THE lAROKK DIOCIKK WASP. 
133 
This wasp and its near allies are \]\v natural and p(M-ha])s tlu^ most 
destructive* of the inscM't eneinicvs of {\w adults of the dinercnt species 
of the Cicada, and their ()p(M'atit)ns are often witnessed and arc coiu- 
niented u])on in ])rint nearl}' every season. In fact, no inoic curious 
and interc^stinu' illustration of the wars which take ])lace in the inxMt 
world isatVordcMl than th(vsioht of on(M)r th(\s(Mvas|)s scM/inii; its victim 
and silencini^: and ])aralyzini2: it with a sting, which, while throwin«i: it 
into a conuitose condition from which it never recovers and suspendin^z; 
or greatly reducing its vital functicms, does not actually kill it, but 
leaves it an iniresisting, living ])rey for the delicate wasp larva. 
The fact that some tragedy is being enacted is often brought to the 
attention of the observer by the sudden cessation of the regular song 
note of the unsus])ecting Cicada. The song ends in a shar]) cry of 
distress, and if one is in position to witness the struggle the wasp may 
be seen grasping its 
victim and endeav- 
oring to take lUght, 
the quick thrust of 
its sting having al- 
most immediately 
quieted the Cicada. 
A^ery often in the 
first struggle the 
wasp and the Ci- 
cada fall to the 
ground together, 
and it is necessary 
for the former la- 
boriously to climl) 
the tree again, drag- 
gino: the Cicada 
with it, in order to take flight from an elevated ])oint, the Cicada luMug 
usually much heavier than the wasp and bearing the latter slo\\l\' 
to the ground as it flies. For this reason it often l)ec()mes nec(\ssarv 
for the v/asp to carry the Cicada several times up into near-by trees, 
making repeated short flights before it reaches its burrow. 
The latter Ls excavated with gnvit activity by the was]), tin* dric^r 
and more elevated situations being usually chosen. The burrow 
ranges from IS inches to 2 or 3 feet in length and has three or four or 
more branches of from G inches to a foot in length, c^ach terminating 
in a little oval chamber. Within each of th(\se chambers is stored a 
Cicada to which a single wasp egg is attached in such manner as to be 
covered and ])r()tected by one of the middle legs of the Cicada. 
The parasitic larva on hatching merely protrudes its head and 
makes an <)])ening into the body of its host at some suture where 
^ui' 
Fig. 59. — Larvu of Sphecius spinning 
Riley) . 
Natural size (ailer 
