WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



and scratching with great energy, and soon disappearing 

 in the depths of their sandy tunnels. So deep is their 

 primary gallery that even in this easy medium it takes 

 them the best part of a day to get it ready for storing ; 

 but once finished it doubtless serves as a home through 

 the season. It has at the entrance a little cup-shaped 

 vestibule where the wasp drops the ant as she enters, 

 running out of sight herself, and then, after she has 

 turned around, coming back to pull it within. This nest 

 is a very difficult one to excavate neatly, as the sand falls 

 at the slightest touch. 



A day or two after we had seen frigidus making her 

 residential arrangements, we found twenty-five or thirty 

 within a few feet of each other, working with great ardor 

 at carrying in queens, the doors being left closed or open 

 according to individual judgment. The steadiest work- 

 ers brought one every forty minutes, scarcely pausing 

 inside the nest, but others made long stays within, leav- 

 ing the door closed. The ants were carried under the 

 body with all the legs folded around them, but they 

 were heavy things, and were often dropped as the wasp 

 flew across the field, giving opportunities for robbery 

 that were promptly taken advantage of. We picked up 

 one of these ants and placed it in the doorway of a wasp 

 that had just gone in. She came up twice, looked at it, 



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