CHAPTER V 

 THE BEE-KILLING WASPS 



Philanthns pitnctatiis Say. [S. A. Rohwer]. 



The Philanthus punctatus is a faithful little creature, but 

 her task of nesting is so prolonged that we have never been 

 able to watch the entire process in a single case. By putting 

 together the parts of the story as we have gathered them, we 

 may be able to get some idea of this shy wasp's way of 

 living. 



We discovered one burrow, already begun, August i, at 

 8 o'clock. A lot of loose dirt was rolling down a tiny em- 

 bankment by the roadside; the dirt was freshly kicked or 

 pushed out, and \ve ascertained with a probe that the bur- 

 row underneath it went into the bank horizontally for about 

 one inch. We could not remain with the wasp then, but the 

 next morning we were pleased to find that she was still at 

 work. A good deal more dirt had been pushed out. We 

 knew that this must have been done very recently, because 

 heavy rains during the night had tamped down the previous 

 lot. That evening, too, when we passed by, we were certain 

 that she was still at work. 



Knowing that it would be impossible to watch her fur- 

 ther, and desiring to knew whether she spent the nights in 

 her burrow, we dug her up. The hole went horizontally into 

 the embankment, an inch below the surface level of the 

 ground above, and toward the south for two inches; then 



109 



