60 WASP STUDIES AFIELD 



of Phidippus sp. [N. Banks]. She munched and sucked 

 at it as if heartily enjoying her meal. 



Hartman 4 describes the nest-building of P. marginatus 

 in this way. She had chosen for the home of her offspring 

 the middle of a much-used path through the sandy woods. 

 "Here she began to dig with vim and in a few moments 

 had dug a hole an inch or more in depth and was bringing 

 out sand at regular intervals, which increased in length with 

 the increase in depth of the nest. The sand was pushed up 

 in loads with the hind legs and the end <5f the abdomen. 

 The wasp did not appear with a load each time, but often 

 five or six loads would be allowed to accumulate at the en- 

 trance when the whole pile would be pushed out and scat- 

 tered away from the entrance more or less carefully." 



We discovered another one October 10, just in time to 

 witness it doing a marvellous feat of strength. She was 

 walking backward dragging a spider, a Trochosa avara 

 Keys [N. Banks], much larger than herself. She was hold- 

 ing the spider in a vertical position, grasping it by having 

 her mandibles inserted in the ventral surface of the spider 

 between its legs. It was remarkable that the little wasp 

 could move such a huge victim at all; but when she pro- 

 ceeded to drag it up a bank eight feet high, part of which 

 was actually vertical and a small portion slightly overhang- 

 ing, we could hardly believe our eyes, and cannot yet under- 

 stand how it was possible (see fig. 12) ; yet the little wasp 

 seemed not at all disconcerted about it. 



This method of transportation of prey, as illustrated, 

 does not seem constant. While Hartman says the wasp 

 grasped the spider by one of the coxae, which would prob- 

 ably make the carrying position very near to that illustrated, 

 the Peckhams describe one as "going backward carrying 

 a medium-sized spider," and another "dragging a small 



4 Bull. Univ. Tex. 65 : 52-54. 1905. 



