36 THE SOLITARY WASPS. 



fifteen minutes after five tlie patient worker came to the surface 

 and for tlie second time made a detailed study of the en^dron- 

 ment. She flew this way and that, in and out among the plants, 

 high and low, far and near, and at last, satisfied, rose in circles,, 

 higher and higher and disappeared from view. We waited for 

 her return with all the patience at our command, from fifteen 

 minutes after five until fifteen minutes before seven. We felt, 

 sure that when she came back she would bring her victim with 

 her and when we saw her approaching we threw ourselves prone 

 on the ground, eagerly expecting to see the end of the drama, 

 but her search had been unsuccessful, — she carried nothing. In 

 the realms of wasp-life disappointments are not uncommon, and 

 this time she had us to share her chagrin, for we felt as tired and 

 discouraged as she perhaps did herself. When we saw her en- 

 tering vsdthout any provision for her future offspring we w^ere 

 at a loss what to do next and it may be that this state of mind 

 was shared by her also, for she at once began to fill in the en- 

 trance to her nest. We now thought it time to act, and decided 

 to capture her, to keep her over night in one of our wasp-cages, 

 and to try to induce her to return to her duty on the following^ 

 day. We therefore secured her in a large bottle, carried her to 

 the cottage, and having made every possible arrangement for her 

 comfort, left her for the night. 



On the next morning, at half after eight o'clock, we took Lady 

 Sphex down to her home and placed the mouth of the bottle sO' 

 that when she came out she had to enter the nest. This she did, 

 remaining below, however, only a moment. When she came 

 up to the surface she stood still and looked about for a few sec- 

 onds, and then flew away. It surprised us that having been ab- 

 sent from the place for so many hours, she made no study of 

 the locality as she had done before. We thought it a very un- 

 promising sign, and had great fears that she was deserting the 

 place and that we should see her no more. One would need to 

 watch a wasp through the long hours of a broiling hot day to 

 appreciate the joy that we felt when at nine o'clock, we saw her 

 coming back. She had no difficulty in finding her nest nor did 



