WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



remainder of the afternoon in making short excursions 

 around her nest, attended, at a little distance, by a 

 smaller blue wasp, Pompilus subviolaceus, whose pre- 

 sence she did not seem to notice. These trips took her 

 from ten to twenty feet from the nest, each occupying 

 from fifteen minutes to half an hour. At every return 

 to the nest she flattened herself out on the ground and 

 wriggled in the dust, and then dragged herself all 

 around it in the strangest manner. Perhaps these ac- 

 tions were indications of pleasurable emotion. We had 

 seen them once before, in Priononyx atrata just before 

 she carried a locust into her nest. 



At a little after four o'clock she began to investigate, 

 very carefully, the plants and grasses that immediately 

 surrounded her hole, showing an especial interest in 

 one bunch of clover that grew four inches away. Into 

 this she finally vanished, and peering curiously among 

 the greenery, we discovered her hanging to a leaf, which 

 was sheltered by thick foliage on all sides. Here she 

 remained motionless and probably fast asleep until 

 sundown, when we left her for the night. 



When we went to the garden at eight o'clock on the 

 following morning, subviolaceus was on hand, but 

 scelestus was still sound asleep in her leafy bower. 

 We thought it best to awaken her, for a large spider 



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