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Some of the species, like dogs, dig holes in the earth, with their fore feet, and in each of these, after having deposited their eggs in its body, they bury an insect, and then carefully close it up with earth.

There are no insects, which display greater affection for their offspring than these; nor are any more rapacious. They are excessively fierce, and, without hesitation, attack insects much larger than themselves. Their strength is very great; their jaws are hard and sharp, and their stings are armed with poison, which suddenly proves fatal to most of the creatures with which they engage. The Sphex seizes, with the greatest boldness, on the creature it attacks, giving a stroke with amazing force, then falling off, to rest from the fatigue of the exertion, and to enjoy the victory. It keeps, however, a steady eye on the object it has struck, until it dies, and then drags it to its nest for the use of its young. The number of insects, which this creature destroys, is almost beyond conception, fifty scarcely serving it for a meal. The mangled remains of its prey, scattered round the mouth of its retreat, sufficiently betray the sanguinary inhabitant. The eyes, the filament that serves as a brain, and a small part of the contents of the body, are all that the Sphex devours.

THE TURNER SAVAGE *.

This insect lives in the haunts of men, whom it never willingly offends; but it is the terror of all the smaller insects. It inhabits holes in the earth on the sides of hills and cliffs, and recesses that it forms for itself in the mud walls of cottages and outhouses. The mud-wall of a cottage at Peterborough, in North

DESCRIPTION. The body is black, and the legs and the petiole which connects the abdomen and thorax, are yellow. SYNONYMS. Sphex spirifex. Linn. Le Sphex porte-épine, in France.

amptonshire, was observed to be frequented by these creatures; and, on examination, it was found to have been wrought by their operations, into the appearance of honey-comb.

The eggs, as in all the other species, are deposited by the female in the back part of the cells. These cells are stored with insects, for food to the larvæ as soon as they come into life, and are then filled up.

Dr. Derham observes, that a species of Savage built its nest in a little hole of his study window. The cell was coated with an odoriferous and resinous gum, collected, as he supposed, from some neighbouring fir-trees. The insect laid two eggs, and the Doctor soon afterwards observed it several times to carry in maggots, some of which were even larger than itself. These it sealed up with great carefulness in the nest, altogether left it.

OF THE SAND-WASP TRIBE*.

and then

The Sand-wasps were separated, by the Rev. Mr. Kirby, from the last tribe, though, in their manners and economy, the insects of each have a near resemblance. In their external appearance, however, there are characteristics sufficient to admit, with great propriety, of two genera.

THE COMMON SAND-WASPT.

About sandy banks, exposed to the sun, this insect is very common in many parts of England. It is

The beak is conical, inflected, and contains a retractile, tubular tongue, that is cleft at the end. The jaws form a kind of forceps, and are three-toothed at the tip; and the antennæ in each sex are thread-shaped, with about fourteen joints or articulations. The eyes are oval, and the wings plane. The sting is pungent, and concealed in the abdomen.

DESCRIPTION. In this species the antennæ have thirteen articulations, and are inserted in a hollow on the front of

easily distinguished from other insects by the elongated pedicle of its abdomen, and its very short wings. When it flies, it always carries its abdomen pointing upward, so as to be nearly at right angles with that part of the thorax, to which it is attached.

In its manners, this Sand-wasp is nearly allied to the species of the preceding genus. The most pleasing fact I have seen respecting it, is that related by Mr. Ray: "I observed one of these insects (says he) dragging a green caterpillar, thrice it own size. It laid this down near the mouth of a burrow, that it had made in the ground; then, removing a little ball of earth, with which it had covered the orifice, it first went down itself, and, after having staid a short time, returned, and seizing the caterpillar again, drew it down also. Leaving the caterpillar there, it came up again, and taking some little globules of earth, rolled them one by one into the burrow, scraping the dust in at intervals with its fore feet, in the manner of a dog; thus alternately rolling in pieces of earth, and scraping in dust, till the hole was full; sometimes going down (as it seemed) in order to press down the earth; and once or twice flying to a fir-tree which drew near, perhaps for the purpose of getting turpentine to glue it down, and make it firm. The hole being filled, and equalled with the superficies of the earth, that its entrance might not be discovered, the insect took two firleaves that were near, and laid them by the mouth, most probably to mark the place."

