THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER 



smoothed. Then she returns to her booty and again 

 starts with it. After a few steps the Sphex seems to be 

 seized with another idea. She has visited the doorway, 

 but has not seen the interior. Who knows whether all 

 is well within? She drops her prey and again runs off. 

 The visit to the interior is made, more touches are given, 

 and once more she returns. Will the journey be accom- 

 plished this time? Impossible to say. Some wasps, 

 more given to worry than others or more forgetful of 

 the small details of architecture, to repair their neglect 

 or to clear up their suspicions, abandon their booty five 

 or six times in succession to retouch the nest or simply 

 to visit the interior. The prey, once brought to the 

 nest, is carried in without the preliminaries that are 

 common to the other species. 



