WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



A curious thing about these wasps, and one which 

 shows how much common feeling they have, is that they 

 work in waves, all starting off on their hunting expedi- 

 tions within a few minutes of each other, and returning 

 together after the chase. At one time all the residents 

 seem to be present, digging their nests, carrying in their 

 booty, dashing at each other, and chasing the parasites 

 with a tremendous amount of humming and swooping 

 about. Then suddenly they are all gone. Nothing re- 

 mains but multitudes of flies, which keep up a giddy 

 dance over the field, and for ten or fifteen minutes the 

 place seems deserted. Then the wasps begin to return, 

 several coming at a time, and as if by magic the whole 

 scene awakens to life. More than half of the wasps bring 

 nothing home with them, and these fall to robbing their 

 more fortunate companions. Those that are carrying 

 flies must pause a moment, burdened as they are, to 

 scratch away the earth at the entrance to the nest. When 

 unmolested they go in very quickly, but it is just at this 

 point that the marauders fall upon them, displaying an 

 amount of persistence and energy in their attacks that, 

 were it properly directed, might easily enable them to 

 secure flies for themselves. 



We once saw a wasp that had been fortunate enough, 

 or perhaps unfortunate enough, to catch an immense 

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