Chrysis

Chrysis ('golden-wasp'), a genus of hymenopterous insects, type of a family Chrysidæ, with about 400 species. Their systematic position is not far from that of the true wasps. The French call them Guêpes dorées ('gilded wasps'), and they sometimes receive the English names of Golden-tailed and Ruby-tailed Flies. They delight in sunshine, and may be seen poised in the air—the motion of their wings being so rapid as to render the body alone of the insect visible.