50 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [February 



Fox ; Publication Committee, E. T.Cresson, ('. F. Seiss, I>. F. 

 Smith; Executive Committee, P. Laurent, ('has. Licbeck, H. 

 W. Wen/el ; Finance ( 'oinmittee, .1. YV. McAllister. ('. S 

 Welles. C. ('. Cresson. HKNKY SKINXKR. Secretarv. 



At a business meeting of the Entomological Section (tt'the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, held December 

 ii2, ISDN, the following were elected to serve as officers for the 

 present year: Director, Philip Laurent; Vice Director, H. 

 YV. YVen/e] ; Treasurer. E. T. Cresson: Conservator, Henry 

 Skinner; Recorder. Henry Skinner; Secretary. "W. ,1. Fox. 



HKNKY SKINNKK. Recorder. 



t \ 



THE WASP AS AN ENGINEER, 



Several members of the United States Engineer Corps were wit- 

 nesses receutlv of a feat of insect engineering- near the road on which 

 they were working. One of their number found a blue ground 

 wasp dragging along the ground a dead swamp spider one-quarter 

 the size of a full-grown tarantula Whether the wasp killed the 

 spider or found it dead isa question beyond solution. He was hav- 

 ing a hard time dragging 1 his prey along, and presently left it to go 

 prospecting for his abode. The discoverer of the wasp called his 

 companions, and one of them in coming stepped upon the wasp's 

 ground hole, crushing down some blades of dried grass across it . 

 This caused no little trouble to the insect, who, upon locating the 

 hole, nipped away at the obstrutciug stalks with his strong mandi- 

 bles until he had cleared a passage Then he went back and sized 

 up the spider, walking around the big body and surveying it from 

 all sides. 



"He's reckoning that the hole isn't big enough," s'lid one of the 

 engineers. 



"That's all right: he'll h'x it," said another, as the insect went 

 back and began vigorously widening the entrance to his domicile. 



Again he returned to the spider, seized it and dragged it to within 

 a toot of the orifice. To the spectators it was evident that more 

 work would have to be done before the spider could be dragged in. 

 This struck the wasp, too. for again he ran around Ihe body, exam- 

 ing it carefully, and returned to the hole to take measurements 

 He went to digging a second time. Having dug for two minutes 

 he brought his prey to the edge of the hole, nipped out a piece ol 

 dirt here, cut away a grass stem there, and a Her liiteen minutes ol 

 hard and skilful labor disappeared under ground, dragging the 

 spider after him. douhiK-^to form the /in'rc ilc /vv/.v/r///rr in a win- 

 ter storehouse. The engineers then resumed I heir \\ ork. exchanging 

 c .>m merits of admir it ion. Cltfrat/o ln1rr-( train. 



January ninnhti- //x.v imiilcd .Itntmn'i/ .'<>tli. 



