FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



larger at the mouth than at the base. They are a little 

 more than an inch long, and about half an inch wide. 

 Their delicate surface is carefully polished, and shows 

 a series of string-like projections, running cross- wise, 

 not unlike the twisted cords of some kinds of gold-lace. 

 Each of these strings is a layer of the building ; it comes 

 from the clod of mud used for the coping of the part 

 already built. By counting them you can tell how 

 many journeys the Wasp has made in the course of her 

 work. There are usually between fifteen and twenty. 

 For one cell, therefore, the industrious builder fetches 

 materials something like twenty times. 



The mouth of the cells is, of course, always turned 

 upwards. A pot cannot hold its contents if it be upside 

 down. And the Wasp's cell is nothing but a pot in- 

 tended to hold the store of food, a pile of small Spiders. 



The cells built one by one, stuffed full of Spiders, 

 and closed as the eggs are laid preserve their pretty 

 appearance until the cluster is considered large enough. 

 Then, to strengthen her work, the Wasp covers the whole 

 with a casing, as a protection and defence. She lays 

 on the plaster without stint and without art, giving it 

 none of the delicate finishing-touches which she lavishes 

 on the cells. The mud is applied just as it is brought, 

 and merely spread with a few careless strokes. The 

 beauties of the building all disappear under this ugly 



[78] 



