256 



WASPS AND THEIR WAYS 



get down to their work very much after 

 the fashion of a dog digging out a wood- 

 chuck's hole. They scratch out the dirt 

 with such rapidity that it issues in a little 

 jet or stream behind them. 



There are a great many species of them, 

 and while some are quite small, others 

 are the giants of the wasp race. 



One of the largest in this 

 country is a black creature 

 ^i:^ with bands of yellow on the ab- 

 domen, the Sphecius speciosus. 

 It digs burrows two feet or 

 more long, and provisions them 

 with the " dog-day locust," or 

 cicada. When her tunnel is 

 ready. Madam Sphecius 

 L__sallies forth, seeking 

 whom she can conquer. 

 Sitting on the branch of a tree the happy 

 cicada fills the air with its shrill and con- 

 tinuous song, unsuspecting the awful fate 

 that is to bring the unmelodious perform- 



^x,. 



