syst. 2. p. 202. 



Panzer, Faun. Ins. Germ. fasc. 80. 1. 16. 



Inhabits Europe. At Upsal makes its nest in the 



