SOME INSECT EXPERIMENTS 141 



finished cell, but she soon flew away in search of a new supply of 

 pulp. When she had gone far enough to insure my feelings against 

 her sting, the other members of the colony were quickly put aside 

 and the cell was then suddenly finished by human hand, assisted by 

 a small tube of greyish court-plaster. 



In a few minutes the wasp returned and flew directly to the cell 

 which I had so kindly completed for her. But she apparently con- 

 sidered my work as being far from the required standard, indeed she 

 must have thought me downright fresh, for soon my carefully made 

 cell of court-plaster was cut away from the nest and viciously ejected 

 by the wasp, who was now in a temper to be respected. 



On the following day I returned to the nest with another cell, 

 but this time I had moulded it of papier-mache; thus it was identical 

 in size, color and texture, with those which the wasps construct 

 themselves. Once more the wasps were put out of the way, and while 

 the one who had been allowed her freedom upon the previous day 

 was again collecting pulp at a respectful distance, I cut away the 

 cell which was now nearly finished, and fastened the papier-mache 

 one in its place. Upon her return to the nest, the wasp displayed 

 the same disgust at my inability to construct a cell, as upon the oc- 

 casion of my original effort. Consequently the object of my labors 

 met a fate similar to that which the first cell was subjected to! 



How quickly this insect recognized the uselessness of these man- 

 made cells, for indeed I had left them open at both ends. Yet her 

 very near relative, the mud-dauber, was blind to the fact that her 

 nest cell had been trifled with and her egg removed, which is an affair 

 of much greater importance! But why these differences, even among 

 insects almost of the same flesh and blood? That is what we do not 

 know; it is a question for which we have yet to find an answer. But 

 however that may be, it is evident from the results of the experiments 

 which I have just described that in cases unlikely to be provided for 



