The Hunting Wasps

Length, 16 to 18 millimetres.1 Black, thickly and deeply spotted. Shield, raised like a nose, that is to say, forming a convex projection, broad at the base, pointed at the tip and resembling one half of a cone divided lengthwise. Prominent crest between the antennæ. A yellow streak above the crest, yellow cheeks and a large yellow spot behind each eye. Yellow shield, with black dot. Mandibles, iron-yellow, with black tips. First four or five joints of the antennæ, iron-yellow; the rest brown.

Two dots on the prothorax, the wing-scales and the postscutellum yellow. First segment of the abdomen has two round spots. The next four segments have on their hinder edge [380]a yellow band cut deeply into the form of a triangle, or even broken right off; and this is more noticeable in the less distant segments.

Under-part of the body, black. Legs, iron-yellow all through. Wings, slightly bronzed at the tip.

The above is a description of the female. The male is unknown to me.

In colouring, this species approaches Cerceris labiata, from which it differs more particularly by the shape of the shield and by its size, which is much larger. Observed near Avignon in July.

I dedicate this species to my daughter Antonia, whose assistance has often been of great value to me in my entomological researches.

Length, 7 to 9 millimetres.2 Black, thickly and deeply spotted. Shield, flat. Face covered with a fine silvery down. A narrow yellow band on either side on the inner edge of the eyes. Mandibles, yellow, with brown tips. Antennæ, black above, pale russet below; lower surface of their basilar joints, yellow. [381]

On the prothorax two small yellow dots, some distance apart; yellow wing-scales and postscutellum. A yellow band on the third segment of the abdomen and another on the fifth segment; these two bands are deeply hollowed on the fore-edge, the first into a semicircle, the second into a triangle.

Under-part of the body, entirely black. Black hips; thighs of the hind-legs, all black; those of the two front pairs, black at the root and yellow at the end. Legs and tarsi, yellow. Wings slightly smoke-coloured.

Female.

Varieties: 1. Prothorax without yellow dots. 2. Two small yellow dots on the second segment of the abdomen. 3. Wider yellow band on the inner side of the eyes. 4. Front of shield edged yellow.

The male is unknown to me.

This Cerceris, the smallest in my district, feeds her larvæ on very small-sized Weevils, Bruchus granarius and Apion gravidum. Observed near Carpentras, where she builds her nest in September, in the soft sandstone locally known as safre. [382]

Length, 18 to 20 millimetres.3 Black, with bristling whitish hairs on the head, the thorax and the base of the first segment of the abdomen. Long upper lip, yellow. Ridge-shaped shield, forming a sort of trihedral angle, of which one side, that of the fore-edge, is all yellow, while each of the two others is marked with a large rectangular black patch, touching the adjacent one, so that the two together form a chevron; these two patches and also the cheeks are covered with a fine silvery down. Cheeks and a median line between the antennæ, yellow. The back rim of the eyes has a long yellow border. Yellow mandibles, brown at the tips. First two joints of the antennæ, yellow underneath, black above; the others, yellow.

Prothorax, black, with its sides and dorsal division yellow. Mesothorax, black; the callous dot and a small dot on either side, above the base of the intermediate legs, yellow. Metathorax, black, with two yellow spots behind and a larger one, on either side, above the base of the hind-legs. The first two spots are sometimes missing. [383]

Abdomen, brilliant black above and bare, except at the base of the first segment, which bristles with whitish hairs. All the segments have a wavy transversal band, wider at the sides than in the middle and nearer to the hinder edge as the segment is farther back. On the fifth segment the yellow band touches the hinder edge. Anal segment, yellow, black at the root, covered all over the dorsal surface with rusty-red papillæ, forming a base for bristles. A row of similar bristle-bearing protuberances occupies also the hinder edge of the fifth segment. Underneath, the abdomen is brilliant black, with a triangular yellow patch on either side of the four intermediary segments.

Black hips; thighs, yellow in front, black behind; yellow legs and tarsi. Transparent wings.

In the male the chevron mark on the shield is narrower, or even entirely absent, in which case the face is all yellow. The bands on the abdomen are a very pale yellow, almost white. The sixth segment has a band like those which come before, but shorter and often reduced to two dots. The second segment has underneath it a longitudinal carina, raised and spine-shaped at the back. Lastly, the anal segment carries below it a rather thick angular projection. The rest is the same as in the female. [384]

This Wasp is very much like Bembex rostrata in size and in the arrangement of the black and yellow. The chief differences lie in the following characteristics: the shield of Bembex Julii forms a trihedral angle, whereas it is rounded and convex in the other Bembex. It also has at its base a broad, chevron-shaped black band, formed of two rectangular patches joined together and powdered with a silvery down, which is very brilliant in a suitable light. The upper surface of the anal segment bristles with papillæ and reddish hairs, as does the hinder edge of the fifth segment. Lastly, the mandibles are stained black at the tips only, whereas the base also is black in Bembex rostrata. Their habits are equally dissimilar. Bembex rostrata hunts Gad-flies mainly; Bembex Julii never preys on big Flies but attacks smaller ones of greatly varying species.

Jules’ Bembex is frequent in the sandy soil of Les Angles, round about Avignon and on the hill at Orange.

Length, 16 to 22 millimetres.4 Abdominal petiole consisting of the first segment and half [385]the second. Third cubital narrowed towards the radial. Head, black, with silvery down on the face. Antennæ, black. Thorax, black, with transverse stripes on its three segments, darker on the prothorax and the mesothorax. Two patches on the sides and one behind either side of the metathorax, covered with silvery down. Abdomen, bare and shiny. First segment, black. Second segment, red in the part narrowed into a petiole and in the widened part. Third segment, all red. The others, a beautiful, metallic indigo-blue. Legs, black, with silvery down on the hips. Wings, slightly reddish. Builds her nest in October and stocks each cell with two medium-sized caterpillars.

Is nearly related to Ammophila holosericea, being of the same size, but differs markedly in the colour of her legs, which are all black, in her head and thorax, which are much less hairy, and in the transverse stripes on the three segments of the thorax.

I wish these three Wasps to bear the name of my son Jules, to whom I dedicate them.

Dear Jules, snatched at such an early age from your passionate love of flowers and insects, you were my fellow-worker; nothing escaped your clear-sighted glance; I was to write this book for you, to whom its stories gave such [386]delight; and you yourself were to continue it one day. Alas, you went to a happier home, knowing nothing of the book but its first lines! May your name at least figure in it, borne by some of those industrious and beautiful Wasps whom you loved so well!

J. H. F.

Orange, 3 April 1879. [387]