More Hunting Wasps 



sufficient ration for the moment, the. mother 

 suspends her hunting-trips until further need 

 arises and occupies herself with mining-work 

 in her underground house. Cells are dug; 

 I see the rubbish gradually pushed up to the 

 surface. Beyond this there is not a sign of 

 activity; it is as though the burrow were 

 deserted. 



The inspection of the site is no easy mat- 

 ter. The shaft descends to a depth of nearly 

 three feet in a compact soil, either vertically 

 or horizontally. The spade and pick, 

 wielded by stronger but less expert hands 

 than mine, are indispensable, for which rea- 

 son the process of excavation is far from 

 satisfying me fully. At the end of this long 

 tunnel, which the straw which I use for 

 sounding despairs of ever reaching, the cells 

 are at last encountered, oval cavities with a 

 horizontal major axis. Their number and 

 general arrangement escape me. 



Some of them already contain the cocoon, 

 which is slender and semitransparent, like 

 those of the Cerceris, and, like them, sug- 

 gests the shape of certain homoeopathic 

 phials, with oval bellies surmounted by a 

 tapering neck. The cocoon is fastened to 

 the end of the cell by the tip of this neck, 

 which is darkened and hardened by the 

 268 



