SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS 



the melon field, when we saw one of these little wasps 

 going backward and dragging a female of Maevia vittata 

 which was much larger than she was herself. She twice 

 left it on the ground while she circled about for a mo- 

 ment, but soon carried it up on to one of the large melon 

 leaves, and left it there 

 while she made a long and 

 careful study of the local- 

 ity, skimming close to the 

 ground in and out among 

 the vines ; at length she 

 went under a leaf that lay 

 close to the ground and 

 began to dig. After her 

 head was well down in the 

 ground we broke off the 

 leaf that we might see her 



method of work. She went on for ten minutes without 

 noticing the change, and then, without any circling, 

 flew off to visit her spider. When she tried to return 

 to her hole it was evident that some landmark was 

 missing. Again and again she zigzagged from the 

 spider to the nesting-place, going by a regular path 

 among the vines from leaf to leaf and from blossom 

 to blossom, but when she reached the spot she did not 

 8l 



