304 WASP STUDIES AFIELD 



down below. Sure enough, when all the turret was gone, it 

 was proved that the material in the chimney was exactly the 

 amount required to fill and seal up the burrow flush with 

 the surface of the ground. Here then was our explanation : 

 the wasp digs her burrow and carries out the earth in moist 

 pellets ; all the dirt from the gallery she carefully saves and 

 constructs into a chimney, while, that from the chamber or 

 pocket she carries out and discards. When the nest is pro- 

 visioned she plugs up the mouth of the chamber and packs 

 back into the gallery the very same clay which she took 

 out and has at hand exactly the required amount of filler, 

 and also material of the right color to render the plug in 

 her hole indistinguishable from the surrounding earth. By 

 this method the security of the young is well safeguarded 

 also, for the entire channel is so firmly packed that it is 

 impossible to probe it or even to trace it when digging, as 

 one can often easily do with the nests of the wasps that 

 kick the dry dirt loosely into their burrows. 



This wasp worked arduously in packing down the last dirt 

 on the top of the hole, moistening it with the remainder of 

 her load of water. After she had finished applying more 

 'earth, she fetched one more load of water and applied it 

 to the plug, presumably to make it more firm and compact. 

 She stood pounding and smoothing the seal down with 

 her head, her body curled almost in a circle so her abdomen 

 nearly touched her head, and her folded wings sticking 

 up vertically. 



Thus, it seems, wasps vie with one another in wonderful 

 ways of effecting the security of their young, and each new 

 method seems more marvellous than the last. 



Another turret-building Eumenid and its little chimney 

 came under our notice at about 2 p. m. The nest under- 

 ground could not have been an extensive one, as could be 

 seen by the paucity of the pellets strewn nearby, so when 





