BEHAVIOR OF POMPILID WASPS 65 



finally she appeared, she brought with her, under her body, 

 an astonishingly large load of dirt. One could easily spell 

 out her method : during her long stay in the hole she loos- 

 ened the soil and kicked it under her body, then on coming 

 out of the hole backwards she had only to spread her fore- 

 legs in such a way as to make a fence or rake, and by pass- 

 ing out she would automatically drag out the loose soil. 

 When one sees the slope of the burrow in fig. 13, one 



FIG. 13. The burrow and prey of Psammocharcs scclcstus. Natural 

 size. 



realizes her tremendous task in pushing her load up-hill 

 backwards. Sometimes the load was so large that the wasp 

 had to force her way with much effort out through her 

 doorway. Occasionally the loose earth at the top of the 



