PLATE XLIV.

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MYDAS CLAVATUS.

Plate XLIV. fig. 1.

Order: Diptera. Section: Notacantha, Latr. Family: MydasidÆ, Leach.

Genus. Mydas, Fabr. Latr. Midas, Weidemann. Musca, Drury, De Geer.

Mydas Clavatus. Niger, abdominis segmento secundo aurantiaco, alis nigris. (Long. Corp. 1 unc. 3 lin.)

Syn. Musca clavata, Drury, App. vol. 2. (1773.)

Bibio filata, Fabr. Mant. Ins. 2. 328. 1. (1787.) Syst. Antl. 60. 1. (Mydas f.) Weidemann Aussereur. Zweifl. Ins. 1. 240. 3. tab. 11. fig. 3. Ditto in Nova Acta Nat. Curios. vol. 5. p. 2. pl. 53. fig. 8.

Nemotelus asiloides, De Geer Mem. vol. 6. t. 29. f. 6.

Habitat: New York, and other parts of North America.

Head black. AntennÆ nearly the length of the thorax, black, slender, and knobbed at their extremities. Thorax black and smooth. Wings coppery brown, very membranaceous, and not transparent. Abdomen black, and composed of eight segments, the second being of a deep yellow; which colour extends only to its sides, the under part being black. Legs entirely black; the hinder ones being furnished with a strong spine at the tips of the tibiÆ, the middle ones having four small ones, and the fore ones none. Each of the ungues has two small yellow scales (puvilli) placed underneath.

TABANUS PLUMBEUS.

Plate XLIV. fig. 2.

Order: Diptera. Section: Tabaniens, Latr. Family: TabanidÆ, Leach.

Genus. Tabanus, Linn, &c.

Tabanus Plumbeus. ObscurÈ coccinelleus, abdomine marginibus posticis pallidioribus, alis sublimpidis cost fuscÂ, antennis brunneo-rufis. (Long. Corp. 1 unc.)

Syn. Tabanus plumbeus, Drury, App. vol. 2.

Tabanus ruficornis, Fabr. Syst. Ent. 789. 8. Syst. Antl. 96. 14. Weidemann Auss. Zw. Ins. 1. 112.

Tabanus Americanus, Forster NovÆ Sp. Insect. Cent. 1. 100.

Tabanus limbatus, Pal. Beauvois Ins. d'Afr. & d'Amer. Dipt. t. 1. f. 2.

Habitat: New York, Virginia, &c. North America.

Head ash-coloured. Eyes nearly black. AntennÆ red brown. Only one ocellus, placed a little above the antennÆ. Proboscis almost equal in length to the depth of the head. Thorax dark greenish-brown coloured; having a white spot at the base of each wing. Abdomen dark brown colour; each segment being on the under side margined with grey. Wings transparent; anterior edges brown and opake. Legs dark brown; the middle ones having two spines at the tips of each of the tibiÆ. The ungues have two small brown scales under them. Breast hairy and ash-coloured, but white on the sides.

TABANUS AMERICANUS.

Plate XLIV. fig. 3.

Order: Diptera. Section: Tabaniens. Family: TabanidÆ.

Genus. Tabanus, Linn. &c.

Tabanus Americanus. Niger, abdomine canescente, alis fusco-nigris. (Long. Corp. circ. 11 lin.)

Syn. Tabanus Americanus, Drury, App. vol. 2. (nec Forster.)

Tabanus atratus, Fabr. Syst. Ent. 789. 9. Syst. Antl. 96. 16. Weidemann Auss. Zw. Ins. 1. 114. No. 3.

Tabanus niger, Pal. Beauv. Ins. Afr. et Amer. Dipt. t. 1. f. 1.

Habitat: New York, and other parts of North America.

Head black. AntennÆ black, being placed on the front of the head; the parts surrounding them shining, as if finely polished. Ocelli wanting. Proboscis red brown; being inclosed in a kind of sheath, which is black. Thorax very dark brown, almost black. Wings dark brown and membranaceous, not transparent. Abdomen lead coloured, the extremity nearly black; being of the same colour underneath as at top. Legs entirely black; the middle ones being furnished with two spines at the tips of the tibiÆ. Breast hairy and black.

SPHEX JAMAICENSIS

Plate XLIV. fig. 4.

