THE ENEMIES OF THE OBTHOPTEBA. 173 



away and would have departed entirely if we liad not caught 

 it. We held its legs so that it could not kick, but it twitched 

 the muscles of its skin so violently that the egg jumped up and 

 down. It probably could not move at all in its narrow prison 

 but now that it was taken out the only chance of saving the 

 egg was to kill the locust, and therefore its gTotesque head was 

 removed, not without sympathy for its hard fate. Before the 

 operation the mouth parts, antennae, and first and third pairs 

 of legs seemed in perfect condition. The second pair did not 

 move unless touched and then only feebly. The wings were 

 motionless. 



In spite of our precautions the Qgg never hatched. Probably 

 it had been too violently shaken up already. 



This species is evidently one of those that first prepare the 

 nest and then catch the wherewithal to fill it. She stings it 

 in such a way that it cannot fly, and the poison temporarily 

 affects its legs also, but there is at no time a condition of im- 

 movability excepting from mechanical causes, the wasp relying 

 upon tight packing to secure the necessary degree of quiet. 



We afterward saw this wasp occasionally in the garden, ap- 

 parently looking for a place to dig her nest, but flight always 

 carried her beyond our power of following before she found a 

 spot that suited her. 



Chlorion coeruleum Linn. 



PI. II., fig. 3; PL XI., fig. 4. 



As we climbed the steep slope that leads to the level ground 

 on the top of the island, one morning late in August, we saw 

 a magnificent great steel-blue wasp coming from the grass that 

 fringed the edge of the cliff, carrying in her mandibles a good 

 sized cricket. After running a little way she rose and flew 

 lightly for about eighteen feet, and then, after pausing long 

 enough for us to overtake her, ran forward again to a large 

 hole on the bare liillside. To one side of the opening was a 

 pile of earth made up of large pellets. Into this hole went our 

 wasp, without any hesitation. 



