178 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



wasps were in large numbers and from sunrise to 

 sunset were continually on the move, scampering 

 over the ground with wonderful activity in their 

 endeavour to find a suitable locality to establish 

 their nest. A slight elevation in the ground is 

 the spot usually chosen by the wasps for their 

 digging operations, and thus each hillock becomes 

 a mass of independent nests, each carefully dis- 

 guised by the wasps. No visible signs of the 

 operation of the wasp therefore exist, save only a 

 half finished tunnel, which some wasp had begun, 

 and then, finding it unsuitable, had abandoned. 

 Before starting to burrow the wasp carefully sur- 

 veys the ground, and having chosen an apparently 

 suitable site, begins to dig. After digging abt)Ut 

 half an inch deep she may suddenly cease opera- 

 tions and go in search of another site. This pro- 

 cedure is often repeated three or four times before 

 the wasp finally decides the site for her nest. She 

 then rapidly proceeds with the digging operations, 

 using the strong mandibles for digging, and the 

 legs for throwing back the finer material often two 

 or three inches from the mouth of the burrow. When 

 completed, the burrow is a simi^le shaft, with one 

 enlarged cell at its termination, and in this cell is 

 stored the caterpillar on which she lays an ego-. As 

 soon as the tunnel was completed the wasp emerged 

 and after carefully circling round the tunnel en- 

 trance, set ofif at a run across the ground without 

 attempting to fly. After travelling about 15ft from 

 the tunnel she stopped at a green tuft of grass, and 

 from it seized a green caterpillar about one inch in 



