8 THE SOLITARY WASPS. 



quivering and her whole manner betokening joyful triumph at 

 the completion of her task. We, in the meantime, have become 

 as much excited over the matter as she is herself. She picks 

 up the caterpillar, brings it to the mouth of the burrow and lays 

 it down. Then, backing in herself, she catches it in her mandi- 

 bles and drags it out of sight, leaving us full of admiration and 

 delight. 



How clear and accurate must be the observing powers of these 

 wonderful little creatures! Every patch of ground must, for 

 them, have its own character; a pebble here, a larger stone 

 there, a trifling tuft of grass — these must be their landmarks. 

 And the wonder of it is that their interest in each nest is so 

 temporary. A burrow is dug, provisioned and closed up, all in 

 two or three days, and then another is made in a new place with 

 everything to learn over again. 



From this time (July thirteenth) on to the first of September 

 our garden was full of these wasps, and they never lost their 

 fascination for us, although owing to a decided difl'erence be- 

 tween their taste and ours as to what constituted pleasant 

 weather all our knowledge of them was gained by the sweat of 

 our brows. When we wished to utilize the cool hours of the 

 morning or of the late afternoon in studying them, or thought 

 to take advantage of a cloud which cast a grateful shade over 

 the sun at noonday, where were our Ammophiles? Out of sight 

 entirely, or at best only to be seen idling about on the flowers 

 of the onion or sorrel. At such a time they seemed to have 

 no mission in life and no idea of duty. But when the air w.is 

 clear and bright and the mercury rose higher and higher, all 

 was changed. Their favorite working hours were from eleven 

 in the morning to three in the afternoon, and when they did 

 work they threw their whole souls into it. It was well that it 

 was so, for they certainly needed all the enthusiasm and perse- 

 verance that they could muster for such wearisome and disap- 

 pointing labor. Hour after hour was passed in search, and often 

 there was nothing to show at the end of it, for, since the cater- 

 pillars that they wanted were nocturnal species, most of them 



