226 WASPS AND THEIR WAYS 



troublesome habits, as in the case of that 

 Odynerus that seems specially devoted to 

 plastering up keyholes I 



It provisions the inside of the lock with 

 fresh stung insects, lays its tgg, and to 

 make all secure carefully plasters up the 

 keyhole with moist mud that soon dries 

 into a hard mass that resists the entrance 

 of all disturbers, keys included. 



One of these wasps once added materi- 

 ally to the interior decoration of a beauti- 

 ful cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

 This cabin was finished with pine inside, 

 and there were many screws used, the 

 heads of which were sunk a quarter of an 

 inch in the wood. The place was not 

 used during the summer. Here was 

 opportunity indeed for wasps that pre- 

 ferred to exercise their intelligence rather 

 than their muscles. No hard work for 

 them ! They merely provisioned those 

 holes and sealed them up. When the 

 cabin was opened next spring it was found 



