186 Ckabronid^. INSECTS. Piiilanthid^. 
thirty-two females. He found the larvse of the Mutilla 
in the cells, closed in, as usual, by the full-fed grub of 
the bee, which seems to have unwittingly closed in 
with it the egg of the parasite which, when reared, 
fed on it; for there is little doubt that Mutilla is carni- 
vorous, and devours the larva and pupa of the humble 
bee. The Australian and African Mutillse must he 
parasitic on other Hymenoptera, for humble bees are 
not found in those countries. 
MUTILLA EPHIPPIUM. — This is a much smaller 
species than the M. Europcea, and more common in 
this country than that insect. The Brazilian species 
are well marked, and some large. Black and white, 
red and black, are their prevailing hues. Mr. West- 
wood first figured some of the Australian species. Dr. 
Dalton specifies one as being very common in British 
Guiana, the Mutilla diadema. It is about three- 
quarters of an inch long, of a deep black, and striped, 
with yellow on the thorax and body. It is solitary, 
and is often seen in sandy places. “They are very 
cautious and shy in their habits, and sting severely. 
They build in the ground ; for when chased they dis- 
appear rapidly in subterranean passages.”* The males 
arc not so common as the females. 
Family— THYNNIDiE. 
This family consists of insects closely allied to the 
Mutillidse in many respects. The family is chiefly 
Australian, but a number of species have been found 
in Brazil. Mr. Robert Bakewell, who has done so 
much for Australian entomology, informs ns that the 
Thynnidae are parasitic on Lepidoptera. That gentle- 
man obtained specimens from the cocoons of moths 
which had been dug up from the ground. 
Family— CRABRONID.®. 
In this family the insects have frequently the head 
very large ; the abdomen is oval or elliptical, some- 
times clavate, sometimes petiolated. The eyes are 
ovate, but sometimes kidney-shaped. The antennae 
are often thickened at the end. 
In the genus Trypoxylon the eyes are large, and 
deeply notched on their inner orbit. Three British 
species are known; one of these (T. is very 
abundant everywhere, and may be frequently noticed 
conveying its prey to its nest, consisting of spiders. In 
June, 1845, a colony of Trypoxjdon was found burrow- 
ing in a bank of light earth, above which was a cut 
hawthorn hedge. On this hedge spiders were numer- 
ous, and the female insects were flying in numbers 
from the burrows up into tbe hedge, provisioning their 
nest with great facility. The cocoons of this species 
are met with in banks and decayed wood; the cells 
are separated from each other by a cap of agglutinated 
sand. 
The genus Crdbro is very extensive ; the ejms are 
rounded, the face being usually covered with silvery 
or golden pubescence. Thirty-six British species are 
described. Many burrow in decaying wood, some 
* History of British Guiana, by Henry G. Dalton, M.D., 
vol. ii., p. 297 i 1855. 
perforate bramble sticks and rose branches, so that by 
gathering such perforated sticks in the spring, many 
species of the genus and occasionally the parasites are 
bred. C. luteipalpis provisions its nest with the rose 
aphis. One species, C. varius, carries gnats to its 
burrows. C. podagricus and C. leucostoma, and other 
species, provision their nests with dipterous insects. 
The genus Oxyhelus, of which there are seven British 
species, belongs to this family. The insects of this 
genus prey upon Diptera, and their mode of capturing 
them is singular. Several females were observed run- 
ning amongst blades of grass which shot up from the 
surface of a little hillock upon which the sun shone, 
and tempted various Diptera to occasionally alight. The 
Oxyheli continued to run about apparently unheedful 
of the flies, until at length the latter became somewhat 
accustomed to their presence ; but when the Oxybelus 
came within five or six inches, it darted upon the 
luckless fly in the same manner as a cat springs upon 
its prey. The most common British species is the 
Oxybelus uuiglumis, which occurs in most sandy situa- 
tions. 
The species of the genus Diodontus, so called from 
the mandibles being bidentate, are small, and may be 
taken in plenty by collecting perforated rose branches 
or bramble sticks. In these they burrow for the most 
part, and provision their nests with Aphides, so that 
they are among the numerous bands of insects useful 
to mankind. 
One species of the genus Pemphredon occurs in this 
country : this is the Pemphredon lugubris. It burrows 
in posts, rails, &c., in a decaying state. This insect 
provisions its nest with Aphides. 
Family— PHILANTHIDHi:. 
In these insects, so named from Philanthus the 
typical genus, the head is wider than the thorax. The 
intermediate tibim are armed with a single spur at the 
tip ; the legs and anterior tarsi are strongly ciliated. 
The genus Philanthus has the clypeus with three 
lobes, and the antennae are suddenly thickened. It 
has a large head, eyes, and mandibles. See Plate 7, 
fig. 10, for a figure of the front of the head of the 
Philanthus triangulum. Mr. Smith took it abun- 
dantly during a visit to the Isle of Wight, in which 
be discovered what may be regarded as the British 
metropolis of the unique British species {Philan- 
thus triangulum).* This fine insect is abundant in 
Sandown Bay. The female takes various bees for her 
prey, such as the Andrena fulvicrus, Halictus zonatus, 
or more frequently the Honey bee {Apis mellifica). 
This genus Cerceris contains some of the most 
beautiful species of insects of the whole tribe of fos- 
sorial Hymenoptera. It is found in all parts of 
the globe. In this genus the antennae are gradually 
thickened, and the segments of the abdomen have their 
margins constricted. Some of the Indian species are 
the giants of the family, being upwards of an inch in 
length. In some of the South American species, the 
first segment of the abdomen is prolonged into a long 
* The Philanthus apivorus of Latreille, who named it api- 
vorus from its bee-destroying propensities. 
