WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



at it, decided that something was wrong, hunted about 

 a little for her own spider, and then flew away. 



We had then, as the fruit of our morning's work, 

 gained nothing in regard to a knowledge of the stinging 

 habits of our wasp, but at least we had secured three 

 freshly paralyzed spiders to add to our laboratory col- 

 lection. As to the strix that had so kindly assisted us 

 in our experiments, we placed it on a bush in the plea- 

 santest and most secluded corner of the garden and left 

 it there, wishing it a long and happy life. 



Later on in the season we tried the same experiment. 

 Taking her spider from quinquenotatus as she was 

 dragging it to her nest, we offered her a very lively strix 

 in its place. She would not notice it at all, and soon flew 

 away. Half an hour later she reappeared, and seemed 

 to be looking for a place to dig. As she ran about on 

 the ground we offered her another spider, dropping it 

 on the ground in front of her. This one behaved ad- 

 mirably, drawing up its legs and keeping perfectly still, 

 not moving even w r hen she felt of it and turned it over, 

 but it was left without any display of interest or emotion. 



One day we saw a quinquenotatus finish her nest and 

 go after her spider. She was absent for some time, and 

 when an ant passed by, dragging a paralyzed strix that 

 had evidently been stolen from some wasp, we thought 



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