THE EUMENIDAE 



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few moments, she first went down into her hole to see if 

 all was well, then came up and promptly resumed her work 

 of breaking down the little wall, mouthful by mouthful, 

 and carrying it down into the cell. The supply of water 



FIG. 56. A collection of mud pellets carried out in the mouth by 

 Odynerus geminus and dropped near the nest. Natural size. 



sufficed for eight loads of mud. When it was gone, she 

 came out and paused on the brink for a moment to clean 

 herself and then flew away, in the same direction as before, 

 for water. This quantity was disposed of in precisely 

 the same manner as before; she first went down to exam- 

 ine the cell immediately after her return, then came out 

 on top and paused to clean herself before going for more 

 water. 



Now the turret was almost gone, and as the work pro- 

 gressed the rear portion of her body protruded more and 

 more. This gave us a direct clue to what was happening 



