190 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



Here, on September 4, I located what seemed to be a small 

 settlement of these wasps, the males being the ones more 

 commonly seen. At 2 :45 A. M. I watched a Notogonia hunt'ng 

 about the grass near a bank of loose earth. On the whole, 

 her movements were not as quick as those of Tachijsphex, ex- 

 cepting, perhaps, when she shifted her hunting grounds by a 

 rapid little flight. Now and then she would stop and pry un- 

 der the dead and flattened grass, with the effect, at 2 :45 P. M., 

 of arousing a young Gnjllus. The latter, by means of con- 

 tinued and vigorous hopping, made good its escape, her enemy 

 searching about excitedly in the meantime. At a favorable 

 opportunity I caught the fugitive and let it fall near the 

 wasp. She pounced upon it like lightning, and stung it im- 

 mediately, apparently under the thorax. After cleaning her- 

 self, as usual, with her fore legs, she seized her prey, and, 

 turning it over on its dorsum, chewed at its soft neck. This 

 operation completed, the young Gryllus was placed on its ven- 

 ter again, and, Notogonia striding it, seized it by the base of 

 the antennse, and, by a series of runs and short jumps, with 

 an occasional rest, she carried her booty in a good straight 

 line for a distance of thirty feet, to run at 3 : 03 P. M. into a 

 hole in the bank. The opening was somewhat concealed, and 

 was placed at about two vertical feet below the grassy area. 

 There was no soil heap before it, as in the case of the tunnels 

 of Tachysphex, and it seemed probable (after digging out the 

 gallery) that it had been only partly excavated by the wasp in 

 question. Notogonia remained within for a minute or two, 

 coming out to walk in the vicinity for a longer period. Re- 

 entering at about 3:09, she did not appear until 3:30. She 

 was probably working on a cell during the interval, for at 

 4 :05 she was biting out small lumps of earth at a distance of 

 two or three inches from the hole. Working thus for a short 

 time, she entered, to remain within until 5:10, when she 

 emerged, seized a little stick in her jaws and brought it in her 

 burrow. At 5:25 she was still inside, and probably passed 

 the night in that security. 



At 9 A. M. the next morning I saw her enter her burrow, 

 and at 9:30 she was hunting in various holes and about grass 

 clumps, four or five feet from the nest. At 9:35 she attacked 

 a small Gryllus, which leaped valiantly, but this time to no 



