Mason-Wasps» 



46c) 



bv a careles> workman, they enter and enlarge it, making it s\-mmc-trical, as they 

 would have done had they begun the excavation. Others adopt keyholes, nailholes, 

 or anv other perforations that are large enough, or can be made large enough by 

 a little manipulation. In some cases it is the other \\a\- about, and they have to 

 |)artia]l\- block up a cre\'ice that would be otherwi^-r inconveniently roomy. 

 Whatt'ver the mason's length may be its breadtli is vrrv little, and it contrives 

 thi' burr(>ws to ha\'e only sufficient "elbow-room." There are man\' inquisiti\'e 

 birds about with a taste for fat little grubs, and the smaller the entrance-holes to 

 nests the safer for the defenceless grub. Ichneumon-wasps with long, slender 

 egg-placers, and other parasitica] Insects of their own order, have to be 

 guarded against as far as possible ; but the latter are the more subtle, 

 and often succeed in introducing their own eggs to the utter ruin of the 

 mason-wasp's plans. If the parasite does not begin b\- eating up ihe ho-t, it 

 devours all the provisions and allows the host to perish b\' starvation. 



One species of mason- wasp, ^ described b\- 

 Fabre, hangs its egt^ from the roof of the cell b\' 

 a silk thread, a provision to protect the newly 

 hatched grub from being crushed bv movements 

 of the score or more of small caterpillars that are 

 placed inside after the egg is laid. From the 

 egg-shell the young grub can reach down to its 

 first caterpillar, and about twent\--four hours 

 later, when this is devoured, the grub is believed 

 to cast its skin and to be sufticientlv strong to 

 take care of itself among the oiih' ]3artiall\- 

 stupefied caterpillars. It eats them in the order 

 in which they were stored. 



Let readers wlio share the common enmitv P'loto m [h. BasHn. 



to wasps of all sorts bear in mmd these facts w.vsp's Xest in Cotton-reel. 



.... . Tin- wall mason-wasp — a difftrrciit species from that 



about their utilization of caterpillars. Let such shown in tlu- pn-vions photograph -has made use of 



. . , an cniptv cotton-reel, and filled the hole with one of 



consider how long it would take tlu'in to hunt lor its day e.iu. 



and destroy ten dozen small cateri)illars that are the e.xact tint of the 

 leaves upon which thev fec^d. This is the number that one species ol 

 maM)n-\\asp will retpiisitioii ii>r the proxisioning ot tlu» cells in one ol these 

 interesting structures. Fvery such wasp that is wantonly killed means that niimber 

 of caterpillars allowed to grow and to do incalculable damage to the choice i)lant> 

 of our gardens, it may be. Almost certainly, if a wasp is killed in our garden, it 

 was there on a hunting expedition, and it is our garden that will suiter for t)ui 

 ignorant folK'. 



The wall mason- aj)i)ears to be fond of luoxiniitN at ha^t to human beings, 

 for its nests are commonh' constructed on the walL ol houses, sometime- in the 

 angles of the window-frames, but often on the seams oi mortar between the bricks. 

 She uses sand and mud. and mixes them with lu'r own mouth-cement, which causes 

 it to set like mortar. Sometimes she uses the " pointing " of the human mason or 

 bricklaver, if this is not so rich in cement as to del\ her jaws. Whatever the material, 



' (Mmilths rcnilnnnis. - O. parictiim. 



