HUNTERS OF LARGE ORTHOPTERA 183 



drance by friction, if not positively aiding the struggling 

 wasp. 



She thus carried the hopper to a tuft of grass about ten 

 feet from her hole and there left it, returned to the burrow 

 and dug for ten minutes more, again went direct to the 

 locust and carried it, in the same fashion, to a spot three 

 feet from her hole and once more resumed the digging. At 

 this point in her work she was again visited by 6\ unicinctus, 

 but this time the bold Stizus actually entered the new bur- 

 row, where, after a brief tussle, she was chased out by the 

 owner and angrily pursued for a distance of three feet (see 

 fig. 41). Thomae's wrath soon cooled and she devoted her- 



F.G. 41. Priononyx thomae and Stisus unicinctus. Exact size. 



self to digging for about five minutes, and again visited her 

 prey and brought it, in precisely the same manner, to within 

 six inches of her hole, where she left it in a clump of short 

 grass and resumed her task of adding the last critical touches 

 to the future nest of her offspring. During her visits to the 

 hopper, we watched carefully and found that no other stings 

 were given to it, although its hind legs sometimes quivered. 

 She dug for ten minutes more, then got the prey and carried 

 it directly in front of the hole, went in for a moment as 

 usual for one final survey to see if all was in readiness, then 

 reached out and seizing the hopper's antennae, pulled it in. 

 Just a short time previous to this, we had looked into the 

 burrow and had seen a large cinder, which she had failed 



