WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



mand, from fifteen minutes after five until fifteen min- 

 utes before seven. We felt sure that when she came 

 back she would bring her victim with her, and when we 

 saw her approaching we threw ourselves prone on the 

 ground, eagerly expecting to see the end of the drama ; 

 but her search had been unsuccessful, she carried 

 nothing. In the realms of wasp-life, disappointments 

 are not uncommon, and this time she had us to share 

 her chagrin, for we felt as tired and discouraged as she 

 perhaps did herself. When we saw her entering without 

 any provision for her future offspring, we were at a loss 

 what to do next ; and it may be that this state of mind 

 was shared by her also, for she at once began to fill in the 

 entrance to her nest. We now thought it time to act, 

 and decided to capture her, to keep her over night in 

 one of our wasp- cages, and to try to induce her to re- 

 turn to her duty on the following day. We therefore 

 secured her in a large bottle, carried her to the cottage, 

 and having made every possible arrangement for her 

 comfort, left her for the night. 



On the next morning, at half after eight o'clock, we 

 took Lady Sphex down to her home, and placed the 

 mouth of the bottle so that when she came out she had 

 to enter the nest. This she did, remaining below, how- 

 ever, only a moment. When she came up to the surface 



62 



