76 WASP STUDIES AFIELD 



hour's weary waiting for the wasp to emerge, we stirred 

 her out with a probe and dug away the earth to explore 

 the nest. It went in horizontally about six inches (it had 

 probably been a beetle's hole) ; then the channel or crevice 

 was lost. The prey was not found. Probably her last hour 

 was spent in filling and packing the hole within up to this 

 point, much after the manner of other Pompilids mentioned. 

 This species of wasp uses a variety of spiders. We have 

 at various times and places found it carrying off the follow- 

 ing species: Pardosa minima Keys [N. Banks], sp. of Ly- 

 cosidae, immature [N. Banks], Lycosa hellno Walck 

 (young) [N. Banks], Pardosa nigripalpis Em. = P. cana- 



FIG. 14. Priocnemis pompilus travelling backwards and dragging her 

 prey. Twice natural size. 



densis Blk. [N. Banks], and Clubiona abbotti Koch [N. 

 Banks]. 



It scon becomes apparent that in many of the affairs of 

 wasp life, P. pompilus is not such a stickler for convention- 

 ality as are many of her sister species. She takes such prey 

 as she can get, and does not reject good spiders because 

 they are not of the species which Habit specifies as proper 

 for her; she uses such holes as she can find in the moment 

 of need and modifies them to suit her needs; if she cannot 

 ascend a precipitous slope directly, she will in time contrive 

 some indirect way to scale it. In fact, like most individuals 

 who go outside the pale of convention, while she may at 



