THE STUD Y OF INSECTS. 
652 
Family LARRIDA2 (Lar'ri-dae). 
The Larrids (Lar'rids). 
This family is composed of insects of moderate size and 
rather slender form. The abdomen is ovoid- 
conical in outline (Fig. 774 ) I there is a single 
spine at the apex of the middle tibiae; the fore 
wings have an appendiculate cell (Fig. 775, ap) \ 
Fig. 774.— Lar - .... ,, .11 .1 
raterminata. and the mandibles are usually notched on the 
exterior margin. 
These insects burrow in sandy places, and provision their 
nests chiefly with orthopterous insects. Some species fre¬ 
quent milk-weed ( Asclepias ) blossoms, but are very difficult 
to capture. 
More than fifty species have been found in the United 
States and Canada; most of them occur in the Southwest. 
Family Bembecid^e (Bem-bec'i-dae). 
The Bembecids (Bein'be-cids.) 
The members of this family are most easily distinguished 
from the closely-related forms by the shape of the upper lip, 
which distinctly projects. In some genera it not only pro¬ 
jects, but is prolonged so as to appear like a beak. 
Great variations in size occur within the family, The 
majority of our species are of moderate size: but some of 
