WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



orange spot on each side of the anterior part of the ab- 

 domen. We were watching the pretty little Diodonti, as 

 they filled their holes with aphides, when we saw her 

 going backward, dragging along a medium-sized spider. 

 Soon she came to an onion flower that was lying on the 

 ground. Here she stopped and, after a moment's hesi- 

 tation, drew her prey in among the blossoms of the 

 cluster so that it was hidden from view. It was not long 

 before she came out and began to fly about near the 

 ground, frequently alighting to poke her head into 

 cracks and to run again and again into little chance 

 holes. Never did an insect behave in a more demented 

 manner, and although there may have been a method 

 in her madness it was difficult to discover it. No hole 

 nor cranny pleased her, and back she flew to the onion 

 to see whether her booty were safe. For fifteen minutes 

 she ran and flew now here, now there, hurry and anxiety 

 in every movement, returning frequently to reassure 

 herself about the spider. Several times she entered a 

 hole at the base of a weed, not a made nest, but an acci- 

 dental crevice ; and this spot was at length chosen either 

 as a temporary or a final resting place for her spider, 

 since she dragged it from the onion and deposited it 

 here. We tried to capture the wasp; but having failed 

 in this, we dug out the spider. It was three inches 



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