LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD. 195 



done by the mother bee, the wasp drops into 

 each of them a few living flies and gnats as pro- 

 vision for the young grubs. 



Jlnna. Live flies and gnats ! What strange 

 food ! I should think pollen was a great deal 

 better. 



flunt M. I suppose flies and gnats are" bet- 

 ter suited to them. No doubt they are very 

 nourishing. The wings, however, are not eaten ; 

 and when the grub is ready to go into its pupa 

 state, it weaves them into its cocoon. 



The mason wasp, like the mason bee, makes 

 its nest in a wall, or in a hard bank of earth, 

 and stores it with living spiders or caterpillars, 

 for food for the little one when it shall be hatch- 

 ed from the egg. 



One species of mason wasp makes a hole in 

 the earth about two inches in depth, and select- 

 ing ten or a dozen caterpillars of a particular 

 kind, it twists them into a spiral column, and 

 so fastens them that they are unable to alter 

 their position, although they remain alive. The 

 wasp grub devours all these before it is ready 

 to change into a pupa. Another species does not 

 give the grub the whole of its food at once, but 



