﻿370 
  ANNUAL, 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  like 
  uncompleted 
  statuettes, 
  like 
  alabaster 
  carvings 
  waiting 
  for 
  the 
  

   breath 
  of 
  life. 
  The 
  pale 
  pupae 
  gradually 
  don 
  the 
  livery 
  of 
  Phi- 
  

   lanthus. 
  Their 
  white 
  eyes 
  change 
  to 
  brown 
  after 
  two 
  days, 
  then 
  to 
  

   black 
  after 
  four 
  more 
  days, 
  and 
  before 
  another 
  week 
  has 
  elapsed 
  the 
  

   coloration 
  is 
  complete. 
  

  

  The 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  pupal 
  period 
  varies 
  presumably 
  with 
  the 
  

   weather. 
  Three 
  male 
  Philanthi 
  pupated 
  on 
  April 
  15. 
  One 
  emerged 
  

   as 
  imago 
  after 
  27 
  days, 
  the 
  other 
  two 
  after 
  28 
  days. 
  In 
  July, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  one 
  female 
  required 
  but 
  19 
  days 
  and 
  another 
  only 
  15 
  days 
  to 
  

   complete 
  its 
  transformations. 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  time 
  has 
  come 
  for 
  the 
  emergence 
  the 
  wasp 
  with 
  her 
  pow- 
  

   erful 
  mandibles 
  attacks 
  the 
  blunt 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  cocoon 
  (pi. 
  1, 
  fig. 
  4). 
  A 
  

   few 
  lusty 
  strokes 
  and 
  the 
  imago 
  is 
  free. 
  Patient 
  digging 
  in 
  the 
  right 
  

   direction 
  will 
  demolish 
  the 
  barricade 
  between 
  the 
  cell 
  and 
  the 
  main 
  

   gallery, 
  and 
  before 
  long 
  another 
  Philanthus 
  is 
  ready 
  to 
  ply 
  its 
  trade 
  

   of 
  bee 
  butchering. 
  

  

  The 
  adults 
  of 
  many 
  colonial 
  wasps 
  emerge 
  in 
  a 
  body, 
  as 
  if 
  at 
  a 
  

   given 
  signal, 
  and 
  then 
  hold 
  riotous 
  mating 
  flights 
  in 
  the 
  sunshine. 
  

   But 
  the 
  Philanthus 
  clan 
  muster 
  their 
  numbers 
  only 
  very 
  gradually. 
  

   While 
  the 
  oldest 
  cell 
  is 
  already 
  vacated 
  by 
  the 
  fully-formed 
  imago, 
  

   the 
  last 
  cells 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  burrow 
  may 
  contain 
  but 
  a 
  prepupal 
  larva. 
  

  

  DOMESTIC 
  AFFAIRS. 
  _ 
  

  

  For 
  some 
  time 
  after 
  emerging 
  the 
  youthful 
  wasps 
  share 
  together 
  

   the 
  ancestral 
  cave, 
  and 
  on 
  a 
  bright 
  morning 
  one 
  can 
  see 
  framed 
  in 
  

   the 
  doorway 
  the 
  stolid 
  yellow 
  face 
  of 
  a 
  female, 
  or 
  the 
  black-barred 
  

   visage 
  of 
  a 
  male. 
  When 
  and 
  where 
  the 
  couples 
  formed 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  

   determined. 
  Frequent 
  visits 
  to 
  the 
  near-by 
  flowers 
  showed 
  Philanthi 
  

   of 
  both 
  sexes 
  feeding 
  quietly 
  together 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  but 
  in 
  perfect 
  

   disregard 
  of 
  each 
  other. 
  Daily 
  observation 
  at 
  the 
  nesting 
  site 
  failed 
  

   to 
  disclose 
  a 
  single 
  endeavor 
  at 
  copulation. 
  It 
  seems 
  probable 
  there- 
  

   fore 
  that 
  the 
  nuptial 
  ceremonies 
  are 
  conducted 
  within 
  the 
  nest, 
  and 
  

   possibly 
  within 
  the 
  old 
  nest 
  previous 
  to 
  the 
  dispersal 
  of 
  the 
  clan. 
  

   If 
  this 
  be 
  so 
  we 
  wonder 
  what 
  provisions 
  are 
  made 
  to 
  avoid 
  the 
  dan- 
  

   gers 
  of 
  inbreeding. 
  The 
  underground 
  cave 
  is 
  also 
  used 
  as 
  the 
  

   wasp's 
  dormitory 
  and 
  crypt. 
  The 
  matron 
  of 
  the 
  nest 
  always 
  spends 
  

   the 
  night 
  at 
  home. 
  Toward 
  5 
  o'clock 
  or 
  later 
  in 
  the 
  afternoon 
  she 
  

   bars 
  the 
  door 
  of 
  her 
  dwelling 
  with 
  a 
  plug 
  of 
  sand 
  pushed 
  up 
  from 
  

   within. 
  Her 
  rest 
  will 
  be 
  secure 
  unless 
  Harpalus 
  or 
  some 
  other 
  night- 
  

   prowling 
  beetle 
  blunders 
  in. 
  The 
  callow 
  males 
  at 
  first 
  patronize 
  the 
  

   home 
  dormitory, 
  but 
  later 
  on 
  they 
  sometimes 
  dig 
  individual 
  lodg- 
  

   ings 
  of 
  their 
  own, 
  whither, 
  as 
  the 
  Peckhams 
  relate, 
  they 
  retreat 
  

   night 
  after 
  night 
  for 
  slumber. 
  The 
  female 
  Philanthi 
  have 
  a 
  stren- 
  

   uous 
  but 
  brief 
  existence. 
  For 
  them 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  lingering 
  senescence. 
  

   It 
  is 
  not 
  unusual 
  when 
  excavating 
  a 
  burrow 
  to 
  find 
  in 
  the 
  terminal 
  

  

  