The Wonderful Ways of Insects and Spiders [ 265 



ward, unraveling the ball and fastening it to the layer of paper 

 below. When the new pulp is all laid out, the wasp runs forward, 

 then once more backs up, biting the pulp all along the way to 

 flatten it. While the moisture is drying out, the wasp is off collect^ 

 ing more fiber. As these fibers are collected from a variety of 

 sources, the color of the paper may vary in different parts of 

 the nest! 



It is usually safe to watch bald-faced hornets or yellow jackets 

 which are also papermakers at work as long as you do not 

 disturb them. But if you poke into their nest or meddle with 

 their activities, you will quickly discover the origin of the phrase, 

 "mad as a hornet." 



Wasp Homes of Mud: Paper nests are not the only kind built by 

 wasps. Your observant youngster may come across cartridge-shaped 

 cells made of mud and attached to the walls of garages, barns, or 

 other buildings as well as many out-of-the-way "unlikely" places. 

 Such cells are constructed by mud-dauber wasps. 



At first there is only one cell, about an inch long; but soon an- 

 other is added next to it, and before the builder is finished there 

 may be half a dozen more. On a hot summer day you may catch 

 sight of these wasps collecting little balls of mud at the side of 

 a puddle of water. You can even set up an observation post by 

 forming a mud puddle there. 



THE WOOD-EATING TERMITES 



Most children know about these notorious insects, and 

 the damage they do to wooden structures; but few people get to 

 see these creatures. Termites live in the dark seclusion of tunnels, 

 and the first intimation of their presence may come when a fence 

 falls down or a wooden step gives way. (They have also been 

 known to eat through table tops and window frames!) 



The one time you are likely to see them in the light of day 

 is on the occasion of the marriage flight of a colony. Then swarms 

 of these insects the male and female winged forms may emerge 

 from walls, porch supports, or anywhere near the wood founda- 

 tions of a house. 



