198 THE SOLITARY WASPS. 



touch, which seemed to me adverse to the theory that calls the anten- 

 nae 'ears.' In seeking her materials, she was gone often more, never 

 less than a minute, and always brought a lump similar in appearance, 

 which was invariably carried in the jaws, without any aid from the 

 feet. 



"The Dauber built another cell today, on the other side of the first, 

 which is now therefore in the middle. I again pestered her by sticking 

 a small tin tack in the newly laid mud, just where she would have to 

 deposit the next load. When she came, she appeared quite bothered; 

 she ran back and forward, and round and round over the cells for 

 some time with the mud in her jaws, as if at a loss what to do in so 

 novel an exigency. It was a different case from the former; a hole 

 could be stopped up, but here was an intruding substance just where 

 she wanted to deposit; should she lay it on, the incumbrance would 

 be more firmly imbedded; should she place it elsewhere, it would be 

 wasted, not being needed, or perhaps be positively injurious; should 

 she attempt to remove the evil, her mouth was occupied, and she was 

 unwilling to lose her burden. At length, however, as the least of the 

 evils, she seized the tack with her jaws and drew it out, dropping her 

 mud in the effort. When she was away the next time, I bundled up 

 a worsted thread, and pressed it on the soft work, which presented a 

 still more serious obstacle, as she could seize only a small part of it 

 which would yield without coming away; however, by taking hold of 

 several parts of it successively and tugging at them for a long time 

 and by walking round and round with it in her mouth, she at length 

 got it out. These instances of sagacity and perseverance greatly 

 pleased me. After laying on the load, she always cleans her antennae 

 with her fore feet, and her feet with her jaws; on arriving she never 

 alights at the nest, but always on the inside of the cupboard-front 

 and crawls along the ceiling to it." 



Summary. 

 Our Pelopaeus, then, builds her nests of plain mud, in shel- 

 tered places. The food-supply of the lar^^a consists of a vari- 

 able numbers of spiders, a few if large ones are taken, many if 

 they are small. Size, sex, and kind are unimportant, the wasp 

 showing the gTeatest variation in these matters, probably, in- 

 deed, taking the first thing that comes in her way. If the 

 weather is fine the work of building and ] rovisioning is com- 

 pleted in one day. Her skill in the use of the sting is all that is 

 required for her purpose which is rather to overcome any resist- 



