THE LIFE OF A SOLITARY WASP 211 



A lady wasp of this species came, a little over a 

 month ago, into a bedroom through an open window 

 and began at once to look about her for a suitable site 

 for her nest. Her attention was soon attracted by a 

 wooden bed. In this she found some ideal nesting- 

 places — the holes in the upright posts intended to 

 receive the poles for mosquito curtains. Having 

 elected to nest in these six-inch-deep cavities, the wasp 

 promptly set to work to prepare them for her eggs. 



She flew out of the window, to return in a few 

 minutes, carrying between her front legs a pellet of 

 mud, fully half the size of her body. She herself had 

 prepared this pellet by means of her jaws and saliva 

 out of dust collected on the roadside. She flew with 

 it into the cavity, and proceeded to line it with mud. 

 Having utilized her load, the industrious insect flew 

 off and returned with a second load, and a third, and 

 a fourth. 



In a short time she had lined the hole, and the mud 

 soon set as hard as mortar, I believe that directly the 

 nest is lined the wasp lays an egg in it, but of this I 

 cannot be sure, for it is impossible to see what is going 

 on at the bottom of a hole six inches deep and less 

 than an inch wide. It is therefore possible that the egg 

 was laid at a later stage in the proceedings. The nest 

 has now to be provisioned, for when the grub emerges 

 from the egg in its underground cell it will need food. 

 Accordingly the wasp mother goes forth to seek pro- 

 vender for her offspring upon which she will in all 

 probability never set eyes. Consider for a moment 

 the significance of this. We have, here, an insect toil- 



