BEHAVIOR OF POMPILID WASPS 81 



tried to find her new apartment. She accomplished this with 

 difficulty ; twice she had to fly away and return on the wing 

 to the same spot to get her bearings. Eventually she located 

 her hole and entered the very one we had, only a short 

 time before, begun in order to attract some wasp ! We were 

 almost too astonished to believe the story ourselves, and yet 

 the evidence seems sufficient to warrant the surmise that it 

 was the same wasp. We knew that she had become dissatis- 

 fied with the place that harbored intruders, and that no others 

 of this species were seen all that day. Her actions indicated 

 that she was looking for a new abode, and we are sure that 

 this second hole could not have been there for more than a 

 half -hour the exact time since the first nest had been de- 

 serted because it had been accessible only since we pulled 

 away the hard outer cement. 



She went in and remained about fifteen minutes, when 

 she was captured in a vial placed over her hole. We worked 

 for a long time trying to dig out her spider and egg; but 

 the probe showed that the crevice between the rocks was 

 eight inches deep, so we were obliged to give up the quest 

 without getting her prey or learning anything more about 

 her nest or egg. 



This also solves the problem of seven years previously, 

 when an A. ferruginous ascended the old stone wall of the 

 ice-house, walking backward and dragging her Lycosa. No 

 doubt that wasp also was directing her course to a chosen 

 crevice in the old stone wall. 



In other species of Pompilids, as previously noted, when 

 the wasp is digging her burrow, she often leaves her work 

 to examine her prey and frequently moves it closer to the 

 hole. The notes that follow will show that A. ferrugineus 

 does not drag her prey along until she comes to a suitable 

 spot, but in transporting her prey she has a. very definite 

 notion of where she is going. 



