LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS OF POLISTES METRICUS 283 



many times. After the food had received suitable prepara- 

 tion she fed one or two of the larva'. This action within a 

 few hours after her own emergence convinced me thai my 

 troubles were over. Eowever, I was doomed to disappoint- 

 ment, fortius proved an unusual case As others matured and 

 the nest became populous with adull females I was greatly 

 disappointed to find that they not only would not forage 

 for the family but only now and then would they take the 

 trouble to feed the infants when worms were brought to them. 

 The mature wasps remained but a few days until they dis- 

 appeared. 



By the fifth of August about a dozen had emerged and only 

 one remained at the nest. A larva which had hatched on the 

 29th of June died that day. Although I had kept it alive 

 for twenty days after its mother disappeared it was apparent- 

 ly no larger than when she herself had lasl d'd it. While my 

 careful ministration had been sufficient to enable the larger 

 larvae to complete their growth the food which I was able 

 to supply did not meet the needs of the younger ones. Either 

 it was not suitable in quality, was not properly prepared or 

 else it was not supplied in sufficient quantity or at proper 

 times. At any rate I did not succeed in rearing any of the 

 larvae that were less than half grown when the mother dis- 

 appeared. 



About this time I found another nest of the same kind un- 

 der the eaves of the study and having given up hope of 

 further success by hand, the nest containing the motherless 

 family was pinned beside it to see whether there would be 

 any better success in getting the orphans adopted than in 

 the previous instance. The weather was still cool and wet. 

 The summer of 1915 was a record breaker in this respect. 

 A week later the abandoned nest still remained beside the 

 other, but the mother of that family had apparently gone 

 also. Two other nesis were examined at that time only to 

 find them deserted. 



On the same day. August 12th. I found another nest of 

 polistes which previously had been overlooked. It was larger 

 and more populous than any of the others. All the others ex- 

 cept the unfortunate one which had received so much at- 

 tention had been small ami all the mothers had disappeared 

 early. Since no males had been seen up to this time 1 was 



