SPHEGID2E. 
201 
to estimate this since their work is not at onceobvious, and no estim¬ 
ates of number are easily obtained. 
Sphegidce are preyed upon by Cimjsidce and Mutillidce, while the 
parasites of their prey indirectly check them because, in some cases 
certainly, when a Sphegid lays up a parasitised caterpillar, the parasite 
hatches and the Sphegid larva is deprived of its food. This is a curious 
fact and had we not observed it, we should hesitate to mention it. 
When we remember how large is the percentage of parasitised caterpil¬ 
lars very often, we may imagine that the Sphegid does often lay up 
parasitised caterpillars, which do not nourish their larvae. 
Astata agilis, Sm., though recorded from but few places, is probably 
widespread (Plate X, Fig. 4); it has been seen burrowing in sandy soil 
but its prey is unknown; it hunts usually among the decaying fallen 
leaves under trees. 
Tachytes includes small and inconspicuous insects, nesting in soil 
and, according to Bingham, storing Orthoptera; T. monetaria, Sm., a 
black species with golden pubescence on the abdomen, is common, as is 
T. erythropoda Cam. (Plate X, Fig. 3). 
Notogonia subtessellata, Sm., preys on crickets, storing them in bur¬ 
rows in the soil, or in the stems of plants {e.g., in Euphorbia neriifolia) 
(Plate X, Fig. 7). This insect, which is the commonest of the genus in 
Pusa, is found very commonly in the vegetable garden and orchard, 
where the soil is fairly moist always. The reason apparently is that 
field crickets abound in these localities and the wasp is after them. 
The cricket generally hunted is a species of 4 6 Gryllodes 5 5 and very 
often not a full-grown one. In several cases the cricket escapes by its 
agile jumps, and it is only after allowing several crickets to escape that 
one is caught. The wasp paralyses the cricket by a sting (sometimes 
two) at the junction of the pro- and meso-sternum. It then drags the 
captive and leaving it in a prominent place, goes in search of a hole or to 
assure itself that its hole is ready to receive its prey. It soon returns 
and drags home the cricket. The process is different from that in a 
Pompilid. Here the wasp does not proceed backwards facing its 
