A WASP'S CACHE. 25 



attention to them; though they cause many an 

 involuntary shudder when they happen to tickle 

 the back of my neck or hand with their rapidly 

 moving legs. 



I note in the pathway leading down the slope 

 a slender-bodied wasp, dragging a large green 

 caterpillar, the larva of a butterfly or moth. 

 Watching it closely, I see it finally arrive at the 

 mouth of a round hole or little pit which it has 

 previously prepared in the hard clay of the 

 pathway. Letting its burden down, the wasp 

 seizes it again by one end and backs into the 

 hole pulling its prey in after it. A small piece 

 of earth is dislodged and falls in by the side of 

 the caterpillar, partially clogging the pit and 

 hindering the work of the wasp. With a pair of 

 tweezers I remove the impediment and the larva 

 is dragged down out of sight. Soon the wasp 

 emerges and, flying in a circle once or twice 

 about the opening, it seizes with its jaws a good 

 sized ball of earth and drops it into the mouth 

 of the pit. Two other pieces are dropped in 

 after this and then, standing on its head, the 

 wasp butts them -down and rams them farther 



