Ichneumon Wasp, or Savage; a genus of insects belonging to the order of hymenoptera. The mouth is armed with entire jaws, but contains no tongue; the mandibles are horny, crooked, denticulated; the lip horny, the apex membranaceous. The palpi or feelers are four. The antennæ have from 10 to 16 joints. The wings of both sexes are extended without folds, and laid horizontally on the back. The sting is sharp, and concealed within the abdomen. There are 97 species, of which two only are natives of Britain and Ireland, the viatica and cribraria. 1. The viatica is black; the antennæ are short and thick; the three first segments of the abdomen red-brown; the pedicle is short; the length half an inch. 2. The cribraria is black, with yellow ringlets on the abdomen; the antennæ are short, and turned backwards; the fore-legs are broad, with an appendix like a shield.

The manner of living is different in the various species, and so is the general form of the body and their haunts; but though the method of life be utterly different, yet the same manners appear innate and inherent in all. They agree in being the fiercest of all flies: they will attack insects much larger than themselves, and this whether they be defenceless or armed, as they are provided with a sting. The strength in all this savage kind is great; their jaws are hard and sharp, and in their sting lies a poison suddenly fatal to the creatures with whom they engage. The savage seizes hardly on the animal he attacks, and gives a stroke of amazing force; after which he falls down as if himself were killed, but it is to rest from his fatigue, and enjoy his victory. He keeps a steady eye on the creature he has struck till it dies, which happens in a few minutes, and then drags it to the nest to feed the young. The number of other insects they destroy is scarce to be conceived; the mouth of their cave is like that of a giant in the days of yore, strewn with the remains of prey. The eyes, the filament that serves as a brain, and a small part of the contents of the body, are all the savage cats, and will kill 50 for a meal.