Order: Hymenoptera. Section: Fossores. Family: SphegidÆ, Leach.

Genus. Sphex, Linn. &c.

Sphex Jamaicensis. Castaneo-rufus, abdomine nitido, capite thoraceque fulvo-hirtis, antennis nigris, alis fuscis.

Syn. Vespa Jamaicensis, Drury, App. vol. 2.

Habitat: Jamaica.

Head brown orange. AntennÆ almost black, and near the length of the thorax. Eyes large, and dark brown. Thorax brown orange-coloured, and hairy, with a black spot between the wings. Wings nearly transparent, and doubled or folded together. Abdomen shining and very smooth, red brown, and united to the thorax by a small but short thread-like peduncle. Legs red brown, and, except the fore ones, furnished with three spines at the tips of the tibiÆ.

Drury described this insect as having the wings doubled or folded together, a peculiarity observed only in the wasps, amongst which the insect was placed by our author, who named it Vespa Jamaicensis. My specimen of this insect, which I have reason to believe belonged to Drury, is so pinned, that the upper surface of the thorax is pressed down, and the upper wing forced backwards, and thrown nearly upside down, which was evidently the case with the specimen described by Drury.

SCOLIA FOSSULANA.

Plate XLIV. fig. 5.

Order: Hymenoptera. Section: Fossores. Family: ScoliidÆ.

Genus. Scolia, Fabr. Sphex, Drury.

Scolia Fossulana. Atra, thorace flavido hirto, abdomine fasciis quatuor flavis, intermediis dentatis. (Long. Corp. 1 unc.)

Syn. Scolia fossulana, Fabr. Syst. Piez. 242. No. 18.

Sphex plumipes, Drury, App. vol. 2.

Habitat: New York.

Head pale yellow in front, black on the top and hairy. AntennÆ black, and shorter than the thorax. Neck hairy, lemon-coloured. Thorax black, and covered with yellow hairs. Wings dark brown, almost transparent; not folded or doubled together. Abdomen black underneath and lemon-coloured above, where it has three black lines crossing it, two of them being broadest in the middle. Anus and breast black. Legs black and hairy; the hinder ones being furnished with two remarkable long spines at the tips of the tibiÆ. Tarsi, particularly those of the hinder legs, furnished with very strong hairs, or rather bristles at each of the joints; pale yellow-coloured.

I should have retained the specific name given to this insect by Drury, on account of its priority, but it is so inappropriate, not only being applicable to one sex alone, the female, but the spines on the fore legs being found throughout the genus, as well as in nearly all the burrowing Hymenoptera. Fabricius has incorrectly referred this figure to his Scolia radula, which has a spotted thorax.

PELOPÆUS CÆMENTARIUS.

Plate XLIV. fig. 6. Imago—fig. 7. Cocoon—fig. 8. Imago taken out of the Cocoon.
Plate XLV. fig. 8. Nest—fig. 9. Section of the Nest—fig. 10. two Cocoons exposed.

Order: Hymenoptera. Section: Fossores. Family: SpegidÆ.

Genus. PelopÆus, Latr. Fabr. Sphex, Linn. Drury.

PelopÆus CÆmentarius. Abdomine petiolato nigro, segmento primo (excl. pedunc.) lunul flav thoraceque punctis flavis, pedibus flavis posticorum femoribus apiceque tibiarum nigris. (Long. Corp. 1 unc.)

Syn. Sphex CÆmentaria, Drury, App. vol. 2.

PelopÆus lunatus, Fabr. Syst. Piez. 203.

Habitat: Jamaica, Antigua, St. Christopher's (Drury). "In America insulis, in India orientali frequens." (Fabricius, incorrectly?)

Head black and hairy. AntennÆ black, basal joint yellow. Thorax black, with short hairs on it, but next the head yellow, having a yellow spot at the base of each wing, and another next the abdomen. Wings brown, and almost transparent; lying flat, not folded. Abdomen black and round, nearly as long as the thorax; basal segment (exclusive of the peduncle) yellow; pointed at the tip, and armed with a retractile sting. Peduncle very slender, black at top, and yellow underneath; being nearly the length of the thorax itself. Breast black. Fore and middle legs black next the body, but from the middle of the thighs yellow. Hinder thighs and lower parts of the shins black, the remainder yellow. Claws black.

