WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



sure herself that all was right. Soon she appeared at the 

 door of the nest and remained motionless for some mo- 

 ments, gazing intently at her treasure. Then seizing it 

 (we thought by an antenna) she dragged it head first 

 into the tunnel. 



The laying of the egg did not detain her long. She 

 was up in a moment and began at once to throw earth 

 into the nest. After a little she went in herself, and we 

 could plainly hear her humming as she pushed the loose 

 material down with her head. When she resumed the 

 work outside we interrupted her to catch a little fly that 

 we had already driven off several times just as it was 

 about to enter the nest. The Sphex was disturbed and 

 flew away, and this gave us an opportunity to open the 

 burrow. The grasshopper was placed on its back, with 

 its head next to the blind end of the pocket and the legs 

 protruding up into the tunnel. 



We found that the egg of the wasp, which was seven 

 millimeters long, and rather slender, was placed on the 

 under face of the thorax at a right angle to its length, 

 and parallel with the femur of the second leg. This leg 

 had apparently been stung so that it had swollen and 

 folded over the free end of the egg, which was thus firmly 

 held in place at" both extremities. ^ Upon examination 



^ Fabre says that all of the three species of Sphex that he has 



66 



