68 
dense, decumbent, very bright, shining, silvery hairs. 
Thorax narrow, subvillose, on each side of the breast a 
bright sdvery spot. Squamae black. Wings subhyaline; 
apex obscure; nerves ferruginous, about half the length of 
the abdomen. Abdomen clavate; first segment filiform, 
black; second segment filiform, reddish; third and fourth 
reddish, apex of the fourth black; the other segments black 
with a blue glare. Feet rough with short bristles. Pulvilli 
elongated, bifid. 
The two species above described were taken at Reading in 
Berkshire, and communicated to us by our friend Mr. 
James Murray. 
Ammophila pulvillata agrees in many characters with 
A. argentea of the Rev. W. Kirby’s ingenious paper in the 
4 thvol. of Linn. Trans, p. 208; but its having two segments 
to the petiole of the abdomen is understood to be a sufficient 
specific difference, as well as the remarkable length of the 
pulvilli, and some difference in the general appearance. The 
uses of these insects, as far as we know, accord with those 
of many others of the Ilynienopterous order. They are 
found to be great enemies to the caterpillars, which, but 
for these and other means which nature provides, might be 
more mischievous than they are; and we may one day find 
out, by knowing the different species, those which are 
most useful, so as to make ample amends for the trouble 
of investigation. The great Ray and Mr. Curtis have had 
opportunities of detecting them in the act of contriving the 
preservation of their future progeny. They cause the de- 
struction of caterpillars much larger than themselves, by 
preparing, at a certain season, a hole in a generally sandy 
sunny bank, and dragging the caterpillar into the hole, 
having deposited their egg or eggs in the body of it, that 
when the egg is hatched there may be a supply of food for 
the larva, after which they close up the hole, thus burying 
them alive as food for their progeny. 
