WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



it behind them or stood waiting in the doorway for the 

 next arrival; but occasionally they had difficulty in locat- 

 ing the nest, and worked at two or three different places 

 before rinding it. 



We kept these wasps under close observation, often 

 watching the nest from the moment it was opened in the 

 morning until it was closed at night. On the twelfth of 

 August, a week from the time that we first saw them, 

 one of the females felt the responsibilities of life settling 

 down upon her. At half after four in the afternoon she 

 began to enlarge the nest, and worked with a great deal 

 of energy for forty minutes. After a long disappearance 

 within the hole she would come up backwards, kicking 

 behind her a quantity of earth which was not only taken 

 outside, but was then spread out far and wide. She 

 worked with the front pair of legs, which were curved 

 inward, after the manner of Bembex; and when a pebble 

 or some such object came in her way she either dragged 

 it to a distance with her mandibles or pushed it before 

 her with her head in a way quite peculiar to herself. In 

 distributing the earth that was taken out, she went five 

 and one half inches from the nest a distance which 

 is much greater than is common among wasps, but 

 which accords well with the habits of punctatus, since 

 she continues the work of excavation from day to day. 



156 



