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. D AMMOPHILA JULII.—H. FAB. Length, 16 to 22 millimetres. [59] Abdominal petiole consisting of the first segment and half 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 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. NOTES [1] Léon Dufour (1780–1865) was an army surgeon who served with distinction in several campaigns and subsequently practised as a doctor in the Landes. He attained great eminence as a naturalist. Cf. The Life of the Spider, by J. Henri Fabre, translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, chap, i.—Translator’s Note.