THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER 



and she proceeded to fill the nest, scratching the earth 

 in with her first legs and working it down with the tip 

 of the abdomen. She worked quietly but steadily for 



ten minutes, closing the place neatly, and then brought 

 bits of leaf and pieces of earth to cover it all over. 



On the same afternoon we saw another of these wasps 

 digging her nest, but she was so much disturbed when 

 we came anywhere near her that we were obliged to 

 retire. On the next day we saw her astride of a small 

 grasshopper, jumping along like the one of the day 

 before. She too had great trouble in finding her way. 

 When she reached the nest she laid her prey down 

 while she went inside for a moment, and then, coming 



249 



