WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



and made short flights now this way and now that, but 

 always returned. At last she betrayed the secret of her 

 interest by descending to the ground and picking up a 

 small black cricket which had been lying close by all the 

 time. She flew up into the air with it, but even now did 

 not leave the neighborhood, continuing to fly about from 

 place to place, alighting now and again on the bean 

 plants. 



After this performance had lasted for five minutes 

 she brought her burden back to the same spot that it 

 had occupied before, laid it down, and without vouch- 

 safing to us any explanation of her conduct, began to 

 burrow into the soft earth. She went down head first, 

 backing out with the dirt, which she carried with the 

 front legs. While she was thus occupied we defended 

 her booty against two hunting parties of ants which, at 

 different times, fell upon it and would certainly have 

 carried it off if we had not been at hand. 



It took the wasp twenty minutes to open the burrow, 

 although, as we afterward learned, it had been exca- 

 vated before. At the end of that time she turned around 

 inside, came out head first, and dragged the cricket 

 within. 



We at once opened the nest, but found it impossible 

 to follow the tunnel on account of the crumbling of 



254 



