343 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



that is, to fly, and, if flight takes it back to the nest, the rest of the 

 procedure is probably carried out. Repetitions of this chain of actions 

 causes it to occur oftener and with greater constancy, until the habit 

 in all its complexity is well established. 



It is well known that usually the wasp flies straight out from the 

 nest, and does not return by the path it took in leaving. And while it 

 appears that the first 'locality studies' are the desultory wanderings 

 just described, there are nevertheless circumstances where Polistes 

 makes the swift survey of the objects surrounding her nest, which has 

 been described by Mr. and Mrs. Peckham for many of the solitary 

 wasps. I observed this in numbers of instances where the wasps were 

 set free after having been left in captivity long enough to habituate 

 themselves to their new surroundings. 



One nest with four workers was brought into the laboratory and 

 established in a large glass cylinder, with a supply of food and 

 weather-worn wood, so that they might go on with their activities if so 

 inclined. They soon ceased their attempts to escape, and by the end of 

 a week were attending to the wants of the larvae in the usual manner. 

 The glass plate from which the nest was suspended, was then moved to 

 one side so as to leave an opening of several inches, but the wasps not 

 perceiving this after several trials, the whole was carefully lifted out 

 and rested on two supports, so that the wasp would find itself free if it 

 flew six inches in any direction. Following is an account of a typical 

 locality study transcribed from my notebook: 



11:10. Freed nest (way already indicated). One of the wasps has flown 

 out from the nest, hovers above it at a distance of twelve inches, and rising to 

 the ceiling hovers there for some seconds. During the next six minutes 

 descends to hover and circle within six inches of the nest, and, a second time, 

 comes within two inches, without, however, alighting on it. First, flies round 

 with its head directed toward nest, then turning, circles with its head away 

 from the nest. This performance is repeated, and at 11:10 it alights on the 

 glass, from the under side of which the nest is suspended, and for twenty 

 seconds it beats its head against the glass. Rising, it explores first the upper, 

 then the middle section of the room. Rising to the ceiling once more, hovers 

 there and then descends to rest on glass as before. Spends several minutes 

 exploring the room, and, returning, hovers for a few seconds before dropping 

 upon the nest. 



This is a fairly representative procedure, though there is great 

 individual variation in the number and character of the circlings and 

 the amount of search necessary in finding the nest after the more 

 distant parts of the room have been visited. 



Although no lengthy series of experiments was carried out with the 

 same individual, those that were made show a decrease in the number 

 and minuteness of the circlings proportional to the number of times 

 the wasp so left the nest. The wasp never returned to the nest along 



