500 Saw-flies, Gall-flies, Ichneumons, 
monea (PL XII, Fig. 14), a brilliant and powerful Sphecid, is a common 
and widely distributed species, which makes a burrow from 4 to 8 inches 
deep, provisioning it with green grasshoppers. The Peckhams have described 
in detail in their fascinating book, “The Solitary Wasps,” the life and habits 
of two species of Astata, wasps 
of the family Larridae, which 
make nests with funnel-like open¬ 
ings (Fig. 703) in sandy soil and 
provision them with bugs (He- 
miptera), most of which are 
killed, not paralyzed. The Bem- 
becidae, distinguished by the pro¬ 
jecting, even beak-like upper lip, 
are all diggers, and include our 
largest solitary-wasp species. 
Bembex spinolce (PI. XII, Fig. 
8), a large black and bluish- 
white banded form, shows an in¬ 
teresting variation from the usual digger-wasp habits of feeding the young. 
Throughout their entire larval life (two weeks) the female catches flies and 
brings them to the covered nest, having to dig away each time the loose soil 
Fig. 703.—Nest-burrow of Astata unicolor . 
(After Peckham; natural size.) 
Fig. 704.—Tarantula-killer, Pep sis formosa. (Natural size.) 
and to scrape it in again as she leaves the nest. One of the giant solitary 
wasps of our country is the powerful cicada-killer, Sphecius speciosus, 1 
inches long, rusty black with yellow-banded abdomen. The wasp, attracted 
(H 1- * 
