WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



and the angle at which the tunnel and pocket were 

 joined. 



The work is done with the mandibles and the first 

 legs. When it has proceeded so far that the wasp is partly 

 hidden, she begins to carry the earth away from the nest. 

 In doing this she backs up to the edge of the opening and, 

 flying a little way, gives a sort of flirt which throws the 

 pellet that she carries in her mandibles to a distance. 

 She then alights where she is and pauses a moment be- 

 fore she runs back to the hole, or, in some cases, darts 

 back on the wing. We watched the process of nest-mak- 

 ing five times during the summer. In the first instance 

 Ammophila, having made her excavation, ran off and 

 after some search returned with a good- sized lump of 

 earth. This she laid over the opening, which was now 

 entirely hidden. She then flew to the bean patch close 

 by, but after ten minutes she came back and looked at 

 her nest. It was so neatly covered as to be almost indis- 

 tinguishable, but to this fastidious little creature some- 

 thing seemed lacking. She pulled away the cover, car- 

 ried out three or four more loads, and then began to 

 search for another piece for closing. After a time she 

 came hurrying back with a lump of earth, but when 

 close to the nest she concluded that it would not do, 

 dropped it, and ran off in another direction. Presently 



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