190 Psyche [December 



No conclusive evidence of paper making by these orphan wasps 

 was obtained. When the nest was obtained there were several 

 unfinished cells. These cells were nev^er finished. On one occa- 

 sion I thought I detected an addition to the rim of one of the 

 cells containing the large larvae; but since I had placed no mark 

 on the cell I could not be certain. A day later the silken cap was 

 placed on the cell. The upper extension of the wall of this cell 

 seemed to be of paper; it was not so white as the top of the cap 

 which was woven by the larvae. To be sure that this portion was 

 constructed of paper, I would have been forced to remove a piece 

 of the wall; and I could not do that without disturbing the pupa 

 within. 



It is the first of October; for a week it has been cool enough 

 for fire; this morning a slight frost is whitening the tops of the 

 insectary. All but three of the wasps have disappeared, and those 

 are resting, in a stupor, upon the top of the nest, awaiting an 

 inevita])le death. 



Summary. 



1. These workers of Polistes 'pallipes Lepel. which had never 

 seen the widow- mother of the colony nor associated with any 

 other wasps, performed all the activities of such wasps, except 

 egg-laying and, possibly, paper-making. 



2. The large larvae that had nearly completed their larval 

 period of life, after fasting for eight days, feeding on honey only 

 for the next three days and receiving their normal diet for the 

 remainder of their larval life, constructed perfect cocoons and 

 emerged as normal imagoes. The small larvae, when submitted 

 to such hardships, died. 



3. After being restricted to a honey diet for several days, these 

 wasps became cannibals. Bit by bit, they removed the cap from 

 a pupal cell, decapitated the inmate and ate the contents of its 

 thorax. 



4. From the first, these wasps were so tame that they would 

 accept honey or insect larvae when offered to them on glass rods, 

 in forceps, or even upon my fingers. 



5. Lepidopterous larvae captured for food are not stung. 

 Grasping the caterpillar with her fore feet, the wasp rotates it 

 on its longitudinal axis and gradually elevates it while she ma- 

 laxates its posterior end until her jaws are filled with a ball of 

 pulpy matter. The remainder of the insect is then dropped. 