THE BLUE SAND-WASP *.

These little creatures form for their cells cylindrical

the head. The abdomen is club-shaped, and joined to the thorax by a long two-jointed pedicle. The wings are equal, and the colours of the body are black and ferruginous alternately.

SYNONYMS. Sphex sabulosa. Linn. Ammophila vulgaris. Kirby, in Linn. Tran.-Le Sphex du Sable, in France.

* DESCRIPTION. This insect is about three quarters of an

tubes of clay, (each about the thickness and length of the little finger) against the timber under the roofs of houses, or under pales, where they are sheltered from the weather. Eight or ten of these are arranged by the side of, and joining to each other. Each of these tubes is divided by several partitions, betwixt every one of which the female lays an egg, and deposits the bodies of several insects, for the support of the future young-one. When one tube is stopped up, another is begun at its end; and so on, till the whole work is completed. These insects are silent at all times, except during the plastering and forming of their cells; but they no sooner set about their work, than they emit a singular, but pleasing sound, which is audible at the distance of ten or twelve yards, and seems to render their labour cheerful to them. It is exceedingly diverting to observe the dexterity and the whimsical gesticulations, which they adopt in performing this important business. They first moisten the clay, then temper it into a little lump of the size and shape of a swan-shot, and apply it to the walls of their nest. They commence their operation at the upper part, and work downward, till the cell is long enough to contain the chrysalis. After having spread out this little lump in a proper manner, they return for fresh materials. They cease their humming noise the moment they depart from their cell, but they always commence it immediately on putting together the materials which they have collected. When a cell is finished, they are always careful to render it perfectly smooth on the inside.

The insects which this fly secures for its young ones,

inch long, and of a dark blue colour. The pedicle connecting the abdomen and thorax, is about a quarter of an inch in length. The antenne are black, and the wings are tinted with blue, and tipped with black.

It is found in Carolina, and various other parts of North America.

SYNONYMS. Sphex cyanea. Linnæus.-Vespa Ichneumon cærulea. Catesby.Ammophila cyanea. Kirby.

are principally spiders. This will in some measure account for its generally forming its cell under roofs of buildings, and in other places where spiders are usually found. It does not kill them, but only in some manner so disables them that they cannot escape; by which means they are preserved alive and uncorrupted, until the young larva is produced, which is not long after the egg is deposited. They sometimes seize and fly off with spiders that are equal in size to themselves; and when one of them proves too weighty to be thus carried off, if it be not at a great distance, the insect drags it to her nest. Mr. Catesby once saw a spider dragged up a wall by one of these flies to its nest; and both of them being caught and weighed, it was found that the spider was eight times the weight of the fly.

By the time the larva has devoured all its provision, it is ready to undergo its change; and for this purpose it spins for itself a fine silken case, about the end of September. It remains in a chrysalid state until the spring; when it gnaws its way out of the clayey dwelling, and becomes an inhabitant of the air.

THE PENNSYLVANIAN SAND-WASP *.

The nest of this species, as well as that of the last, is formed with considerable art and ingenuity. The insect scratches in the steep side of some bank of loamy earth, a horizontal hole, about an inch in diameter, and nearly a foot long, making it smooth within, and pressing down the earth so strongly as to secure it from

DESCRIPTION. This sand-wasp is about an inch long, and of a black colour, with the wings inclining to violet. It is an inhabitant of North America, where it feeds on grasshoppers and other insects, as well as on various kinds of fruit.

SYNONYMS. Sphex Pennsylvanica. Linn. 2-Ammophila Pennsylvanica. Kirby.-Great Black Wasp from Pennsylva nia. Bartram.

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