BLUE HUNTRESS 425 



injure the tender bodies of the insect's offspring. Thus we 

 see her tamping a tiny pebble or a bit of hardened mortar, 

 until it sinks into the smooth wall of the chamber. Over and 

 over, she inspects her work, scraping, brushing, tamping, 

 until the cradle bears no resemblance, except that of color, 

 to the coarse, sticky substance from the pit. Her nest re- 

 minds me of a callow suburban home, terra cotta and jagged 

 stones. Her taste is not cultured, but we may excuse her 

 quite readily. She specifies these droll materials for a vital 

 reason. 



The huntress is a skilled worker she is a prodigy, re- 

 quiring but a single tool to fashion the mortar nursery. The 

 tip of her abdomen is a veritable tool chest all in one, a uni- 

 versal appliance with which the work is done. True, she 

 gathers and carries material with her mandibles, but the 

 house itself is wrought by the last segment of her body. It 

 is a modeler's gouge, with which she measures the cells, de- 

 cides their contour, smooths their walls and fashions the 

 entrances. Throughout the building one finds tiny, triangu- 

 lar indentures, where the tool has left its impression. 



The finished nest consists of three tubes, placed one upon 

 another. They are open at one end, where the entrances 

 are slightly funnel-shaped like the mouth of a flower vase. 

 The tubes or cells, measure thirty-four millimeters in diam- 

 eter. There is variation to a slight degree, but the measure- 

 ments are the average of several nests. The insect works 

 energetically, completing the work in five days. One cell is 

 constructed, provisioned and an egg deposited, before a sec- 

 ond one is commenced. 



As soon as a cell is finished, the wasp sets out in search 

 of provisions with which to assure the successful life of her 

 offspring. She travels the open sunny trails or the dark 

 floor of the forest. One is as good as another, provided there 

 are dead leaves or fallen branches that shelter her prey from 

 less agile creatures than herself. We see her alight upon 

 the ground and search diligently under every leaf and branch 



