The Life History and Habits of Bicyrtes Quadrifasciata Say. (Order Hymenoptera, Family Bembicidæ).

Abstract

The wasp which is the subject of this paper is a member of the family Bembicidae , a family of solitary digger wasps. The family Bembicidae is divided into two tribes, the Stizini and the Bembicini , to the latter of which Bicyrtes quadrifasciata belongs. Wasps of this tribe are of a large robust striking appearance. The ground color of these wasps is black, on top of which lies stripes or spots of light yellow or yellow. The wings may be hyaline or infuscated and the body may be thickly pilose or more or less free from this. According to Parker: “The most prominent characters distinguishing the Bembicine wasps are the non-folded wings lying flat on the back, the three closed cubital cells of the anterior wings, of which cells the second receives both discoidal cross veins, the absence of the prepectus, the prominently exserted labrum and the lack of developed ocelli.” The individuals are males and females. The female constructs her nest alone in sandy areas and provides for her offspring; nests are often placed so closely together that the wasps may be said to form colonies. There is considerable diversity in the selection of food for their young, some species feeding them on flies, some on the nymphs of true bugs, while still others feed their young on insects of various orders and families.