VI THE YELLOW-WINGED SPHEX 83 



Of the many tribes of Sphegidae visited by me, 

 there is one of which I retain a specially lively recol- 

 lection, on account of its singular installation upon 

 the edge of a high road, where were little heaps of 

 mud thrown up from side ditches by the canton- 

 nier's shovel. One, well sun-dried, had a conical 

 shape like a sugar-loaf over fifteen inches high. The 

 situation pleased the Sphegidae, who had estab- 

 lished a more populous community than I have 

 ever again met with. From base to summit the 

 cone of dried mud was pierced with burrows, giving 

 it the appearance of a huge sponge. In every story 

 was feverish animation, and a busy coming and 

 going which brought to mind the scene in some 

 great workshop when orders are pressing. Crickets 

 were being dragged by the antennae up the slopes 

 of the conical city ; there was storing of provisions 

 in the larders of the cells ; dust was pouring from 

 galleries in process of construction ; at intervals 

 the grimy faces of the miners appeared at mouths 

 of passages — there was a constant going and coming. 

 Now and then, in a short interval of leisure, a 

 Sphex ascended the top of the cone, perhaps to 

 take a general and well - satisfied view from this 

 belvedere. What a tempting sight ! — one to make 

 me long to carry away the entire city with its in- 

 habitants. It was useless to try ; the mass was too 

 heavy. One cannot take up a village by the roots 

 to plant it elsewhere. 



Let us look at the Sphex at work in flat 

 ground, as is much more frequently the case. As 

 soon as the burrow is hollowed out, the chase begins. 

 Let us profit by the absence of the Hymenopteron 



