AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT 



wasp, is visible for an instant before it is carried inside. 

 Sometimes she drops the fly behind her, and then, turn- 

 ing around, pulls it in with her mandibles. In other 

 cases, where a longer portion of the tunnel has been 

 filled with earth, the fly is left lying on the ground while 

 the wasp clears the way. This offers a favorable oppor- 

 tunity to parasites, especially as the fly is not placed with 

 regard to its safety, but is dropped anywhere. The dirt 

 that is kicked out sometimes covers it so that when the 

 way is clear the careless proprietor must search it out and 

 clean it off before she can store it away. In one instance, 

 in which we had been opening a nest close by, the tunnel 

 was entirely blocked by the loose earth which we had 

 disturbed, and the wasp worked for ten minutes before 

 she cleared a way to her nest. During part of this time 

 she held the fly, but when she realized that it was going 

 to be a long piece of work she laid it down near by. As 

 the wasp enters she sometimes leaves the hole open be- 

 hind her, but oftener fills it by pushing up earth from 

 below. When she comes out again she throws in a little 

 dirt, and then begins to circle about the place. She 

 seems not quite easy about the nest, however, returning 

 three or four times to scratch earth over the entrance, 

 before finally taking her departure. 

 We opened a good many nests in the course of the 



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