The following particulars relative to the economy of this species were communicated to Mr. Drury from a correspondent in Antigua, who forwarded to him specimens of the insect.

"This insect is called at Antigua, and several other places in the West Indies, the Mason Fly, a name given it from the remarkable manner in which it builds its nest, or receptacle for its young.

"When the male and female have performed the business of copulation, their[30] next care is to provide a proper habitation for raising and securing their future progeny; to this end they seek out a proper spot that is secure from rains, &c. and is so situated as to afford a sufficient warmth for the young offspring, but not so hot as to destroy instead of nourishing them. The sides of a wall underneath the eaves of a house, is the place often pitched on for this purpose. Thus prompted by nature, and instinctively knowing the necessity of performing this work, they carry a quantity of dirt, and place it against the wall, which they temper and soften with a liquor issuing from their bodies, that renders it sufficiently strong and tenacious, and when dry, is proof against any rains that may happen to get at it. The nest is composed generally of about a dozen cells, that are round, and sufficiently capacious to hold the caterpillar when grown to its full size; each of which is about an inch long, and about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, lying parallel with each other, and formed in such a manner, that each cell lies between two others, both above and below it, except the outward ones, having a hole left open at the extremity of each, for the parents to go in and out at pleasure. See Plate 45. Fig. 8. that at 9 being a nest supposed to be cut through its middle, to shew the form of the cells, and manner of their being built. The industry exerted on this occasion is remarkably great, for in a few days the whole is completed. There is no doubt but the heat of the climate greatly contributes to facilitate this work, as the dirt of which it is composed is quickly dried, and by that means enables them to be very expeditious. Their next employment is procuring a number of small spiders, with which each cell is properly filled, and are to serve for food to the young brood; of these they always take care to lay in such a sufficient store, that the young ones seldom, if ever, perish from want. I have opened many of these cells, and constantly found a spider remaining uneat, sometimes two, and not seldom three, so that it is evident the parent animal makes ample provision for the appetite of its young. By the time one cell is replenished with provision, the pregnant female, finding the eggs within her ripening to maturity, and under the necessity of discharging them, lays a single one in the cell, and then covers up the hole with dirt, which was left open for a passage, in so neat and curious a manner, that the nicest eye could not discover the place where they used to enter. She then proceeds in the same manner to the next, and so on, till all her eggs are emitted and laid in their respective cells, each cell being furnished with a single egg and no more. My correspondent assures me, he is not certain whether the male assists in building the nest, or whether it is the sole production of the female; but they both equally contribute to furnish it with provision, which they carefully watch and preserve from the ants, that in that hot climate would soon rob them of. In a little time the young ones are hatched; and each, finding in its respective habitation a proper quantity of food, subsists thereon, and there lives unseen, till it arrives to its complete state. When it (the caterpillar) is advanced to its full size, it forms round itself a brown case, as appears at Fig. 7. Plate 44. and at Fig. 10. Plate 45. and in that inclosure undergoes its transformation; when it puts on its form as at Fig. 8. Plate 44. remaining with its legs, wings, and horns, closed round, as is there shewn, till it has acquired strength to break its enclosure. At its first assuming this form, it is white, soft, and tender, and its wings shorter than those in the figure; in a few weeks its becomes hard, strong, and of its proper colour. The wings, also, before that time, grow to their proper size; and now, finding itself arrived at a period when the forementioned circumstance of its confinement is no longer necessary to its well being, it obtains its liberty, by making a hole at the end of its cell, with its jaws and fore legs, large enough to permit its escape.

"The separation of the thorax and abdomen, by such a long slender membrane or ligament, is very singular, and the power the insect is invested with, by means of those jaws or forceps placed at its mouth, is really wonderful; for the number of insects, of a superior strength, as well as size, which it is capable of destroying, is scarcely credible. It will overcome a spider of twice its own size, if it can but get upon the back of it, by means of its forceps and sting: nor will multitudes of other insects find it a less formidable enemy, if they are not guarded by nature with a covering too hard to yield to the force of these destructive weapons. In short, it seems to be an animal formed by nature, as one of those instruments instituted for subduing and lessening the vast numbers of small insects that abound in warm climates."

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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