8 BEES AND WASPS [CH. 



be left behind. Arrived at the entrance the Pom- 

 pilid scatters her load by vigorous kicking with the 

 hind legs ; so vigorous indeed that often there may 

 be seen a fine jet of sand streaming, like water from 

 a syringe, to a height of an inch or so, out into the 

 air from the mouth of the burrow. 



The burrow completed, the wasp catches a few 

 spiders, each species usually adhering to some one 

 particular kind of spider, paralyses them and conveys 

 them underground where they are destined to serve 

 as food for the grub which emerges from the egg that 

 she attaches to one of her victims. 



One of the most abundant of these Pompilids, 

 known as Pompilus plumbeus, occurs on nearly all 

 our sandy coasts, and not infrequently at inland 

 places, from June until autumn sets in. The female 

 is black and about a quarter of an inch in length, 

 the male rather smaller and grey in consequence of 

 the fine hairs with which his black body is clad. 



I have studied the habits of these fascinating little 

 wasps both on the sand-dunes to the north of Yar- 

 mouth, and on those of Braunton Burrows in North 

 Devon. Whenever the sun shone brightly these 

 active creatures were to be seen scurrying restlessly 

 about with all the airs of a busy man in a desperate 

 hurry. Seldom flying further than a few feet they 

 transact their affairs on terra firma ; their long wiry 

 legs doing more than their fair share of work. Now 



