NEST OF A MUD WASP 



59 



elder limbs by eating out the pith. Then it divides the hole 

 into cells by cross walls of mud or chips, and lays an egg in 

 each. Look for these nests in dead sumac or elder twigs. 

 Some of the nests that you may find may belong to a kind of 

 bee. If the nest contains pol- 

 len and honey it is probably a 

 bee's nest, but if it contains 

 spiders and other insects it is 

 a wasp's nest. 



Sometimes you may find 

 nests lined with leaves and 

 divided by leafy partitions into 

 cells. These are the nests of 

 leaf-cutting bees. 



Digger Wasp. — In the side- 

 walk or hard lawn you may 

 sometimes find heaps of dirt 

 beside deep holes about the 

 size of a little finger. These 

 holes are dug by digger wasps 

 to be the homes for their young. 

 In each hole a wasp will put 

 a living cicada which it has 

 stung and paralyzed. On the 

 cicada it will lay an egg. The 



wasp that hatches out will use the cicada for food, and when 

 full grown will dig its way out of the hole and fly away. 

 These are among the largest of all wasps. 



Wasp's Nest on a Twig 



