92 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.84 



Two tall corks placed in the jar were greatly appreciated, and at 

 least one or two of the wasps could always be seen resting upon them. 



The first female to emerge had a very characteristic defensive atti- 

 tude. She stood wdth the body making an angle of about 45° with 

 the direction of the annoying finger, head to the left, the body tilted 

 to the right side and the abdomen turned slightly to tlie left. The 

 legs of the first pair were drawn up close against the body, and the 

 tarsi twitched constantly, about once a second, sometimes simul- 

 taneously and sometimes alternately, or changing from one to the 

 other. This female was irritable and bad tempered. If any of the 

 others approached her when she was resting she would make a lunge 

 at them, without moving her feet, and menace them with her jaws. 

 For resting she always chose a place near the bottom of the jar on the 

 dark side of one of the corks. She w'as never able to climb up the 

 glass side of the jar. Her never-failing bad temper, combined with 

 her small size and other features, made her always readily 

 identifiable. 



The second female to emerge, which was considerably larger than 

 the first — in fact the largest female of all — was of a very placid dis- 

 position. At first she was mildly startled at the appearance of a 

 finger close to her, but only to the extent of facing it and watching 

 it closely. She never assumed a defensive attitude, and never, except 

 when resting, drew up the fore legs. She was able to climb up the 

 glass without difficulty and at once chose the cloth covering of the 

 jar as a resting place (as one of the four males had done), on the 

 first day spending a large part of her time trying to bite through 

 it. Two of the females that emerged later often joined her on the 

 cloth. 



All the females but the first were good tempered and, though not 

 particularly sociable, never menaced one another. 



At the time the first female emerged the only surviving male 

 seemed entirely inert, spending all his time resting on the dark side 

 of a large cork. But with the introduction of two females into the 

 jar he immediately became very lively. 



Having been in the jar for many days he knew it well and flew 

 about without hitting the glass sides or falling into the water dish. 

 The females frequently bumped into the glass and often, rebounding 

 from the glass, fell into the water back dowuAvard. One of them 

 always extricated herself without difficulty, but on the first day of 

 their imprisonment the others had to be lifted from the water several 

 times. But in less than two days they too learned the limitations of 

 the jar and how to avoid the hazards of the water dish. 



The wasps were fed on honey and water, w^hich they ate readily. 

 They would not eat sugar and water. Only one displayed any 

 interest in cherry flowers. 



