250 WASP STUDIES AFIELD 



Thus, of the five queens that had made the one-eighth- 

 mile trip, three successfully made the one and one-half-mile 

 flight. What these three did, the other two should have done 

 also, since their domestic interests were alike ; each had from 

 a twelve- to a sixteen-celled nest at home to care for, which 

 really indicates that all had had about equal experience 

 abroad. For an explanation of the non-appearance of these 

 two, we can only suspect that they failed in a case in trial 

 and error. The facts that no. 2 made the first flight speedily, 

 that she left the tube apparently in good health and vigor, 

 and that, by reason of the aggressive coloration and severe 

 sting, enemies are few, would all indicate that her non- 

 return was probably due to her simply having gotten lost. 

 In the case of no. 6, however, one might justly suspect that 

 her failure to return was due to her subnormality, since, if 

 she had really been normal, she could probably have made 

 the flight in Experiment I in the same time as the others, in- 

 stead of thrice the time. Whether or not the three which 

 returned did so by reason of their previous experience will 

 be indicated by the behavior of queens no. 7, 8, 10 and 12, 

 none of which had been used in flights previously. 



No. 7, when released at 1 1 : 02, alighted on a bush fifteen 

 feet away, and then flew away to the southeast. It returned 

 to its nest the next day at 9 a. m., after an absence of al- 

 most one day. 



No. 8 flew north-northwest and alighted on a bush fifty 

 feet away. It also reappeared at the nest the next day at 

 9 : 45, having made the journey in practically the same time 

 as the previous one. 



No. 10 when liberated alighted on the finger and remained 

 there for fifteen minutes, when it was placed on a flower- 

 head. This one never returned to its nest, but its languor 

 indicated an illness. 



No. 12, when released, sat on the neck of the bottle for 



