CHAPTER XI 



THE SPHECID'S DUTY 



Spheclus speciosus 



WHEN July has blended its last hot days into August 

 and the air vibrates with the monotonous, irritating 

 song of the cicada, it is then that one member of the in- 

 sect world, the great golden digger, is hardest at work. 

 Though the most formidable member of our eastern American wasps, 

 being the largest, and possessed of a most powerful sting, it is perhaps 

 more peaceable and less easily irritated than many of the smaller 

 members of the Hymenoptera family. 



Solitary wasps, of which the golden digger is one, are invariably 

 more peaceful and easier to work with than social species, for a very 

 simple reason. Solitary individuals are almost all preying species, 

 creatures who require the services of their stings in paralyzing their 

 victims. They reserve their poison and the energy required in in- 

 jecting it, until it is time to gather provender for the coming genera- 

 tion of their kind. Such wasps sting in self protection only when 

 captured, and scarcely ever in defense of their nests. 



Social wasps and bees seldom, if ever, sting their prey and many 

 of them are not even of predatory habits. The sting is therefore un- 

 necessary in capturing or preparing food for their offspring and is 

 used, as we know, chiefly in defense of the nest, which is the common 

 property of a number of individuals. 



The sphecid's service to mankind in killing countless numbers of 

 the noxious cicadas makes this great wasp a popular one with those, 



all too few, who understand its highly beneficial function. 



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