1892.] 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



31 



MUTILLID^. 



Solitany Ants, whose Habits are but little known ; they are probably 

 parasitic upon various insects, including bees of the genus Bombus, 

 whose nests they have been observed to inhabit. 

 Myrmosa, Latr. 



melanocephala, Fab. — Recorded from Delamere, B.C. 



SAPYGID^. 



The first family of the Sand Wasps. The female forms a nidus for 

 its egg in a burrow previously excavated by some other insect {e.g. a 

 Colletes, Chelostoma, or Osmia) in the ground or in wood; it some- 

 times makes use of a deserted snail shell. It stores up the larvae of 

 Lepidoptera as food for its offspring. 

 Sapyga, Latr. 



5-punctata, P'ab. — Rainhill, near Liverpool, H.H.H.; Upton, 

 near Chester, at burrows in old barn wall, E.C.T. 



SCOLIID^. 



The life histories of our two British species do not appear to be 

 fully worked out; the females of Tiphia niinuta are found under cow 

 dung and possibly prey upon Aphodii; the males frequent the flowers 

 of the wild carrot. Neither of the species has yet been recorded in 

 our district. 



POMPILID^. 



The members of this large family often burrow in hard sand hills 

 by the seaside (P.ntfipes, P. plumbeiis), or in liglit loose sand (A. 

 variegata ), or in wood. Nearly all the species prey upon spiders, 

 except P. niger, which stores up the larvae of Lepidoptera. 



Priocnemis, Schiodte, 



exaltatus. Fab. -Taken at Bowden and Delamere, B.C. 



Ceropales, Latr. 



maculatus, Fab — Southport, B.C. 



PoMPiLus, Fab. 



rufipes. Linn. — Southport, B.C. 



niger. Fab. — appro ximatus, Sm., melanaritis, Bond. — Southport, 



Manchester, and Hazelgrove, near Manchester, B.C. 

 plumbeus, Fab. — pulchev, Shuck. — Southport and Cheshire coast 



sandhills, B.C.; Wallasey sandhills, W.G. 

 gibbus. Fab. — trivialis, Dhlb., Thoms., &c. — Wallasey sandhills, 



near Birkenhead, J.T.G.; common, B.C. 

 pectinipes, V. d. Lind. — crassicornis, Shuck, Sm., ? — Southport, 



taken 1879, B.C. 



