CRABRO 



to eat for two days, and then spun its cocoon. The flies 

 found in this and in other nests of stirpicola were all 

 dead. All the pupae that we kept wintered in the cocoon 

 and came out in the spring. 



The females of Crabro, like those of other genera, 

 seem to use their galleries as sleeping places, but the 

 males stop at any convenient inn. We once entertained 

 one of them for several nights in a hole in one of the 

 posts of our cottage porch. Other males, as in Philan- 

 thus, spend time and care in digging a hole in the ground, 

 to which they return night after night. In Agenia the 

 female keeps one cell ahead of her needs, and tucks her- 

 self away in it very comfortably ; but the Pelopaei, in- 

 stead of making this use of their tubes, congregate in 

 the evening where there are convenient crevices, and 

 make as much fuss about getting settled as a lot of Eng- 

 lish sparrows. Mr. Banks has made a delightfully pretty 

 as well as interesting observation on the sleeping habits 

 of Ammophila. In a corner of his garden where the 

 grass grew long, dozens of these wasps arrived every 

 evening, and after a good many changes in position, 

 fell sound asleep, clinging to the stems about one third 

 of the way down. They registered at this hotel between 

 seven and eight o'clock, and departed before five in the 

 morning. We have seen a Pompilus take the greatest 



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