TO GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



(about half an inch) in diameter and two or three centimeters 

 deep, in the hard, sun-baked earth, often choosing a place 

 beneath the protection of the leaf of some plant. These holes 

 they provision with caterpillars, which they sting in several 



FIG. 43. Digger- Wasp using Pebble. Enlarged 

 (From Peckham's The Solitary Waspa) 



places till they are paralyzed. In the process of provisioning 

 the nest some species close the opening with a pellet of 

 earth or with small stones, which they remove when they 

 return with a new caterpillar. Dr. and Mrs. Peckham, who 

 have studied these insects very carefully, say that this is, 

 however, not an invariable habit, some individuals leaving 

 the nest open while searching for more caterpillars. These 

 authors have this to say of the habits of one of these 

 insects. 



" Just here must be told the story of one little wasp whose 

 individuality stands out in our minds more distinctly than 

 that of any of the others. We remember her as the most 

 fastidious and perfect little worker of the whole season, so 



