62 
Psyche 
[March-June 
zontal and vertical situations as well as in depressions (Chambers, 
1949). E. brevis has been known to nest in or near woodlands 
(Grandi, 1927; Chambers, 1949), and to aggregate (Benoist, 1915). 
According to Adlerz (1912), females were observed to enter the 
burrows of other wasps, remain for only a moment, and exit, but 
it was not ascertained whether the wasps used pre-existing burrows 
for nest-sites. 
The females have been noted to construct earthen, chimney-like 
extensions of the burrows, io-25-mm-long, above the ground surface 
(Benoist, 1915; Grandi, 1927, 1931), or to make no such exten- 
sions (Maneval, 1928, 1937 ; Abrahamsen, 1951). Grandi (1931) 
found nests with and without turrets in the same area. The main 
burrow, 2-3 mm in diameter, plunged obliquely downward, some- 
times circumventing subterranean obstacles, and at depths of 6-12 
cm branched into side burrows leading to the cells; the oval cells, 
4X8 mm, were located at depths of 6-12 cm beneath the surface 
(Grandi, 1927; Maneval, 1928; Abrahamsen, 1951), the maximum 
number per nest being ten (Benoist, 1915). 
The wasps transported their prey in flight, holding it with the 
middle legs, and hovered back and forth in front of the entrance 
before diving inside (Adlerz, 1912). 
Seven genera and seventeen species of Chrysomelidae have been 
reported as prey of E. brevis (Table 1). All are members of the 
subfamily Alticinae except Cryptocephalus labiatus L. (Crypto- 
cephalinae). In one of the earliest reports on this species, Sick- 
mann (1893) recorded small flies as prey; however, this record was 
probably based upon a misidentification of the wasp. The prey are 
never killed by the wasp but invariably paralyzed (Benoist, 1915; 
Grandi, 1927, 1931; Maneval, 1928; Abrahamsen, 1951). 
Both Maneval (1928) and Grandi (1931) noted that large and 
small chrysomelids were captured by the wasps. The number of 
prey stored per cell ranged from 14 to 24. From one to four genera 
and species were stored in a single cell, and at least two and usually 
three or four species were captured at all but one of the several 
localities where more than one prey was collected (Benoist, 1915; 
Hamm and Richards, 1926; Grandi, 1927, 1931; Maneval, 1928, 
1937; Richards, 1944; Abrahamsen, 1951). 
According to Grandi (1927) and Maneval (1928), the wasp did 
not lay her egg until the full complement of prey had been put in 
the cell. Maneval (1937) found prey near the bottom of the nest 
in a section of the burrow, 3-4-cm-long, but he did not note an egg 
attached to any of the beetles. In fully-provisioned cells, the beetles 
