SPHEGlbAh 
199 
the road. On reaching the clump of bamboos it began ascending one 
of these and then proceeded up for about 7 or 8 yards, when unfor¬ 
tunately it disappeared from my sight. I have very strong grounds 
for concluding that the wasp took the spider to a hollow in some 
bamboo, because although 1 have come across several individuals of 
this wasp dragging spiders, I have never found one taking a spider to 
a hole on the ground. It may be argued that the wasp dragged the 
captive up the bamboo and afterwards flew off with it, the burden 
being too heavy for conveyance to the nest without the vantage of an 
elevation to start from. But my having till now never seen any indivi¬ 
dual of this species nest on ground supports the former view. 
The spiders which P. analis generally hunts on tree trunks and 
walls are web-spinning forms and compared to the ground spiders very 
small and powerless. In these cases the Pompilus finishes the fight 
very soon and at once drags the captive along the side of the tree trunk 
to an exposed hollow on the trunk ; it leaves its victim then and searches 
for a hole in the tree itself. Meanwhile, i have tried removing 
the captive and placing it on the ground below ; however, the wasp after 
some anxious search found it out and dragged it again up to the tree. 
This species also thus displays that power of finding out the paralysed 
spider if we remove the same and keep it away. When at last it finds 
a convenient hole in the tree to nest, it comes back and drags the captive 
home. 
Aporus includes only three species, of which one, A. cotesi , Cam., 
may be found in the plains. 
Sphegid^e, 
Pronotum transverse , not reaching the insertion of the wings. 
This is a large family of Aculeata, with a great variety of forms. 
It includes large robust species with a length of an inch and-a-half and 
small slender insects not over a quarter of an inch long. The ma¬ 
jority exhibit some form of warning colouration, bright yellow, metallic 
greens and blues, and similar bright tints predominating. The head is 
large, with ocelli and compound eyes, the troplii are well developed, not 
conspicuous, and the mandibles are robust. The thorax is massive, 
the abdomen often with a long petiole. The legs are of moderate 
