HYMENOPTERA. 
O49 
Family ScoLllDiE (Sco-li'i-dae). 
The Scoliids (Sco'li-zds). 
The Scoliids are quite closely related to the preceding 
family but differ in their general appearance, resembling 
wasps rather than ants. In their habits they do not exhibit 
as much intelligence as do most digger-wasps, for although 
they make burrows in the earth, it is said that they do not 
have the power of building nests and transporting prey to 
them for their carnivorous larvae. Instead of this, they dig 
in the ground in order to find larvae that have buried them¬ 
selves to undergo their transformations; and lay their eggs 
upon such larvae. These insects occur in sunny, hot, and 
sandy places; more than forty American species are known. 
One of our most common species is Tdphia inornata 
(Tiph'i-a in-or-na'ta); this is a shining black species, and 
measures three fifths of an inch in length 
(Fig. 770). It is parasitic upon white grubs, 
the larvae of May-beetles. Elis quadrinotcita 
(E'lis quad-ri-no-ta'ta) is a magnificent spe- Fig. 77 o. 
cies common in the South. It is black, with four yellow 
spots on the abdomen, and measures nearly or quite one and 
one fourth inches in length. 
Family SAPYGlDiE (Sa-pyg'i-dae). 
The Sapygids ( Sa-py f gids ). 
This is a small family including only two North Ameri¬ 
can genera, and but little more than twenty species. These 
insects are of moderate size, with short legs, and are usually 
black, spotted or banded with yellow, rarely entirely black. 
So far as their habits are known, they are inquilines in the 
nests of solitary wasps and solitary bees. 
