. Economic entomology for the . A velvet ant, SphcBr- ophthalma occiden- talis. Occasionally we find, running on sandy spots, an insect that looks like a large ant, very prettily colored and banded with bright scarlet and black, rusty red or mottled yellow. If one of these apparent ants be picked up, the result is usually a surprise in the form of an enor- mously long sting, for we really have a wing- less "digger-wasp," which from its appear- ance and habits has been called a '' velvet ; Just what the breeding habits of these Mutillidcs are is not known, but they a
. Economic entomology for the . A velvet ant, SphcBr- ophthalma occiden- talis. Occasionally we find, running on sandy spots, an insect that looks like a large ant, very prettily colored and banded with bright scarlet and black, rusty red or mottled yellow. If one of these apparent ants be picked up, the result is usually a surprise in the form of an enor- mously long sting, for we really have a wing- less "digger-wasp," which from its appear- ance and habits has been called a '' velvet ; Just what the breeding habits of these Mutillidcs are is not known, but they are sup- posed to be parasites, or at least to lay their eggs in the nests of other species of Hymen- optera. There is considerable difference be- tween the sexes, and the males are winged even when the females are wingless, the wings being usually blackish in color. Another series of "diggers" belongs to the family ScoliidcB, and these may often be seen quite early in the spring, flying close to the surface of the ground, with a buzzing noise. Often they are found visiting flowers, particularly the males, which are some- times quite abundant when raspberries are in bloom. These in- sects, so far as we know Fig. 454. their habits, lay their eggs in underground larvae, which are then devoured by the young of the wasp. The common "white grub," the larva of Lack noster?ia, is subject to the attacks of one of these species, Tiphia inornata, a black wasp, rather sparingly clothed with fine white hair, and sometimes attaining the length of three-fourths of an inch ; and there are others that attack our injurious underground species of all orders. In the family PompilidcB we have a series of rather stout, black forms, quite frequently banded with red on the abdomen, while sometimes the entire insects are more or less red. They
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