ON THE INSTINCTS AND HABITS OF THE SOLITARY WASPS, G Peckham and E Peckham, 1898

£'nt Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey E A BULLETIN NO BIKGE, Director SCIENTIFIC SERIES NO / INSTINCTS AND HABITS WASPS SOLITARY BY '„^c'^ George w peckham and' Elizabeth G Peckham ^ MADISON, WIS PUBLISHED BY THE STATE 1898 MAY • '/I 1984 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I Ammophila and her Caterpillars CHAPTER CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER pecUcella- 42 IV The Toilers op the Night {Crabro CHAPTER stirpicola) 46 V Two Spider Hunters conicus [Salhcs CHAPTER An in The Inhabitants op an Old Stump (Rhopalutn atus) II The Great Golden Digger (Sphex ichneumonea) tmn and Stigmus americanus) Page and Aporus fasci- VI Island Settlement [Bembex spinolae) CHAPTER 58 VII The Little Flycatcher [Oxybelus quadrinotatus) CHAPTER 53 73 VIII The Wood-Borers [Trypoxylon albopilosum and Trypoxylon rubrocincturn^ CHAPTER The Bug-Hunters (^Astata unicolor 77 IX and Astata bicolor) 88 CONTENTS iv CHAPTER X The Diodonti CHAPTER Some Grave Diggers [Cerceris CHAPTER (Pelopaeus) 108 125 XIII The Enemies of the Orthoptera The Mud- Daubers XII The Spider Ravishers {Pomjnlns and Agenia) CHAPTER 99 XI and Pfiilanthus) CHAPTER Page .167 XIV .176 CHAPTER XV Extracts From Marchal's Monograph on Cerceris NATA CHAPTER On the Sense of Direction in The Stinging Habit in 211 XVII Wasps CHAPTER Conclusions 200 XVI Wasps CHAPTER or- 220 XVIII 228 WISCONSIN GEOL.AND NAT J- H Ernerron del HIST SURVEY BULLETIN II Pi SORIWttSTfRHUIKJCO PLATE X Fig Pompilus marginatus ? , Fig Pompilus fuscipennis ? , Fig Philanthus punctatus ? , Fig Astata Fig Crabro stirjncola Fig Bembex Fig Pompilus quinquenotatus Fig Ceroeris clypeata hicolo7- ? , spinolae X ? ? , ? I X ^• X 2 X , X , X ? , X WISCONSIN GEOL.AND NAT J H Emerron del HIST SURVEY E3ULLETIN II PL HWrn«STERNllTHCl W II WISCONSIN GEOL AND NAT HIST SURVEY BULLETIN NO ^^^'M^'^^Mf II, PL XI PLATE Fig Nest of Sphex ichneumonea ; tunnel 73^ inches long; pocket J^ inch by Fig % inch Nest of PMlanthus punctatus ; C— D, Fig XI 14 inches; D— E, Nest of Astata unicolor; A — C, A — B, 33^^ inches; B — C, A— B, inches; B — C, IJ^ inches; inches; C, four cells where the bugs were stored gallery occupied inches; inches by wasp while B— in nest % natural size Fig Nest of Chlorion coeruleum; nearly Fig Nest of Tachytes sp?,; tunnel inches long; pocket 13^ inches below surface Fig Nest of Crabro stlrpicola Fig Bottle fastened to stem to measure work of in blackberry stem; X Crabro stirpicola WISCONSIN GEOL AND NAT HIST SURVEY BULLETIN NO II, PL XII PLATE XII Fig A thorough Fig A hasty locality study by Fig Locality study of Astata blcolor locality study by Sphex ich/ieumonea Sphex Ichneumonea The wasp flew from nest to 1, paused a moment, then flew back; then to 2, paused and flew back; then to 3, paused, then to 4, paused and flew back to nest; flew to 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9, pausing at each spot, and flew back to nest along 10; flew, successively, along 11, 12 and 13, resting at the spots designated; from 13 she circled around nest in direction of arrow points and departed Fig A Fig Course followed by Pompilus fuseipennis in finding her spider second locality study of Astata unicolor The continuous line shows the course walked over by the wasp, the short marks at right angles representing resting places; the broken line indicates flight Line shows the first study, leading back to the nest, and line the second, ending in flight and departure her steps to the nest The nest being comwasp went skimming over the ground as indicated by the line, until the spider, which had previously been stung and placed upon a leaf, was found She then dragged it some distance beyond the nest to the point 2, from which place she took and in retracing pleted the it to the nest The locality studies are all very much reduced WISCONSIN GEOL AND NAT J H Emerron del HIST SURVEY BULLETIN II PL XIII HOfilHWESTIfW L!IHO 0) PLATE Agenia architeeia X Fig Fig Salius conicus Fig Oxyheliis quadrinofafus Fig Tachytes npf Fig ^ ? , p , X ,y^L Aporus fasciatua XIII ? , X i' ? , X 4: WISCONSIN GEOL, AND NAT J H Emerton del HIST SURVEY BU LLETIN II NoRTMwsrwn PL XIV iitho c PLATE Fig Trypoxylon ruhrooinctum Fig Stigmus americanus Fig Diodontus americanus Fig Priononyx atrata ? ? , , X XIV ,Y^i X ? , X 4: ... the caterpillare being of the same species and almost exactly of the same size, three different the first, terior In seven stings were given at the extremities, the middle segments being ticed... some of the segments have turned yellow Took three caterpillars Two of these were first had the e. gg (6 mm long) attached on the right side of the sixth segment The second one, we saw stung"... mate shortly after leaving the spring or summer little, if at all, The males nest, in the When the egg-laying time arrives the female secures her prey, which she either in the nest, lays the egg