THE BURROWERS 



circle on each side of the yellow face, the distal joints 

 i^ bent up so that the wasps st-em to be standing on 

 tlu-ir elbows. This attitude, which is often seen in Bem- 

 lu \ >|>inola;, gives them a delightfully amusing, bow- 

 legged appearance. They usually open their nests in the 

 morning at about nine o'clock, a little earlier or later 

 according to the time at which the sun strikes the spot. 

 Then they spend from forty minutes to an hour in taking 

 a survey, the least movement on the part of a watcher 

 causing them to drop out of sight as if the earth had 

 given way beneath them. Sometimes there is a little 

 way-station an inch or two within the tunnel, and the 

 wasp falls back only to this point, and here she may be 

 seen, if one peeps in cautiously, either quietly awaiting 

 the retreat of the intruder, or, perhaps, performing her 

 toilet in a leisurely and elegant manner. 



Whenever she leaves her nest she makes three or four 

 rapid circles around the spot to freshen her memory of 

 the locality. The most thorough study that we saw 

 made by clypeata was in the case of the wasp mentioned 

 before, that was so long in carrying her beetle in because 

 of our being on the ground. When she finally did go in 

 she stayed only an instant just long enough to de- 

 posit her load and then came out and spent a long 

 time in an investigation of all the surrounding objects, 



149 



